Day 2 - Go AWAY cravings.

Good evening everyone!  Today is day 2 of the 8 week TIU Bikini Series.  Today was a rough day.  My cravings were trying to get the better of me but I won't let them win.  Let's just go ahead and jump straight into my day.

Before M1 I drank my Bombshell spell again.  I will actually say this drink is growing on me and its a really nice sweet start to my day.  I opted to go for a cup of tea instead of coffee which I will soon regret later.

M1 today consisted of another one of my smoothies.  I have yet to try the Mocha Smoothie bowl.  But it doesn't bother me to drink my usual morning drink so it was all good.

M2 I was allowed to choose a TIU approved bar.  I opted for a RXBar, which are good, but expensive and after looking at their guidelines of what the bar must consist of was outside of the allowable range.  I will link below the RXBar website and also the TIU guidelines of what the bars should consist of.  

How to Pick a TIU Approved Bar

RXBar

M3 - Today was another K&Kale salad.  I topped it with avocado, red pepper and a leftover piece of blackened salmon.  I also used the dressing recipe with the salad.  It wasn't bad.  It filled me up which I guess served its purpose.

M4 today was more of the Strawberry Shortcake Muffins.  I am actually looking forward to not eating these tomorrow.  They have over stayed their welcome.  

And M5 was the tray dinner .  In my tray dinner I used brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, chicken, and Mrs. Dash zesty garlic.  I also added a little Bragg's liquid aminos to add a little more flavor.  It was good.  I like how you can customize it to your liking.  

Today I did workout again.  I did the suggested toning exercises on the TIU App, which I will say were rough.  I was sweating after just completing round 1, and then I topped it off by doing 30 min of cardio on the ellipitical.  It wasn't HIIT cardio tonight but I figured something was better than nothing!  

Hope you all have a wonderful evening or day where ever you are and I will see you tomorrow.

DAY 1 - I SURVIVED

Hai everyone!!  SO it's officially the close of day 1 of my 8 week Tone it Up! challenge.  It wasn't so bad to be honest.  Here is my food diary and thoughts for the day!

I started off my day with the Bombshell Spell drink.  I actually enjoyed this much more than it's counterpart the MetaD.  It was sweet and the pineapple juice really masked the taste of the large amount of apple cider vinegar.  It will be my new go to.

For M1 I decided against the suggested "Mocha Smoothie Bowl" and opted for my go to protein shake.  Mainly because I got up late, didn't have time to brew coffee to add into the smoothie, and truthfully my protein shake is non-dairy and only around 200 calories but very filling.

Now on to M2.  I honestly wasn't really that hungry, but I new I needed to eat so I ate the suggested apple, sliced, but instead of adding cinnamon I ate it plain.  I will try cinnamon later this week.

So for M3, I ate this around 12:30 PM.  It was the K&Kale Salad with chopped red pepper and avocado and a boiled chicken breast.  I tried the homemade dressing I made the night before and it wasn't terrible.  But I couldn't finish the salad and was very full.

On to M4.  The meal plan suggested 3 mini Strawberry Shortcake Muffins.  I prepped these yesterday and made mine with buckwheat flour vs. the suggested oat flour.  Mine turned out ok, but have a bit of a more grainy texture because of the buckwheat flour.  It's fine. I don't mind.  But again. I ate them gladly knowing that this was my last "meal" before I worked out before dinner.

And lastly M5.  Tonight was the blackened salmon with pineapple pico de gallo and quinoa.  I blackened the salmon as suggested in the recipe but didn't eat the pico because it had WAY too much cilantro.  Next time I make it I will only add 1/2 the suggested cilantro and no jalapeno.  But it wasn't bad.  I made extra salmon for my salad tomorrow.

My workout today consisted of the suggested toning exercises from the app and 30 minutes of HIIT cardio.  I'm tired, my legs are feeling it. and I look forward tomorrow!!  See you all then! <3

I decided to follow the 8 week Tone It Up Bikini Challenge!

Hello everyone!  My name is Stacie, I am a working Mom of a vivacious energetic 10 year old girl.  I am currently working full time at a online retailer, I run my own Etsy business, and I also work at our local dance studio 2 days a week.  Needless to say, I have a full plate, and 2 years ago I officially "graduated" from my dietitian with the weight-loss I had been dreaming of.  Unfortunately I fell off the bandwagon, putting back on 20+ pounds which I had not wanted to do. So after many months of still thinking I was back on track I decided to step on the scale which then confirmed my depressing realization that I had indeed packed back on weight.

I have the unfortunate pleasure of having a very slow metabolism.  And since I have been to my dietitian I have also developed a intolerance to gluten and dairy.  But, have no fear.  A co-worker about 4 months ago brought to my attention the "Tone It Up" program.  We completed the 5 day cleanse that they had offered for free on their website and I truly had felt the best I have felt in several months.  I will link the 5 day cleanse below.

  https://my.toneitup.com/pages/5-day-detox-sign-up

If you haven't tried it, please do me a huge favor and just give it a shot.  It's only 5 days and trust me, you will thank me.  You eat actual food, but basically very few ingredients each meal.  That normal everyday bloat you feel will dissipate.  I promise.

So that has all led me to this post, and why I decided to buy into the "Tone It Up" plan and say yes, I will give it a shot for 8 weeks.  I will follow the regimen of eating healthy, prepping all my foods, and working out 6 days a week. 

I am doing this for me.  I am doing this to look in the mirror and like what I see again. I am also doing this because truthfully, I am not getting any younger.  I will be the big 40 this year and I want to look more fabulous now than I have ever looked.  I want to look back and say "Yes, I was 40, and I looked fantastic".  So please join me in my journey as I take on this new way of eating for the rest of my life.