Smells Like Fitness

Week of 9/3/18 Workout Schedule

2018-08-31T14:51:00.000-05:00

Finally...September!

Has this not been the longest August in recent memory? I am not sure if it is the extended 100+ degree weather we have had in Texas or just all the back to school shenanigans, but it just seemed like August would never end.

We are settling in on our homeschool year, and next Saturday is our first ever cross country meet as parents and as coaches. Looking forward to the excitement!

In the meantime, here is the workout schedule for next week.

Monday: P90X2 Recovery and Mobility
Tuesday: P90X2 V-Sculpt
Wednesday: P90X2 Plyocide
Thurday: P90X2 Recovery and Mobility
Friday: P90X2 Chest, Shoulders, and Tris
Saturday: P90X2 Yoga
Sunday: P90X2 Base and Back

Weekly Workout Schedule

2018-08-26T13:09:00.002-05:00

Hello, Internet!

It's been so long since I've blogged, and lately I've been getting the urge to carve out time to write again. So much has happened in the past two years, but one thing that hasn't changed is our addiction and adherence to daily morning workouts with Beachbody programs.

I'll be sure to catch you up on all the new things going on in our lives, but Zach thought of a great idea for a regular series of posts so I thought I would start there.

Some good friends of ours have Beachbody On Demand (Beachbody's online platform of fitness videos -- essentially Netflix for exercise), and they like to find out what workouts we are doing. Zach thought we could just use the blog to post our weekly workout schedule so anyone with BOD can follow along.

As with basically anything you want to accomplish in life, a plan is CRITICAL. Whether it's exercise, food, or learning a new language, letting things fall to chance is a recipe for failure.

On a personal note, having a weekly workout plan is key to marital harmony. Without a plan in place every night includes a lengthy and circuitous conversation regarding the next morning's workout that occurs right about the time I'd like to be going to sleep.

One new thing happening in our lives is that Zach and I are the sparkly new coaches of Drew's cross country team, so Monday and Thursday mornings are for cross country practice. Our plan is to make those recovery and stretch days, or we might run with the team. Here's what the rest of the week looks like:

Monday: P90X2 Recovery and Mobility
Tuesday: P90X2 Core
Wednesday: P90X2 Plyocide
Thursday: P90X2 Recovery and Mobility
Friday: P90X2 Total Body X
Saturday: P90X2 Yoga
Sunday: P90X2 Balance and Power

I promise not to be such a stranger! In the meantime, if you don't have BOD I'd recommend you try it free and follow along with our scheduled workouts. Or if not with ours, check out the "Challenge Du Jour" page on the site that posts schedules each week. Here's the link to our page to sign up for BOD:

SmellsLikeFitness.com

Shakeology Chia Pudding

2016-02-11T17:15:00.001-06:00

I think being cold hurts.

Hurts like being punched all over. Each November I kiss the feeling in my feet goodbye until March, and grouse about how unfair and awful the winter is. I seek solace in one of three places: the shower, my car, and underneath my electric blanket. I can only imagine what might happen if I lived north of the Red River...

For my birthday, my sister was moved to sent me a tank top she saw at Old Navy. I modeled it for her in this picture:

When winter rolls around, about the last thing I want to do is drink a giant, frosty Shakeology for breakfast.

There is a time and place for an icy Shakeology. Winter in Texas is not one of them.

However, I am committed to having my healthiest meal of the day every day (six years running!), so when I discovered the meal I'm about to share with you, I was ecstatic.

It's Shakeology Chia Pudding.

But first! A primer on chia seeds.

Perhaps chia rings a bell? Perhaps you remember that they used to be "pets"?

These are the same chia seeds. But now we know that, in addition to an interesting conversation piece on your mantel, they are also a nutritional powerhouse!

Here are the stats:

Chia seeds are rich in fiber, omega-3 fats, protein, vitamins and minerals such as

Dietary fiber (11g – 42% recommended daily value)
Protein (4.4g – 9% RDV)
Omega-3 fatty acids (4915 mg)
Omega-6 fatty acids (1620 mg)
Calcium (77 mg – 18% RDV)
Copper (0.1 mg – 3% RDV)
Phosphorus (265 mg – 27% RDV)
Potassium (44.8 mg – 1% RDV)
Zinc (1.0 mg – 7% RDV)

Chia also contains essential fatty acids alpha-linolenic and linoleic acid, mucin, strontium, Vitamins A, B, E, and D, and minerals including sulphur, iron, iodine, magnesium, manganese, niacin, thiamine, and they are a rich source of anti-oxidants.

Sounds like a good way to start the day to me!

You can get chia seeds at virtually any grocery store, as they have become really popular. You can sprinkle them on salads and in smoothies, but it's important to know that chia seeds soak up liquid and expand. The best way to use them (particularly in the pudding I'm sharing today) is to soak them for at least 20 minutes, but preferably overnight.

Here's what we do: get a small mason jar and spoon in six tablespoons of dry chia seeds. Fill the mason jar with water to about 3/4 full. Let the seeds soak overnight in the fridge. They will stay fresh for about a week, and each chia pudding uses about one heaping tablespoon of the soaked seeds. I'd estimate that we get about 8-10 tablespoons of soaked seeds from the jar. Remembering to soak the seeds is the hardest thing about chia pudding...and that's not so hard, is it?

Okay, now to the good stuff. Shakeology chia pudding. What I love so much about this recipe is its versatility. If you like fruity, make it fruity. If you want chocolate pudding, make it chocolate. I'm going to give you the base recipe and some of my favorite variations. Here's what you need at the very least:

- 1 heaping TB soaked chia seeds

- 1 scoop Shakeology, any flavor

- Fruit, any kind (optional)

- Liquid (water, milk of any kind), amount varies

That's the bare minimum, but we tend to go nuts with this. Here's how I like to do it:

Apple Pumpkin Shakeology Chia Pudding

- 1 heaping TB soaked chia seeds

- 1 scoop vanilla Shakeology

- 1 diced apple (cooked by itself in microwave for 1:30)

- 1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree

- Cinnamon

- 1TB flax seeds

- 1 TB hemp seeds

- Water (mixed in slowly until I reach a pudding-y consistency)

- 3 TB walnuts on top

Oh...My mouth is watering thinking about it. I seriously think I need an intervention. Here's another one.

Chocolate Berry Shakeology Chia Pudding

- 1 heaping TB soaked chia seeds

- 1 scoop chocolate Shakeology

- 1 cup frozen strawberries and blueberries, thawed in microwave

- Cinnamon

- 1TB flax seeds

- 1 TB hemp seeds

- 1 TB cacao nibs

- Water (mixed in slowly until I reach a pudding-y consistency)

- 3 TB walnuts on top

Not only does it taste amazing, but it does not leave me feeling cold from the inside out. You have to try this! And if you're not already ~~drinking~~ ingesting the healthiest meal of the day, please do yourself (and us!) a favor by ordering a month's supply here. There's a 30-day money-back guarantee, so the only risk is that you'll come through a month a healthier person.

Cheers!

Workout of the Day

P90X3 Decelerator

Sport Wedding Bands

2016-02-03T19:53:00.000-06:00

Confession 1: I really only wear my wedding ring if I dress up.

Confession 2: I rarely "dress up." We're talking one or two days a week, usually church and home school co-op day.

I feel kind of bad about it. I mean, Zach spent a pretty penny on those rings and we've got 13 years going over here...I ought to represent! But I don't really like wearing jewelry that much, I don't like getting my pretty ring dirty with the messes I make in the kitchen, and I inevitably scratch one of the kids in the face whenever I have it on.

At Christmas Zach mentioned he'd like to get a sport wedding band that he could wear while training. It's basically just a piece of rubber that isn't going to get tarnished or broken, or hooked on a piece of metal and tear off a digit. I'm for all those things, so I got him one. And it was so cool, I bought one for myself, too!

Zach's (black) is a BULZi brand ring (order on Amazon here) and mine (gray) is a ThunderFit brand (order on Amazon here).

What I like about my ring is that it's comfy, and I can wear it anytime, anywhere. I don't care if it gets chicken guts or chicken poop on it (both very real possibilities). It will not maim anyone's face, and I can wear it while working out. Both rings were really cheap, so it's been funny to hear the amount of comments both of us have gotten about them. People are surprised when I tell them it's just rubber.

I've heard of hard-core exercisers getting tattoo wedding "bands" instead of wearing a ring. If you're anti-tattoo, I think this is a good alternative! Personally, I'm glad for the chance to represent even when I'm not "dressed up."

Workout of the Day

Yoga Camp with Adriene Day 4

I know, I know! I haven't posted about how our Ultimate Reset ended up. I will soon. It's just that things haven't changed much since it "ended." I'm eating many of the same meals, still drinking a gallon of water a day, and still feeling AWESOME. It was a great experience.

Barn Wood Backsplash

2016-01-14T14:26:00.000-06:00

We have lived in our home near Austin for 18 months now, and for a good bulk of that time we have wondered what to do with the backsplash. Well, actually there were more pressing things on our mind before the backsplash, but now that those things have been largely completed, we recently turned our attention to the torn up, ugly walls in our kitchen.

I was truly open to all kinds of ideas for backsplashes, but I thought it would be nice if it was:

1) Cool looking.
2) Easy to install.
3) Relatively inexpensive.

I'm happy to report we were able to accomplish all three! While at Home Depot one weekend, Zach spied some engineered, tongue and groove "barn wood." It was regular wood stained to look like barn wood, but it was symmetrical, uniform, and hence very easy to work with.

Now I know that real barn wood would be much cooler, but real barn wood is neither easy to install nor relatively inexpensive. So it was off the table. We also considered pallet wood, but I'd read some things about the chemicals and cleanliness of using pallet wood in your kitchen, so that gave me pause. After one trip to Home Depot to take a look at their product, I was sold!

This project was so easy. I feel comfortable saying that even though I was not the person doing the measuring and cutting. The whole thing took less than a day and I didn't hear even one curse word along the way, so to me that equals an easy project. And the final cost for materials was in the neighborhood of $150.

Here's a picture of the project halfway through. The most difficult part truly was the measuring and cutting out for the electrical and light sockets. Luckily my math whiz, construction-minded husband does not have an issue with that. See that window on the right? That angle was a nightmare to cut and measure, but he got it the first try! He's the bomb.com.

Here's a closer picture of the back wall and wall by the refrigerator. We glued the boards but used nails sporadically, too. I think the nails add to the rustic look.

