just call me "chef"

I posted in my last blog about me going to the farmer's market twice in one day. 

This morning, I woke up bright and early at 4am.

 It is a rest day for me so no training!!

 I laid there contemplating on going back to sleep but started thinking about all those veggies needing to be cooked. I got right out of bed and got straight to slicing and dicing! 

Lots O Veggies!!! 

Squash, Zucchini, onions and asparagus. 

Fresh green beans, onions, and orange bell peppers.

I always have a zip-lock bag of all colored bell peppers and onions in the fridge.
 I eat these every morning  with my eggs!

More squash and zucchini and eggplant.
First time cooking eggplant... not so bad!

Yesterday, Zach went to a different farmer's market and got these beauties...

Free range local eggs. 

After cooking all those veggies, it was time for breakfast. We went to Logan's last night and I have some left over steak. I started thinking about those fresh eggs and that steak...

Yep... Steak and some of those local eggs!!! 

Yes, this breakfast fit in completely with my nutrition plan.

Makes it that much better knowing that I was still a 100% and got to enjoy all this deliciousness!!

I don't ever cook any veggies in oil or butter. Only cooking spray. 

Zach and I were talking about what veggies I use to eat. I have come so far!! I use to immediately turn my nose up to almost all of these but now I crave them! Give them a try!!! Your taste buds change over the years... you might like them now!

waiting game

Thanks for having to work tomorrow, I had today off!! I thought I was going to spend the day with little Brooklee but there was a change of plans, so I was all by myself!

My day off started at 3am. No alarm necessary... internal alarm is all I need. Zach and I walked the 'hood for 30mins before he left for work at 415am. I decided to take Zach's car to get a new tire and an oil change. That's it. I got the tire/oil change place at 715 this morning. There was only 2 other costumers waiting. I thought to myself... This shouldn't take that long at all...

WRONG!!!! I was there until 930am. Talking about one mad girl. I was so frustrated by the time I left, I couldn't even look the sales guy in the eyes.

So, what does a girl by herself do to let out her frustration...

SHOP!!! 

For Easter, I fill this huge bucket up for Brooklee. Here are a few things I bought for her Easter....

How cute is that swimming suit??? 

I bought myself a few new workout tops and then headed to a farmer's market. 

I love fresh veggies!

I ended up going back to the Farmer's market to get more!!
 I eat lots of veggies!

When I got home, I changed clothes and immediately headed out to tackle our yard. Our grass has been growing like crazy! If we go to long with out cutting our backyard, it gets SOO thick! 

This Delta Girl isn't scared of any mud!

As soon as, I got in from mowing... I received a text from Zach asking me out on a "date." That's how us married folks ask each other out. Needless to say, I was very excited!!

We headed to a new local restaurant. We got there at 220pm. 

THEY TOOK FOREVER!!!

But finally at 315pm, we got our food.

So.Incredibly.Good. 

Absolutely delicious!!!!

I guess it was my turn to play the waiting game all day. I must say... I'm not a fan of it!

Oh well!! I still enjoyed my day off. 

I will sit here and be a bum for the rest of the evening!

i heart deadlifts

Wednesday was yucky, yucky, yucky!!! 

The storm that came through was NO JOKE! 

Usually, on days like that, all I want to do is be at home cuddled up on the couch or bed watching my dvr recordings. But this yucky day was a little different! 

IT WAS DEADLIFT DAY!!! =)

Last time I did deadlifts, I did 185x4x6. All day the number 190lb was all I could think about!

I ate this delicious pre-workout meal!!!

Turkey burger patty, red potatoes, zucchini, squash, peppers, broccoli and carrots with a HUGE serving of frozen strawberries! 

YUM YUM!!!!

After eating, I waited 90mins to get my training session on!

Here is what I did...

Deadlift:

Warmed up to 190..

190x3x6

Had to bump it down for my last set! By the 3rd set this felt like trying to lift a bolder! Still pretty proud of my 1st 3 sets!!!

155x1x6

AMRAP BW Squats in 2.5mins=

97!

Assisted Chins:

I was suppose to get four on my first set but something was off and only got 2 but made up for the 2 I missed on the last set...

1x2

1x3

1x2

1x3

Front Loaded reverse Lunges:

35x4x8/leg

Cable Pull Throughs:

95x3x8

Swiss ball Ab Pikes:

4x8

Happy Friday Everyone! 

Next training session either Saturday or Sunday morning...

Today, I shall rest and enjoy my day off or...

I might mow the yard if it isn't too muddy outside! 

pick me!!!

 I follow several strong, strong girls on Facebook. 

