It's almost summer!!

Can you believe that it is June already? I mean, when did that happen? I feel like I was just making May's calendar yesterday. I hope you are all enjoying this amazing weather, I know that I am!
Since June totally crept up on me (and I have not yet made a calendar for June's fitness challenge) I have decided to make June a catch up month. If you are like me and Candy, you might possible have a month or even two that you have not completed yet! What better time to do that? If you don't have any make up to do, then first I am going to give you a nice big pat on the back. Second, I encourage you to make your own fitness challenge! If you are like me and burpees are your sworn enemy, then make it a whole month of burpees. Whatever it may be, just challenge yourself!
For the diet challenge, I am going to make it the same. Pick something that you are having a hard time staying away from and do it! Don't limit yourself to just "no sugar" or " no whatever". Maybe you are just having a hard time keeping yourself from "cheating". Limit yourself to only one cheat a week. You get the point. Pick something and do it!

xo
Hannah

PS: I almost forgot! A Tone It Up Utah friend of me and Candy is custom designing our blog for us! I am so excited to see what she comes up with. Stay tuned to see it! (:

May I See Your Beach Body?

No? Okay, that's fine. I am not ready to show mine either! BUT don't you worry. Our fitness challenge this months focus' on all those areas that we need to look great so we can show off our beach bodies! The moves this month vary quite a bit, so we won't be doing the same old thing everyday. When I was putting the calendar together, I was even surprised to see some moves that I wasn't too familiar with. Yay for new things! If you read over it and start to panic, just stop. I am going to provide YouTube videos you can watch to show you how to complete each move, and remember you DON'T have to complete all of one days moves at once! Do one move in the morning and the other at night, or do half the reps at a time. You could even just do a couple at once. Like 10 every hour. Whatever works! The one move we do want you to do "at once" is the plank. Don't split the time up, do the full time for one plank! Without further ado, here is your May calendar!

How do I do this??

Kick downs:

Skater Slides:

Russian Twists:

Superman:

Donkey Kicks:

Plank Walks:

Wood Chops:

Mountain Climbers:

Standing Side Crunch:

Plank Jacks:

Seal Jacks:

Froggies:

And there ya have it! I am going to leave it up to you guys to decide if you want to do the number of reps on each side or total!
NEXT!
Let's talk about our diet challenge! For this month, I have chosen processed foods! I really don't eat very much, if any, BUT I want to stay away completely!

BIKINI SERIES!!

Hello lovelies!!
So this is a little late, but Candy and I have been super busy! Monday marked the first day of the annual Tone It Up bikini series! This is our first time doing it, but we are so excited to be a part of it this year. The bikini series is an 8 week challenge to really get our bodies in shape for swimsuit season. Karena and Katrina send out a weekly workout schedule that tell you exactly what to do each day. We are also working toward 100 or 150 miles by summer (June 21st). I have decided to go for the big 150, because I really want to challenge myself! Unfortunately Candy can't run for the next couple weeks ): On top of everything they send you, there are prizes!! They pick a couple winners who get to go anywhere in the world they want with their best friend. There are also weekly prizes. So what are you waiting for?
This is the link for the first weekly schedule and to sign up for the bikini series. When you sign up, you get a free starter pack that includes tips and tricks as well as yummy recipes!

http://toneitup.com/2014/04/the-1st-bikini-series-weekly-schedule-%E2%98%80/

Brownies!

How can you get any better than a delicious chocolaty brownie? A HEALTHY delicious chocolaty brownie!! Today I am going to share with you a new recipe that I just found for black bean brownies. Stay with me, I know exactly what you are thinking. I made these last Sunday and Candice and I thought they were delicious. John also ate his in one bite! I will admit, I was a little weary to try them, but I had to try it out. So without further ado, here is the recipe.


Black Bean Brownies

- 1 can black beans (19oz can) drain and rinse well

- 3 tbsp coconut oil - melted

- 3 eggs

- 1/2 cup cocoa powder

- 1 tsp vanilla

- 1/4 cup carob chips

- 2/3 cup coconut sugar (brown sugar, some stevia, etc would also work) 

- 3 tbsp peanut butter - melted

In a blender or food processor, puree beans, coconut oil, eggs, cocoa powder, vanilla and carob chips until smooth. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in the sugar. Pour brownie mixture into parchment paper-lined pan (8x8). Spraying the pan with cooking spray also does the trick, and I used a little bit bigger pan. Scoop, pour or dollop peanut butter onto the top of brownie and swirl with a butter knife. Bake @ 350^oF for about 25 minutes until set. Let cool on a wire rack. Cut and enjoy guiltlessly! 

