Try Try Again!

Ok..so this is a post by Monica. And it's about motivation. Or lack thereof. :) Sorry it has been so long since the last post..it was a combo of being out of town, holidays and laziness! Here's the deal: I lost five pounds (Hooray) and then gained three back (booooo) and somehow in the midst of all of it I lost motivation. I am a roller coaster when it comes to eating healthy and working out..one week I'm on it, the next I'm stuffing my face with pizza, donuts and soda.

So my question is.... What motivates you?? What gets you up in the morning to go to the gym? What makes you chose a chicken salad over pizza??

Is it healthy competition? (rachel is currently in a workout competition at the MAC..whoever logs the most hours wins some cash.. go rachel go!!) Is it signing up for a race? Is it the thought of wearing a bathing suit on white sandy beaches?! (I just booked a 9 day vacation in Hawaii for May!)

I'm ready to get up off my butt and get fit! I have decided I need to sign up for a race..having something to train for always helps me get motivated. Anyone want to run the Shamrock 8k with Rachel and I?! Always better when you have someone with you!

Alright gang..let's get back in it together. If you slipped up a little during the holidays that's ok! So start drinking water, get to the gym and PUT DOWN THAT COOKIE!

You know what they say... If at first you don't succeed, try try again.

cheers! -monica

Chocolatey Goodness!

Greetings from "The Middle of Nowhere" Arizona! Monica here! This is a picture outside my parents RV..don't ask and don't judge. We are knitting, reading and having a lovely time. ha!

So I wanted to share a delightful recipe with all of you! The holidays can bring about sweets of all shapes and sizes and boy are they hard to resist. This recipe will give you a chocolate fix without feeling guilty. (Great for PMS cravings as well!)

You will need:
1 box of Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 small can of Pumpkin
Cupcake pan
Walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the cake mix with the can of pumpkin. DON'T ADD WATER OR ANYTHING ELSE! It will be hard to resist adding something because it is hard to stir and you keep saying to yourself "maybe just a little water or oil will help?" Don't do it! Just keep stirring...it's a great arm workout! Place batter into non-stick sprayed muffin pan. It makes 12 regular size muffins. Add a little bit of chopped walnuts to the top if you want a little extra crunch. Bake for 20 minutes. Watch carefully. It might actually need less time. Don't be scared of the strange shape..they won't look like regular muffins.

1 muffin: 181 calories. 3.5g fat. 37g carbs. 2g fiber. 2g protein.

Some may think these muffins aren't "Healthy" enough, but coming from a girl who loves her chocolate and sweets...I'm not going to eat cardboard. These muffins are delicious and a better alternative then other pastries! Hope you enjoy!

Happy Holidays from our homes (and RV's) to yours!

-Rachel and Monica

60 Day Challenge!!!!

Hey everyone! We wanted to let you know about our 60 Day Challenge!! We have set up four goals that we want to accomplish or consistently be doing for the next 60 days..and hopefully creating some habits!

Here they are:

1. Drink a minimum of 80 ounces of water a day. Water helps hydrate you and flush you out! We use 24 oz. Camelbak water bottles because they have straws and are durable. If you drink a little over 3 of them, then you've reached your water goal for the day!

2. Add 2 more servings of vegetables to your daily meals. Cut up cucumber or carrots for a snack or add them to your dinner!

3. Go to the gym or workout a minimum of 3 times a week. If you can't get to the gym then go on a walk during your lunch break, turn on music and dance, do jumping jacks and sit-ups while watching TV...get creative! Get your body moving and blood pumping for at least 30 minutes to an hour! Trust us..you'll feel better once you do!

4. With all of these goals combined, the ultimate goal is to lose 10 pounds in the 60 days. That's only 5 pounds a month!

Oh and one thing we have found super helpful is www.livestrong.com! You can sign up for free and put in your height/weight and goals and it will tell you the calories, protein, carbs, etc you are supposed to have per day and you can track your food! It helps you see when you need to up your protein or maybe you are eating a lot of sodium and need to eliminate certain foods. Check it out! (you can also get the app on your phone!)

With these goals..drinking more water and eating more veggies you will more then likely be eliminating other things you drink/eat like pop, juice, crackers, chips. Replace the junk with good stuff and you'll start to see a difference!

We will be sharing more tips with you on recipes we have found, go-to meals that are delicious and low in calories/high in protein and workout tips! If you want to join in our 60 Day Challenge send us an email at FitForLifePDX@gmail.com or post in the comments section!

*Disclaimer: We are not experts in this field...we are learning along the way so if you have tips or recipes you like then please send them to us!

It starts NOW so get on it! February 14th is the end of this challenge!!

Who are these Ordinary Girls anyways???

We really wanted to title this post "we don't ever want to look like this again!" Because that's the truth! It always helps when you take a picture in fitted athletic gear to see what you would like to work on...try it..but brace yourself! It will probably help motivate you. It sure worked for us! So here they are in all of their glory....our before pics and a little about who we are!

RACHEL:

I am a 33 year old full time working mother and wife. I am involved at church and frequently sing with my sisters in a gospel group. I represent the working-mom-still trying to lose the baby weight. If I don’t work out at 6am or on my lunch break then it won’t happen. And with my hectic life I have to plan way ahead for meals which doesn’t always happen.

Things that hinder me from reaching my goals:

*Ice Cream. enough said.

*Buffalo wings with blue cheese...don’t forget the celery.

*Pop. (also a lover of Mt. Dew)

*Fast Food

*Getting up in the AM for the gym (lack of sleep from staying up late or kid crawling into my bed in the middle of the night)

*Laziness

In this fabulous before picture my stats are:

Height: 5’1”

Weight: 162.5

Pant size: 12 or 31

Shirt Size: Large

Dress Size: 12

MONICA:

I’m 26 (almost 27) year old Portland Native. I would say that I represent the single-twenty-something-always on the go-girl. Busy Busy Busy! That is my life. I work with kids in downtown Portland, do babysitting on the side, and also have a photography business. I am also involved at church, helping host a community group. I’m on the go all of the time and eating out is a constant problem for me. I’m a self professed junk food junky. Eek!

Things that hinder me from reaching my goals:

*Mt. Dew (I’m addicted and still not willing to admit it’s a problem.)

*Not getting up to go to the gym (staying up late and laziness)

*Eating out (love me some Chipotle!)

*Can’t resist pastries, coffee, yummy snacks at work.

In this lovely before picture my stats are:

Height: 5’10”

weight: 180

Pant size: 12 or 31

Shirt size: Large

Dress Size: 12

If posting before photos on the internet for all to see isn't motivating then I don't know what is! We will be taking new photos and posting stats every 10 days. And we have an exciting challenge we want you to be a part of, so stay tuned!!

Cheers! -Rachel and Monica

Getting Fit For Life!

(Monica, Rachel and Lil Vicente @ Race for the Roses 2010)

Welcome to our blog! This is the journey of two "Ordinary" chicks with busy lives trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We say "ordinary" because we aren't athletes, gym rats or obese...we are two average women that want to lose a few pounds, eat healthier and feel better by doing so. We have tried diets..medi-fast, jenny craig, cleanses, soups, and let's get real, you can only eat so many subway sandwiches! So this is us, starting a new way of life. Learning along the way. How to eat healthy, but still eat food that tastes good and tone our bodies so that we can fit into our clothes! We hope that you will join us on our journey, especially if you resonate with what we are saying!

In our next post we will be profiling who we are and show you some special before photos! Cheers!

-Rachel & Monica