They call themselves "Girls Gone Strong". 

A few of them have been doing some awesome giveaways! 

One of the girls, Neghar, as been giving away headbands. I have one....

But you can help me win this one!!!!

How cute is it?!?!?!

 I need it! 

I L.O.V.E mine!!!

Here is all you have to do... 

Head over to Eat, Lift and Be Happy and "LIKE" her page.

Click on this photo.

Scroll down until you find my comment and "LIKE" it!!

That's it! 

Whoever has the most "likes" by Friday wins! 

Remember... I REALLY REALLY want to win!!!

Thanks for all the support!!!

battle

Saturday morning, I did my training session and then we headed 2.5 hours up north to Big Creek, Ms. Zach's father, sister and brother in law all have a birthday this month. So that means it was...

BIRTHDAY TIME!

We had a great visit!!! Sunday, naturally, we woke up early, but the funny thing is we both thought it was LATE! It was 5am. Haha!! When the sun finally came up we decided to take a nice 20min leisurely stroll. His parent's driveway is a .25mile long so we  just did a half of a mile. It was so nice though. The sun was shinning so bright, birds were chirping and the fresh air was wonderful! 

What a great way to start our day. 

I try to skip a day in between my training sessions, so thankfully when we got home yesterday, all I had to do was get things ready for today. 

I call today's training session...

Monday Funday!!!

This is one of my easier days. 

Push-ups

5x6

Prison T-Bar Rows

35lb

3x12

Inverted Rows

4x10

Hammer Curls

15lb

2x12

Swiss ball Knee Tucks

3x12

Battle Ropes

(It was easy until these suckers!!!)

20 seconds on/10 seconds off x8

Total of 4 mins

Here is a video...

I guess the are called BATTLE ropes for a reason. They are definitely a battle and doesn't seem to be getting any easier!!! Maybe one day they will. 

Hope you all have a great week!!!

4:12

 Four years of my life were consumed by a group of girls that I will always call my sisters. 

Phi Mu Fraternity.

I loved every second I was at Delta State because of these girls. I knew and still know that I can count on these girls no matter what. 

A few months ago, a sister of ours was killed in the comfort of her own home. 

I was not in Phi Mu with Amanda but my sister was. All I have heard about Amanda are awesome things. 

Last weekend, Amanda's town of New Albany, MS put together a 5k. 

There was a lot TONS of people there!! 

 Of, course, I walked the race! 

(No running for this girl! After 2 knee surgeries my knee is too precious!)

It was such a BEAUTIFUL morning!!! My toes were a little frozen for the first half of the race but finally warmed up! 

Mine and Em's cousin, Maegan, joined us for the race!

 Em and Rebecca!

 Me and one of my best friends, Chastity! 

 Phi Mu Sisters! 

(there were many more Phi Mu's there but it was so hard to find anyone because there were SOOO many people there!)

 We all released purple (her favorite color) balloons for Amanda.

Her husband and daughter released a white dove balloon. You can see it towards the bottom of the photo. 

Such a sweet moment. 

 After the race, Em and I went back to Rebecca's and did a little shopping. After that we went to the famous..

Como Steakhouse. 

All in all it was a great weekend. So thankful for my Phi Mu sisters and am so glad to have them in my life. 

 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12 

cave girl

I have recently been eliminating foods from my diet.

These are foods that I feel that I have a sensitivity too. 

For lent, I gave up all things gluten. By doing this I have noticed a few changes. Mostly, I don't feel bloated at all anymore! Another thing that I have really noticed over the past few weeks is my face is clearing up. I still have a breakout here and there but it is looking so much better. SOOO excited about this!

I have had a few dreams about all things gluten... cupcakes, cookies, cakes, bagels... anything with flour in it!!!

I, also, decided that I would try to give up oats. I did for a little while but we were out of sweet potatoes the other day so I went back to the oats. BAD DECISION!! I was miserable. SO bloated. 

Zach and I were introduced to Steve's Original: Paleo Kits. They have some great grass-fed beef jerky and dried fruit along with many other great foods. 

When you order from them you get this in your package....

Think about it... how true?!?! 

Just call me a cave girl for now on! 

I pretty much do this anyways but eliminating the oats pretty much makes it official. 

crazy week

This week has been beyond crazy! 

I have had absolutely no energy, and when I say absolutely I mean....

ZERO, ZILCH, NADA!!!

Not one ounce. 

I blame this mainly on all the traveling I did last weekend. I was one the road more that I was in any one location+ time change=exhausted!!

So, my way of recovering this week was going to bed EXTREMELY early, not working out, and did I say going to be ridiculously early??? 

