My husband is not a big fan of chicken breast. In fact, he doesn’t really like them at all. He thinks they are dry and much prefers higher fat dark meat.

I have been searching for some easy, basic recipes that fit in with the Fit Yummy Mummy plan. I find so many recipes, even if they only take 30 minutes to cook are too “out there” to feed my very picky husband.

Seeing how chicken is a mainstay of my diet, I have been looking for easy chicken recipes that are quick and delicious.

I found this Easy Chicken Piccatta Recipe and I was thrilled! (My very picky husband liked it too, and my toddler!)

Easy Chicken Piccatta Recipe

Protein: 4 – 3 oz chicken breasts

Produce: 1 can artichoke hearts packed in water, not oil marinade
1 package slicked mushrooms

More Stuff you need:  1/3 c. capers (I didn’t use them)
1/4 c.  fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 c whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Here’s where it gets really easy!

1. Lightly dredge chicken in whole wheat flour. (Just coat it by flipping over a couple times)
2. Use a big skillet ~ cook your garlic in the oil over moderate heat (watch it, or your garlic will burn and then you have to start over) You want the garlic to be pale gold.
3. Add chicken. Brown chicken on both sides. (a few minutes on each side until brown and a little crispy)
4. Add lemon juice, artichokes, mushrooms and capers if you use them.
5. Put the lid on and let it cook on low for 30 to 35 minutes.  Go ahead and flip your chicken once while cooking, and pour some of the juices over your chicken to instill the flavor.  Your chicken should be white throughout when done, and the juices should be clear.

This recipe would be nice with a side of brocolli, and if you must have an extra carb (although there are  plenty in the veggies) you could do a side of brown rice, or put it on top of whole wheat pasta.

I found this recipe at Club Fit Yummy Mummy. It was an extra bonus Holly gave away. There are tons of other very easy recipes, that fit perfectly with the Fit Yummy Mummy plan.

It’s been over two years now since I gave birth to my daughter. I had some belly fat to lose before I became pregnant, now there is even more. I have been trying to lose belly fat all my life it seems, but since giving birth it’s become a mission.

I have pulled together some great resources that I use to lose belly fat the right way, which will allow you to keep it off once you lose it. Don’t give up, don’t give in. It is totally possible to lose belly fat and keep it off.

First of all don’t try “spot reduction” that is a complete myth and just doesn’t work. You are not going to lose belly fat by doing a million crunches. It just doesn’t work that way. You are going to have to do some overall body training. This is good news because not only will your belly get flat the rest of your body will get fit and tight right along with it.

Here are the three main components of losing belly fat ~ even baby belly fat. ;)

1. Food

2. Exercise

3. Stress

Let’s break it down.

Food: Here are the basics.

You need to have a steady stream of fuel being provided to your body. This means you need to eat small meals every 3 hours or so. You will never lose weight skipping meals. It puts your body into survival mode and it will hold on to everything you’ve got, not knowing when it will get more.

Eating every couple of hours increases your metabolism and will help you lose fat much easier.

You need to eat healthy and well balanced meals. This means protein first, fruits and vegetables second, and complex carbohydrates third.

If you only remember protein and produce you will be well on your way. Make sure each and every meal you prepare has a bit of protein and some produce and you will start to notice change.

There are more factors and nutrients you will need, but this is the basic recipe to get you started.

Eating well will get you nowhere without increasing your metabolism with some exercise.

You’re going to love this. I am NOT going to tell you to get on the treadmill and run you life away.

The best thing you can do for your body to lose body fat is to do interval training, both cardio and resistance.  You will find you can do short burst interval training anywhere and anytime. Especially the cardio. You can do jumping jacks, jogging in place, walking down the road. There’s no need for a gym here.

To do shortburst cardio just start out at a level that feels comfortable. I walk quickly.  Warmup with that for a couple of minutes. Then do a short 30 second burst of all out ~ as fast as you can go, whether that’s running or walking even quicker. Just do what you can do. Then walk again, a little faster than your warm up, but slower. This will allow your body to slow down. Do this pace for 2 minutes. Then do another short 30 second burst of fast. Keep doing this for 15 minutes.

You will notice an improvement pretty rapidly in your ability to move faster and be less winded,  you can always increase the speed or length of time of intervals as you improve.