Here's a look at the whole kitchen (my apologies for not bothering to clean up. I was tired from telling Zach what boards needed to go where).

Ooh, look at the floors, too. That's ceramic tile that looks like wood.
We've had it for a year now and I'm still SO HAPPY with it.

I'm thrilled with how this turned out! After getting all the boards up, we took another trip to Home Depot to procure some stain to touch up some areas where cuts made real wood color show through. Then we put a coat of polyurethane on the wood so that I can wipe it down when splashes inevitably occur.

This stuff was so easy to work with that we are planning another project using the "barn wood" -- an accent wall in the formal dining room that will cover three-fourths of the wall with a small shelf on top. I found the idea on....wait for it....PINTEREST, the place from which all good and bad ideas are born. I'll be sure to chronicle that project, too!

**************

Workout of the Day

Chopping loads of veggies for the Ultimate Reset and Yoga with Adriene Day 14 of 30

Ultimate Reset Day 13

2016-01-13T09:37:00.000-06:00

Just a quick check in on day 13 to say that I feel AWESOME. Like really, fantastically awesome.

I was scared going into this thing, to be honest. Last time was HARD. I thought about food ALL the time. This time has been relatively easy and enjoyable.

Weight loss has not been as dramatic as last time (11 pounds in round one, if I remember correctly); thus far I've lost four pounds. Choosing to do 30 Days of Yoga with Adriene instead of working out has also been key, as I feel I'm maintaining strength while gaining flexibility and a general sense of emotional well-being, without burning a bunch of calories.

The one area I've struggled is sleep, but I think I know why. To drink one gallon of water takes all day, and usually after dinner I have one big old glass of hot Sleepytime Chamomile tea. It helps with any hunger that might crop up in the evening, but also ensures that I have to pee a lot in the first half of the night. Hence, sleep disruption. But last night I slept from 9pm - 5am with only one pee interruption, so I'm feeling feisty today!

You cannot imagine how good the food on the Reset tastes. Last night's Mediterranean roasted beets with a side of coconut collards (we actually used the fresh green leaves off our broccoli and Brussels sprouts plants we have growing in the winter garden*), was out of this world amazing. A little side of quinoa soaked up that delicious coconut milk....mmmm.

* While typing this sentence I realized that I have punched my one-way ticket to hippie-ville. Good thing we already live near Austin.

One breakfast change I've made: the plan calls for three cups of fruit. I'm doing chia pudding with my vegan chocolate Shakeology. Add fruit (strawberries and blueberries) with a tablespoon of soaked chia seeds, some walnuts, a scoop of Shakeology and some water. You get a chocolate pudding that's kind of warm and is most definitely NOT a freezing cold shake that makes me miserably cold. It's really good!

I turn 38 years old in a week, and I'm thinking this Ultimate Reset process is the best gift I could have given myself. I'm not worried about "missing out" on birthday cake, because I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything at all!

More updates to come!

***** Would you like to complete the Ultimate Reset? Zach and I will be more than willing to help you through the process! Visit www.UltimateReset.com/CoachZachH to read more about the plan and purchase your kit. ********

Tips to Survive the Ultimate Reset

2016-01-06T19:24:00.000-06:00

Day six of Ultimate Reset Part Deux!

Wow, this round of the Reset couldn't feel more different than the first. Turns out I didn't have an understanding of just how much the Reset impacted our menu plans and food habits as much as it has! I think the biggest change has been my attitude in that I actually look forward to my Reset meals, whereas the first time meals were full of fear and dread. Making new meals every day was hard, and when you like food as much as I do it felt like pretty much the end of the world if I put in all that work and then didn't like the meal (spoiler alert: it wasn't often that I didn't like the meals).

The other thing that has been different is that I have not been hungry at all. It seems to me I sat around and pined for food quite a bit the first time. I think our experimentation on the high fat diet has helped both Zach and I stabilize our blood sugar and not rely as heavily on snacks as we once did, so three square meals seems to be working just fine.

So, all that said, I've thought of a few tips to make the Reset easier for anyone who attempts it.

1.) Plan. Then plan again. And once more...the planning. I can't emphasize it enough. Whatever it is you need to do to get your head around what it is you need to do, do it! Use your phone, use paper, use whatever mode you feel most comfortable with to over-plan your plan. You must be the valedictorian of planning for the next 21 days.

2.) Take a chill pill. All that planning you did? You're still gonna forget stuff. Or you're not going to anticipate that it takes six cucumbers, not four, to make it through the week. Don't get annoyed, don't get mad at yourself. Either find a substitution (how about celery? It's basically crunchy water just like cucumbers are), or make a run to the store. It's not the end of the world. It's going to be okay.

3.) Open your mind. And your taste buds. You're going to eat things that look weird. Look at it as an adventure! It's not all going to be your favorite food, but you just may find some things you really like. My favorite food, zucchini cashew soup, comes from the Reset!

4.) Drink water early and often. You've got to drink a gallon a day on the Reset, and if that water bottle isn't in your hand basically first thing in the morning, you're not going to make it. It requires some diligence to get a gallon down your gullet. Remember that hot tea (particularly in winter!) counts toward your quota, so use that as much as needed.

5.) Batch cook. You'll see in the meal plan that you have rice, quinoa, and oatmeal several times the first week. Make big batches of all of these things before you start and your life will be so much easier! All of those items reheat beautifully and it saves precious food prep time. This time around, I also grilled a big batch of chicken to add to the kids' meals when we are eating largely meatless. If you have people in your family who aren't participating and you're responsible for feeding them, this makes life easier, too. Tonight the kids ate our roasted root veggies and zucchini cashew soup along with us, but I added 21 Day Fix turkey meatballs, which I had in the freezer, to their plate.

6.) Slow down! Savor your food. This has been huge for me this time around. I am famous for inhaling my food, so I've been making an effort to slow down. As a country, I think we've really disconnected from the gift of food. We take it for granted that we can get food anywhere, anytime. We see eating as a chore that we need to get done so we can get to the next thing. It's sad.

When you're on a plan that gives you only three square meals a day, you really look forward to that food and it tastes so good when you sit down to it. When you're eating your Reset meals, don't multitask. No T.V., reading your iPad or phone, or otherwise taking your attention away from the meal you're eating. Take small bites and chew them thoroughly. Eat slowly. Enjoy your company if someone is eating with you. Put your utensil down sometimes and take a deep breath. Enjoy.

7.) Think positive. Try not to dwell on what you're not having. Do I miss my Saturday morning coffee? Yes. But I've tried not to dwell on that and have bought some tea that I really enjoy to have in its place. So much of this battle is going to be in your head. You've got to choose to think positively!

That's all for now. Zach and I both feel really good and are glad we're taking this challenge together. We're also both enjoying our 30 Days of Yoga with Adriene! Check her out on YouTube for a great intro to yoga.

Ultimate Reset, Part Two: Day One Re-cap

2016-01-02T09:23:00.000-06:00

Happy 2016!

Zach and I have decided to kick off the new year with another round of Beachbody's Ultimate Reset 21-day cleanse. We completed our first Reset almost three and a half years ago, and it's time to give it another go!

(Don't know what the Ultimate Reset is? Read about it here.)

When I told my boot campers that we were going to do the Reset, their response was: WHY? And then I was a proud trainer, because it's always good to ask that question of yourself before you embark on something that might be difficult. I knew that I needed to get in touch with my WHY before I did this, because otherwise it would be really easy to cave when the going gets tough.

My why for doing the Reset this time around is to shake things up and give myself a challenge. I've gotten into a pattern where working out and eating (relatively) healthy is just routine. Especially over the holidays, I find myself saying, "Hey, I can eat that because I'm a pretty fit person, and I can work it off tomorrow..." blah, blah, blah. I want to get back in touch with being on point with food because it's what my body needs and quit making excuses when I feel like treating myself...more and more often. And during this Reset I won't be working out, but instead taking a break and doing 30 Days of Yoga with Adriene on YouTube. Adriene has a GREAT page on YouTube and I definitely recommend that you check it out, even if you've never done yoga before. She is silly and fun, and makes yoga very accessible.

In an in-depth interview just now sitting across from the breakfast table with Zach, he said that his WHY is to "redefine his relationship with food." He feels like he's gotten into a habit of eating just because the food is there, instead of because he's truly hungry (I hear that!), and he wants to buckle down to get a bit more strict with himself.

So, we're going to try to check in regularly (I'd love to say daily, but I hate to make a promise I may not keep!) and let you know how it's going and what our experience is like this time around.

We finished day one yesterday, and it went very well...but it's the easiest and yummiest day of the whole Reset, with a dinner of Salmon, asparagus, and new potatoes. The food stays yummy throughout the three weeks but gets smaller from here, so that's where the challenge lies.

Things are already easier this time because we have kept so many of these meals in our regular rotation. The zucchini cashew soup coming up this week is my number one favorite food, so that alone is making it easier! Last time I was not prepared for the amount of food prep and being unfamiliar with the meal I was cooking each day. This time I've batch prepped all my oats, rice, lentils, and quinoa for the week, as well as some chicken breasts to help feed the kids when they're not having the same thing as us for dinner. Tonight they will have the same dinner again because they love the black bean and rice tacos!

Yesterday I got a little grumpy in the afternoon, but that could have been attributed to A) PMS, B) S.A.D. (Seasonal Affect Disorder, aka, I NEED SOME SUN IN MY LIFE!) C) I hate being cold D) I wanted to eat, even though I wasn't hungry. I think it was more of an attitude issue than a Reset issue. I got my gallon of water taken down (mostly in the form of hot tea), and woke up this morning feeling well and not terribly hungry.

Here's to day two!

Snap Kitchen: Restaurant Review

2015-12-22T14:59:00.002-06:00

By Zach

In my last post, “Eating on the Go,” I mentioned that I have had great experiences with Snap Kitchen, a nationwide (Austin, Dallas, Chicago, Houson) restaurant that specializes in pre-portioned, grab-and-go food. They cater to people who "don't want to sacrifice convenience, health, or taste." I use Snap Kitchen anytime I am traveling out of town for more than one day.

Traveling and maintaining a healthy diet typically do not go hand in hand. It requires twice as much work to eat healthy when on the road and away from home. It is easy to find yourself eating every meal at a restaurant, or worse getting your calories at the drive thru. In my opinion, the best option is to prepare all your meals at home for your trip. However, for a multi-day trip, this can be a huge burden. Snap Kitchen takes the work out of preparing meals for time away from home.