Well, yesterday, Zach fell asleep around 3pm.... I said it was early!!! I was not far beyond him. I probably made it to 345pm. Poor Zach woke up at 1130pm and was never able to go back to sleep. I was snoozing hard until 1am and had no clue where Zach was.

Where was my sweet husband???

In the garage.. working out... at 1am!

I tried going back to sleep but ended up just laying here until 3am. I finally got up and did a 20 min fasted walk around the neighborhood with Zach and then hit the garage myself. First time to work out in a week. I was itching to get a workout done. 

I am very good about listening to my body and I knew there was no way that I could handle a heavy training session earlier this week. I needed some time off!!! For the past 9 weeks, I have not missed one training session. It was time!!! 

I did film my training session. I am pretty proud at how much stronger I am getting. I still have exercises that are weaker than others but everything is progressing. =)

Here is my training for today...

Bench:

45x6

65x4

85x1

100x5x5

(Never have done this much this many times!)

Seated Cable Rows

35x3x15

(I use 60lbs at the gym but are pully system is not very smooth and makes the exercise a lot harder than it is)

Standing Overhead Press

25x2x12

Military Pushups

4x6

(So incredibly proud of this =). I did as many as I could full body at the beginning of each set. I did 11 full MP-ups out of the 24 total reps! SO EXCITED!)

Skullcrushers

30x3x8

Pallof Press

3x20sec/side

(Forgot to film)

This was a a great way to come back from a deload of training! I must say though... my arms definitely turned into jello! Washing my hair and getting ready for work was near impossible. 

Next training session... Saturday Morning!!!!

blessed...

This past weekend, I was all over North Mississippi. 

Having a great time. 

Visiting friends.

Walking in the Amanda Price Memorial 5k.

Enjoyed a delicious steak at the Como Steakhouse.

Enjoyed another yummy meal prepared by my wonderful mom.

(It's all about the food, right?)

and...

Mostly just enjoying life. 

While I was off, Zach was at home being the awesome husband that he is. 

Saturday, I was sitting at one of the million red lights in Southaven, Ms and made its little email sound. I checked my email and it said that Zach had posted a picture of me. I was real confused but figured it was a pic of our "kids." I was excited to see what Duke and Delta were up too.

No pic of them but of this...

 Are those for me?!?!?! 

But I'm not at home. 

It didn't matter. My sweet husband was still thinking about me and bought me flowers! I 

I.LOVE.THEM!

I don't like to receive flowers when they are expected (Valentine's Day). I like to receive them when I least expect it. 

Totally made my day!

Not only did he get me flowers BUT...

He also...

went to the grocery store, 

cleaned the house, 

did ALL the laundry

AND 

cooked food for the entire week.

What a great husband, that Zach!

He also prepped all my meals for work today. I must say... they were absolutely delicious!

Why don't my meals ever taste this good??

Chicken and veggies...

 Duck and veggies...

 Steak and veggies...

How great do all of those look?!?!? 

They were so good!!!

I am so blessed! Zach has always been so good to me! He knew I was going to be tired when I got home...

And he was RIGHT! 

He said he wanted me to do as little as possible when I got home. 

I'm speechless BLESSED!

Triple D's

There are three D's to success.

Determination.

Dedication.

Discipline.

I would like to introduce you to one person who represents all three!

Meet Matthew. 

 This picture was taken a  year ago. Weighing in at 465lbs, Matthew decided to change his life. He did an all liquid diet for an entire year. I met Matthew two weeks into his diet. 

I have to admit that I was a little worried for him. I wanted him to succeed but was nervous for him at the same time. We had a rocky start but with his determination to get healthy... He.Never.Gave.Up. He pushed and pushed and never let anything stop him. We very quickly learned his limitations and worked through them. Things he struggled with the first month, we look back at and now laugh. He had weekly weigh ins, dropping pound after pound. It was like he was melting away right in front of you.

One year later....

Matthew is down to 235lbs. 

Ah-mazing!

Matthew is now doing full push-ups, hill sprints, lunges, assisted pull ups, the dreadful battle ropes and so much more... I could list things for days. He isn't only smaller but he is stronger...physically and mentally. His endurance is unbelievable. 

Losing weight is not easy, not always fun and not for everyone. To get the goals you want you first have do one thing...

Do it for yourself!!! 

That is exactly what Matthew did. He wasn't doing this for his mom, his work or his dog...He was simply doing this for HIMSELF!

I am so proud of him and am so glad that he choose me to work with him for the past year and for the future. He is definitely a determined, dedicated, and discipline man.