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Posts Tagged ‘Denise Austin Fit & Firm Pregnancy DVD’
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Happy Wednesday! How’s your week going so far? Maybe it’s just because I’ve been busy at work, but this week seems to be zipping right along. I can’t believe it is almost the weekend! Not that I’m complaining…I’d much rather be closer to Friday than Monday. 
I brought back an old favorite for dinner tonight: chicken enchilada soup. I made it for the first time back in October, and I have no idea why it has taken me so long to make it again, cause it is mmm…mmm…delicious!
I added zucchini and extra Velveeta Mexican-style cheese to this batch. And speaking of Velveeta, just about every time I check my blog stats, someone has found their way to my blog with the keywords, “Is Velveeta safe for pregnant women?” (I had a post awhile back that mentioned Velveeta Shells & Cheese, and I guess that’s a popular search term!) I’m happy for the new visits, no matter how you get here, and I Google those types of questions myself about 10 times a day.
I know that many soft cheeses and deli meats are off limits for pregnant women because of the risk of listeriosis, but I personally feel comfortable eating Velveeta (which isn’t very often) because it clearly states on the label that it is pasteurized.
(Note: I am not a medical professional. You should always consult your doctor for any concerns you have about foods you eat during your pregnancy.)
But let’s get back to dinner: I paired the soup with a lovely green salad drizzled with light raspberry vinaigrette, and a sprinkle of Salad Toppins.
The belly was happy after this meal!
Along with a nutritious dinner, I got in a great workout too. I did 30 minutes of hills on the elliptical, plus the 20-minute toning session on Denise Austin’s Fit & Firm Pregnancy DVD. I do this workout often and feel so good afterwards! I will be glad when it warms up though, so I can get outside for some exercise.
And in other news…today I am 15 weeks pregnant! It’s hard to believe I’m already almost 4 months along. Although we don’t know the baby’s gender yet (probably won’t find out for another 7 weeks or so), JD and I are already buying a few things for the nursery. We got this beautiful dresser for a steal last weekend at an auction. It matches perfectly with the crib and changing table we picked out, which we are purchasing this weekend. I’m so excited…I can’t wait to see it all come together!
I also bought the baby this sweet little stuffed elephant while shopping at the mall for maternity clothes. Boy or girl, this kid has to know early what college football team to root for! Ha!
Before I go for the evening, I’d like to thank Brittany for passing the Sunshine Award along to me!
You spoil me, girl! And here’s a few well-deserving bloggers that I’d like to pass this award to:
I have a very dirty kitchen calling my name, so I will sign off for now. Have a wonderful rest of the week!
Tags: 15 weeks pregnant, Chicken enchilada soup, Denise Austin Fit & Firm Pregnancy DVD, listeriosis, nursery furniture, Velveeta cheese
Posted in pregnancy, soup | 5 Comments »
Monday, February 15th, 2010
Happy Monday, all! I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day. JD and I sure did! We went out to lunch, took a long nap, cooked a romantic pasta dinner, exchanged gifts and just enjoyed spending time together. It was the perfect day. Even Tex got a little love day gift:
The squeaker in this toy is driving us NUTS, but he is crazy about it!
We are both off work for President’s Day, which worked out well because we woke up to a blanket of snow and ice. Most of the roads are shut down too, so we’ve been inside all day.
Even with the frigid temps, I felt like a cold breakfast this morning. Actually, I have a new breakfast obsession — Kashi Heart to Heart Oat Flakes & Wild Blueberry Clusters cereal. So, so good! I didn’t put a thing in it, other than low-fat milk that is…the cereal stands alone just fine.
YUUUUMMM.
You wouldn’t think cereal would hold you over long, but it did for me! I stayed good and full through house cleaning (I didn’t finish all that I wanted to do on Saturday) and a 40-minute Denise Austin prenatal workout. By the time lunch rolled around, my tummy was just starting to feel hungry. So, I made a sensational salad:
This lovely plate of greens, included, well greens of course, plus tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, black olives, black beans, shredded cheese, hot walnuts and a piece of baked wild salmon drizzled with two tablespoons of raspberry vinaigrette dressing. The hot/cold components were so good together, and I love sweet dressings with fish!
