Healthy Dining

Healthy Food Choices 

I know how tempting it can be when friends invite you out for dinner at your favorite restaurant with all your favorite foods that will probably work against your fitness goals...lol. Dining out at your favorite spot doesn't have to leave you feeling guilty and working extra hard the next day to burn it all off. 

Here are a couple tips that will satisfy your taste buds and not sabotage your fitness goals at the same time.

1. Portion control

Split your meal in half and take a portion to go.

2. Skip the soda and wine

When soda and wine breakdown, it's stored as sugar in your body. Try drinking water only. This will give you a bit more room to indulge on your meal.

3. Get dressings and sauces on the side
A restaurant can make something as healthy as a salad unhealthy if it's loaded with too much dressing. 

4. Switch up the menu with substitutes and special requests

As we all know life is about give and take... eating healthy is no different. If you want a 
burger, instead of fries on the side, opt for veggies.

I hope these tips help. Share what's been working for you. Leave your comments below.

Live Fit Be Free

Eboni :)

Wrist Wallet

Cool Workout Accessory 

Have you ever found yourself searching for place to store your keys, ID or credit cards while working out? Maybe you stuffed them in your shoes or even for you ladies in your sports bra hoping they didn't fall out. Lol! A simple solution to this problem would be to go out and purchase activewear with pockets and zippers, but we all know how expensive buying new workout clothes can be! 

I found myself in this situation a few days back and I needed something to place just my ID and car keys in. I went to TJ Maxx hoping to find a waist pouch or something similar. What I found was even better!

This wrist wallet cost about 5 bucks and came in my favorite color :) I'd never seen one of these and thought it was a pretty clever accessory! Of course my next thought was "heck... why didn't I think of this? 

You can probably find one of these or something similar at your local TJ Maxx or perhaps online. I would definitely recommend one of these to anyone searching for an inexpensive and cute way to store your belongings while exercising.

 

(me wearing my wrist wallet at the gym)

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Live Fit Be Free

Eboni :)

Healthy Breakfast Omelet

Healthy Breakfast Omelet 

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and should never be skipped. Even if you don’t have time to cook breakfast, try to grab a piece of fruit or make a breakfast smoothie at the least. I like making egg white omelets because the egg whites are full of protein and the veggies have lots of nutrients and fiber.

I usually prepare my veggies and omelet separate then mix everything together. Below is the simple recipe I follow:

Note: This recipe will make about 1 omelet

• ½ cup of egg whites (you can use a full egg and separate the yolk or purchase just the egg whites)
• 1 handful of baby spinach
• ¼ teaspoon of McCormick California style garlic pepper with red bell & black pepper (my favorite seasoning)
• 1 cup of mixed veggies- mushrooms, colorful bell peppers (or I use whatever I have in the fridge)

Note:  Use whatever vegetables you like, sometimes I will use steamed asparagus or broccoli.

Instructions:

1. If you are using whole eggs, remove the yolk and mix just the egg whites together in a bowl, then add garlic pepper to taste.

2. Place all your veggies in a small skillet coated with olive oil over medium heat, allow them to sauté.

3. In another skillet coated with olive oil over medium heat, pour the egg white mixture and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Flip with spatula and cook for another 2 minutes (at this point you can add your sautéed  veggies to the egg whites)

5. Reduce the heat, sprinkle a little cheese and then fold the omelet in half.

6. Place omelet on a plate and enjoy!

Note:  You can also mix the egg whites in bowl together along with the veggies and cook together. I do this sometimes too. I also like to have a piece of wheat toast on the side or grilled chicken if I’m really hungry.

Veggie egg white omelets are super easy to make, plus it’s a great way to jump start your day. What’s your favorite healthy breakfast recipe? Leave your comments below I’d love to hear about it!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Live Fit Be Free

Eboni :)

30 Day Fitness Challenge Day 30 (discipline)

You Can't Buy Discipline 

There are some things in life money just can buy and discipline is one of them!.....sure you can go out and buy fancy gym equipment for your home or even take the big leap to upgrade to that 'ultimate, premium, triple, plus, plus' membership at your local gym thinking it's going to 'magically' make you wanna workout.

