Sunday Sweets

Happy Sunday. Thanks for all the warm well wishes. Here at the Smith Family household there are somethings that we consider staples. I can guarantee you that there are certain items that will ALWAYS be in stock at our house, even if nobody's been to the store in weeks...some of those are...

- Wintergreen Lifesavers
- Reduced Fat Wheat Thins
- Costco Almonds
- Gumballs
- Chrystal Light
- Frosted Mini Wheats (Maple Flavored, Dad's fave)
- Fiber One Bars
- Zucchini Cookies in the freezer
- Oatmeal
- Dreyers Grand Light Ice Cream (Always at least Vanilla, sometimes PB Tracks or the seasonal Peppermint)
- Diet A&W Rootbeer

Random List? Yep. It's just the way it is around here.
The last two are some of my favorites? Why, you ask? Because my family loves our Low-Cal rootbeer floats.

They are the easiest, greatest lil' treat ever...

Start with this.

 

Yum.

 Add some diet roobeer.

 

And voila. Done. 

 Now try and tell me that doesn't look glorious. It is.

It's already almost time to get back in the car. Boo...oh well. It's been great while it lasted. :) Thanks mom/dad/Barney fam for a great quick weekend. I love you guys!! xoxoxo

Do you have any food staples at home you can always count on being in stock? I think my list is a little different than my mom's but I'm not mad about hers at all. I like knowing what I can count on. Do you like road trips? I love them, but I can promise driving 10 hours tonight (starting at 8 PM) isn't going to be my favorite...just saying.

Just Like That.

Today I woke up in a different state. I don't mean like a state of being...I mean location...yesterday I was in Utah and today I am in Arizona. Yesterday I felt 40 degree temps and today I am basking in the mid 80's; an improvement I don't mind.
My sweet lil' nephew is turning 8 tomorrow and getting baptized, and so I decided to trek it to AZ and back for a quick weekend with the fam. We left yesterday afternoon and we'll be driving back tomorrow night. It's a 10 hour drive. Yikes...I know.
I must say...so worth it to be with the family and enjoy this amazing weather.
This morning we went for a run outside and I could have died the sun felt so good.
And then we laid by the pool.

My darling/crazy niece even jumped in.
I have tan lines.
It really is going to get warmer isn't it?
I'll try and get some good posts in for ya while I'm here, but in case I don't just know it's because I'm sitting in the sun trying to soak in as much as possible.

The rest of the day's workout will include walking up and down the stairs at the two story H&M, (one of my favorite places to shop!) and flexing the core while laughing. My fam gets really into our game nights, and I love it. Laughing burns an extra 1.3 calories a minute. :) 

I hope your weekend is relaxing and enjoyable!


Did you get a Saturday workout in? I ran 6 miles with Benita this morning and we just got to chat it up the whole time. I loved it! Is it sunny wherever you are? I hope so. Everyone needs to be enjoying this beautiful weather!!

Burn Baby Burn.

It's no secret that I am a HUGE fan of circuit training. Some of you have asked why that is, and so I thought I'd delve a little deeper into the WHY factory here.

1. Circuit training is efficient.
We are busy. Not everyone has hours and hours a day to go workout, and most of you don't want to spend hours everyday working out anyways. Because circuit training combines resistance training with cardiovascular exercise, you are killing two birds with one stone.You'll get an intense fat burning workout in without spending your whole day doing it. 


2. You burn a TON of calories. 
High intensity interval training (HIIT) is the basis behind circuit workouts. Increasing your heart rate by pushing yourself to work as hard as possible, and then allowing for active recovery time while you continue your workout, means you are maximizing your calorie burn. The harder you work the more calories your burn in a shorter period of time. Because nobody can go 100% full force in their workout for an extremely lengthy period of time, alternating pushing yourself to the max with active recovery gives you the opportunity to work at higher intensities and not feel like you are going to die. "WINNING!" (Jk...did anyone see the Charlie Sheen interviews? What an idiot...)


3. You won't want to take a nap mid-workout.
Interval training is a heck of a lot more exciting and fun than boring steady-state workouts.You'll be surprised at how much quicker your workout goes by because your mind is occupied, and you are constantly changing things up. It is an awesome way to beat exercise boredom!