Served with a fresh-from-the-toaster-oven piece of garlic cheese toast…
Only 140 calories!
…and enjoyed in front of the TV so I could watch all the Winter Olympics action. (Did you catch the figure skating last night? Phenomenal!)
The salad proved too big for me. I ended up putting about a third or so of it in the fridge. It will be a yummy side for dinner!
Some good reading:
16 Simple Ways to Eat Less
Running Debate: Bare or In Shoes?
Study: Postpartum Depression Signaled in Pregnancy
Hope you all have a fantastic rest of the day!
Tags: Denise Austin Fit & Firm Pregnancy DVD, grilled salmon salad, Kashi Heart to Heart Oat Flakes & Wild Blueberry Clusters cereal, snow day
Posted in Monday, breakfast, lunch | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Happy Wednesday, guys! Hope you are having a good one! As for me, I scheduled another massage with Katherine for this afternoon. (I can’t believe it has been SO long since my last appointment!) I was looking forward to it all day, especially since my right shoulder blade has been giving me a lot of problems. I have a throbbing pain in that area a lot, and ice/heat don’t seem to provide any relief. Maybe toting around an entire house of stuff in my purse is catching up with me? Ha!
I thought a good massage would do the trick, but then I got a voicemail from Katherine saying she had to cancel so she could pick up her child from daycare. Completely understandable, but I couldn’t help but be disappointed! This momma-to-be needs a little zen after a stressful week at work! Oh well…good thing appointments can be rescheduled.
I did do a 50-minute workout tonight that left me feeling refreshed and relaxed…not as much as the massage would have, but hey, whatever works, right? I battled through hills for 30 minutes on the elliptical, and then spent some time with Denise Austin doing 20 minutes of toning as part of her Fit & Firm pregnancy DVD. I swear, she sounds and looks so much like one of my favorite “Real Housewives”:
Vicki!
{Source}
Ever seen Real Housewives of Orange County? It’s so my Thursday night guilty pleasure! And every time I turn the Denise Austin DVD, I almost expect her to start trash talking Gretchen or something. Ha Ha!
I’m pretty proud of myself, because I’ve already gotten in three days of exercise this week! Only 2 more to go, and then it is reward time. For those of you who don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, I get a reward, i.e. shoes, new nail polish, etc., if I work out 5 days a week. It’s an incentive to keep me exercising during my pregnancy, since I’m having a hard time staying awake and battling nausea, which doesn’t make me want to get moving!
So, since exercise is accomplished, how about a few pics of today’s eats?
Breakfast: Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal with lowfat milk, and a big bowl of honeydew melon. I’ve been craving fruit like nobody’s biz!
Lunch: 6-inch veggie patty Subway sandwich on Parmesan bread and a side of jalapeno chips.
Snacks: A (undocumented…sorry!) bag of light popcorn sprinkled with Cajun seasoning, and a serving of string cheese
Dinner: The husband was craving Arby’s, so we got plain roast beef sandwiches, and topped them with horsey and Arby’s sauce. I paired the sandwich with a salad drizzled with light raspberry vinaigrette dressing. I may or may not have had three of JD’s jalapeno poppers as well. Those things are crazy good!
I’m off to dream land now. (Big surprise, right?) I hope you all have a great rest of the week! And congrats to these amazing ladies — Brittany, Candy and Lorrie, on their weight loss achievements! Way to go!!
Tags: 1st trimester symptoms, Arby's regular roast beef sandwich, Denise Austin Fit & Firm Pregnancy DVD, elliptical workouts, Kashi GoLean Crunch, massage, Real Housewives of Orange County, Subway veggie patty sandwich
Posted in 1st trimester, exercise during pregnancy, pregnancy | 3 Comments »
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
Hey, all! How’s your weekend going? I hope great! As for me, I’ve had a tough few days dealing with headaches. Argh! I’m trying not to take any medications, even though I’ve read Tylenol is safe for preggs like me, but I couldn’t reach my doctor yesterday to verify that. So I kept it natural with frozen bags of veggies on my head. Ha! The cold stuff didn’t work too well, so I just rested in a completely dark and quiet room, and eventually fell asleep. I think that must have done the trick, because today I’m feeling so much better! I hope it stays that way.
