Get Ready for Swimsuits!

Okay, I just got home from the blog conference and there was this chick there who designs swimsuits.  She was giving this one away!  Guess what... nope, I didn't win, but I can buy one online!  How cute is this?

I just wanted to share the love because it's on sale right now.  You can buy it too if you want.  Click here to visit Persona Swimwear.

And just to make sure you look awesome in it I will be posting my workout and nutrition plan for the week on Monday morning.  

My Favorite Things

First of all, a big welcome to all of my new readers!  Aw, thanks for liking, following, reading and commenting.  I really appreciate everyone.  If you want to follow and aren't, click on one of those buttons at the top of the page (FB, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter) or the GFC follow button to the right.

You know those things you can't live without -- in a completely first world way?  Like Facebook, AC in your car, DVR, etc.  Today I'm going to share some of my fave things that I can't don't want to live without.

 

Relax MD App -- If you have a baby, you need this.  It is a white noise app and it's FREE.  There's a vacuum sound that I put next to my baby when she is crying.  It calms her down in like 2 seconds.  Plus Tom snores and I can't sleep without white noise to drown him out (or I banish him to the couch, Morgan's room, or the guest room).  This app has a great oscillating fan option that I love.

Map My Run App -- I have this on my phone and it tells me how fast I'm going, how far I've gone, where I've gone, and it lets me save my runs.  So cool.

Asics Running Shoes -- This particular model is the 2170.  I think mine are the 2150.  I buy them from kellysrunningwarehouse.com and get last season's model on clearance.  They rule!  I have used the same shoe model for 14 years.  I used to sell athletic shoes when I was in college and I sold the crap out of this shoe.  LOVE it!  

Kitchen Aid Blender -- I stole my mom's Blendtec for a while and it was awesome.  Then she gave me a Kitchen Aid for Christmas last year and asked for hers back.  I like this better.  It was like 1/4 the price and blends my green drinks perfectly -- ice included!  You can get them at Target or Macy's for around $100.

Chi Flat Iron -- This baby straightens and curls.  I love it.  I use it on me and my 3-year-old.  It never pulls individual hairs and it heats up in 5 seconds.

Blue Diamond Smokehouse Almonds -- Yum.  Great snack.  Salty.  

Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds -- If you're in the mood for more of a chocolaty snack, try a handful of these.

Rustoleum Spray Paint -- My fave.  I like Valspar too.  I stick to those two.

Cafe Rio -- If you don't live close to one, I'm sorry.  Mmmm.  Cheat meals.

Buckle -- I used to buy super inexpensive jeans because I am a frugal person but I bought my first pair of "expensive" jeans from Buckle and I can't go back (unless there is a good deal, duh).  I'm going to splurge when I lose the baby weight.

There you go.  I hope you can use this information if you ever need to buy me a present or something.  Start with the paint and go from there.

Have a great weekend!

Skinny Shepard's Pie

Today I'm guesting for Skinny Meg, who guested for me a few weeks ago here, so go check out my [what I think is] knowledge. ;)

But first I wanted to share the recipe for dinner that I made for my family last night.  Skinny Shepard's Pie.

I was at my mom's while Tom was out of town for a few days and she made some delish Shepard's Pie. Since I try to take every good recipe I can and make it "skinny," I made a low cal version where I substituted cauliflower for the mashed potatoes and boneless skinless chicken breast for the hamburger.

Recipe:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cans green beans
1 can corn
2 cans tomato soup
1 head cauliflower
1/4 cup reduced fat cheese

1400 calories per whole giant Shepard's Pie (more than fit in my pie plate) or 280 calories in 1/5!

Directions:
Put the raw chicken breasts in a food processor and grind them up. Then cook them like you would cook hamburger/taco meat.

Meanwhile, steam the head of cauliflower. When it is soft, put it in a blender with 1/4-1/2 cup milk (or water -- I used unsweetened almond milk). You can add chives or onion powder or whatever seasoning you want.

When the chicken is done, add green beans, corn, and tomato soup. Scoop into a pie plate, put the cauliflower on top, and cheese on top of that.  Bake at 350 until the cheese melts.

Simple. Skinny. Delicious.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!  I made pink heart pancakes for Mo.  Not my most creative idea but she loved them.  

For a special V-day treat I joined a bunch of bloggers for Honeybear Lane's Happy Awkward Valentines where I told my most embarrassing date story.  Check it out!

Ready for BYB2013

Have you ever had someone come into your life that you had no idea you were missing until after they were there?  I had that happen to me.  When we moved back to Utah I met a girl who lives down the street from me.  It turns out that she has a cute business and blog (that is a lot bigger than mine).  Well, she has totally motivated me to make this a business.  I mean, it's not like I'll change much except for some ads and marketing (and maybe the design), but content will be the same.  

She told me how much a specific "tips" blog makes per month just from Google ads and I was like "whoa, I could use some of that" so when she invited me to go to a blog conference with her next Saturday I signed up STAT.  It's by Six Sisters' Stuff and they're teaching how to build your blog.  

Anyway, a whole bunch of bloggers and sponsors will be there and we're supposed to bring our business cards.  I was all like "huh? I don't have business cards.  This is a blog."  And then I was all "oh duh, that makes sense."   And I whipped some up and ordered them from Vistaprint and paid way to much for expedited shipping that was completely necessary for them to arrive before the conference.  But I also ordered a $3 t-shirt that I'm going to wear (with maybe a cute cardi and scarf... and Spanx, of course) and a pen.  I'll be a walking advertisement.  I hope I spelled everything right.

PS  Soon this blog will be theturquoisepiano.com (instead of .blogspot.com).  I hope by Thursday.

