Wedding Fun!

I wanted to share some of the engagement photos Robbie and I took a few weeks ago! I absolutely love them all! The photographer was so great and if you're in AZ you should look her up: here. All of these photos were taken at our gorgeous venue.

Yesterday was my bridal shower and it was seriously amazing! I am so glad I wore water proof mascara! When I saw how hard my sister worked on everything I was blown away! 

My amazing sister made EVERYTHING pictured! Even the poms hanging from the ceiling. It was such a great day! I was so happy to be surrounded by people who love me : ) 

Now it's time to get back to business tho...I will be eating pretty strict and having more intense work outs to get ready for my bachelorette party so I look my best in my bikini! Wish me luck : ) This is such a happy time in my life...I am seriously on cloud 9 haha no cheat meal could make me feel better than I did yesterday so imagine my wedding day! hehe : ) I'm a dork!

XOXO,

E 

New Recipes!

I know I have been slacking with new recipes so today I am going to share 2 new ones!

Egg White Spinach "Muffins":

This recipe is super simple and awesome for a breakfast on the go or a snack!

Ingredients:

1. 18 egg whites
2. 2 handfulls of spinach
3. Several shakes of Mrs. Dash seasoning

Directions:

1. Crack all the eggs into a large bowl 
2. Take 2 big handfuls of spinach and put it in the food processor until the spinach is in tiny pieces (you can try to cut it if you don't have a food processor) 
3. Add the spinach to the bowl of egg whites
4. Add the Mrs. Dash seasoning of your choice and stir the egg and spinach mixture
5. Heat the oven to 350 
6. Spray muffin tins with Pam cooking spray
7. Pour the egg white mixture into the tins 
8. Bake for 25-30min 
9. Let cool for about 20 min before sliding them out

Flat Bread Pizza:

Marrying into an Italian family one of the first things I learned to make was home made sauce! Mmm Robbie loves when I make my sauce :)

Ingredients for sauce (this makes a large pot):

1. 1 tbs. Olive Oil
2. 2 tsp minced garlic
3. 1/2 of a chopped white onion
4. 1 tsp red pepper flakes
5. 1.5 cups fat free & reduced sodium chicken broth
6. 1 large can crushed tomatoes
7. 1 small and 1 medium can tomato paste
8. 1/2 cup water
9. 2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
10. 1 tsp sea salt
11. 1 tsp oregano
12. 1 tsp rosemary
13. 1 tsp basil
14. 1 small handful of reduced fat mozzarella cheese 

Directions:

1. In a large pot add the olive oil on medium heat along with the garlic- 2 minutes
2. Add the diced onion and cook until translucent
3. Add the crushed red pepper
4. Add the chicken broth and then the tomato paste- stir all together let simmer for 5 min on low
5. Add the crushed tomatoes and water- let simmer for 5 min
6. Add all the additional spices- stir thoroughly
7. Put the lid on the pot and let simmer for 30 min
8. Add the cheese and stir- allow to simmer for another 30 min

I wanted my sauce thicker since I knew it would be on a pizza. Also, play with the spices. If you want more oregano- add it! Taste the sauce as it simmers. If it is too sweet add a bit more salt and if it's too salty add a little bit of stevia to sweeten it up. I usually add stevia but because the garlic I used was fairly sweet I did not need it. Making the perfect sauce takes time and experimentation. I don't even measure my ingredients anymore because I just know what to add and how I want it to taste. 

Flat Bread Pizza: 

Ingredients:

1. Flat Out wraps 
2. Sauce
3. Extra Lean Ground Turkey
4. Reduce fat Mozzarella cheese
5. Spinach
6. Additional veggies of your choice

Directions:

1. Brown the extra lean ground turkey 
2. Take the flat out wrap and add a generous amount of sauce
3. Sprinkle the top with cheese
4. Add the ground turkey and veggies
5. Heat the grill on high for 5 min and then lower the heat
6. Spray the grill with Pam cooking spray and place the pizzas on the grill
7. Cook until slightly crispy and the cheese is all melty (you can use the oven to cook these as well- 350 until crispy and melty cheese)
8. ENJOY!

OH MY GOSH these pizzas were delicious! I didn't miss all the extra carbs and fat what-so-ever! Robbie added mushrooms to his pizza and I just opted for the spinach. We have tons of sauce let over and I will either freeze it or think of other things to use it for this week. 

My niece, Marie, was over so we made her some too and she loved it! This is a great healthy meal for the whole family : )

Pictures on Tuesday!

I am getting excited! I am not going to lie...carb cycling SUCKS!! But I love the results haha. This is day 3 and I am feeling lighter and flatter every day! If this works well I will def be doing it again before my bachelor/bachelorette party at the resort : )

Today I got my hair done and I am so excited! It is the perfect color. The last time I dyed my hair it wasn't dark enough and my hair pulls red naturally so when I went too light it looked too red. It finally looks dark and rich and will look fabulous with a veil ; )

This week we found what tuxes that Robbie and his groomsmen are going to wear for the wedding and it looks so good.

Here are this weeks progress pics after the 2 days of carb cycling:

3 more days until pictures and then I will most def be eating a cheat meal haha!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday!