When you walk into a Snap Kitchen, it's not like a normal restaurant, it's more like a convenience store. All the food is pre-made and pre-portioned, and it is sitting in microwaveable containers along the refrigerated wall units. There is a microwave there in the store and a few tables, but most people are coming in, grabbing their containers, paying, and then hitting the road. It's fast and easy. Well, picking out what you'd like to eat is kind of hard because everything looks so good.

I have tried almost all of Snap Kitchen's dishes and have not been disappointed even once. That's not to say that some dishes are better than others, but that's subjective of course. Even when the dish isn't my "favorite" per se, it was still high-quality food that satisfied my hunger.

A couple dishes that I have purchased more than once because I enjoyed it so much the first time include: Bison Quinoa Hash, Chicken and Sesame Chopped Salad, and the Crispy Scottish Salmon.

For snacks or additions to a smaller meal, I also recommend the Harvest Kale Snack salad, the Smoked Salmon, and the Kale Caesar Snack salad. I drink Shakeology for breakfast 99 percent of the time, so my testing of the breakfast items has been limited. One I did try is the the Bison Breakfast Bowl. Talk about a great way to start your day off with some healthy protein!

Snap also carries some great snack items. I mentioned the Exo Cricket bars in the last post. I am also a fan of their Caveman Clusters.

While the food is fresh, tasty, and healthy, Snap Kitchen also has great customer service. I went into the store one morning to stock up for a three-day trip out of town for work. When I got home and started to pack my foods in my travel cooler, I noticed that the receipt had three additional items on it that I did not order. I checked my items four times just to ensure that I did not receive the items.

Once I was confident that I had paid for three items that I did not receive, I called the store to explain the mistake. The Snap employee remembered me and pulled up my order. She knew exactly what had happened. Someone had phoned in an order right before I checked out. However, the phone order did not get properly completed before my order was entered. It added the two orders together. She requested for me to come back into the store so that she could credit my credit card. I explained that I was on my way out the door for a business trip and did not have time. She offered to just give me a $25 store credit on my account. I looked at the three items and stated that they only added up to about $15. She said that the additional $10 would be for the hassle. I thought this was a very generous gesture that will keep me as a loyal customer.

I definitely recommend Snap Kitchen as a great resource for meals if you're traveling, or even if you don't have time to cook one night. If you go, remember to get a points card to start building up towards free items!

Workout of the Day

Tony Horton Fitness on YouTube: QUADZILLA

See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35yVpFV-LT0

Eating On the Go

2015-11-11T13:59:00.001-06:00

If I had to choose the most important food philosophy that I follow, it would be to eat whole foods as much as possible. What does that mean exactly? It means eating things that are what they are: eggs, carrots, broccoli. Things that do not have any ingredients on their label. Or better yet, there is no label.

However, I realize that sometimes this is really hard to do. I travel for my job occasionally, and don't always have a refrigerator down the hall to keep my hummus and veggies cool. So how does someone maintain a healthy diet while on the go?

As with most things related to health and fitness, planning is key. You might have to take an extra step or two to stick with the plan, but I think you'll find it's worth it.

When I'm preparing for a trip, I have a handy travel cooler I take with me. I'll pack fresh fresh veggies that will keep for the first day or so, along with fruit that travels well like apples. Not recommended: bananas (they bruise easily and go bad fast with fluctuations in temperature). Nuts such as almonds, cashew, and walnuts are also an easy snack that travel well.

When whole food isn't an option, here are some of my go-to meals and snacks.

Shakeology -

Either in easy travel packets or I'll scoop into containers. If I know I will have access to electricity I pack my Magic Bullet to blend it into a smoothie, but if not I'll just shake it in a shaker cup. Shaking it isn't the best tasting way to fix Shakeology, but it will do in a pinch...and it's still the healthiest meal of the day.

Epic Bars- https://epicbar.com/

These are high-quality jerky bars that are a great protein source. Choose from several interesting flavors. I have had the following:

Bison Bacon Cranberry
Lamb Currant Mint
Beef Habanero Cherry
Turkey Almond Cranberry

My favorite is probably the beef flavor, and my son likes the lamb. They are all tasty and easy to pack and travel. Available through Amazon.

EXO Bars - https://www.exoprotein.com/

Stick with me, here: these are made with cricket flour. Yes, the black bug kind of crickets. Cricket flour is an emerging trend in America, but other cultures have been using this for decades. I can vouch that these are really delicious,and they have 10 grams of protein per bar.

A friend of ours is studying nutrition at the University of Texas, and she recently posted an article in The Daily Texan about some nutrition students spreading the word about the benefits of cricket protein. Find the article here: http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2015/10/26/texas-nutrition-serves-up-crickets-for-annual-food-day

Amazing Grass Greens Powder - http://www.amazinggrass.com/

Amazing Grass has multiple products and flavors. I am a fan the Lemon Lime flavored green superfood powder. Mixed with water, this is a great way to get an infusion of greens into your body when vegetables are scarce. Susan calls it her "swamp water" because of its looks, but the lemon lime flavor is refreshing. Only 30 calories per serving. If you like flavor in your water, this is a good way to get it.

Justin's Nut Butter - http://justins.com/

I buy them in individual packets for the convenience of traveling. They can be eaten alone right out of the packet or as a spread on apples or celery. Very tasty and a great source of healthy fat. I like the honey almond butter.

If you're staying at a hotel, many times breakfast is provided. Here's what to grab and what to leave at the continental breakfast.

Pastries, doughnuts, bagels. LEAVE. You don't need these in your life.

Waffle batter: Nope...skip it.

Scrambled eggs: most likely made with powdered eggs, and taste as such. If you're lucky, they'll have boiled eggs. Take as many of these as you want since they are the real deal.

Yogurt: the reason the yogurt business has ramped up so astronomically in this country is because it's a perceived health food. However, most of the yogurts contain far too much sugar to be healthy. Unless it is plain yogurt with no fruit added, leave the yogurt alone.

Oatmeal: depends! If it's in a pot that has been cooked, it is probably okay. Add some dried fruit and nuts and you're golden. If it's flavored packets to add hot water to, skip it. Too much sugar and artificial flavoring. Although, if your choice is between a pastry and packet oatmeal, choose the oatmeal!

Bacon, biscuits, sausage, hash browns: pass on these. They are probably very poor quality.

Finally, the emergence of prepared meal-to-go restaurants is making it easy to take meals with you. I've had a great experience with SNAP Kitchen in Austin. I'll do a full post with a review of SNAP very soon.

If you plan right, you can come out of a business trip or vacation without losing ground on reaching your goals or gaining any unwanted things (weight, brain fog, sugar cravings). While you might have to carry some extra weight in a bag or cooler for a few days, that's better than carrying it around on your a$# for weeks afterward.

Workout of the Day:

PiYo

Not Another Fad

2015-10-28T13:41:00.001-05:00

Posted by Zach

Just about everyone we know is aware that Susan and I are Beachbody coaches and have been for several years now. Our journey began right after Kate was born in the spring of 2008 when I convinced Susan to complete P90X with me. We had been using running as our form of exercise previously, but with the addition of child number two, we had no desire to push two strollers on our runs. At least with one stroller we could take turns. So we ordered P90X and dove in for 90 days.

We had run for years with very little change in our body composition. But the changes we saw after 90 days of P90X were so amazing that we began a second round almost immediately. We also became very interested in Beachbody, the company behind P90X.

About a year later, we had the opportunity to attend a lecture and workout with Tony Horton in Dallas. At the event we learned more about the company and what they stood for. Beachbody has been around since 1998 when it was founded by Carl Daikeler (CEO) and John Congdon (President). Since then, they have produced multiple fitness programs and nutrition supplements. After 17 years, I think it is safe to say that Beachbody is here to stay.

We were so impressed that we signed up to be Beachbody coaches, which means that we are ambassadors for the products and also coaches to help others choose and complete programs. Plus we get a discount on products we buy and commissions on anything we sell through our websites.

In the past seven years, we have made many changes in our lifestyle. I would say the most beneficial has been the addition of Shakeology to our daily nutrition. I read a lot of articles and books on nutrition, and lately I’ve learned a lot about the superfoods our bodies can benefit from. I’m always pleasantly surprised to see that most of the superfoods I come across are already in the Shakeology I drink every day.

We also improved our overall diet. On the fitness side, we began going through essentially every exercise program produced by Beachbody (with the exception of some dance programs, because I’m a white guy with no rhythm). Our goal was to experience each program so that we could tell others about them and answer any questions.

While we may not follow the typical business model for a Beachbody coach, we still truly believe in the company and the products. Darin Olien, the creator of Shakeology is about as knowledgeable as they get when it comes to providing great nutrition to fuel your body. (His book, “SuperLife: The 5 Forces That Will Make You Healthy, Fit, and Eternally Awesome,” is worth the read.)

Susan and I do not go for the “hard” sale in our approach. We strive to be a product of the product and let others know that we are Beachbody coaches and how we feel about the company and products. Our strategy/goal is to be the first person that others think of when they have a question about an exercise program or nutrition that will help them achieve their health and fitness goals.

We care more about our relationships than the sale of a product. We want others to trust us and have faith in us and any product they choose. I do not want someone to choose to drink Shakeology or order P90X3 because I am a good salesman. I want them to make these things a part of their life because they see the impact they have had on our lives and trust us. Is this a good business model for us as Beachbody coaches? Probably not. But, it is in line with our morals and goals of helping others.

In the past few years, I can’t count the number of fitness fads that have come and gone; some multi-level marketing companies and some not. Regardless of the business model behind them, the fads bother me. It seems that they all have one thing in common: immediate results with little work. Drink this, pop this pill, or wear this on your body and you will achieve your weight loss goals in no time. If there truly was a magic pill or magic wrap that melted fat, then why do we still have an obesity problem in our society? The answer is an easy one: because there is no magic pill. I think that Beachbody is unique because it’s premise is built behind hard work. You’ve got to put in the effort to reap the reward.

Susan and I are happier, healthier, fitter people now than we when we were in our twenties. Heck, I turn 40 next year and can do things I would not have even tried at the age of 30. We have helped multiple friends and family members improve their health, lose weight, get off of medication, and improve their energy over the past several years.

