"Oh My Gosh, The Bend and Snap!"

"Works every time!"

As much as I hate to admit it, Legally Blonde is one of my favorite movies. No joke. My favorite scene is when  Elle and Paullete practice their moves to impress the UPS guy, working their body in a specific way to catch his attention.

Everyone has a different reason for maintaining their fitness but the over all goal is to maintain a healthy and active life (and, yes, even be sexy enough to attract our own UPS guys or gals). Whether that be bending and snapping or going for a run, we all have different methods for achieving these goals, too.

For me, I love love love body weight circuits. They're fun, challenging, and the heaviest thing I lift is my own body. That's not to say that I don't lift weights. I do. But body weight exercises allow the body to move and stretch in all the ways its designed to. Plus, I don't have to waste time by getting up and finding the right set of dumbbells or throwing on more/less weight on a bar. Its quick and easy, and I can do it in my own house or backyard if I decide to. No gym needed.

This is one of the routines I like doing:

Pull Ups - for max reps, then negative pull ups until I get to 10
Push Ups - 15
Sit Ups - 20
Squats - 20
Triple Threats - 10 each
Russian Twists - 40 (20 each side)

Then repeat 3-5 times.

All the equipment you need is a bar or something to pull your self up on and a soccer ball or basketball. If you don't have a ball of some sort, try a chair with wheels that moves easily across the floor. And the most important piece of equipment: YOU.

Don't have a pull up bar? No worries. I hit up the monkey bars at the playground next to my apartment. Can't do a pull up? Neither could I for a long time. I first had to drop 10lbs then concentrate on working my back muscles enough to finally do 1. I'm now up to 3 and working on getting to 10 in the next 5-6 weeks. If you're wondering "how on earth do I practice pull ups?" check out this awesome article from one of my absolute favorite bloggers, Steve, founder of Nerd Fitness. What worked for me was a combination of negative pull ups, body weight rows, and lat pull downs, plus using an assisted pull up machine here and there. But whatever exercises you prefer, stick with those. You know your body best.

If you can't do a push up, that's cool, too! There are plenty of modified versions to help build up chest and arm (specifically triceps) strength. Use a wall, a chair, a step, your knees, until finally you progress into a full push up. Keep in mind to keep good form--back straight, abs engaged--while you're working or you won't get the full benefits.

Triple Threats are hard if your hamstrings are weak. And, unfortunately, like the back muscles used for pull ups, people forget that the back of your legs need to be worked too. That's where Triple Threats come in. They work your hamstrings in three different ways so you hit them in every direction for maximum impact. So even after doing them for years, I still feel the "burn"!

Let me know in the comments section below how you felt after that circuit! Or if you have your own routine, feel free to share that too!

Oh, and those 10lbs I mentioned earlier? Lost though a combination of diet and exercise. In other words, Paleo and fitness!

We have our groceries. Now what?

So now we have our groceries. But what to do with them? There's no way to eat everything in the next couple of days, and you don't want to. You've only budgeted $300 max for groceries this month so you have to make what you bought last for the next 2 weeks. Here's what I do.

First, I take inventory.

Typically, I'll have  ground beef (grass fed, of course), chicken breasts, tilapia, eggs, bacon, and breakfast sausage. For veggies, bell peppers, onions, garlic, kale, romaine lettuce leaves, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, and a couple of sweet potatoes. And finally for fruit, watermelon, cantaloupe, oranges, and a container each of blueberries and strawberries.

That's plenty of food to keep me going for the next couple of weeks, no problem. What IS an issue is that sometimes I have no idea what to do with any of it. For a long time I wasn't big on cooking, and on top of that I was bad at it. Which is mostly why I preferred to eat out so often before switching to Paleo to lose those extra pounds and save some extra money. But let's admit it: eating out is expensive! It took me a while, and some not so tasty mistakes, to realize Paleo (or anything really) doesn't require anyone to be a 5 star chef. All it takes is a little bit of thought and effort. But I digress.