XOXO,

E

Carb Cycling

Yesterday at my work out I talked with Rachael about how Robbie and I are officially doing engagement pics next Tueday! I am soo excited! I have been putting them off for almost 2 years now because I was never happy with the way I looked so now I am excited/nervous.
We talked about how I feel that my upper body is thinning out nicely as well as my face so the pics with my dresses on I am not worried about, but we are changing our clothes 3 times and for one outfit I will be in jeans. I am feeling great in my jeans lately but not 100% because, ladies, you know how it is when you have hips and a little extra on the sides that hangs over! Ugh! I hate it! That is probably the last area for me that will go. I feel my lower abs are even OK it's just the "love handle" area I am nervous about.
Rachael said a lot of women hang on to water in that area, which makes sense, and that I could start CARB cylcling to help get rid of that water. I have never carb cycled before so I am a little nervous but also excited because it's only until Tuesday that I have to do it. My carbs will consist of oats at breakfast and sweet potatoes at lunch and that's it. I will be drinking tons of water to help flush everything out.

I have already texted her asking a 100 questions! So glad I have her : )


Has anyone else ever carb cycled? Any advice?!

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter Everyone!! I hope you are all having a wonderful day. Robbie made a delicious Easter breakfast for us this morning before church. I love breakfast. It is definitely my favorite meal of the day so I was happy when we decided to make some healthier pancakes with egg whites of course.

I love pancakes!!

Church was awesome! We started going to Central Christian Church a few months back and love it. It was so nice to see my siblings and nieces and nephews there with us for the Easter Service.

Here is my youngest niece Marlie! My lil Easter Bunny : )

So my cardio situation didn't go quite as planned...haha. If you follow my FB page you might have noticed me complaining about my tooth hurting and having to go to the dentist to get fitted for a mouth guard. I knew that I would sometimes grind my teeth in my sleep but I guess lately it's been really bad especially with the stress of the wedding. I am also a really heavy sleeper so I don't wake myself up from it like some people but I did find it strange that for the last few weeks I have been waking up with a bad headache and then my tooth pain started to get progressively worse. Well the good news is I pick up the guard on Tuesday. Bad news, it interfered with my training! Ahhh! I was in SO MUCH PAIN!! I thought my mouth hurt when I needed my wisdom teeth pulled and one was infected...umm no this could possibly have been worse! I stayed up till 1am in pain on Tuesday and opened for work on Wednesday. I actually cancelled my training session with Rachael on Wednesday because my mouth still hurt and I was extremely tired! I NEVER CANCEL A SESSION. I seriously went home and passed out (after having some lean turkey and veggies) and slept from 6pm to 8am the next day! My mouth is finally feeling better. I have been taking a lot of ibuprofen and tylenol. The dentist actually did an "adjustment" on the tooth that was getting hit the worst from the grinding so he basically drilled down and shaved a little of my tooth off (with no numbing...OWWW!) so I think that has also helped things. I am just happy I am getting a guard so I won't have to worry about a potential root canal. Did I mention I HATE the dentist?!

So hopefully this week my training schedule and cardio will be on track!!
Here is my latest progress pic. It shows week 1 of the contest to today. Yes, I feel I could have definitely worked harder on the contest but I have a few more weeks to go and I am happy that I am seeing some changes!

I feel like I have come down quite a bit

I know I mentioned this on FB but I am SOO proud of Robbie! He has been off his blood pressure pills for over 2 months now and has lost 27 lbs in the last 3/4 months. I have never seen him so healthy!! It makes me so happy to be marrying someone who supports my nutritional and training goals and makes goals for themselves. "Couples who train together stay together." <3 

Today Robbie and I attended our cousins beautiful wedding! Congrats Haley & Chris!! Talk about a busy Easter!!

Here is a pic of me at a wedding last March in the same dress I wore to Haley's wedding today. 

And here's todays: MAJOR DIFFERENCE!!

Proud of my progress!!! 

Good luck to everyone this week!! 

This week I am going to research some new recipes to post...I know I am slacking. 

XOXO,

E

Cardio!

This week starts my new goal of getting extra cardio in. I am not too excited about it but with only 6 weeks left in the competition I have to take my body to the next level. After discussing it with my trainer, we decided that as much AM cardio that I can get in (when I don't have to open at work) and cardio after weights is what is going to get me there! I have also decided that I am going to monitor my sugars very closely. My goal is to look my best by May 26th, which is my bachelorette party! We are having it at a resort and I will be wearing this little swim suit:

I am posting this picture to keep myself accountable! 

Wedding progress:

• picked up Robbie's wedding band
• scheduled the cake tasting (this up coming thursday...this could be dangerous!)
• talked to the DJ
• Got all of the invites ready to go out (YES, we ran out...we are inviting waay too many people haha)
• Bought my shoes! 
• Discussed pre-marital counseling with my pastor at my church 
• Made these sweet tags for the favor bags: 

This was my 1st one...a little sloppy looking but you get the idea!

We are quickly getting a lot done! I plan on scheduling our pictures this week as well.

XOXO,

E