I think it is safe to say that Beachbody is here to stay, and I’m pretty confident that Susan and I will be very old people before we stop doing the programs (shoot, Tony Horton is 56 years old and still starring in these videos, so I’m sure I can keep doing them till I’m at least 70...or 80).

There is no magic pill. Improved health, fitness, and weight loss require hard work and proper nutrition. There is no way around it. Beachbody offers all the tool to get you there. All you have to provide is the intrinsic motivation to push play and follow the nutrition plan.

I really like Beachbody’s slogan, which is “Decide. Commit. Succeed.” That’s what we’ve done, and that’s all it takes for anyone who wants to make a change. Decide to make a change. Commit to a plan. Succeed in your plan. Our help is always here when you are ready.

High Fat, Low Carb

2015-10-15T17:26:00.001-05:00

Posted by Zach

There has been a lot of talk lately about the low carb/high fat (LCHF) diet. The concept can be a little scary and even misleading unless you really dig into the details. I became interested earlier this year and decided to test it out myself.

First, let me clear up some misconceptions. First, fat is not the enemy that we once thought it was. I personally feel that saturated fat from red meat should still be consumed in moderation. However, healthy fats from nuts, oils and other plant-based products can do wonders for your health and weight maintenance. Second, I think the key ingredient to the LCHF diet is not the high fat piece of the pie (so to speak), but the low carb piece. In my opinion, cutting out processed carbohydrates and sugar is the best thing you can do for your health and weight maintenance. The trick is to replace these food items with lots of healthy vegetables and fats while maintaining a moderate protein intake.

There are a ton of resources available on this subject. Just google (low carb high fat diet” and you will get over 5 million results. A good place to start is with one of the following two books written by Jeff Volek.

The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living
The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance

Dr. Volek has conducted some impressive studies on this subject, especially in the areas of endurance performance. The goal is to convert the body to rely on fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates or glucose. More information can be found on his website.

Another great resource is Dr. Phil Maffetone’s website. Maffetone is well-known for his creation of the 180 formula. The 180 formula is used as a heart rate training tool for endurance athletes. What I like about Maffetone is his overall approach to a healthy lifestyle. His two week test is a great way to get you on the path to being a fat-burner and following a low carb, high fat diet.

As I stated above, curiosity on this subject got the best of me earlier this year. I am the type of person that has to test it out myself to be a believer. So, I set in to change my diet. Now, my diet was pretty darn good to begin with. It did not take a ton of changes to convert to a low carb, high fat diet. The major changes made included cutting out my oatmeal that I ate for breakfast a couple of days each week along with the side of toast that I enjoyed with my eggs regularly. I would also skip the bread products or tortillas at any of the meals that included them. For example, if hamburgers are on the menu, mine becomes a hamburger salad.

My diet consists of tons of vegetables, moderate fruit, a lot of healthy fats, and lean protein. I keep my red meat consumption to a minimum. The majority of my protein comes from eggs (we have our own chickens), chicken breast, and fish. My fats consists mainly of avocados (I average about 1 per day), nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews, and brazil nuts), seeds (sunflower, hemp, flax, chia), and oils (olive, avocado, coconut).

My typical day looks like this:

Breakfast - Vegetable and fat dense smoothie consisting of: Shakeology (of course), half an avocado, kale or spinach, tablespoon of coconut oil, berries (strawberries, blueberries, etc.), ginger root, and some nuts and/or seeds. Throw it all in your Vitamix with some ice and water and give it a whirl until smooth and creamy.

Lunch - A huge salad with tons of leafy greens and other vegetables such as: cucumbers, celery, beets, bell peppers, tomatoes, red cabbage. I will usually top with a half an avocado, some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and some protein (hard-boiled eggs, grilled chicken breast, canned tuna or salmon, or edamame),

Snacks - If I need a snack during the day, it will usually be one of the following: an apple and some almonds, carrots, amazing grass supergreens powder and sunwarrior protein, or chia pudding.

Dinner - Basically, dinner is whatever Susan decides to prepare. The great thing is that I know it will be healthy and meet my goals. Our dinners are typically plant-based with the addition of some meat a few days each week. If I do have some carbs, this is the meal that I indulge. If I do, it is usually something along the lines of sweet potatoes or legumes.

So, what did I notice by this slight change in my diet?

A decrease in cravings and being hungry every 2-3 hours. I had been eating 5-6 meals per day. Now I eat 3-4. I rarely need a snack, and if I do, it is pretty small. Based on what I have read, this is due to my body learning how to tap into my fat stores for fuel. This is also a benefit for endurance athletes. Less need for fueling during long events.
An increase in my range on my long runs without the need for fuel. I have completed runs in excess of two hours on nothing more than water with no adverse effects. I can make it through the remainder of the day with regular eating and maintain my energy levels.
I have seen a slight decrease in my weight (about 5 pounds) and have managed to maintain this over several months. This may not sound like much, but I have stalled in the area for many years.
I have seen a decrease in my body fat percentage (I currently run about 9-10% bodyfat). I have been this low before, but it entailed some calorie restriction and lack of energy to complete workouts. I have not had to restrict my calories and my energy levels have been great. Even for high intensity efforts.
I have had a reduction in cravings for sweets. I still indulge on occasion, but the cravings are minor.

Is this diet for everyone? Definitely not. However, if you are carbohydrate intolerant and/or insulin resistant, this diet might be worth testing out. I would also recommend giving it a try if you are an endurance athlete and struggle with fueling/stomach issues during long events.

I must point out that I am not a doctor or nutritionist. I am just sharing my personal experience with a diet that has become quite the hype lately. It is always a good idea to check with your doctor or health-care provider before making any drastic lifestyle changes concerning diet or exercise.

Comment below if you have had any experience with LCHF. I would be interested to hear what others have experienced.

To close on an exercise note, Susan and I have been enjoying the new Beachbody on Demand. We can access hundreds of Beachbody workouts online at anytime. This is a great tool for those that travel for work or pleasure. Your workouts can go with you anywhere.

Workout of the day: 21 Day Fix Extreme - Plyo Fix

The Lesson of the Water Hyacinth

2015-09-30T20:09:00.000-05:00

Hey! Susan here. I'm so pleased to announce that Zach is going to start helping me keep this blog active by sharing some of his fitness and general life tips/observations. That's good because if you really want to know, he's the brains behind anything fitness that goes on in our household. He is a major researching and experimenting enthusiast, and as an ultra-marathoner (you'll never hear him call himself that, but I will!), he has some really great insight into the human body and mind. Our goal is to help as many people as possible, so I hope you enjoy a new perspective on the blog!

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The Lesson of the Water Hyacinth

The water hyacinth is one of the most beautiful and unusual plants on earth. A delicate flower with six petals, it ranges in color from blue to lavender to pink and floats on the surface of ponds in warm areas around the world.

What makes the water hyacinth really special is that it is one of the fastest-growing plants in the world. A single water hyacinth can produce as many as 5,000 seeds and sends out short stems that become new plants. Over time, a single water hyacinth continuously doubles itself - one plant becomes two plants, two plants become four plants, four plants become eight plants, and so on.

One day there was a very beautiful (and very small) water hyacinth growing near the edge of a big pond. Nobody ever noticed it. Nobody noticed the second day either, when it had doubled and there were now two plants. Nobody noticed the water hyacinth on the third day or the fourth day. Even though they kept doubling in numbers, the water hyacinths were so small on the big pond that you’d have to look very hard to see them.

For two weeks the water hyacinths continued to double, but still covered only one square foot of the pond, just a tiny part of its huge surface. On day 20, a person passing by the pond noticed something floating along the shore, but mistook it for a lost towel or a discarded trash bag. But by day 30, it was impossible to ignore the hyacinths, because a blanket of beautiful flowers now covered the pond’s entire surface.

The lesson of the water hyacinth is this: Small actions may not seem like much at first, but over time they have a compounding effect. All that means is that actions add up or intensify over time - you can get big results from small, daily steps. this is perhaps the most important lesson of the slight edge and it applies directly to your life.

Source: Success for Teens, by the editors of the Success Foundation

The water hyacinth in our lives are our choices. We make choices every hour of every day. The impact of these choices will spread throughout our lives like a blanket of water hyacinths covering a pond. We may not see or realize the results of our choices today, tomorrow, or even next year. However, the results of our actions become apparent by the fabric of our life that has been woven over the years.

This concept can be applied to any aspect of your life: losing weight, getting healthy, starting a business, learning to play the guitar, saving for retirement, etc. It sounds so easy. Just make the right choices day after day.

But if it’s so easy, why are we not all successful at the things we pursue? I think it’s because, while it sounds easy to do, it is also easy not to do. It’s easy to think that the burger we order for lunch isn’t going to make a huge impact on our life. But when we order that burger again and again over the weeks and months of our lives, it makes a difference. That doughnut on Sunday mornings? It makes a difference. That workout you chose to do instead of sleeping in? It makes a difference.

We must remember and understand that little steps make a difference. What results do you want? What actions will you choose today?

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Zach's Workout of the Day

8-mile run

The Tale of Two Laundry Bags

2015-09-09T22:16:00.001-05:00

This is the story of how two laundry bags taught me how people can look at life in two very different ways.

This is our laundry hamper.
It sits in my closet, as it has each day for the past nearly thirteen years of marriage.

A week ago, a spied a dreaded roach scurrying into my closet. In my desperate attempt to squash the life out of it before it took up residence in a shoe, I threw that hamper across the closet. When I determined that the roach was lost (probably to make its next appearance, I imagined, crawling up a sleeve onto my neck), I threw the hamper back in place and went on with life.

A day or so later, I noticed that, inexplicably, my husband had started putting the "whites" in the back hamper, when they had always gone in the front. I chalked it up to a miscue, but when it kept happening, I asked him why he was throwing the universe off kilter by throwing whites in the back and not the front.

"Because whites go in blue, and darks go in black," he replied.

"No," I politely replied. "Whites go in front and darks go in back."

"Front and back has nothing to do with it. It's about the color of the bag."

Mind = Blown.

In 13 years, not once have I noticed that the whites happened to go in the blue bag and the darks in black. I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense...blacks...dark. But I never looked at it that way. I was all about the position of the bag, not the color.

Isn't life like that in so many ways?

"There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so." - William Shakespeare

I read a really great book this summer that I want to recommend to you. It's not new; in fact, I've been meaning to read it for years.