I woke up super early and hungry this morning, and gobbled down some peach Chobani yogurt while getting sucked into the show, “Disappeared.” Have you seen it? It’s about real missing persons cases. Very interesting, but so sad too! I can’t imagine what those families are going through.
I made a big breakfast a couple of hours later for me and the hubs. It was french toast drizzled with honey, pan-seared prosciutto and sliced pineapple. It was very filling, and I couldn’t finish it all. So delish though!
After some house sprucing and blog reading (have to catch up with all my fav ladies), I got my workout on with Denise Austin’s Fit and Firm Pregnancy DVD. I did the 20-minute cardio session, plus the 20-minute toning workout. It felt so good to get moving!
JD and I started preparing dinner before lunch. We decided to try a recipe for Italian-style pulled pork (we subbed beef since it was on sale) from a paperback slow cooker recipe book I picked up at the grocery store.
Can’t go wrong with Sandra Lee on the cover!
Tex was desperately hoping JD would drop a morsel of the meat he was cutting up on the floor. Ha Ha!
“Gimme some beef!”
Here’s what it looks like, with all the ingredients together. (Wish I could share the recipe, but don’t want to infringe on any copyright laws!) We’ve had it cooking for several hours now, and my mouth hasn’t stopped watering from all the scrumptious smells coming from the crockpot. Can’t wait to dig in later!
Lunch was simple but HOT!
I was in a noodle kind of mood, so I fixed a Lipton Pasta Sides (chicken flavor) and a salad with lots of hot salsa on top. And hot it was! My nose was running, and my tongue needed some serious extinguishing after a few bites. I mixed in a little sour cream to try to cool it down, but my mouth was still ablaze. An orange Popsicle and copious amounts of water did the trick.
JD and I are going to an auction in a bit with my parents. You can find some great deals at those! (Like the china cabinet I got for a steal a few months ago!)
I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
Tags: auctions, Chobani yogurt, Denise Austin Fit & Firm Pregnancy DVD, headaches due to pregnancy, Italian-style pulled beef, Lipton Pasta Sides, slow cooker recipes
Posted in Saturdays, pregnancy | 5 Comments »
Friday, January 15th, 2010
Hey, friends! I hope you are having a fantastic start to the weekend! My apologies for no blog post yesterday. My husband came back early from a biz trip to New Jersey, and we had a little dinner date. He must be having sympathy pregnancy fatigue, because we were both out cold by 8:30! Ha!
I did get up yesterday morning and worked out (yay!) but this morning, my body said absolutely not. I guess old habits are hard to break, and I have NEVER been a morning person. But I’m working on it! Even though I was ready for a nap when I got home from work, I thought we should take advantage of the warmer weather and lingering daylight and get the pooch out for a walk. And, I wanted to break in my new comfy pants JD bought me in Princeton. Don’t you love travel presents?
(I put on a hoodie too — it’s not that warm outside!)
Tex was so excited to go for a walk! That is, until we put his harness on him. He hates it, but it’s a lot easier to lead him that way than with a regular collar.
He wouldn’t even look at the camera because he was so mad. Ha Ha!
A little prewalk pic of me and JD for kicks — so happy together. ♥
We went our usual 2 miles around the neighborhood, which took about 40 minutes. That included three bathroom breaks for the dog, and stopping to say hello to one of our new neighbors and her pup. I walked at a pretty good pace, and I could feel little tingles in my legs when we were done. Do you get those when you exercise? I love that feeling!