**I only have one jar of what I like to call bathroom coconut oil, which means I use it on my body and hair, and don't have one for the kitchen at the moment. So I just used vegetable oil instead. Less healthy, but it worked. I also didn't have any coconut sugar, so I subbed in brown sugar. If you are wanting to buy some coconut sugar, I saw recently that you can get a pretty good sized bag at Trader Joe's for like 4 bucks.

Let me know what you guys think about the recipe. I bet you could get some picky eater kids to eat them and not even know what it is! (:

xo 

Hannah

Y'all Ready For This?

Hello again ladies! 

Candy and I did some talking and we realized that we have not done any fitness posts! Although we love ALL of the Tone It Up fitness routines, some of them can be fairly difficult. We tried to think of one that was easy, but not too easy, to cater to everybody's different fitness levels. This routine was from the first Love Your Body series from last year and is a great leg workout! Since we are focusing on our arms for the month, we decided to give you a different area to work on. With this routine, and any future ones, please modify (if you need to) to your level. DO NOT HURT YOURSELF! Since there are already two of us down and out due to injuries, we need to make sure to listen to our bodies and not add to that number! Yes, you should push your body, but learn when your body is telling you 'enough'. 

Do this 3 (yup, I said 3!!) times through, with however many reps it says per move. If you can only do half the reps, GREAT! If you can only do it one time through, GREAT!

You can do this!!

After you finish this routine, let us know how it went! Was it too easy? Was it too hard? We would love to hear some feedback! Also, if there is a certain area that you would like us to focus on for our next fitness post, please let us know! We are going to try and get these posts up more often so you have a variety of routines to choose from. Of course, all of the routines are on toneitup.com!

xo

Hannah

April has arrived!

Happy April, my loves!

This is finally happening...spring is HERE at last!  Although it was a very mild winter, I just could not wait for spring (and all the amazing-ness that comes with it) to arrive!  I hope you are all getting out there and enjoying the warmer temps, beautiful sunsets, PERFECT running weather, chirping birds and blossoming flowers. I know I am.

Sorry we are a few days late on this, but below you will find you April calendar.  This month we will be focusing on our awesome arms with this all about arms daily workout challenge...just in time for short-sleeve season.  So get at it, ladies!  Lets get those guns out and ready to impress the world :)

In addition to our monthly fitness challenge, we are ready to go for another diet challenge.  Since we are still going strong with our Lent diet challenges (hopefully....) this month is almost going to be like a double diet challenge.  Yeahhh baby!  We are going to give you a difficult, but extremely rewarding one.  Ready???  It's no BREAD!  Bread, rolls, hoagies, toast, all of it.  Bread in all forms.  

I know it sounds hard, and it will be at at first. But, I promise you this is so doable and so worth it.  You will see such a difference in your energy levels when you are relying on good, healthy, whole foods to fuel your day instead of crappy, refined carbs.  You will feel less bloated (hoorah for that!) and just all around better! The best tip I can give you is to lettuce wrap everything!  Lettuce wrap your burgers, sandwiches, everything. Lettuce will be your new best friend. Check out our delicious recipe for Thai Lettuce Wraps for a great idea to get you started.

I'm so excited to hear about your results, so make sure and leave comments, words of encouragement, recipe ideas, etc. below.  You can do this!

New Recipe!