Chapman proposes that there are five different ways people give and receive love: acts of service, quality time, gifts, physical touch, and words of affirmation.

This book made sense to me on so many levels. If you're running around giving gifts to someone whose primary love language is quality time, you're going to be upset because it seems that they don't appreciate the gift. And your partner is wondering why you're wasting money on gifts because they just want you to quit spending money and start spending time with them.

I learned that I'm a "Words of Affirmation" gal. I run around doing acts of service like cooking great dinners and attempting to keep a clean house because I'm fishing for compliments...I really just want people to tell me I'm a good cook...and also that I'm smart and pretty.

Zach is a quality time kind of guy, and always has been. I remember even back when we were first dating that he was adamant about spending weekends hunting with his Dad because that was precious time that he wouldn't have once his Dad got older and couldn't do that stuff anymore. Looking back, I'm glad he took those weekends.

It works on kids, too. When I asked Kate how she knows I love her, she said it was because I "kiss and hug her." That was an easy one...that "Physical Touch" girl has had to be on someone's lap since she came home from the hospital. Drew's answer to that same question? "Uh...I dunno. When you make me lunch." I guess that's Acts of Service?

Anyway, it was eye-opening, and I highly recommend you find out for yourself the dynamic you have going in your own household.

As for us, you can tell by the picture above that once we cleared the confusion, I went ahead and moved the blue bag to the front so that we can both be "right" when it comes to the whites.

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Workout of the Day

Beachbody on Demand Challenge Du Jour - Insanity Round 18

I'm loving these daily workouts on the On Demand channel! Our television in the garage blew up, so our entire library of DVDs is basically useless. We've been streaming our workouts on the phone or computer and it's opened up a whole new group of workouts I've never done before! Love it.

My Mom and the Fix

2015-08-17T11:14:00.002-05:00

When I became a Team Beachbody Coach nearly five years ago, I had grand plans to help hundreds of people kick butt and take names by doing P90X. And also become a Beachbody millionaire, pay off our mortgage, and take the family to Hawaii for Christmas.

Yeah, so...most of that stuff hasn't happened. We did take a fabulous and memorable vacation to Disney World, but the rest of my Team Beachbody success has been marginal at best, not because of the company or its products by any means, but because of my own effort (or lack thereof) when it came to working the business side of things.

One thing that has remained constant in five years though (aside from drinking Shakeology), is that we use these workout programs on a daily basis. And when a new one comes out, we try it so that we can recommend (or not recommend) it to people.

In Spring of 2014 I finally got my hands on the 21 Day Fix (after a long wait due to back order), and Zach and I dove in. We figured out the containers, made spreadsheets, and followed the program to a "T."

I was blown away. It is the real deal, and to this day it is the only program that I recommend without any hesitation because if you follow the program exactly, you will SUCCEED. The reason is because The 21 Day Fix is the whole package: it's solid workouts paired with a solid eating plan. If you follow the plan, you cannot screw up. You are going to see results.

It was fresh off completing the Fix that I told my Mom she ought to try the Fix. My Mom is someone who has struggled with food and weight for most of her life. She got trapped in "cut calories to lose weight" mindset, and although she successfully lost weight at several points in her life, it inevitably came back once she started eating regular portions again. This wreaked havoc on her metabolism, as that's what happens when you don't eat enough: your body freaks out and starts holding on to weight because it thinks it's starving.

When her Fix package came in the mail, she looked through the materials, and then put the whole thing away. Then she looked at it again, and put it away. After letting the system marinate in her mind for a few weeks, she decided to start in May 2014.

My Mom is someone who loves lists and organization. She loves to plan, and prepare, and think, and measure, obsess for a bit, and then think about it some more. Little did she know that the Fix fits PERFECTLY with someone of that mindset.

The weeks went by, and she started getting used to this new way of eating...and I mean EATING! She said she'd never eaten so much in her life when she was on a "diet," and was also getting used to eating more protein and less carbs than usual.

The pounds starting falling off. And off. And off some more.

I remember her delight, shock, and elated text messages after morning weigh ins: "I lost three more pounds!" "I fit in some pants I haven't worn in years!" "I just bought 'skinny jeans!"

She couldn't believe that this plan...this plan where you eat five times a day, where you measure out your portions in containers, where you manage your food intake but can eat REAL FOOD on a regular basis, where she was NOT HUNGRY, was actually WORKING!

It was an easy, workable plan that allowed her to go out to eat and still make sensible choices. She could enjoy life and eat a slice of pizza occasionally without going off the rails. Her metabolism picked up, and plateau after plateau was busted. Just when she thought she'd leveled off, a few more pounds would be incinerated.

After more than a year, she has lost 30 pounds! And more than that, her doctor has told her that she can stop taking blood pressure medication that she has been on for 30 YEARS. And even more than that, she has so much pride in her accomplishment and feels so good. It's easier to garden, it's easier to walk several miles a day. She has energy. She is radiant!

If you ask her, she will say that she takes comfort in the plan. She still writes down what she eats every day, and if she goes on vacation and is forced to stray from the plan, she is eager to get back to it. And her body has responded in kind, maintaining the weight loss and keeping her metabolism humming.

Maybe my expectations for financial success in Team Beachbody have fallen short, but as for helping people? If I never help another person, becoming a Team Beachbody Coach will have been worth it because of helping just this one person. Seeing my Mom find success through The 21 Day Fix has been the most gratifying "help" I have ever given. All I did was hand her the tool, but she built the house. She decided to do it, committed to the plan, and succeeded. I am so proud of her!

Workout of the Day

Body Beast: Build Legs

The Beast wants to kill your legs! Done and done.

Camper Chronicles, parts 2 and 3

2015-08-04T16:33:00.000-05:00

Oh man, where is the summer going? It seems that I look up and it's Saturday again...and again...and again. My home school planning (yes, I thought I'd try planning this year, as opposed to my strategy from last year which was: SURVIVE. And read books) is ramping up, and I'm getting excited for fall. But I hope it doesn't come too fast, because we have a camper that we need to reassemble in time for fall camping trips!

So, when we left off, the camper had no floor and the walls were precariously perched on a redneck car lift (read: cinder blocks and railroad ties). If OSHA were to have come by, there would have been, um, violations. And if they saw what it took to get that floor back under the camper, there probably would have been jail time. Kidding! At least the children weren't involved.

Here's what we were dealing with. We purchased, painted, and installed new wood onto the trailer to serve as the sub-floor. Relatively easy process, which was taken care of one weeknight evening. But to get the walls put back on, you had to slide the trailer back under the camper, and then feed a thin piece of sheet metal through the space between the floor and the trailer frame. Does that make sense? Here's a picture of the metal that needed to go between the floor and frame:

In the picture below, Zach is preparing to lower the walls.

It was ugly. We just started pulling out the railroad ties and letting the jack down on the back, and then lowered the front. The tricky part was making sure the walls and floor lined up relatively well.

Shortly after the picture above, it was done. That was (I think) the hardest bit of this whole project (well, unless you count "sewing curtains," which may prove to be my personal Mount Everest. I use quotation marks in "sewing" because, well, you haven't seen my "sewing"). There was some wiggling and an attempt to move the entire camper about 1/4 inch backward, but in the end we figured close enough is close enough.

Then Zach removed all the curtains and hardware and painted the ceiling.

Some guy on Craigslist had free countertop he wanted to get rid of, and we were headed down past his house on the way to some friends' house for dinner, so we picked it up. I was not anticipating that it would have a bunch of paint and stuff on it, but I think I'll be able to clean it up fairly easily.

Last weekend we installed some vinyl flooring. I know, vinyl flooring is cheap and yucky, but let's keep in mind that this is a 20-year-old trailer where devil rodents routinely invade and poop on the floor. We're not going for high dollar. Besides, I think it turned out pretty nice.

We have purchased paneling, and that's the next step in the process. Zach will panel the walls, frame out the cabinets, and build some cabinet doors. Actually, now that I think about it, I bet the electrical and plumbing will come next, as holes will need to be drilled for those.

Now that the floor is back on, we're all breathing much easier. Now it's the fun part of reassembling, decorating, and focusing on making a tiny space as functional as possible. Where should we go for our first trip out in the refurbished camper?

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Workout of the Day

Tony Horton One on One, Vol. 1 - Just Arms

A classic! Biceps, forearms, triceps.

For some odd reason both Zach and I are having trouble with our left shoulders. His started as a knot from driving home 13 hours straight from New Mexico, and has just not gotten better. I noticed a tweak in mine after doing Game Day from Asylum right before New Mexico, and it has gotten worse, not better. I'm icing and trying to rest it, but it's hard to rest a shoulder when you're a boot camp instructor and also when you like to show your kids how to do cartwheels.

The Camper Chronicles

2015-07-22T10:10:00.001-05:00

Four years ago, there was a lot of road construction in our town. The detours forced us to take some Farm to Market roads that we wouldn't ordinarily travel, and one day, along one of those roads, there was a triangle camper set up in someone's yard. I mentioned it when I got home one day.

"Hey, did you see that triangle camper over on Helms Trail?"
"Yeah! I've never seen a camper like that...we should go check it out," Zach said.

We had owned a used, rapidly-deteriorating pop-up camper ever since our first year of marriage. The canvases were wearing thin and you never knew what might break next. I always told the kids to make themselves scarce during pop-up set-up, because it was always a tense time with high likelihood of cursing the pop-up and its creators.

So that afternoon we went and checked out that triangle camper, which we learned was called an "A-Liner." This, too, was an aging pop-up camper, but it was SO COOL! No canvas, super compact, very light. We talked to the owner. We went back home.

"What if we sold our pop-up? Would you be interested in getting that camper if he'd work us a deal?" Zach asked.

"Totally."

Craigslist had our camper sold within two days, and we went to pick up our new camper. I remember people asking us, "Oh, so you got rid of the pop-up...Did you upgrade?"

"Well...sort of?"

The fact of the matter was that we "upgraded" to a 1996 model A-Liner with half the size, no heat, and only one bed for the kids. But we LOVED it! This thing was so easy to tow, easy to put up, and it still had all the amenities we need for camping. I mean, the idea when camping is to get out, not stay inside, right?

We have enjoyed our triangle camper for four years, taking it to Palo Duro Canyon several times, camping our way across the country on our way to Wisconsin, and this summer, on our way to New Mexico. Zach has made modifications to the camper, adding bunk beds, shelving, hanging racks, and a bike rack. It works perfectly for us.

