I eat fish now

This is what I made last week for my family.  I'm not a fish eater......I grew up on Fish n Chips in Ireland but that was fresh caught Cod and very light.  I've tried tilapia, mahi mahi and red snapper but theyre all too fishy for me.  I do however eat Tuna?  Weird right? 
I found this on sale at Sams Club, it was fresh and with trying to eat clean and healthy, I thought I'd take the challenge.  It was delish.....my family ate the entire huge chunk of it.  It was really really good and Im definitely now adding Salmon to our family menu. 
Below is the recipe....

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 (6 ounce) salmon fillets
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fines herbs
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
  

Directions 1.Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source. Line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil, and spray with nonstick spray. 2.Place garlic and olive oil in a small microwave safe bowl and cook on High for 1 1/2 minutes. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, and stir in the garlic mixture. Remove from heat; stir in the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, white wine, black pepper, garlic salt, and fines herbs. 3.Place the salmon fillets skin-side down on the prepared pan. Spoon about 1/3 of the butter sauce over the fillets, and sprinkle evenly with the fresh dill. 4.Broil in the preheated oven for 3 minutes. Turn salmon fillets so that the side of the fillet faces up, and baste fillets with about 1/3 of the butter sauce; broil for 3 minutes. Turn the fillets to place the opposite side facing up; spoon on the remaining butter sauce; broil until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 3 additional minutes.

and the fun part......

I don't have a hard time getting to the gym....well I work there....but I love it!  Love the feeling of pushing my body to a limit and feeling & seeing results.  I've starting lifting weights separately from BodyPump.  Free weights, with "the BIG BOYS" as I say.  I'm still using lighter weight with 10-15 reps per exercise (sets of 4).  My friend has been helping me and I'm learning a lot.  Here are some pictures we took on "back day"   I see more definition than every before.  My goals now are to lower my bodyfat from 21% to 18% and to lean out.  I know I am getting stronger after only 3 weeks.
Hoping as I work harder on a clean diet, the hard work Im putting in at the gym will be accelerated.

Food, food & more food

Happy PADDYS Day.....

My Mam showed up with Irish Soda Bread and Barmbrack (fruit cake).  I pretty much excused myself from my cleaneating and overate both!  Small quilty pleasure......extra hours at the gym?

Eating out, eating clean!  Trying so hard to make better choices when I eat out.  The top two pictures are from In N Out (double protein burger, no cheese, no sauce) & Panda Express Shanghi Angus Beef with steamed veggies.  Bottom left is homemade, quick and skinny "Chicken Curry"  I only sprinkled the meat and veggies with curry powder and soy sauce, served with brown rice.  Bottom right is a salad and protein shake, which is quickly becoming my "go to" meal during the day. 

Progress......

So in the past my macros have not looked like this.  These are three days in the middle of last week.  Normally I have a huge slice of Carbs with minimal protein and heavy fats.  I've been working hard to increase protein intake and lessen carbs or I should say, eat better carbs.  Taking out sweets and sugary things is helping lower the daily "fats". 

Monday....how I Love thee

MONDAY is groundhog day for me.....DO OVER every....single....week!  I love it though because its a fresh start, I feel motivated, charged, ready to go and get it right this time.
My focus this week is FOOD.  Im going to make sure I track really good and watch what and how I eat, making sure to fuel before the gym and recover after my workouts, with some help from my protein shakes.  Today for the first time I made egg whites.  For some reason they just look so "snotty" without the yellow mixed in so I took a tip from my friend to mix 3 egg whites with 1 egg yolk.  They were good.  I added a little goat cheese and avocado with a side of yummy ripe calamari tomatoes and I'm full.

The NO EXCUSE MOMS challenge is going good.  It is not easy on top of my regular workouts but Ive been consistent with the challenge each day except for yesterday. I was sooooo tired, I couldn't bring myself to do it so today (9th & 10th) I've got 60 crunches, 245 jacks and 45 squats. My legs definitely feel tighter *and sore* I like how the jumping jacks make me feel, strong and tight.  Squats are the best exercise for the booty so I'll do what is required and hope to see a physical difference at the end of the month. 

