1. Clean Slate: Did you possibly screw up and now you need a do-over? Then it’s clean slate time. The only reason to focus on your screw ups is for considering how to improve and do better. It’s not for harping on your weaknesses or wallowing in guilt. Don’t waste time beating yourself up. Take advantage of a clean slate and keep moving forward.

2. Follow Through: Your fitness and healthy eating plans for this week should already be in place. (Yes?). So now it’s time for follow through. Start and finish everything you commit to this week.

3. Back Patting: Forget about any discouragement of a long road still ahead. Instead, pat yourself on the back and be encouraged by what you’ve accomplished up to this point. It sure ’nuff wasn’t easy to achieve what you have so far, but you did it. ((insert back-pat here))

Clean Slate. Follow Through. Back Patting.

Got it? Now git to it.

BANGIN’ BODY

Want a bangin’ hot body? Then it’s time to get to work.

Complete this circuit 4 times through. Also record the total time it takes from start to finish and enter into your workout log.

…after a thorough warm up…

10 reps Triceps Pushup: On your knees or full body.

20 reps Prisoner Squats: Get into a comfortable, wide-legged stance. Engage your core throughout the entire movement.

30 reps Vertical Leg Crunches: (legs straight up in air as you crunch) Be mindful to let your abs do all the work. Do not pull on your neck or lead with your head.

…finish with 5-10 minutes of stretching…

Bonus: Go for a 1 – 2 mile interval run or power walk following this circuit.

HOME WORKOUT CENTRAL

Turkey burgers aren’t exactly revolutionary. Mine may not look real fancy, but when this burger connects with your chewing-jaws, you’ll be like “knick-knack, paddy-whack, gimme more of dat!”

If you want a turkey burger that’s full of flavor and a tender, juicy sensation, then mix these ingredients into your ground turkey and cook it up like so…

TENDER, JUICY TURKEY BURGERS

Serves up to 7 greedy peoples

Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground turkey
• 1/4 cup Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup minced onion flakes
• 1 tbsp parsley flakes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• sprinklings of garlic powder, seasoned salt, black pepper, and salt (don’t be heavy-handed)

Directions

• Add all ingredients to bowl (except for olive oil) and mix thoroughly. Be sure to crumble parsley flakes with your hands as you add it to the bowl.
• Heat pan to medium-high and add olive oil.
• While the oil heats, form burger into patties.
• Add patties to the pan with a few light splashes of water, then partially cover with lid to encourage steaminess.
• As water evaporates in the pan, add additional splashes to keep patties from sticking AND to encourage more steam. Keep pan partially covered. The steaming action and partially covered pan is the key to tender juiciness.
• Cook approximately 15 minutes total, flipping once during cooking. Patties are done when juices run clear.

This is a healthy meal that even your family will wanna sink their teefs into. It’s quick to make and pretty inexpensive. My side dish in the background is baked eggplant fries (Food Trap Alert coming soon for the tasty deets on those fries).

Now, GO! Eat. And be healthy.

MORE GREEDY RECIPES

I feel all deprived and archaic ‘n stuff.

The first microwave caught on fire when Greedy Kid #1 decided to cook Oodles of Noodles with no water in it. That dry, stiff block of noodles. No water at all. WTH?

And the second microwave was shooting sparks from the bottom like those Fourth of July sparklers thingies. I had to pull the plug before fiery flames engulfed the kitchen.

That was it. It was over for us.

Me and the spawns were unjustly labeled “fire starters” by the husband. He got himself another new microwave and set it up in his man cave instead. If you know anything about man caves, they’re not the kind of place a woman desires to hang out. The fanciest of man-cavers might maintain theirs like a palace, but the man cave over here smells like stale cigars and needs maid service with hazmat gear.

I ain’t going in there. Don’t wanna. Been using the stove instead. For everything.

But here’s the sad part.

Greedy Kid #2 came home all bummed out for some reason. So I said to him, “What’s the problem, boy?”

And he says to me, “I went to my friend’s house today. We were about to eat snacks, but I didn’t know how to work the microwave. It was embarrassing.”

GASP!

My children do not have the First World life skill of microwave operation.

Oh well.

Update 5/28/12: Congrats to Angela (@goodfairyofny), Cassie and jbunny. You win prize packs!

Howdy ho, and welcome to the new look of the blog! You ready to win some stuff? Three random, greedy winners will each score one prize pack filled with some of my favorite things. Now let’s git ‘ta winning prizes!?!

BEAST MODE PRIZE PACK

• Shakeology 2-Pack Sampler (Tropical & Chocolate)
• Gymboss Interval Timer
• Bob Harper Totally Fit Core DVD

ACTIVE REST PRIZE PACK

• Shakeology 2-Pack Sampler (Tropical & Chocolate)
• Rodney Yee Yoga Ultimate Power Yoga
• Leslie Sansone Walk at Home DVD

GREEDY GOODNESS PRIZE PACK

• Shakeology 2-Pack Sampler (Tropical & Chocolate)
• BelVita Golden Oat Breakfast Biscuits
• Back to Nature Chocolate Chunk Cookies (they’re delicious!)

How To Enter

Leave a comment and brag a little about your fitness plans for this week. Lazy-bones and excessive couch-assers with no plans to do nothin’ need not enter.

Your chance to enter ends Friday,  5/25/12. Winners announced by 5/28/12. United States entries only. Totally null and void where prohibited. M’kay?