Here's a picture of her in all her glory at Guadalupe Mountain National Park in far West Texas:

But somewhere in the middle of New Mexico, we had a small disaster; a tire blow out caused the tread of the tire to whip around and destroy the wheel well, blowing a hole in the floor, a cabinet, and ripping the wiring out of the air conditioner and a socket.

When I hopped out of the truck to see what we knew was a flat tire, I saw wires wound around the tire and some contents of the camper hanging out of a hole.

"Oh. NO!"

A bit more than an hour on the side of the road and Zach had us on the road again.

(Aside: This trip had several disasters that stemmed from this blowout, including an unidentified devil rodent that used the hole in the camper to terrorize us throughout the week. The first time he weasled in and ate a pound of trail mix and tore through a tupperware container of peanut butter. After the food was safely stored in the truck, he continued to visit us daily to leave poop in the camper and tear open packets of coffee. It was truly disgusting. All that to say that I pointed out to our children that in case of a disaster, there is no other person I'd want around than my husband, who is as handy and clear-headed a person as I've ever met.)

After securing a spare tire in Santa Fe, our lame camper was able to make it safely back home to Austin. Which brings us to our latest home-away-from-home improvement, replacing the floor on our camper. And while we are at it, we decided to go ahead and give the whole thing a face lift, including new flooring, cabinets, siding, and curtains.

This project has quickly morphed from, "Hey, yeah...let's just pull up the floor and replace that bit that's bad," to "Hmm, maybe we need to look at replacing the whole floor," to "OH MY GOSH WHY IS THE TOP OF THE CAMPER SEPARATED FROM THE BOTTOM AND SITTING ON BLOCKS IN MY YARD?" It's been spectacular.

I'll chronicle our adventures here, 'cause I'm guessing this is going to go from bad, to worse, to better, to awesome...and I don't want to miss or forget a thing!

Here's a photo tour of last weekend's work:

Beginning of tear out. This is where our bed and converted table usually are.

Here's how the camper looks when it's all together in one piece:

Busted cabinet and door removed from camper:

So, apparently, all you have to do to disassemble a camper is detach the floor, jack up the walls, and pull the trailer forward. That's what has happened here. The camper walls and ceiling are quite light; they are made of Styrofoam with aluminum on either side.

Kids surfing on the trailer. You can see that in addition to the hole we found some rot, which is another reason to pursue a brand new floor.

Removing the floor from the trailer:

And removing the paneling...a nasty, splintering job. This isn't going to be a fun part. The paneling on the back side cannot be removed, though, and so we will have to just panel over it.

And that's where we are now! The kids are instructed not to go near our little redneck palace on blocks while it's not attached to its trailer. Last night we went and picked up the new floor, and I emailed a guy on Craigslist about some free counter top that he is trying to get rid of. We also need to decide what to put on the floor. The goal is to have the floor put back on this weekend so we can lower the walls back down ASAP. Excited to see how we pull this thing together! (And by "we," I mostly mean Zach...I'll help where I can, but I'm not afraid to admit he's the brains of this operation.)

Workout of the Day

Isn't this a fitness blog? Oh yes, it is. And we're still fitnessing! I'm doing a hybrid of about a million programs right now. Today I did T25 Speed 1.0, and yesterday we did P90X Plus Upper, and the day before that it was Beast Bulk Legs. Enjoying some variety!

Educate Yourself

2015-04-20T14:16:00.001-05:00

Subtitled: Don't be a savvy marketer's silly victim

So there is this thing called Cookie Butter. Have you heard of it?

It is ~~awesome~~ the devil. It's crushed up spiced shortbread cookies mixed with oils to create a ridiculously good topping for bread, pretzels, apples, ice cream, your spoon, your finger...pretty much whatever you have nearby. It's sooooo good. But totally, totally unhealthy. It's cookies, sugar, and oil. The End.

The only saving grace of Cookie Butter is that it was safely tucked away on the shelves at Trader Joe's, a store I frequent maybe on a quarterly basis. I'd get a couple jars a year, the kids were happy, all was right with the world.

But then.

Then.

The other day the kids and I were at my local grocery store, and this has happened:

HEB Cookie Butter. Same company makes it. Same deliciousness. How do I know? Ummm...I guess I had to check it out, you know? To see if it tasted the same? To make sure they hadn't gotten anything wrong during the transition over to the new store?

So of course all of central Texas is abuzz with the news about Cookie Butter's debut at HEB. And that is when the following conversation took place.

Location and identities withheld to protect the innocent.

"Hey, check it out! HEB has cookie butter now! It used to just be at Trader Joe's!"
"Wow, that's cool...and delicious too! Is it healthy?"
"No, it's not healthy...it's crushed up cookies."
"Oh. Well maybe you should go get the Trader Joe's version, 'cause it will be healthier!"

AND, curtain falls.

Oh, people. People. Do you not realize that not everything in Trader Joe's is healthy? And I'd venture to say that more than 50% of the items in Trader Joe's are not healthy? It's basically healthier versions of processed food that you would get in any other grocery store. It's still frozen dinners, it's still sugared cereal, it's still crushed up shortbread cookies with oil and sugar.

But fancy marketing and the store layout makes us think that Trader Joe's has a gold seal of healthy approval.

You've got to go to the source...the label! Find out what the labels mean. What does 4 grams of sugar equate to? (SPOILER ALERT: 1 teaspoon.) What are all these different oils in the cookie butter jar? Can I pronounce these ingredients? (If not, put it down.)

Become a food detective and take some ownership in what you're putting in your body. If you're okay with eating cookie butter (and in sparing amounts, I AM), then cool! But don't assume that a store and its image is going to take care of making sure you eat healthy food.

**************

Workout of the Day

21 Day Fix Extreme Plyo

Beachbody On Demand

2015-03-26T14:52:00.000-05:00

This August will mark seven years (seven years!) since Zach and I started our first round of P90X. Not long after we started amassing a huge library of DVD workouts, and not long after that...we started wondering when in the world Beachbody would come up with a streaming service so we didn't need all these DVDs anymore.

It's finally here!

Beachbody on Demand (BOD) is like Netflix for fitness. There are hundreds of workouts on there, including all three P90X programs, INSANITY, Asylum, Brazil Butt Lift, ChaLEAN Extreme...the list goes on and on. It is pretty stinking cool.

BOD allows you to stream workouts to your computer, phone, tablet, or mobile device. If you travel a lot, or are someone who likes Beachbody programs but also likes the gym scene, this is FOR YOU! It's also for people who like variety in their fitness without shilling out a whole bunch of cash for a bunch of different workouts.

Plus, it's not just the workouts out there online; it's everything. Nutrition guides, fitness tests, calendar, program guide...the whole shebang.

After seven years, I still think the workouts that Beachbody produces are the best out there. They are comprehensive and demanding, and I like the fact that you don't have to think about it. Follow the schedule, pop in the DVD, work your tail off. The end! And now you can take that with you wherever you go.

Here's how to do it.

First, go to SmellsLikeFitness.com.

Click on "Join the Club." To access BOD you must be a Team Beachbody Club member.

If you've already got a Beachbody login ID, then simply sign in. If not, create an account.

Then fill out the payment info. The Club costs $38.87 per quarter. That's less than $3 per week. It's billed four times a year.

Y'all, this is super cool stuff. Right now you can try it for free for 30 days!

If you have any questions at all, just holler.

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Workout of the Day

21 Day Fix Extreme: Lower Fix

Oh my goodness, this program is Kicking. Our. Tail. I am so sore and my legs are so tired! It is an awesome, intense program and Autumn Calabrese is NOT MESSING AROUND. These 30 minutes are jam packed with butt kicking moves. I love it!

Idyllic

2015-01-28T17:10:00.001-06:00

I am not a rebellious, anti-establishment person.

I've spent most of my life doing "the norm." School, good grades, college, respectable job, marriage, children. I am married to someone who is equally disposed.

And so it was remarkable with just how little trepidation -- after a season of due diligence that included book research and personal interviews, of course -- that we removed our children from the public school system.

Maybe that's how I knew it was the right thing to do.

Beyond what was naturally ingrained in me as a child in the United States, I have never felt so proud and fortunate to be an American before I considered that I truly had the choice to run my life -- and my children's lives -- in the way that I saw fit.

Without really much consideration as to whether it was the best thing for them or not, when my children came of age I sent them to public school for years; my son for four and my daughter for two. I blindly trusted the system to protect and arm their minds with the knowledge they needed to succeed in life. And in some ways that was very comfortable. I was not responsible for what they learned.

As I grow up, I'm confronted more and more with how the truth is often very backward from what you would suspect. I never suspected that by taking on the very serious responsibility of educating our children, that we would find joy, renewed curiosity about the world, and freedom. That our imaginations would be sparked and our dinner conversations would be more complex than ever before. That the stress of hustle and bustled lives would dissolve. That we would struggle, and be able to use that struggle to teach important lessons.

While in these six short months I have become a proponent of home schooling, I would concede that it's not for everyone. I have particularly amiable, willing students. However, I'd also like to posit that it's for more people than may have that realization.

If you've wondered if it's good for your kids to be stressed out in elementary school...If you've ever thought maybe you're not so sure you would expose your child to this subject matter or another before they are ten, but felt helpless to do anything about it...If you've ever thought it would be nice for your child to get some more freedom to learn the way they learn best, or have more one-on-one time with the teacher...If you are one of those people who are sad to see your children go back to school at the end of a long summer...

Far be it from me to be a militant home schooler. As trite as it sounds, everyone must travel their own path. But if the only thing stopping you is some fear in your head that "I'm not smart enough to teach my children," let me try to alleviate that pain. There are more resources out there than you can shake a stick at. Some come in the form of literature, and others come in the form of friendly (non-bun-wearing, surprisingly engaging, non-denim-jumper wearing) home school moms and dads, who have found joy in the ultimate child-rearing responsibility.

My saving grace has been Classical Conversations and the support I've found through their curriculum and the community of people we meet with weekly. Their very accurate tagline is "making classical education approachable." If you've never heard of a classical education before, read about it. When I did, I felt like I was putting on a comfortable old jacket. I remember thinking, "Yes! This is what I think education should be like. This is how and what I want my children to learn. This is what I think of when I think about someone who got a good, solid education."

If your heart is stirred toward something, I believe God will put people in your path to show you the right direction. You have to start down the path, but the people you meet along the way will provide you with the things you need to progress.