Happy Monday everyone!
Today I want to share with you a new recipe that I just tried last night, Thai Lettuce Wraps! The recipe was featured on the Tone It Up site, it is delicious and man approved!
Here is the recipe:

Thai Lettuce Wraps
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
- 1 lb lean ground turkey
- 1 Tbs grapeseed oil
- 1/2 small onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- iceburg lettuce, washed & laid flat to dry
- 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce (if you are gluten-free, use GF Tamari)
- 1/3 cup hoisin sauce (if you are gluten-free, use GF hoisin sauce)
- sea salt, ground black pepper, paprika, and garlic powder to taste

Directions:
Heat oil over low-to-medium heat, add diced onions and peppers; cook for 2-4 minutes (or until onions are translucent). Add lean ground turkey, season to taste, and cook until turkey juices are well browned. Once turkey is cooked, add the soy sauce and hoisin sauce to the pan and mix well. Turn off stovetop and set mixture aside to cool slightly (about 5 minutes). Meanwhile, line a tray with flat, washed pieces of iceberg lettuce. Wraps can be small or large depending on the size of your lettuce leaves. Each "portion" should contain about 4 oz of ground turkey. This dish pairs well with dark leafy green veggies like bok choy, kale, broccoli and spinach!

Nutrition Facts:

At 400 calories per serving, these wraps provide 55 grams of protein and just 20 grams of carbohydrate.

So once again, when going through this recipe, I realized that I left a few things out. I did not add the paprika or garlic powder. Moral of the story? I should pay more attention to recipes, but it was still delicious! Instead of grapeseed oil, I used almond oil because I had it on hand. You can really use any kind of oil, but keep in mind that the calorie content will change with that. 

Try it out and let us know what you think! Seeing as we have ZERO comments from anyone, we would love to hear some feedback from everyone. Are you enjoying reading our blog? Is there something that you would like us to post? Are you even reading the blog? (; etc.

Happy cooking!

Ps, I hope you are all kicking your March fitness and diet challenges in the booty!

Here is the link for the recipe on Tone It Up:

http://toneitup.com/2014/03/featured-member-recipe-warm-savory-asian-wrap/

Here is the link to the original member recipe:

http://community.toneitup.com/recipeitems/101036/863/turkey-lettuce-wraps

Still to come:

-Motivation boards

-Weigh in Wednesdays

-Tiny Tea

-Perfect Fit 

-500 mile run

-Cafe Rio Chicken

-Nutrition Plan

Hello March!

A new month brings a new fitness and diet challenge! Let me hear you say YAY! (:

I really hope that you are all participating in our challenges, because they are pretty awesome. It is amazing to see how much stronger you get after such a short amount of time.

120 sit ups? NO BIG DEAL.

For this month, we will be Marching our hearts out for our fitness challenge. Print out your calendar and stick it wherever you will see it most, whether that is your motivation board, fridge, or bathroom mirror. Whatever works for you! If you have a question about how to perform any of the moves on the calendars, just type it into YouTube and watch some videos!
We are going to do our diet challenge a little differently this month. Since Lent is coming up on Wednesday, we have decided to let you pick what you are giving up this month. So pick one (or even more) things that you are wanting out of your diet and stick with it for the entire month. If you want to share what you have chosen, we would love to hear. If you would rather keep it more personal, that is great too!

Still to come..

-Motivation boards

-Weigh-in Wednesdays

-Tiny Tea

-Perfect Fit

-500 mile run
-Cafe Rio Chicken

I Am Awesome

Can you believe that February is already coming to and end?  As much as I hate how quickly time flies, it means we are that much closer to warm weather and fun summertime activities!  I CAN'T WAIT!

I hope you have been joining Hannah and I on the February challenges and have grown in your love for yourself over the past couple of weeks.  On that same topic, I wanted to share a few thoughts that have  been rolling around in my head over the past couple of months.  Like pretty much every woman out there, I occasionally struggle with inward thoughts of negativity and self-doubt.  I start to compare my self to all of the other women around me and make myself feel small and inadequate when I don't quite measure up.  I question all of the things that I once felt secure about. I forget the good things about myself and get stuck in a spiral of insecurity.  Sometimes the thoughts even linger for a few days or longer.  Anyone relate to this? Thought so!!

A few months ago, I heard a talk (can't remember who or when or anything but it seems like it was from General Conference) and the speaker said something to the effect of remembering how God sees you and that God would never want you to feel that way about yourself.  I was then reminded of another conference talk from a year or so ago about what an amazing gift we were given from God to be on this earth and to have physical bodies.  That is the biggest thing that Satan and his followers missed out on.  They did not get a chance to come to earth, have a body, and experience all of the beautiful things this life has to offer.  Because of that, Satan does everything possible to use our physical bodies against us.  He tempts us with sexual sin, drugs, alcohol, food, laziness, selfishness, and thoughts of hatred towards our selves and our bodies.  He takes all of the blessings of having a physical body and twists them to improper use of our bodies.  