For your weight training you want to do whole body exercises. This means you only need a few exercises to work out your entire body, this piece of the exercise puzzle only takes about 15 minutes as well. I follow the Fit Yummy Mummy workout plan. She provides excellent images of the exercises as well as an excellent explanation of why you do each one and how.  This is the first exercise program I have found that I can stick with.

You can manage your workouts to fit your schedule. You can do 30 minutes 3 days a week or 15 minutes every day. Just make sure you are doing both the strength training and the cardio three times a week.

The last piece of the puzzle is stress.

Now I can hear people groaning already. How am I going to get rid of stress with a two year old running around. Believe me, I hear you. I have the same problem.  Here are a few things you can do to help manage your stress.

Sleep well. This can be a hard one with little kids, but make sure you go to bed as soon as you can. The chores and laundry that you try to get done after they go to bed can wait. Go to sleep!

Take small breaks. If you are at work, take  a break every couple of hours, walk around, move your body, take a few deep breaths. You can do the same thing at home with your kids. Breathing is a huge part being able to manage stress. Try to remember to take some deep breaths every hour.

Yoga. If you have time do yoga. It will help you feel so much better. If you have small kids, why not get a yoga for kids DVD, and do your yoga with them. It may not make for the BEST practice, but all of you will reap the benefits.

Meditate. Take a couple minutes to be silent and commune with yourself and the universe. Even if you have small kids you can take a moment, during naps, or after they have fallen asleep to sit and be still.  Don’t think of meditation as this huge thing you have to do perfectly. Just sit and breathe, in and out. You can review your day, think about the things you have to be grateful for, just take a moment. If you can wake up a few minutes before the kids it would be a great way to start the day.

So as you can see, losing belly fat is not about your belly at all. It’s about you, the whole person. You have to take care of you and you will see your belly begin to shrink.  Take heart, if your belly is where you store most of your fat, it will be the first place you start to lose.

It’s a basic recipe, Burn slightly more calories than what you are taking in using the
Factors of Fat Loss – Supportive Nutrition and Short Burst Exercise

Resources:

Fit Yummy Mummy

Body for Life for Women

Yoga for Kids

I have a hard time getting my hamstrings stretched out. So when I do lunges I have some serious pain for days afterwards. It gets me frustrated and generally makes me want to work out less and less.

I do love Yoga, and I got this video in my inbox this morning. It’s a great yoga posture, to balance your energy as well as stretch and strengthen your hamstrings, and other leg muscles.

I did a few today and I can see how it definitely works. :) Enjoy the video.

I have not been as good as I had hoped about following the Fit Yummy Mummy program. However, I do try to stick with it as well as I can. One thing I really like about it, is it is a lifestyle plan. So even when I have a really bad week it is easier for me to start over every minute or day or week. Life doesn’t end when you eat Oreos.

So if you are still looking for a way to change your life and your weight I highly recommend Fit Yummy Mummy. Even though I’m not really working it, it’s still working for me. :)

Is something I still need to learn. :)

Yesterday was a mess. It was Hanna’s birthday. I started the day off right with a good breakfast, however, the rest of the day escaped me.  Between getting Hanna down for a nap and up from her nap and getting the men away from the million pieces  for the monsterous swingset my mom’s husband dropped off for her birthday I completely missed meals 2 and 3, and meal 4 consisted of cake and ice cream. :( (this one was a planned cheat meal, but I hadn’t planned on missing all my other meals.

To end the day we ended up at the mexican restaurant and I had my favorite grilled chicken chimichangas. :( It was delicious, but not nearly plan worthy.

Now today is Mother’s Day and we are going to a lovely Mother’s Day Brunch.  It is at a nice place and I’m sure there will be plenty of on plan food.  I’m going to try to decide what I”m going to have before I get there, so I can just get that and kind of have a plan of attack.

I will be keeping in mind the mantra  ~ protein and produce and try to stay away from useless carbs etc. I think I should be able to do it.

I also need to make a menu and do some grocery shopping today.  So I guess I better get on it. :)

I’ll let you know how I do when I get back later today.

more to come . . .

Yesterday went pretty well. Hanna was in a seriously BAD mood. She refused to nap, so I didn’t get my workout in. I think I need to make a plan for an alternative cardio workout when she doesn’t nap. (The machine is in the basement which is not a baby proofed at all and very dangerous).