I know I sound very confident. Does that mean that I don't question our decision to home school? On the contrary; I believe the hallmark of parenting is the constant, looming question of whether or not our kids will one day sit on the bench at a psychiatrist, bemoaning the fact that "they home schooled me!" All we can do is make the best decisions with the information we have, and hope that our best efforts and intentions will set these kids on the path of becoming the very best version of themselves.

********

When I drive home from boot camp at 6:40 in the morning, I see my neighbor pile her four boys (aged 6 months to 13 years) into the van before the sun is up, hurrying to get each kid where he needs to go on time. As we eat breakfast, the kids in our neighborhood wait outside for the bus. They've probably been up for an hour or more. We bid Dad farewell and the kids sneak upstairs for 30 minutes to play before we start school. I finish my tea and wrap up my boot camp social media posting duties, and I wander upstairs to start the day.

More days than not, I am excited about the day's planned events. We hit all the subjects and then pause for a park break if the weather is good. We sit outside in the sun and I read books aloud. They ask questions, and I get a deeper insight into their unique and amazing personalities. If Dad has a trip and we want to tag along, we go. We are silly. We visit museums. We laugh. I cajole. We follow rabbits down holes. We test on Fridays, and when they are done the kids let loose a ball of energy and nerves that has them whooping and wrestling in their rooms. It is...idyllic. I can't believe I get to do this each day.

When Zach was a principal, I attended each of the graduation ceremonies over which he presided. I never failed to tear up at the video showing the kids as kindergartners and then seniors in high school. The emotion of the parents and their baffled looks about just where these 18 years had gone was palpable. It left a big impression on me.

Child rearing is a stage. They will be gone before you know it. We are not promised anything in this life...not a single day. Are you living a life of your own design? Because you can. You are allowed. You have permission to take the reigns of your life and steer it in a totally different direction than you may have ever thought possible. And in taking responsibility, you just may find unexpected freedom and joy, and time with your children that can never be replaced.

Reviewing The BEAST

2015-01-27T17:48:00.001-06:00

Beachbody's Body Beast workout was released more than two years ago, and Zach and I have been avoiding it for a long, long time.

The reason for the avoidance was mostly because Zach has been endurance training for marathons and ultra-marathons for several years, and heavy weights and endurance training aren't generally on friendly terms.

Meet your host, Sagi Kalev, the BEAST.
Former member of the Israeli Army, two-time "Mr. Israel," and Clinical Nutritionist.

But over the past two years, I've known more and more people who have tried -- and absolutely loved -- this program. First was a fellow Beachbody Coach, who was so dedicated to the program that he flew to Las Vegas during Beachbody's Summit meeting to appear in the first annual Beast Figure Competition. He told us this program changed his life. He has gone on to work one-on-one with Sagi through his Dallas-based Clinical Nutrition company.

Then there was Zach's cousin and his wife, who have used the program for a long time now. Eric used the program and became Beast-y enough to appear in the Houston Fire Department's Calendar as "Mr. September."

And Eric's wife says this is the program that has changed her body the most of any program she has ever done.

Even Bo Duke loves the Beast.

So, basically, I was fitness peer pressured.

We have completed the "Build" phase and have moved on to the second phase, "Bulk." We did three weeks of Build and are about to wrap up week three of Bulk.

Going into this program I was a little bored, fitness-wise. We have been dabbling in P90X3, T25, PiYo, and whatever else we felt like for a few months. I was burned out on cardio and looking for something totally new, and have found it in Beast.

This is a traditional weight lifting program. You stand there and lift heavy weight. A lot. Zach says it's very similar to the workouts that he did when he played college football. What he has been surprised about, however, is that the reps are high and there is not a lot of wasted time. He expected to be lifting heavy weight for five reps, waiting 2-3 minutes, and then lifting more. Sagi has designed this program to move quickly, using super sets, giant sets, and progressive sets to completely pound the muscle group of the day. You're doing 15, 12, then 8 reps, then sometimes a drop set (lighter weight for eight reps) or sometimes moving to a progressive set, which has you reverse the order for 8, 12, then 15 reps. Progressive sets are killer.

Personally, I'm enjoying it. The workouts range from 30-45 minutes and you feel like you've worked out hard when you're done. I went into this routine wanting to drop a few pounds of holiday weight, and that has not happened (despite cleaning up my nutrition, AKA not eating chocolate anymore). However, my body fat percentage is dropping, which shows that I'm building muscle and losing fat. I can live with that! I've also enjoyed several of the meals in the Beast nutrition plan, including Power Granola and turkey meatballs.

Zach is not enjoying this program. He remains in training for endurance running events, and this is a program in direct opposition to his goals. An endurance athlete's cross training should include weight work, but not to this degree. Zach likes programs that are about functional fitness with moves that help you run faster, jump further, and climb stuff (P90X2 is his favorite). Body Beast is about building big muscles and lookin' good. But, because we enjoy working out together, he is humoring me for a few months. He continues to run most days of the week and "Beasts Up" with me on non-boot camp days and after work on camp days.

We plan to finish the Beast and move on to 21 Day Fix Extreme, which is set to release in February. I'm glad to have the Beast workouts in our arsenal, and I know no matter what program we do I won't leave these behind, particularly the leg workouts.

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Workout of the Day

Beast Legs

Three kitchen tools that are rocking my world

2015-01-03T09:24:00.000-06:00

I purchased an embarrassing amount of "As Seen on TV" products this Christmas.

From the Scrub Daddys I gave out at my "Favorite Things" Party for my boot camp chicks:

The most successful product ever invested in on "Shark Tank," my favorite show EVER.

To the "Chord Buddy" we bought to go with our family gift, a guitar:

Also seen on "Shark Tank." This fabulous little item has us playing simple tunes mere weeks after Christmas. It's super fun.

To the "Veggetti" purchased in a whirling, last-minute trip to Bed Bath & Beyond where I finished up the last of my Christmas shopping purchasing fabulous items I never knew I (and my family members) needed.

I'm a sucker for that little red square in the corner. If it's on TV, it's got to be good, right?

You've probably seen the Veggetti or something like it advertised someplace or another. It's the little tool that lets you easily cut zucchini or yellow squash into thin noodle ribbons.

Y'all, pasta is SO 2014. Just look at how you can cut calories and carbs with the Veggetti:

Last year I was working with a client who was doing The 21 Day Fix, and she told me that she fixed pasta one night for dinner, but it didn't turn out to be many noodles in that yellow container. My response: "Why are you eating pasta?" It's not that it isn't allowed on the plan, but why eat pasta when you can have way MORE "noodles" that have less calories and more health benefits. That goes for spaghetti squash, or these fabulous little Veggetti noodles.

This tool is super affordable (about $15) and very easy to use. Just wash your veg, and twist it through the machine by hand. You can eat them raw, or saute them in a pan for a few minutes before you slather your delicious, homemade sauce on top. When we ate these we also had some awesome Body Beast turkey meatballs.

The Veggetti needs to be in your kitchen arsenal!

I don't know if my next item has ever appeared on television or not, but it sure makes my weekend mornings fun. It's the Aerolatte milk frother.

Comes with a convenient carrying case, so if I stay the night at your house I may whip this puppy out and make you a latte.

I've decided that I much prefer our coffee at home to Starbucks (or anywhere else, for that matter). I like my coffee fresh and weak. I also like lattes, so this is fancying up my coffee in a big way. All you do is put a little bit of milk at the bottom of your cup, stick the frother in there and run it for about 20 seconds. Then pour your coffee in and you've got yourself a home made latte. Love it!

And finally, this. The BIG Christmas present:

This.

This is NOT just a blender. If, one day, I go to turn on my car and it will not start, I will hook it to my Vitamix and drive to town.

This is a blender like I've never experienced before. My dream blender (as I've referred to it for the past several years).

Do you know what this thing can do? You can put ingredients for soup into this blender, turn it on high for 5 minutes, and the force of the engine (I guess? Maybe it's centrifugal force? Sounds like a home school research project in the making) makes the soup HOT. It steams out the top! And then you pour it in your bowl and eat it! There are not enough exclamation points to tell you how cool this thing is! ! !

!

So far we've made our Shakeology in it (of course), and it pulverized kale so thoroughly that I couldn't tell it was there. We've made apple sauce, tomato soup, acorn squash soup, smooth roasted red pepper hummus, and chocolate fondue. The fondue was a trip...you put whipping cream and chocolate chips (plus some orange zest and vanilla) into the blender, then whipped it up. When it got hot and pourable, you put it in a bowl and dipped all manner of yummy fruit in it.

And then a special bonus: we didn't eat all the fondue, so I put it in a container in the fridge. The next day it had hardened into a fabulous chocolate mousse-like substance that in my opinion was better than the fondue!

On the Vitamix menu today: peanut butter! I can't wait to make our own peanut butter.

In summation, you need to hit the stores and pick up a Veggetti and a milk frother ASAP. And if you've got some cash on hand, look into a Vitamix (they ain't cheap). At the very least put it on your long-term list of dream items for your kitchen.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!

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Workout of the Day

T25 Beta Core Cardio

We just finished week 3 of Body Beast, and will be posting our thoughts about the program soon. We've been taking weekends off from the Beast for cardio and yoga, and this week will be a recovery week before we get back to Beast mode.

Programming note: We will be doing another round of the 21 Day Fix starting SOON, so if you're interested in trying this program, please visit www.SmellsLikeFitness.com and look for the 21 Day Fix Challenge Pack, which is on sale this month for $140. It gets you the program AND 30 days' worth of Shakeology, which is a stinkin' bargain -- that's like getting the Fix program for 11 bucks!

A Smoothie King in Sheep's Clothing

2014-12-14T20:41:00.001-06:00

I walked into the Smoothie King and had to squint my eyes. What a clean, bright establishment! Larger than life photos of happy, healthy people and huge letters encouraging me to "Be Good" to myself wrapped around the store.

But I knew going in that Smoothie King is a sugared-up wolf in sheep's clothing.

I don't normally patronize Smoothie King. But I live in a new town and need to promote my Texas Fit Chicks boot camp, so I visited the establishment in the hopes of dropping off a flier or two and reaching people who have a desire to "be healthy." So my daughter and I decided to throw them some business one Saturday morning.

As per usual when we go out to eat, Zach and I visited the nutrition website to select a healthy smoothie before I was standing at the counter to make a decision.