4. You will burn more fat. 
The whole "fat burning zone" theory is not worth your time. I'll tell you that right now. Read HERE for more info on why you should stop believing that myth ASAP. The best way to burn fat is to MOVE, push yourself, work hard, burn calories...circuit train! Your body has an order in which it burns the fuel it uses to keep you going. First your body will burn available glucose, next stored fat, and if necessary the body will result to protein. High intensity exercise will quickly burn up that glucose, meaning you will dip into your stored fat quicker. If you have recently consumed a high amount of carbohydrates, your body will burn those readily available glycogen stores first. It is for this reason that those who are seeking to lose weight and burn more fat should decrease their carbohydrate intake and increase their protein intake. Having less readily available carbohydrates (glucose stores) promotes fat as the body's fuel source. Make sense?

5. You will achieve an afterburn effect.
I receive a lot of questions about this concept. The basic principle of the afterburn is that once you've finished your workout the body continues to burn calories at an accelerated rate to help the body return back to it's pre-exercising state, in other words, your metabolism stays revved. This afterburn increases with the intensity of the workout. To see a real effect here you have to be working at an intense effort, about 75% of your max heart rate. This reason being, if you are working at a high intensity for your workout you will be using up most, if not all of your glycogen storage. Once you are done exercising, and your glycogen stores are depleted your body still needs a fuel source to recover your body back to your pre-exercising state, which means it will turn to your fat stores.

Some added suggestions...
- Increase the amount of weight you are using. If you want to get an afterburn, you'll need to reach that 75% MHR, which means you need to push yourself. Don't be afraid of bulking up...you won't.
- Push yourself. Not just in the amount of weight you're using, but in your speed in your reps, in all that you're doing. Don't be afraid to get in a good workout.
- Try not to let that heart rate drop back down to resisting. Keep your workout consistently difficult if possible.
- Keep increasing your difficulty. The great thing about circuit workouts is you should never really feel like you've mastered them. You can always increase your intensity, your weight, the length of your workout, etc.

Circuits can be a great form of cross training, and a great way to get some resistance training in if you are one who doesn't love it so much...Click HERE for some circuit workouts to try. 
Oh, and if you haven't entered the March Madness Mix Giveaway yet DO IT!!

Also...on a totally random, unrelated note. Remember awhile back when I told you I have made cute maternity gowns for friends and family members who have had babies? Well, after many of them and many of you told me that I should open an Etsy Shop...I finally listened. My sister and I opened up Posh Mama Boutique and we have some super fun chenille baby blankets and designer hospital gowns.

So who wants to come and do circuit workouts with me? I would so much LOVE if we could all just work out together. It's just better that way. Can you imagine how much fun that would be for real?

Exercise of the week: Circuit Workout & 53 degree temps.

Do you sometimes feel like you accidentally clicked on a link to the weather channel for Provo, UT when you read my posts? Oops! Oh well. :)
The past two days here have been AWESOME. I ran outside yesterday and it was like sunshine filled medicine to my soul...I'll get to that in a moment.

First: My circuit workout from yesterday.
It went a little something like this and I was loving it.

Circuit #1 (Repeat this twice through)
Weighted Step Up Push Ups - 10 R & 10 L (I did it with 15 LB DB's and I felt it!)
Squats with an upright row - 15 reps
2 minute sprint on treadmill (really pushing it as FAST as you can go!)

Circuit #2 (Repeat this three times through)
Assisted pull ups - 15 reps
Alternating Reverse Lunge with a bicep curl @ top - 12 w/curl 12 reverse lunges w/out curl
Jumping wide to narrow squats w/25 lb plate - 10 reps (with these you want to hold a 25 lb plate in front of you jump to a wide squat and squat down, immediately jump to a narrow squat and squat down. that counts as 1 rep.)
2 minute sprint on treadmill (Keep trying to burn out those legs by pushing that speed!!)

Circuit #3 (Repeat this three times through)
Push ups - 15 reps
Wheel lunges - 1 set of 10 right/ 1 set of 10 left
Plank Hold - 1 minute
2 minute sprint (Bless those poor little leg's hearts...they should be dying by now...but keep pushing it!)

This whole workout should take you about an hour and your calorie burn should be about 700-800 + if you are really pushing it! It is an AWESOME full body workout that will work your core the entire time you're working as well! I was a schweaty mess afterwords...can I just say that there was a girl there running with her hair down? Wha?!? How do people do that?

Hair in my face while working out = Pure annoyance.

I came home from my morning workout and enjoyed some lunch and had every intention of showering, and all that jazz...however the sunlight beaming through my window enticed me otherwise. I couldn't NOT go outside. So I went on a four mile hill run that absolutely made my day! I LOVE hill workouts in a weird way. I think I was smile running the whole time, while mouthing the words to my newest playlist...which reminds me...if you haven't entered to win the March Madness Mix Giveaway just go do it already!