I know it sounds simple but for some reason it struck me pretty hard. This was one of those "a-ha" moments that Oprah speaks of.  Suddenly I had a new desire to rid myself of those thoughts and moments of self doubt and make the best of ever day I have on this earth in this amazing body that God gave me--even if it is for no other reason than to show Satan that I am in charge and he has no power over me.

In my efforts to keep my head in the game, so to speak, I stumbled across a few things that really help me when I feel those negative thoughts creeping in.  The first is this simple reminder of the difference between thoughts and feelings that are sent from God and those coming from Satan.  It reminds me to trust my instincts and follow the impressions I get from the Spirit.

The second thing I found and love is this video on YouTube.  I love the words and message shared in this video (although the "guy is weird", according to Hannah). I love the reminder to disregard all of the things we feel make us less than we are and to remember that we have an amazing power to change the world, if we choose to do it. This is true for me and it's true for you.  I'll leave you with the video and the challenge to really ponder and use the greatness that lies inside of you, because "[you] are awesome. And please, don't you forget it." 

Tone It Up

Good Afternoon ladies!

I have been really excited to write this post. I want to introduce you guys to Karena and Katrina, two best friends who started Tone It Up.

 K&K are both trainers and fitness enthusiasts who decided to start a company where they could share their love for fitness, food, how they got into AMAZING shape and make it motivational and extremely fun. I actually found the Tone It Up site through Pinterest about 2 years ago. I visited the site and thought it was awesome, so I signed up for their newsletter. What I didn't know was that all of the amazing emails full of recipes, fitness routines and motivation were going straight to my junk folder. Honestly though, I am smart enough to check that, but I really wasn't completely in the game to change my lifestyle. I am SO disappointed that I did not give Tone It Up the time I should have because it is life changing!

Karena and Katrina have developed the Tone It Up nutrition plan with 5 different versions; regular, vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan and pescetarian. However, the plan costs $150. I know, you're saying YIKES right about now. But here is the thing, with the purchase of the plan you get a LIFETIME membership. So when they put out their new editions of the plan you get it right away. The plan consists of over 200 recipes, workout routines that are not featured on their site, their complete nutrition philosophy as well as full access to the members only group on their community (which is a lot like Facebook, but full of women just like YOU trying to do exactly what you are doing!), Members only emails, members only coupons, etc. I have been reading a lot of reviews on the plan and every single one has said it is completely worth the ONE TIME $150. Think about how much it would cost for you to go to a nutritionist and have him/her tell you what to eat and when to eat, etc. Think about how much you have to pay to be a part of Weight Watchers each month. If you were to add up an entire year of going to WW's, I guarantee it would be more than $150. I have not bought the plan yet, but I am very close to having saved enough money!  Honestly, I am so anxious and excited to get it. SO now that I have hopefully sold you on their nutrition plan, let's move on to all of they other amazing aspects of Tone It Up.

Each year K&K do several Tone It Up challenges, starting with the Love Your Body Series. It is a challenge that goes from January 1st to Valentine's, and it is exactly what it sounds like. You are Loving Your Body by Valentine's day. Candy and I have been doing it this year and I think I can speak for both of us when I say it is awesome.

On top of putting out this awesome nutrition plan, Karena and Katrina have developed their own Perfect Fit Protein powder and protein bars. We both bought samples of them and like everything else Tone It Up, they are amazing. They have so many different recipes to use Perfect Fit in, smoothies, pancakes, waffles, cake, muffins, the list goes on and on. I made the famous Perfect Fit waffles (they were delicious) and a yummy Chocolate, Banana, Peanut Butter smoothie and it was out of this world amazing and kept me full for hours. They have also produced their own workout DVD's, which I do not have but have heard are amazing, swimsuits, clothing, jewelry and more. AND they just finished their first season of Toned Up on Bravo.

Okay, I think I have gone on enough about Tone It Up. I really hope that you can tell how passionate I am about it. It truly is an amazing community full of motivating women just like you and me. I love K&K's program and everything they stand for. It is something that I am striving to do for the rest of my life. 