Recommitting

Alright, I hit the 140's (which sounds awesome but it's actually 149) and then nothing so I gave up for a week.  Literally started eating sugar like I never would again.  Bad.  So I have to recommit myself to finish this.  I still want to do it by March 16th.  That is when Sophie will be 4 months and that would also be half of the time it took to lose the weight I gained with Morgan.  I realize that may be overly optimistic, especially since I don't understand my body while nursing.

I wasn't able to find my nutrition and exercise plan that I did in 2007 when I had a consultant of my own so I was doing it by myself, which totally worked, don't get me wrong.  However, I think that I would benefit from the structure of the plan I used then.  So I called Total Health and Fitness and actually asked if they would help me login since I couldn't remember my login information.  They totally did.  I forgot how effective asking can be.  So anyway, here is my first week's plan.

Nutrition:  I will be adding one more 200 cal meal since I am nursing.  If you use this, you're probably okay to do it exactly, unless you are nursing too.

 MEAL 1 (07:00 AM) 
 0.5 cup Cereal-Oatmeal-Measured Dry
1 Egg-White-Fresh
1 Banana
1 Egg-Whole-Fresh
0.25 cup Milk-Nonfat/Skim

MEAL 2 (09:00 AM)
0.5 cup Cheese-Cottage-Lowfat 1%
5 Crackers-Whole Wheat Reduced Fat (Triscuits)
2 Clementines

MEAL 3 (11:00 AM)
Meal Replacement Shake or Bar  215 calories

MEAL 4 (01:00 PM)
0.5 Pita Pocket-Whole Wheat
2.5 ozTuna-Light Cnd in Water
0.5 cup Lettuce-Green Leaf-Raw
1 tbs Mayonnaise-Fat Free
5 Olives-Large Ripe-Canned
1 Clementine

MEAL 5 (03:30 PM) 
0.5 Pita Pocket-Whole Wheat
2.5 ozTuna-Light Cnd in Water
0.5 cup Lettuce-Green Leaf-Raw
1 tbs Mayonnaise-Fat Free
5 Olives-Large Ripe-Canned
1 Clementine

 MEAL 6 (06:00 PM)
4 oz Yam-Raw
3 oz-wt Chicken Breast Skinless-Roasted
1 cup Beans-Green,Snap-Cooked

MEAL 7 (09:00 PM) 
0.5 cup Cheese-Cottage-Lowfat 1%
0.5 cup Cucumber-Slices
0.5 Tomato-Medium Whole

Program Totals:
1664 calories
34% Protein
51% Carbs
15% Fat

Workout:

Cardio: 20 + 25min 6 & 5 days/week (so 45 min 5 days and 20 min 1 day)

Resistance:

Day	Body Part	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Weight	Rest	Speed	Notes	Exercise Info
1	Chest	Bench Press	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
1	Chest	Incline Dumbbell Chest Press	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
1	Chest	Standing Cable Chest Fly	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
1	Chest	Dumbbell Chest Press	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
1	Chest	Incline Barbell Bench Press	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
1	Chest	Dumbbell Chest Flyes	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
2	Back	Seated Cable Row With Wide Bar	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
2	Back	Hammer Strength Iso Row Machine	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
2	Back	Pull Ups	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
2	Back	Cable Lat Pull Down	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
2	Back	Seated Cable Row	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
2	Back	1 Arm Dumbbell Row	3	10 each side		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
3	Legs	Prone Leg Curl	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
3	Legs	Seated Calf Raise Machine	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
3	Legs	Standing calf raise	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2
3	Legs	Leg Press Plate Loaded	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
3	Legs	Leg Extension	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
3	Legs	Bent Knee Deadlift	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
4	Shoulders	Rear Shoulder Fly Machine	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
4	Shoulders	Rear Shoulder Cable Cross Fly	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
4	Shoulders	Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
4	Shoulders	Dumbbell Shoulder Press	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
4	Shoulders	Dumbbell Shoulder Lateral Raise	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
4	Shoulders	One Arm Cable Lateral Raise	3	10 each side		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
5	Triceps	Dumbbell Skull Crusher	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
5	Triceps	Cable Triceps Press Down	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
5	Triceps	Cable Triceps Press Down Ropes	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
5	Biceps	Standing Barbell Arm Curl	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
5	Biceps	Preacher Curls	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2	Use EZ Bar	Details
5	Biceps	Standing Hammer Dumbbell Curl	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details

Bloggers Against Drunk Drivers

I have like two minutes to blog today but I wanted to share something that I found this morning.  This means a lot to me because I am a runner and every time I go running outside I am putting my life in the hands of drivers out there.  I can tell you that I think about this every single time I run.  Therefore, even without being invited, I am a BADD.

Here is a story about a fellow blogger who was on her Saturday morning run and was hit by a drunk driver.  What was going to be a half marathon turned into being months and could be years of recovery.  Read about  Keri's story on her blog Newlyweds on a Budget.

I'll start you off with the intro to her campaign...

"On June 30, 2012 I was on the final stretch of a nine mile run when I was struck by a drunk driver a half mile away from my home. Often times we have the mentality that bad things happen to other people. I had that mentality. I was a 23 year old in great shape. I worked hard every day to take care of my body and I made the mistake of thinking I was invincible. It only took a moment, a moment I don't remember, to change that. I went from running 9 miles to not being able to move my legs. I spent one week in a level one trauma ICU and two weeks in an intense rehabilitation center. Then I had four weeks with at home therapy and am currently attending an outpatient therapy center where I'll likely be for another 18 months. As part of my recovery I've turned to my blog to share my story; the good, the bad, and everything in between."

Continue at Newlyweds on a Budget.

The runner in me begs you not to drink (or text) and drive.  For my sake and the sake of my girls who need their mother.