I’m hooked on cooking with coconut oil and drinking coconut water while I workout… I’m also baking gluten free goodies with coconut flour.  If you haven’t tried Coconut Water yet, you should… it’s a natural alternative to those artificial crap sports drinks and is waaaay better for your body.  So next time you hit a hard workout like P90X, grab a container of NATURAL coconut water and amp up your workout!  Be sure that the brand you try does not contain sugar or preservatives… so nix the Goya!  I recommend Zico or Vita Coco

100% Pure Coconut Water

AliKat decided to join me in my workout, she had on her Tinkerbell Fairy dress, her little pink weights and she was getting to work… I swear my 4 yr old can get with the best of them, she’s a little beast!

Tomorrow I’m doubling up Cardio X with Shoulders & Arms… I was supposed to double up today but this stomach virus had me in the bed after finishing my workout earlier.

So I’m already starting week 2 of the P90X Lean program and I’ve already leaned out a lot… my legs need some more work so I’m adding in some cardio sessions too, probably hills and sprints.  This crazy cold weather will try to keep me inside but I’m fighting it… spring is coming up fast!  I put myself back on a competition diet too because I plan on doing another fitness competition in the spring… I haven’t competed in 4 years and I need to get back into it.  I took my rest day yesterday so I’ve Kenpo X later on, probably around 9:30pm I’ll be logging onto WOWY to catch up with my exercise buddies from Team Beachbody!

Tomorrow begins week 3 and then I’ll enjoy a rest week, I’m loving the Core Synergistics/Cardio X combo that starts of my week… I love DOMS!

My sister FINALLY got on board and is now finished her first week of the Classic Cycle of P90X.  She’s skimping on the workouts so I’m going to keep on her but so far we are both going strong.  I put on a lot of size and muscle in the Classic Cycle that I really need to lean it all out.  My husband will be a little ticked coming back from an 18 month deployment with a wife that’s more muscular than him… seriously not sexy!

Anyway, had a great workout and now we’re about to hit the mall for a walk & talk, and also to let the kiddos run like wild banchees!  Until tomorrow…

Green Smoothie Queen 3 Day Challenge

On August 15th, I am taking the Green Smoothie Queen 3 Day Challenge… who is going to join me?  I love raw foods and I enjoy smoothies everyday, so I figure what the heck, let’s go green!  It will be fun and I’m sure my daughter will be amazed that mommy can make her green smoothies instead of regular red or yellow smoothies, which are her favorite.

It’s $5 to participate in the challenge, $3 of your donation will go to support the Sea Shephard Conservation Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species.

What’s better than getting healthy and saving the planet!  Check out the website and join the challenge, I’m getting my sister to do it with me… she’s being lame about it but I’ll get her butt in gear.  I hope you all decide to take the challenge too, good luck!

I find that not only do I look better when I work out but I feel better. I hate to admit it, but goodness, I’m pushing 30… I’m *gasp* 28 and I realize that I don’t ‘bounce’ back like I used to. I could put on 10 lbs here and there and would lose it in a week or so with a detox, clean diet and a little extra cardio, but that’s not so easy anymore. I have to work a lot harder to maintain the type of physique I like. But it’s not just about the look, I feel less stressed when I work out. Sometimes when my munchkins are driving me up the wall, I give them a craft or game and I go hit P90X! Those are normally my best workouts, the ones where I need to blow off some steam.

I sleep better when I work out, I wake up the next morning a bit sore but it’s worth it. So if you’re finding that you can’t find time to fit in a workout, run around the yard with your kids, do some gardening, mow the lawn, run up and down your stairs a few times or tune in to Exercise TV (if you watch TV or have cable) or pop in an exercise DVD, take your children for a walk, go swimming…. get moving and do something. You don’t have to follow an exercise program, simply doing 45-60 minutes of activity per day will do your body good.

The boy woke up at 4am and wouldn’t go back to sleep, so I made his GF pancakes and turkey bacon then I started my workout. He is soooo gonna crash in about another hour, so I’m probably going to take a nap with him or I’ll be miserable tonight cooking dinner. I love P90X, have I said that before? When I finish this lean cycle I’m going to start P90X Plus. Man, P90X Plus looks like it ROCKS! I can’t wait to try it out…

Gluten Free Pancakes

I thought the day would never come when the little guy would eat pancakes, but thank God he now eats them and loves them. Some days I can’t get him to eat anything but pancakes all day so we’ve got this fabulous gluten free recipe from the Eat Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno… I highly recommend this recipe! I’ve tried others that didn’t turn out right or the texture was just disgusting, and when you have a child with texture issues that can be annoying.

Gluten Free Pancakes

3/4 C Rice Flour
1/4 C Tapioca Flour (Starch)
1 ts Guar Gum
2 eggs
1/2 C Rice Milk (Soy, Almond)
1 TB Canola Oil (Safflower)
1 ts Honey

Not in the recipe, but I add:
2 TB Brown Sugar (sometimes I add more – keeping it real!)
1 ts Cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients, then add wet… add milk to the mix as needed b/c it will thicken while it sits. I make my own rice flour with my Vitamix, so I use a combination of brown and white rice with flax seeds, hence the reason my pancakes are darker.