Check out their site and sign up, you will not regret it!

www.toneitup.com
XO Hannah

Share the Love

Hey Fitsters!! 

Hope you are enjoying the blog so far :)

As we are rounding the corner to February, I've been thinking a bit about why I love this time of year.  I know it sounds strange coming from this "Single Lady" when normally singles (such as myself) dread the inevitable reminder that comes this time of year that you are, in fact, incredibly single.  But I actually really love that we all take a moment and celebrate the people we love in our lives.  

In the spirit of our blog and bringing out our inner goddesses, I though this would be a great opportunity to celebrate the things we love about ourselves. Because, when it comes down to it, you're stuck with yourself for the rest of your life and if you don't like yourself then life can be pretty darn miserable.  

Along with our monthly fitness challenge, I want to challenge each of us to take a moment every day and write down one thing we love about ourselves.  I think we will all find that it may be really difficult and probably even a little uncomfortable at times because we are women and that's just how we roll (humble...right?).  But how awesome will it be at the end of the month to look back and see a list of 28 things that make us so amazing? I am hoping that at the end of the month we will all find a greater appreciation of ourselves and more motivated to make our lives what we want them to be.

So hop to it! Write it in your journal, keep it close by, and refer to it as often as you need it.

Our First Recipe

Happy Friday everyone!! 

I just have to say how excited I am about this blog! I hope that you are all just as excited, it is going to be great. 

Today I want to share one of my new favorite recipes with you....

Turkey Meatballs!

I got this recipe from Michelle Money. You heard that right, Michelle Money. From The Bachelor. She has a YouTube channel, which I actually quite enjoy. Don't judge me. 

Here is the recipe:

1 lb lean ground turkey

1/2 cup breadcrumbs*

1-3 eggs**

1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp (or more) parsley

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with pam. Mix all the ingredients together and shape into balls, then place on pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Makes about 18 balls, depending on how big you like them.

*For a little healthier option, you can substitute oat bran for bread crumbs. I have only used breadcrumbs, because that is what I had on hand.

**Depending on how moist you like your balls, I usually use 3 eggs.

A couple notes:

-I just realized when writing this recipe down, I left out the olive oil the last time I made them. I didn't really notice any difference with the balls.

-I did not use parsley, because I forgot to buy it at the store. I added onion powder, garlic, powder and some oregano instead. Basically, you can put whatever spices you want in your balls.

-Candice said she did half parmesan/half mozzarella cheese when she made them. If you want a little healthier cheese, that is a good option! 

You will be telling your family to keep their hands off your balls, that is how good they are!

When I made them this week, I paired them with spaghetti squash, instead of actual noodles. It was delicious and man approved! 

Here is the link to Michelle's YouTube channel, in case you want to check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/user/MMandLShow?feature=watch

Coming Soon:

Loving your body 

Motivation boards

Tone It Up

Weigh-in Wednesdays

Keeping my head in check

Tiny Tea

500 mile run

Welcome

Welcome to our little blog!  We've talked about it for a long time, and now it's finally becoming a reality.  Who is excited?!

Since most of us are on a continuous journey to be healthier, happier, and (most importantly) hotter, we thought this would be a great way to share recipes, exercise tips, motivational thoughts, and celebrate our successes together.  

Every month, we will be posting a monthly challenge calendar to give us a different area of our body to show some extra love to. Since we are a little late getting this going in the new year, we will start with our February challenge to love our fabulous abs! 

I keep this calendar on my motivation board in my bedroom so it's front and center to keep me focused on what I want to accomplish (more on this later...).  I use the calendar to not only track when I complete the daily challenge, but to track my weight, the number of miles I run each week, the additional workouts I complete, and my diet (days with no sugar, no carbs, etc). Basically, to track my SUCCESS!

So, print out your calendar and get ready to join us for a whole lot of fun in February!



Coming soon...

Motivation Boards
Tone It Up -- so obsessed
Turkey "Yummy" balls
Weigh-in Wednesdays
Keeping my head in check
Tiny Tea...is it worth it?
500 Mile Run

EDIT: We are also going to be doing a monthly diet challenge. For February,we have chosen No Fried February! So, no fried foods for the whole month. Good luck girls!