I hated that this post was photo-less, so I threw a fave of mine in for good measure. This pic has nothing to do with anything...except it reminds me that summer is coming, and I love sunshine. :) Oh...and the girl to the left is my BEAUTIFUL BFF Benita who does my circuit workouts with me. Lola the chica next to her is another gorgeous BFF of mine who is a BOMB marathon runner. I heart them both. Well lookie there, I tied the photo in after all...talent people. Talent.

Do you workout with your hair down? If you do I am extremely amazed by you. I can't do it. Not even an option. Do you like hill work? My legs are my favorite muscle group to work so anything that works em while doing cardio (Hills, Stairs) are my favorites. 

March Madness Mix Giveaway

March is here!!! It feels like February FLEW by. Awesome. Bring on the spring!! I couldn't be more excited about this months mix giveaway. I have been listening to these songs non-stop for the past couple days, and I'm LOVING it. So...I bring you...

The March Madness Mix...

I Just Wanna Run - The Downtown Fiction
Supermodel - Avery Storm feat. Nelly
Turn It Up - Ciara feat. Usher
Blow - Ke$ha
Hit The Lights - Jay Sean feat. Lil' Wayne
Born This Way - Lady Gaga
The Lazy Song - Bruno Mars
Down On Me - Jeremih feat. 50 cent
I Hope This Get To You - The Daylights
Backseat - New Boyz feat. The Cataracs & Dev
On The Floor - Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull
Never Gonna Leave This Bed - Maroon 5
Love in America - JTX
S&M - Rihanna
Bow Chicka Wow Wow - Mike Posber feat. Lil' Wayne
We'll Be Alright - Travie McCoy
Someone Like You - ADELE (cool down)

It should be known that I have won my March Madness bracket 2 out of the past 3 years. I know nothing about college basketball, but I love any sort of a competition, so I gladly fill out my bracket each year. Along with the March Madness Mix I'm going to be giving away some Chamois Butter and some Gnu Bars (review coming soon.)

To enter you have to...

1) Become a follower & leave a comment. You know the drill if you're already one, you rock my world! Just let me know. :)

2) Tell me who your top pick is to win your March Madness Bracket, and leave your choice in a separate comment. (My pick is my Alma Mater BYU who currently just stepped into 3rd place...booo yeaaaahh!) Oh and if you could care less, you can tell me that too! :)

3) For a third entry mention this giveaway on your blog, and leave a comment telling me you did so!

Have Your Produce And Eat It Too!

I'm not big on Monday's. I think a lot of people feel the same way. It's not that I absolutely hate them, but I just don't love them. However, there is one thing about Monday's that I really do enjoy...re-stocking my produce and having my fresh food all ready for the week.
There is nothing I love more than knowing I have a ton of fresh produce all ready to be devoured for the week...except maybe eating frozen yogurt...or knowing I'm going to Disneyland...OK, so it's on the list of things that I really love.

A trip to Costco and Sunflower Market did the trick today, and I came home with these goods...

Many of which items appeared on my favorites list yesterday. I only speak the truth people. 

I am a huge HUGE believer of making an effort to have fresh produce you will eat on hand at ALL times. With that being said, I also think it's important to have your frozen/canned backups on hand for when you run out of the fresh goodness before you can make it to the store again. I know many people have a hard time with produce, and I understand that for SURE. I used to be the same way. I would buy lots of great fresh things with extremely high hopes of eating like a rabbit for the next couple weeks, and then I always ended up throwing most things away. I felt like I was wasting my money...until I learned...

Here's the thing with produce...

1. Buy what you will eat. 
- If you love apples and sweet potatoes. Buy apples and sweet potatoes. If you hate spinach, don't buy it just because you know it is good for you. Not very many people can talk themselves into eating something they think is disgusting. ESPECIALLY when it's going to take some preparation, which most produce does. Also, don't buy more than you can handle quantity-wise. It will just go bad.

2. Buy what keeps. 
- Apples, oranges, baby carrots, potatoes, and squash...are all some examples of things that keep a little longer than say...lettuce, bananas, or berries. If you aren't going to be able to eat things regularly, don't buy things that don't last very long.


3. Buy as fresh as possible. 
- When you are purchasing your produce, pick the freshest fruits and veggies possible. If you can buy local, DO IT. You will be getting produce that is fresh which means it won't go bad as quickly, and it tastes better! 

4. Plan ahead/make a list.
- Instead of buying ridiculous quantities of foods that don't go together and will be wasted, make a menu plan for the week. Buy what you need so you won't be wasting money on food that won't get eaten. Knowing what you will be eating makes you more efficient and will keep you from throwing food out.