*Neither of these will work if you don't have the discipline and commitment to accompany them!*

Trust me, I know first hand... before I got serious about working out consistently, I contemplated getting a fancy treadmill, and a whole bunch of other 'gym equipment' thinking I would get serious once I purchased them (bad idea) I even got a gym membership that sat for months without me ever using it. lol (don't act like y'all don't know what I'm talking about all my New Year's resolution people who get a membership at the beginning of the year and never go back after signing up lol :)

I wanted to bring a little encouragement by letting you know it's never too late to get serious about living a healthier, active lifestyle. There's always something you can do even if you have to start small... 

Making up your mind and committing to your health and wellness goals no matter what it takes is more than half the battle. 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today.

Have you challenged yourself to become more fit and healthier? I'd love to hear from you! Leave your comments below.

Live Fit Be Free

Eboni :)

30 Day Fitness Challenge Day 27 (Insanity Workout)

Insanity Workout Anyone?

Insanity still seems to be all the rave in the world of fitness. Everybody is trying it. Insanity is a pretty intense program and is not for the faint of heart! This is one of the first workout programs I did when I started to get serious about my fitness goals. I like this program for a number of reasons:

1. It's challenging

2. Great results

3. No gym membership required 

4. After you do insanity, you feel like you can do anything. 

Before I do an insanity workout I always make sure to eat a light snack.

Pre-workout snack. (Apple and pineapples)

Green smoothie (see blog post from day 2 of my fitness challenge)

Every time I complete an insanity workout I always finish with a healthy smoothie to replenish.

If you've never tried insanity and you're looking for a challenging program that gets results, I recommend giving this workout a try.

If you have tried insanity or are currently doing the 60 day challenge I'd love to hear from you. Please share your experience below.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Live Fit Be Free

Eboni :)

30 Day Fitness Challenge Day 25 (my workout)

A Peek into My Workout For Today.....

    Arm exercises

     More arm exercises.......

    Getting ready for squats : )

I had a great workout training with my brother today.... I hope you guys had a good workout too.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Live Fit Be Free

Eboni :)

30 Day Fitness Challenge Day 18 (my workout routine)

My Workout Routine

 

In my experience, I've found working out to be  much more enjoyable when I do what works for me. I had to find my groove and figure out what I like to do and what I don't like to do. I experimented with so many different types of workouts from "hot yoga," to "Insanity". There are elements I enjoyed form all of them, so I believe it's important to try different workouts to see what works best for you. 

My current work out consists of:

1. Full body workout 3 days a week at the gym

2. Cardio (at home on the days I don't go to the gym)

3. Ab workouts 5 days a week

So far this routine is working out great for me!  Feel free to share your workout/exercise routines below.  I'd love to hear from you. Leave any comments below.

oh....... and remember, diet is crucial when it comes to losing weight and staying ft! Make sure you incorporate healthy meal planning into your lifestyle. (I'll blog about this at a later time)

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Live Fit Be Free

Eboni :)

 

30 Day Fitness Challenge Day 5 (workout generator)

Choosing A Workout Plan That Works For You

With so many workout routines and programs on the market, it can be difficult to find the exersise plan that works best for you. All the available options can leave you confused and stuck wondering what to do next. It doesn't have to be this way! All you need is a little guidance and a few exercises designed specifically for your needs and you'll be on your way! It's important that the workout routine you choose is right for your personal fitness goals. A person wanting to lose 50 pounds may have a different strategy than the individual who just wants to tighten and tone.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_plan_generator.asp

I ran accross a great website that has a workout generator to customize your workout routine based on your specific goals. This is a pretty basic workout generator, but it's great for those who have no clue where to begin as well as those who are looking for new routines. 

The workout generator is pretty simple to use. You'll be asked about:

1. Your fitness level?

2. What type of workout you want?

3. How much time you want to spend working out?

4. What equipment you want to use?

After you answer those questions, you'll immediately be taken to a screen that shows you different work outs based on the criteria you entered. There will be a variety of exercises to choose from.

Using a workout generator makes it simple to find fresh new routines that align with your fitness goals. Trying to figure it out all on your own will be a thing of the past!

I hope this tip helps! I'll do full review on www.sparkpeople.com in another blog. This is an excellent website with tons of health and fitness tips.

Thanks for stopping by my blog :)

Live Fit Be Free!

Eboni :)