Seared Scallops with White Beans and Bacon

My husband found this recipe is his Men's Health Magazine and it is unbelievably delicious. I try to get him to make it for me whenever I can. Seriously, try it. You won't regret it. Add a salad and you have a very low calorie dinner. The scallops dish comes in at 284 calories but we added a few more scallops to ours which still kept it below 400 calories. Soooooo yummy!

It's PIZZA night!

Since it is 5K Friday and I burned over 500 calories, we have pizza a lot on Fridays. Here is what you need to make it:

1/4 loaf Rhodes 100% whole wheat frozen bread dough

1/2 c. Ragu Homemade pizza sauce

3/4 c. Sargento Reduced fat mozzarella

any toppings you want...

Using the thawed dough, roll it out to desired shape and thickness. Put it on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Put it in a 450 degree oven until the top of the dough just starts to brown. Pull the dough out out of the oven, add the sauce, put your toppings on, then the cheese

*** I put onions, spinach, mushrooms and red bell pepper in a saute pan with cooking spray and carmelized my veggies first before putting them on my pizza

My pizza was JUST under 600 calories. I am stuffed.

Am I a health nut?

HECK NO!!!! Am I trying to be healthier? ABSOLUTELY! My goal at the start of this was to be fit by 40. Quite honestly, I am not sure I was really fit at 20 or 30, so I figured it was a good idea to start since it isn't going to get any easier to get healthy after I turn 40. I have never been as active as I am today. I feel great. My knees don't bother me as much since I have lost weight and I am so much stronger...remember my "big guns" I mentioned in my medicine ball post? :)

I have learned so much about food and fitness. I am not saying I was ignorant before, I am just saying that I ignored the facts. Serving sizes are printed on packages for a reason. You should never think that it is OK to sit in front of the television, watching....ummmm, let's say, The Biggest Loser, with a pint of ice cream (hides face in shame). I am just more aware of the things that I eat.

Yes, I count calories. It keeps me accountable. I also workout 6 days a week. Quite honestly, a lot of the time, I work out so I can eat more. I love to cook and to deny myself cheese is the worst thing in the world to me. On the weekends I also have been known to drink the occasional martini or red wine. All of it is counted. If I am going out to eat, I look at the menu online to pick what I am going to eat before I arrive at the restaurant.

I also like to try some new things that I can replace higher calorie foods with so that the calorie count is lower. For instance, replacing milk in my cereal with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, or putting Tofu Shirataki noodles in my stir fry instead of brown rice. It is like a game for me sometimes.

Every week, My husband and I have a cheat meal. This is a meal that we eat whatever the heck we want. I can't completely stop eating the things I love. Last weekend, I had wings and onion rings. Heavenly. Did I work out that day to try to make the calorie hit a little easier? I sure did. Then I had a relaxing evening in with my husband and had a martini.

See? I am far from a health nut. As they say, "All things in moderation." Who knew that actually worked? Not me apparently. Ahh, I am so wise now in my old age.

All-In Yoga

I found this App called All-In Yoga and loaded it on my iPhone. There are 300 poses and the how-to's are modeled by an actual, easy to follow person. It separates poses by level and types and you can easily customize your favorite routine. LOVE IT!!

The Medicine Ball Workout

So my husband bought this medicine ball a few weeks ago and I was intrigued. You see, I have this fantasy of having muscular arms...not crazy, manly muscular arms. My arms currently have definition and I tell my kids to beware of my big guns (my arms). They laugh. I laugh. It is all pretty funny.

Anywho, back to the medicine ball....in Men's Health there is a medicine ball workout that I sometimes add to the end of my workout when I have the time and when I am feeling a little sassy. You can find the entire workout here. I enjoy it. It doesn't just work out your arms, it works out every muscle you have and even some you didn't even know you had. :)

International Food on a Stick Day...I almost missed it.

Ok. I lied. We were going to have the almond chicken for dinner last night, but my husband got new grates for the grill in the mail and we realized it was International Food on a Stick Day, so who am I to deny the need to grill. We will be having the Almond Chicken for dinner tonight though.

I ran to the store to buy the supplies for kabobs at lunch. I bought a 10 oz filet mignon, some squash, zucchini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, red onion and a red bell pepper. We seasoned everything, skewered it up and tossed it on the grill. I have never been so happy for International Food on a Stick Day. It rocked.

Treadmill Workout

Do you want your treadmill work out to fly by? Turn on the tunes and do this workout we got from one of my husband's coworkers. It is crazy hard for me by the time I get to the 9mph sprints, but you can adjust it to fit your needs.

Minutes Speed Incline

0-5:00 4 1

5:00-8:00 4 5

8:00-10:00 4 8

10:00-12:00 4 10

12:00-14:00 4.3 10

14:00-16:00 4.3 8

16:00-18:00 4.5 5

18:00-20:00 4.8 1

20:00-22:00 5 1

22:00-24:00 6 1

24:00-26:00 7 1

26:00-27:00 5.5 1

27:00-27:30 8 1

27:30-28:30 5.5 1

28:30-29:00 9 1

29:00-31:00 5.5 1

31:00-35:00 4 1