5. Remember what you buy. 
- So often produce gets put into the produce drawer, never to be heard from again. Until it starts to stink up the fridge of course. Make a list of what you have purchased and put it on your fridge as a reminder of what foods you have available to eat. 


6. Prepare what you can ASAP.
- If you buy a melon, come home and cut it and put it in a tupperware. You will be so much more likely to eat it later when you are on the go and you need something to eat quick. If you have to prep it later you may not want to take the time to do so. If you can cook up your veggies and portion them out for the week do it. Do whatever prep work you can right when you get home, so you take out the prep time later in the week.

7. Eat what you buy.
- This sounds ridiculous, but it is the most important tip. Yes, eating out tonight may sound easier, and more tasty even...but you have purchased food for dinner and you should eat that first. Hmmm...a pb&j sounds so much faster than the grilled veggie salad you had planned on, but just take the time. It is worth it. You have to make a effort to use the produce you buy, or else you will find every excuse not to.


What are your produce eating tips? Do you have a hard time eating all of the fresh goods that you buy? I used to, but now it seems I run out of all my fresh stuff far too quickly. Do you have favorite ways of eating fruits and vegetables that taste good and get those much needed servings in for the day? I am big on salads, wraps, and smorgasbord soups. You want to know what else I'm big on? The March Mix giveaway that goes up tomorrow. This may just be my favorite batch of songs yet...it's reaaal good. Get excited.

p.s. good job to nicole and sheanna for nailing the movie quote. My Best Friends Wedding is right. :)

February's Favorite Finds

Let's face it, I love to eat. I am definitely one who has favorites that I just can't do with out. I find delicious things and want to eat them at every meal!!

Here are my favorites as of this month...

1. Santa Barbara Mango Salsa (I get this at Costco)

I could drink this. I put it on salads, in wraps, over eggs, over veggie patties, with chicken...it's basically good on EVERYTHING. It's about 20 calories for two TBS and worth every single bite.

 

2. La Tortilla Factory Low Carb Whole Wheat Tortillas. 

These are amazing. Just look at the stats...80 calories, 8 grams of protein, 12 GRAMS OF FIBER!!! 12! I fill them with turkey, chicken, tuna, eggs, veggie patties, all sorts of veggies, or any thing else you can think of. I even cut them into strips and broil them to eat as tortilla chips. I know some of you have said you haven't been able to find them. They do have them on Amazon, but the shipping costs twice as much as the tortillas. Kinda worth it...I get mine at Costco. One pack of 20 is like 5 bucks.

 

3. Swiss Miss diet hot chocolate. 

I have been loving this stuff all winter. At 25 calories a serving you can't go wrong. They come individually packaged, so you don't have to worry about measuring correctly. 

4. Starkist Chunk Light Tuna in Water individually packaged. 

I can't even believe this made the list...I've changed. I LOVE these single serving packages because it takes out the guess work if you are trying to focus on acquiring a certain amount of calories or grams of protein. One packet has 80 calories and 18 grams of protein. Not too shabby. I mix mine with some fat free miracle whip and put it in a La Tortilla Factory wrap with some spinach.

 5. Extra Dessert Delights Gum. 

I know, I've raved about these before...but it's because they are so good. I think my favorite is the mint chocolate chip. It tastes like ice cream in my mouth. SO good.

 6. Skippy Natural Peanut Butter.

Yum. That is all that needs to be said here. This stuff is T-A-S-T-Y. I love it on toast, in a pb and banana wrap, in my oatmeal, in cookies, or just straight from the finger spoon. It has less sugar that most PB and you don't get that icky oil separation that I hate.

7. Ginormous Costco Bag of pre-cut broccoli florets. 

I go through this in a week. Not kidding. It is amazing how easy it is to eat broccoli when it's already prepped for you. I steam these florets with baby carrots using my easy steam method, and then put them in salads, soups, with chicken, on rice...etc. I LOVE BROCCOLI. Thank you Costco.

8. Fat Free Sugar Free Chocolate Jell-o Pudding mix. 

"You're not Jell-o. You're never gonna be Jell-o."
I LOVE this stuff. I use it in the morning to make my chocolate peanut butter oatmeal. It is so tasty. I love the actual pudding that it makes too. It makes for a great snack, but for now it's all about flavoring the oatmeal.

All of those favorites just made my mouth water...
What are your favorite go to foods? On top of these things I'm obsessed with old fashioned rolled oats, whatever fresh produce I can get my hands on, protein shakes, and grilled chicken. Do you know where that Jell-o quote comes from? Anyone? Anyone? Bueler...?