Second, I figure out what I want.

Its summer (finally!) so on Sunday night, I was feeling burgers[1]. Awesome! Let's start there. So I set the ground beef aside. What goes with burgers? Fries! Sweet potato fries! I set the sweet potatoes aside. Since we Paleos don't do grains--and therefore buns--I set aside some romaine lettuce leaves for a wrap. But no meal is complete without some greens though, too, right? Right. So I set aside whatever greens or other veggies sounded good, in this case, it was green beans, bell peppers, and onions. There. Done. Now what to do about all the other food.

TIP #4: FREEZE IT OR STORE IT
(Yes, I realize I'm skipping #2 & 3, but we'll come back to those!)

If I'm not going to eat fish or chicken tomorrow, I freeze it. If I have no plans other than to only saute the kale but not going to have any tonight, I freeze it. Whatever veggies or fruits I'm not using are stored in the fridge asap. If you don't already, figure out a way to keep that produce as fresh as possible for as long as possible. Personally, I've invested in special bags that keep produce fresher for longer, which helps a lot if I'm not going to be using it in the next couple of days. Whatever system you have to keep food fresh for as long as possible, use it. 2 weeks is a long time.

So all we have left out is our burgers. Not feeling fancy? No worries. I wasn't either. Below is the little recipe I used that is quick and easy to follow. I didn't have a grill, and no, you don't either.

Ingredients:

2 lbs lean ground beef
1/2-1 cup diced onion
2 cloves mashed garlic
2 tbsp Italian seasoning or Herbs de Provence
Salt & Pepper to taste

1) In a large bowl, mix the beef, onion, garlic, and spices until evenly distributed.
2) Form 2"-3" patties (should make about 6)
3) In a non stick frying pan, let cook for about 5-7 minutes on medium-high heat, then turn over and cook for another 5-7 minutes or until cooked all the way through

That's easy, yeah? If you prefer other spices or ingredients in your burgers, try them and leave a comment about what you made!

 And the best part? Left overs!

The average container of ground beef is about 1-2 lbs, if not more. I don't know about you but I'm no Adam Richman, so there was no way I was going to eat all 1-2 lbs of meat in one sitting. So those patties I didn't eat? That's right: Froze 'em or kept 'em for lunch (and dinner) over the next couple of days.

So don't go out and buy a burger and fries at a restaurant for a one time meal of $10 or so. Make your own burgers for under $10! And have plenty for later!

What's your spin on this simple burger? Let me know below!

Fun Friday Savings!

Happy $5 Fridays!!

If the supermarket or grocery store doesn't offer a cool savings day today (or any other day), try exploring. "Shop around" to see if that other store just a touch farther down the street has any good deal days or what not. You never know what you happen to stumble upon when you explore! So get out there, take a look around, and find your self those savings!

And when you have, leave a comment below telling us what you've found and how much you saved compared to your last trip.

Happy Friday, and have a great weekend! Check back in on Monday for the start of my new Weekly Recipes piece.

Savings Tip #1: Bonus Cards & Savings Days

Today I want to talk about the first and most common savings tricks: Bonus cards & Savings Days

I have bonus cards from the two chain grocery stores closest to my apartment. I’m also subscribed to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods’ mailing lists as they are a great source of coupons, deals, promotions, what have you, in case I find a good deal. Normally though, since running around to a million different places for groceries can be a hassle, I like to stick with only one store as much as possible. So let’s start there.

A few Fridays ago I decided to head down to my local Safeway to pick up some beer and snacks for the weekend (this was pre-Paleo). As soon as I walked in I saw signs for $5 Friday. "What's $5 Friday?" I wondered. Then it hit me. It's happy hour for grocery shopping!! My two favorite things have finally found each other (sigh). Basically its a day when certain items are bundled or marked down to $5. $5! Unfortunately I didn't have to buy groceries at that point, so I went back last week (Week 2 of Paleo) to see what I good deals I could get. This time bell peppers were bundled at 4 for $5 and olive oil was marked down from $9.29. Awesome! By the time I got all my good ol' Paleo meat, fruit, and ton of veggies my total would have been $89.52. But thanks to my bonus card and savings day deals, I only paid $74.66!