Shockingly, I wanted to keep working out. Hello, old me! Where the heck have you been?! So, I put in my new Denise Austin Fit & Firm Pregnancy DVD, and did a 20-minute strength training session. It definitely wasn’t anywhere near as challenging as The Shred, but it felt good to pump a little iron and make the old muscles burn. I’m actually feeling some soreness in my legs, so hopefully that means I got a good workout. I’m proud of doing almost an hour of exercise! If I keep it up Saturday and Sunday, I’ll have my 5 workouts in for the week. I better start thinking about a reward, because I’m going to do it!
I was on the right track with meals today…well, minus lunch. I have been craving Chinese food for weeks now, and today, I had to have some. So Lori, Jessica and I went to a little hole in the wall place we love called Jade Palace Express. You can walk in, get a box, and get anything off the buffet you want for $6. I think I did pretty well with portion control, but being Chinese food, it was still high in calories. I got a cup of hot & sour soup (my absolute fav), 2 pieces each of honey, sesame and General Tso chicken, a spoon of pepper steak, a spoon of fried rice, a big spoon of mixed vegetables and an egg roll. I don’t have a picture, and that’s mainly because I wolfed it down in 2.5 seconds. All while mmmm’ing and exclaiming more than once, “This is the best meal I’ve ever had.” It seriously was heaven in a box. I rarely ever eat Chinese food, so I didn’t feel too guilty about my splurge. And I tracked the calories as best I could, so that’s that.
The rest of my meals today were more healthy girl friendly:
Breakfast: Blueberry Chobani yogurt plus pumpkin muffin
Mid-morning snack: Lopsided apple and a small handful of pistachios
Dinner: Big salad from Jason’s Deli with a spoon of low-sodium, low-fat ranch dressing and a few sunflower seeds.
AND
Cup of tomato bisque soup — I get this every time we go to Jason’s. It is so delicious and filling!
I was really surprised I wanted a salad. And that it actually tasted really good to me. I’ve had such a hard time with vegetables since finding out I was pregnant. Maybe my old self is coming out in my food choices too?
So today wasn’t a perfect example of healthy living, but I think I did pretty good for the most part. Thank goodness Jade Palace is across town! Ha ha!
I hope you all have a fun weekend ahead! We don’t have any definite plans to do anything, other than a haircut for me, and that’s just the way I like it sometimes. Nothing like a relaxing weekend and going out to do things on a whim.
For now…goodnight!
** A big thanks to my Web designer, Merideth, for doing such a fantastic job on my new logo! I love it!
Tags: Chobani blueberry nonfat Greek yogurt, Denise Austin Fit & Firm Pregnancy DVD, Jason's Deli, Princeton, tomato bisque, trouble working out in the morning, two-mile walks
Posted in 2 mile walks, pregnancy | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
…but I’m good and toasty after a workout! My first “real” one since Saturday, to be exact. (I did go for a short walk on Sunday, but don’t really count that as anything more than good quality time with the husband and puppy.) I managed to keep my peanut butter on toast snack down and eyes open for a 30-minute cardio challenge on the elliptical, PLUS squats, lunges, and several reps of curls for the ol’ arms. I feel fantastic and proud! See?
(Please excuse the colossal bump that has decided to set up camp on my cheek. I’m hoping a little facial exorcism performed by Mary Kay this evening will do the trick.)
I don’t want to just rely on the elliptical on the really cold winter days, so tonight, I found some new friends on Amazon.com. (Sorry, Jillian!)
and
{Both photos courtesy of Amazon}
These DVDs got rave reviews, and I like that they customize the exercises for each trimester. Now I don’t have to worry that I’m doing the wrong workout and jostling the baby! Peace of mind is always a good thing.
We are crossing our fingers and toes for a snow day tomorrow. It doesn’t come easy in the South, but maybe we’ll see some flakes in the morning.
Any good workout DVDs you are currently doing? Do you stay indoors, or brave the cold to get good exercise?
****
On a very special note, I’d like to wish my niece, Elizabeth, a VERY happy 4th birthday today! Aunt May-May loves you bunches!
Tags: Denise Austin Fit & Firm Pregnancy DVD, elliptical workouts, strength training during pregnancy, Summer Sanders Prenatal Workout DVD
Posted in exercise during pregnancy | No Comments »
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