Eating out *insert eeeeek face*

I've pretty much started taking pictures of everything I eat.....the obsession is real! 
Its one thing to eat healthy in my home, with food I buy and plan on eating....a whole other thing when I'm eating out!  I feel like I deserve to eat whatever I want BUT I don't feel good when I go all nutso and order almost everything on the menu. 
Smart eating is happy eating.....choose wisely my friends.

Met up with a friend of mine for breakfast, keeping in mind I was trying to make healthy choices, I ordered the white scrambled eggs with artichoke and spinach, Feta cheese crumbled on top which is quickly become my favorite kind.    WAS AHMAZING......I did have the potatoes but I swear they were baked (at least I think they were....lol).

Then This.....mmmhmmmm......buffet with the family!  STOP THE MADNESS.....

Beautiful, colorful salad....super yummy!  Good choice AND I even went for Italian dressing, which is probably a first for me.

They had roasted squash and eggplant (also new fav) beside a yummy penne pasta.  I left out the sausage and just had a small portion of the pasta.  Super tasty, super yummy and I'm feelin good....

And....on to desert....well....first I stopped at the Mexican section and grabbed a "SOPES?"  Never had one of these before.  It felt like a splurge BUT the bottom was corn and with beans, chicken and a wee bit o' cheese, I felt deserving of the splurge due to me "killing" my legs with weights 4 hours earlier! 
I do have to admit that I had a scoop of NO SUGAR ADDED Carmel Gelato (and omitted taking a picture) HA..... 
Overall.....for me.....success at the buffet.  It's normally super hard for me to control my portions let alone my appetite.  Note to self.....limit the number of times to come to a buffet per month!

"Go To" snack

This has become one of my favorite GO TO snacks while trying to eat clean.  I usually don't use this yogurt  - I like the Danon Light N Fit better but today this was all I had.  I dump yogurt into a bowl, toss in a handful of granola and a handful of dried cranberries.  Yum Yum Yum.....
I calculate approx. 200 calories for the whole thing

Bread sticks alternative?

Gonna try these.  I love cauliflower so I'm game for these....

Early workouts

Great way to start the day, Bodypump at the YMCA.  I enjoy so much my 6:15am Bodypumpers. Class never drags, always great energy and by the end we're ready to conquer the world.
This is what I saw when I pulled out of my driveway this morning!  Sunrises are beautiful and remind me to be grateful for a new day, and that anything is possible.

March Madness

This is my fitness challenge for March!  I'm in three days already.  It's not easy on top of my regular workouts but I'm a tough IRISH woman and ready to do this thing....this is my month!

Monday Already?

Last week was so super busy it flew by.  I taught at Namaste with these fun women

I ate lots of good, healthy food....at least I tried.  Gluten free three cheese Ziti and a bomb salad of nuts, cranberries, tomatoes, feta cheese

Went out with the quad squad (my girls from the gym who have become some of my favorite friends) Saw the Rat Pack show on Fremont Street and danced in an Irish Pub.

And.....wait for it.....I took my first Locker room selfie!  AWKWARD moment of the week....lol

Finished the week out with a sweaty zumba class at TRUFUSION Yoga studio 

As well as a killer leg workout Saturday afternoon.  Then on to a "fiesta cumpleanos" with my chicas Latinas to celebrate Tomys birthday.  Six tacos later .....we took photos 

And all of a sudden it was Monday again!  

What a busy week.  All this on top of my regular workout schedule and taking care of my family.  I need a 48 hr day please.....

Eating is so tough on the weekend.  I feel like I loose control BUT I have a plan going into next weekend thanks to my NO EXCUSE MOMS group....I'm gonna plan my meals and snacks and try a preemptive attack on the weekend. So tired of doing well during the week and loosing my progress on the weekend.  So here's to a new week and the experiences that will come with it.