Plus! A lot of bonus cards also include gas rewards so, for example, every time you spend $100 or more you get 1 gas reward point. 1 gas reward = $0.10 off a gallon of gas. Discount off gas? Yes, please! Now not only can you save on food, you can save on gas, which we all know is expensive enough. The kicker is that they, too, expire after about a month. Lame sauce. So use ‘em while you got ‘em. The next time I go to fill up, I'll be saving $0.20 per gallon. :)

There are some things, however, that your traditional grocery stores just don’t carry (in some places anyway). For me, that’s Paleo-friendly nuts and dried fruits. With some exceptions, almost every nut or trail mix option includes peanuts, which—as a Paleo—just doesn’t work. And those few options that don’t include peanuts are coated with added sugar or corn or soy products (example), or they cost more than what they’re worth. Same goes for the dried fruit selection. That’s when Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods come in. And since I had saved so much from my bonus card and awesome discovery, I figured I should treat myself to something, especially something that would stay fresh in the pantry for a while.

On the way up to Hershey Park a couple of weeks ago, my girlfriend (who’s also doing Paleo) and I stopped into Whole Foods to look for some Paleo snacks to bring with us so that we wouldn't be tempted to eat way more chocolate than we should. We managed to come across some excellent no-sugar added dried fruit and this delicious trail mix that, while not that expensive on the surface ($6.99 for a 16oz bag), is easy and cheap(er!) to replicate at home. So instead of loading up on—let’s say—four 1 lb bags of that for $27.96 (w/o tax), I headed over to Trader Joe’s for some raw nuts:

½ lb Pecan (halves) = $3.99

1 lb Almonds (roasted/No salt) = $4.99

1 lb Walnuts (raw pieces) = $7.99

1 lb Hazelnuts (raw/No salt) = $6.99

(Ignore for a minute the raw almonds and tea…I’m using the raw almonds for another culinary project and I just love me some tea)

That's $23.96 (w/o tax), $4 less than the alternative. I also added half a container of the $2.50 for raisins from Safeway which brings the total to $26.46 before tax. That's a total savings of $1.50. Now wait. Before you go all "A buck fifty ain't even worth it," think a second more. You have 4 lbs (ish) of nuts in front of you. Who eats 4lbs of nuts, much less 4 lbs of trail mix? Squirrels. But since you're reading this blog, you're probably not a squirrel (no offense meant if you are). So what do you do? Throw it all in a giant bag and have a sh*t ton of trail mix is one option. Hang on...You bought some tilapia on Friday. And you've been thinking about all the awesome Paleo recipes you could make with it....that's it! Almond crusted tilapia! (recipe coming soon). And then there's that recipe you found for Paleo carrot banana muffins with walnuts in it! You don’t have to have 4 lbs of trail mix! Better yet, you can make a yummy dinner (or 2), have left over ingredients for other meals, and STILL have about 2 lbs of trail mix. Yay!

Since neither Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have bonus cards, subscribe to their mailing list for deals, coupons, and sales. When you sign in for the first time, you get to choose your local store which will also show up in your subscriptions. This way you know what's on sale across the entire chain, as well as the sales at the stores you frequent. All it takes is a few seconds of scanning over a couple of emails, and you get some idea of who has the best deals so you can plan accordingly. 

So going off of all of that--bonus cards, savings days, and Trader Joe's--I only spent $106.89 on groceries last week. Add in the $19.01 I spent on kielbasa and red wine (a little treat) from the local German deli,[1] and my total was $125.90. Sweet!!