Ready? Set. PRIZES!!

Yum Yucky is launching a brand new design this coming Monday for your eyeballs to gaze upon!

In order for this excitement to unfold, the blog will be down for maintenance most of the day this Sunday only. That’s the day I’ll be at work behind the scenes before the new design launches on Monday morning.

But there’s more!

“My Favorite Things Giveaway”

Yup. It’s been awhile, so let’s indulge in some Giveaway fun starting on Monday to celebrate the new look of the blog. I’m giving away prize packs of my favorite things.

Prizes will include:

• Shakeology
• Gymboss Interval Timer
• Greedy delicious foodstuffs
• My favorite workout DVD’s
• …and even more good stuff!

Thanks for being such a great fan of Yum Yucky. Yes, I’m talking to YOU! I look forward to bringing you more greediness (in moderation, of course), more fitness, more inspiration, and a whole lotta laughs and happy smiles in between.

See ya on Monday morning! Mwuah!

Josie

Two less bites of your favorite decadent food.

Three more reps to go! Don’t stop now. Just finish it.

Four excuses you kill and don’t allow to hinder you anymore.

Five consecutive days of consistency with your fitness.

Six minutes to plan tomorrow’s workout and healthy food choices.

Seven reasons you’re going to make it happen for real this time.

Eight ways you end the self-neglect and finally make yourself a priority.

Nine extra gulps of water throughout the day.

Ten less minutes of bullshitting, procrastination and staying stuck in your situation.

These ten little things will have major impact on your fitness, but they’re not so hard to do. Get your booty in gear and make it happen. Don’t just read this and then go off somewhere and do nothing…

XOXO,

Josie

Welp, I didn’t achieve a picture with the entire Greedy Family. This is the best I could do: Me, Greedy Baby, and Greedy Kid #3, chillin’ outside in the afternoon. But let me back up and start the day from the beginning….

My first order of Mother’s Day business was to banish all family members away from my presence so I could accomplish the entire 50-minutes of Totally Ripped Core in sweaty solitude. DONE!

Then I moved on to my morning fro down. I passed on the pancake breakfast to indulge in Tropical Shakeology instead. This was my first time using “frozen strawberries & pineapple chunks” instead of “frozen strawberries and a banana”.

Best ingredient swap I ever did do! And yes, I used the fancy glass. It came out tasting like a virgin margarita. Now I intend to add tequila to this puppy in the nearest future. Leave it up to yours truly to turn a top-of-the-line healthy shake into an alcoholic beverage for my consuming splendor. hee hee haw haw 

So yeah, Greedy Baby washed the family car…

And then she washed her own vehicle…

And to top off our outdoor activities, it was by the front yard tree that Greedy Kid #2 got in trouble for doing a half-ass job on his yard work. Half-ass is not acceptable in our house. I made him re-do part of the lawn. Look at his face: it’s an action photo of him being all pissed off about it ‘n stuff…

Side note: This is the same kid that accused me of running naked through the backyard the other day.

And my gifts? On top scoring construction paper handmade gifts from my littlest Greedies (don’t all moms love those?) and a sexy Nike bikini top, I also got Harbinger Weightlifting Gloves (I needed a pair really bad!) and the Iron Gym Extreme chin up & pull up door bar.

I was inspired by Workout Nirvana’s blog post to challenge myself on the bar. I suck at it right now in tremendous suck-wind fashion. As of today I can’t even do one full rep of a pull-up or a chin-up. But that’s all subject to change, and so it will. I’m going for it, so stay tuned for updates on my progress.

Then we rented Haywire on Amazon Instant Video. I love secret agent movies! There’s some seriously awesome fight scenes in this one where the woman-spy is kicking dude’s asses. Girl power!! That could’ve been me in real life. I should’ve gone to spy school when they offered me that scholarship.

Famous quote of the day:

“I know it’s Mother’s Day, but can you please rub my feet?” ~ Greedy Kid #1

I hope you new moms, veteran moms and all you pregnant chicks out there had a stellar mommy’s day!

XO,

Josie

do you like my chicken scratch?

I pretty much always Tweet and Facebook my workout totals. What you see in the pic is how I log my workouts in real time as they happen. Everything gets tracked.

I pull out my interval timer and my agenda book. And in that book is a record of every workout I do. Even if it’s a rest day, I write it down “rest day” in the book. A lot of it comes out looking like chicken scratch (scribbling down numbers in the few seconds in-between intervals), but it’s my own form of fitness hieroglyphics to help me stay accountable.

What do all those cryptic numbers and letters mean?

SR = Speed Rope

BPU = Burpee Push-ups

On this day I did 4 rounds of speed rope for a total of 14 minutes. I set my interval timer for 40/20, meaning 40 seconds of speed rope, plus 20 seconds of high knee jogs in each round. And if you add up all those BPU numbers, it equates to a total of 105 Burpee Push-Ups. Yeah. I did that many. Almost quit on that 75th push up. Had to keep it mentally strong to the end.

You don’t get in life what you deserve. You get in life what you make of it. ~ Shark Tank

Get yourself a cheap agenda book and start logging your workouts. You’ll be able to see what you’ve done, track your consistency (or lack thereof), gauge your progress, and determine when it’s time to take things up a few notches. The workout log does not lie. It’s documented proof of what your making of yourself. Fitness does not come to those who deserve it. It comes to those who make it happen.