I was utterly flabbergasted at the nutritional listing of the smoothies. I'd estimate 99% of these things are nothing but sugar bombs. Here are a few of the highlights (review it yourself here). Note that these are for the 20 ounce "small" smoothies:

Remember, to convert grams to teaspoons, divide by 4
- Orange Ka-BAM -- 469 calories, 108 grams of sugar (the equivalent of 27 teaspoons of sugar)
- Lemon Twist Strawberry -- 398 calories, 94 grams of sugar (23 teaspoons)
- Coconut Surprise -- 460 calories, 64 grams of fat, 83 grams of sugar (20 teaspoons)

I could go on and on. And on.

Do you know what sugar is doing to us as a country?
- Weight gain
- Diabetes
- Impaired immune system
- Increased risk of heart disease
- Leptin resistance (causing an inability to tell when we've had enough food)
- Cancer
- Sugar addiction

And more:

I'd be willing to bet that the average person on the street considers a stop at Smoothie King to be a healthy choice. One that is helping, not hurting, their attempts to live a healthy lifestyle.

And then they order the equivalent of 25 teaspoons of sugar.

As a personal trainer and fitness nutrition specialist, it is so frustrating to see deceptive marketing everywhere you look. Without guidance or a desire to really find out what is healthy and what is not, the average person does not stand a chance in a grocery store or restaurant.

Now Provides Fiber!

Come. On.

From the LiveStrong website:

Sugar is the first ingredient on the list in Kellogg's Froot Loops. Grains include whole-grain corn flour, wheat flour, which is not a whole grain, and whole-grain oat flour. Froot Loops contains oat fiber and soluble corn fiber. This cereal contains hydrogenated vegetable oil, a trans fat. It also contains natural fruit flavors and several dyes and artificial colors. It's fortified with vitamins and minerals and contains BHT, a chemical preservative. A 1-cup serving contains 110 calories, 1 g of fat, 25 g of carbohydrates, including 3 g of fiber and 12 g of sugar, and 1 g of protein.

Sugar is sugar is sugar. Whether it's coming to you in the form of a banana or Froot Loops does not matter. While it's not popular to stand up and say you ought to limit the amount of fruit that you eat, it is true that we need to keep an eye on our fruit intake in addition to watching added sugar. Which is everywhere!

- Yogurt
- Instant oatmeal
- Ketchup
- Peanut butter
- Jarred tomato sauce

It's everywhere.

Here are some of sugar's aliases:

Ugh. My trip to Smoothie King was weeks ago, and I'm still disturbed by it.

By the way, I did find a smoothie with no sugar in it -- the Gladiator. At 180 calories, 45 grams of protein and no added sugar, it was a good choice in a sea of bad choices. The best choice on the kids' menu was the "Choc-A-Laka" with 210 calories, 15 grams of sugar, and 13 grams of protein. It's made of frozen yogurt and cocoa, and contains 255 mg of sodium. Ho hum.

Be careful out there, people.

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Workout of the Day

P90X3 Yoga

Six Months Later

2014-12-10T12:28:00.000-06:00

Wow, now that was quite a blogging hiatus! Six months later and our life looks quite different than it did on May 28, back in Dallas/Fort Worth making homemade laundry detergent.

The past two years have been turbulent for our family, to say the least. Without going into too much hairy detail, suffice it to say that we have been put through the pressure cooker, and have come out on the other side wiser, humbler, and thankful. Things happened to us that were utterly, completely bewildering to me. In the process I learned that God does not do things TO us, but he does things FOR us...even though at times that was very hard to swallow.

We learned about good friends. We learned about tough decisions. We learned about flexibility. We learned about letting go. Here are just a few of the changes in our life over the last six months:

1. We moved to suburban Austin.

Three hours and 200 miles south of our old homestead, we now live in bustling Cedar Park, north of Austin. It did not take long for us to like it here. It is a great place to have a family, with tons of activities, a great library, tons of grocery stores -- a Sprouts just a mile from the house! I was immediately struck with just how nice people are here. It's not unusual for someone to chat with you at the park, and as my commuting husband will attest, drivers actually let you in when you try to merge. It's all very refreshing.

2. We are home schooling our kids.

Considering that my husband just spent ten years in the public school system, you might think that our decision to home school our two children is some sort of statement on today's public schools or anyone who chooses to send their kids there. It is not.

Public schools are very important to our society. Zach continues to support the institution in his current position; in fact, he is able to help more districts now than the single district he used to work for. For many students, public school -- and the wonderful, dedicated teachers who work there -- is among the only positive things in their day-to-day life.

But Zach and I have the desire, the resources, and the ability to teach our children at home. We also have some very fantastic, very bright children. While I admit that my first response to Zach's suggestion that we home school the kids was, "WHAAAAT? You want me to do WHAAAAAT?", it has been among the best experiences of my life.

As our research proved during the decision-making process, I uncovered the fact that not all home schooling mothers wear embroidered denim jumpers and buns in their hair. And when I met the other moms in our home schooling co-op group (where we meet each Tuesday), I found out that these people are smart, talented, and dedicated to giving their kids an excellent education. A classically trained opera singer, a nuclear engineer, an illustrator of books about Mesopotamian hieroglyphics (that is a real thing, apparently!) are just a few of the moms in our group.

I am learning history, Latin, science, and math right alongside my kids, and in the process I learn more and more about the pure awesomeness (put that on a vocab quiz!) of my kids. Our family relationship has grown so much in the last four months. I could go on and on about it, but I'll just jot down a few of the things that I love about doing school at home:

- Learning is constant -- not just 8-3. When the kids were in school, I found it difficult to extract what it was they were learning about, so reinforcement was lacking. Now we learn, then reinforce all day long, and then talk to Dad about it at dinner. We are learning all the time.

- We can go as fast -- or slow -- as we want. Today Kate finished up 1st grade math curriculum, and so we will move on to 2nd grade math.

- Quality play time. We get so much work done in less time, which means more time for parks, Legos, reading, field trips, library visits, imagining, silly games, and more.

- Less stress. Quite simply, I have never seen my children so happy. "I used to dread Mondays," Drew told me a few weeks ago. "Now I look forward to them, because I want to see all the new stuff we're going to learn." That alone makes this decision worthwhile.

3. Zach gets to be home from work at 5:30pm.

This is a really big deal. He is home from work, and work does not follow him home. No one calls, rarely is something looming over his head. Rarely is he brooding about a decision to be made or a tough conversation that has to be had. Work life balance. It's where it's at!

Among the things that have not changed are:

- Our 5am workouts.
- My Texas Fit Chicks boot camp (although my new class starts at 5:30am instead of 5am, which makes a remarkably BIG difference).
- Our general health-nutness. (It's actually much easier to be a health nut in Austin...there are more of us down here.)

All in all, things are good. Finally. For many bitter, angry months we asked ourselves, "What did we do to deserve this?" and now we happily, thankfully ask ourselves, "What did we do to deserve this?"

*****************

Workout of the Day
PiYo Buns

Homemade Laundry Detergent

2014-05-28T12:05:00.001-05:00

When people ask me how they can start eating better, I usually tell them to focus on one thing at a time. Don't throw out every nasty thing in your pantry at once; pick one thing, work on it for two weeks, master it, then move on to another thing. Maybe you switch to wheat bread instead of white. Or brown rice instead of white. Then you focus on sugar. Then processed food, and so on.

This is the process we used, and it's the process I'm slowly using to get rid of chemical cleaners in our home, too. I'm already on the vinegar and water cleaning solution band wagon, and you know how big of a fan I am of the magical shower grime killer (see it here).

A year or so ago I decided I ought to look into making my own laundry detergent. That was right after I bought the mother lode (pun intended) of laundry detergent on sale at Walmart. So about 300 loads of laundry later, last week I was finally ready to take the plunge on making my own laundry soap!

I used The Wellness Mama's recipe, as it seemed simple and straight forward.

Here are the ingredients:

Borax: found at Walmart
Super Washing Soda: found...I can't remember where. I bought it a year ago after I knew I was going to make this. It sat faithfully in my laundry room until last week. It was kinda chunky due to age.
Castile Soap: found at Walmart. We've been using this castile soap for several months now. Drew has skin issues and I wanted some natural soap. Zach likes it so much he uses it as shampoo, too. It smells nice and lathers well, even without the sulfates that most contain to make lather.

First, I had to shred the soap. I started with the cheese grater, but as I was grating two bars, I decided to get out the big guns: the food processor.

The recipe says that the soap should be finely ground, so I brought out another attachment:

Then I mixed the following: 1 part soap (I had about 3 cups grated), 2 parts washing soda, 2 parts Borax, plus 2 tsp. of baking soda. Then I mixed thoroughly.

It made quite a bit of soap, and luckily I found some spare Mason jars to store the soap securely. I nearly filled up three jars.

The recipe says to use 1/8 to 1/4 cup per load, and an old scoop from our P90X Results & Recovery Formula measured a little more than 1/8 cup. Perfect!

So making the soap was very easy. Took maybe 30 or 40 minutes. (Clean up was relatively easy and struck me a bit odd..."cleaning" soap. Whatever!) But would it wash our (incredibly stinky) clothes?

Yes!

I'm so pleased with how this soap washes. It does not get all sudsy like regular soap, but the soap companies just put that stuff in to make you think the soap is working well...it's not really necessary. This soap made my clothes come out smelling like...Nothing! They didn't really have a smell, which is a good thing. It's kind of like when we installed our reverse osmosis water filtration on our sink and the water tasted truly like "nothing."

Lately our clothes had kind of a wonky soap buildup smell. Like maybe the detergent just wasn't ever rinsing out or something. No more! That smell is gone and replaced by pure nothing-ness. I'm very impressed!

Here's the official recipe if you'd like to make your own laundry soap:

Natural Laundry Soap Recipe
1. Grate the bar soap or mix in food processor until finely ground. Use the soap of your choice.

2.In a large bowl, mix 2 parts washing soda, 2 parts Borax and 1 part grated soap. (Add a few teaspoons of baking soda if desired).

3.Store in closed container. If you are using a big enough container, you can skip step 2 and just put all ingredients in storage container or jar and shake.

Use 1/8 to 1/4 cup per load of laundry.

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Workout of the Day

P90X3 Yoga, AKA the best yoga ever put on DVD.

Here's Zach doing "Ted's Chair" this morning. I'm amazed every time I see it!