So there you have it. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Now get out there and do it for your self!

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[1] Ethnic stores...more to come on them.

How This Blog Started

So let me start this post by telling a little bit about myself. I’m Cat, a 23 year old desk jockey and lifelong athlete. I absolutely adore my dog even though she’s a bit of a brat, and would rather watch a 4 hour documentary on the benefits of farting in a jam jar than a 4 minute news clip from any of the major news networks. Why? Cause that’s just how I roll. Don’t get me wrong, I like reading the news….it’s the commentary I hate. (Also, who wouldn’t want to watch a documentary on farting? Narrated by Morgan Freeman? That delicious smell is Oscar award my friends…)

But let’s move on. Health and fitness have always been something I’ve thought about but hadn’t really followed through. Fitness was the easiest for me since I was a pretty serious soccer player growing up and ran track in high school. By the time I got to college, it was all about rugby and rugby-specific fitness. That was when I finally learned to lift, which has been incredibly helpful (and fun) since focusing specifically on losing weight and getting in shape. But healthy eating was another matter. I had it in my head—like so many do—that as long as I worked out and stayed within a certain weight range, or BMI, (about 110-145lb for 5’4 women) that I was healthy and didn’t need to worry about what I ate.

VS.

I was wrong. And here’s why: The term “calories in; calories out” sounds fantastic on the surface but not all calories are created equal. Sure that entire box of Reduced Fat Wheat Thins I ate while walking the half mile home from class one day (true story) was delicious, but I was still hungry after. That’s still hungry after 1,960 calories. Oh, I made sure to have an intense work out later that day that I had consumed almost 2,000 calories of processed grains with artificial preservatives and who knows what else. What I should have had that would have filled me up and replenished the healthy micronutrients every healthy body needs was some fruit and nuts. Not only would I had gotten all the vitamins & minerals, protein, and healthy fats every healthy body needs, but I would have felt full thanks to the fewer refined carbs that stretch your stomach and make you feel hungrier sooner. (And I wouldn’t have had to take in nearly as many calories). I’ll have a whole post later on micronutrients and why grains aren’t as good as they’re made out to be.

In the last year or so, diet has been my major focus. I had the fitness part down, so there was only one thing left unattended. To be honest, it wasn’t my idea to think about my diet. It was my dad’s. Or rather, it was his amazing weight loss of over 80 lbs and counting! Sure, his diet wasn’t (still isn’t) perfect but his continual effort and non-stop talk about diet, weight loss, and fitness inspired me and got me thinking. I started by cuting out all sugary juices, packing my own lunches to keep track of what I was eating (mainly sandwiches), and cooking at home more (often pasta). But while this helped a bit in losing weight, I felt I was being held back and couldn’t figure out why. Finally, I did what every 21^st century Internet guru does: I started Google-ing. I’d heard about and seen some Paleo books in my homes away from home bookstores but hadn’t really thought about giving it a try until I stumbled across this awesome post. Things just clicked. Not because of the science behind it necessarily (of which I’m still learning the finer details of), but the history and just plain common sense of a diet focusing primarily on meat and veggies.

So that’s what got me started. A slow, gradual movement from being not so healthy, to sorta healthy, to Paleo. No, I’m not a perfect Paleo; that bagel and pizza I had over the weekend proves that. But I’m TRYING. I’m moving to the point where I know that what I’m putting into my body is going to contribute to my health and well being without having to count every calorie or worry about what or what isn’t processed, what has added sugars, or the amount of transfats, etc. I know that what I’m eating, I’m supposed to be eating and that I’m thriving because of it.

And being a young professional and recent college grad, I have to figure out how to eat on a budget. In my next post, I’ll be uploading my receipts from my local Safeway’s $5 Friday, the local German deli, and Trader Joe’s that cost in all (including a little treat for my girlfriend) under $130 dollars. And the best part is, it will keep me going for at least 2 weeks if not more with some thoughtful planning.