I also realized the 3 day a week workout schedule can also be moved to tue, thurs and Sat, if I don’t get on track on Monday. So today I still plan on working out. I will also devise a plan B for workouts on non nap days.

Meals went pretty well. We got a little off track by running errands during the time scheduled for the 3pm meal. I could have taken some fruit and nuts with me to eat while we were out. It’s all still a work in progress. Things got late and I didn’t get my 6th meal in, but everything I ate was supportive yesterday and today’s off to a good start.

Meal 1:

1 C. Shredded Wheat
1C 2% milk
1C blueberries

Meal 2:

1 c. organic fat free yogurt (no high fructose corn syrup)
1 c. leftover pineapple/mango salad from last night.

Meal 3:

Grilled chicken wrap with
fresh spinach, sprouts, cucumber, tomato and avacado

Meal 4:

I made this one about 30 minutes earlier than planned since it was an after workout meal.

1c 2% cottage cheese
1c pineapple

Meal 5: Running a little late

Chicken Artichoke pasta (used the protein rich pasta)
Salad with veggies

(I’ll post the recipe tomorrow)

I managed to get Hanna down for a nap today. Yay. I managed pretty well through the strength training, but dang! the cardio kicked my BUTT! I only managed about a third of the cardio workout. It’s a process. I’ll try again on Thursday and see if I can do a little more.

more to come . . .

Technorati Tags: fit yummy mummy, planning workouts

Here it is May 1st. I’m off on a new adventure, to become a fit yummy mummy. Hopefully it is an adventure that will last a lifetime. First off a little about me and why I started this project.

I am 37 ~ just turned yesterday ~ and the mom of an almost 2 year old and wife of almost 9 years. :) Phew all that in one sentence.
I work from home so I can stay home with my daughter, and I’m passionate about being able to do it. Though it’s great to have a 30 second commute, it is also very easy to let my health and fitness slide. Maybe it’s because I just had a birthday, or because I’m almost 40 *gasp* but I looked around and I’m not liking what I’m seeing.

What’s worse is I don’t like the role model for being fit and healthy I’m setting for my daughter.

So being the person I am, instead of complaining and beating myself up, I decided to do something about it. I have been on just about every diet you can imagine, and I’m pretty knowledgeable on the subjects of fitness and nutrition, I’ve just been unable to find something that translates into a lifestyle change instead of just another diet.

So I searched around looking for something that would fit a few requirements:

• it would be easy
• it would be something I could follow for life
• It would have resistance training ~ but not make me work out hours a day
• The nutrition would be balanced and something my whole family could eat

I’m happy to say I found everything I was looking for in one program. Fit Yummy Mummy. Don’t you just love the way it sounds? It rolls off the tongue, and who doesn’t want to be yummy?

Besides the outward yumminess of the program, it is packed with great information, all the exercises are well laid out. You don’t have to buy a bunch of equipment ~ in fact, none in the beginning. You only have to do 90 minutes of exercise per WEEK!! It’s based on sound exercise principles and includes resistance training and interval cardio (which has really worked for me in the past). Nutrition is based on eating a wide variety of foods. Nothing is off limits ~ which is great, because as soon as someone says I can’t have ice cream, you know I can’t get it off my mind. :)

So I found the program. I’m currently setting goals, and gathering a support system which is necessary for any new endeavor, and especially one I am hoping to make a lifelong change. I have decided to start the program on Monday, which will be May 5. I have to get the menus ready and go shopping and get psyched up.

I decided to start this blog because I have a tendency to get ramped up about something only to lose motivation not very far into it. I figure this blog will help me stay focused and motivated ~ because I will be helping others, and it will give me a way to track my progress and keep all the interesting stuff I find along the way.

I really want to hear from you. Since I’m counting on you to help me stay motivated please leave comments, let’s get into conversation. Subscribe to my RSS feed so you know each time I update the blog and you can come back and get the recipe or just see how I’m doing.

If you decide to get Fit Yummy Mummy and work the program along with me there is also a great community that goes along with it. You can join Club Fit Yummy Mummy and we can be one another’s support team.

I can’t wait to get started. I can’t wait to meet you. I can’t wait to start seeing results and changes in my body.

Come back Monday ~ where, God help me I will be posting my current photo and measurements ~ for the entire blogosphere. YIKES.

Look forward to seeing you and I hope you decide to come on this Fit Yummy Mummy journey with me!