Screamin' Muscles and Clean Food

I am in massive amounts of pain today. I had one hell of a workout at the track this afternoon and I'm definitely paying for it. I wouldn't have it any other way, though! In keeping with this lifestyle change, we're now eating at home rather than out. I love this so much! Not only do I get an amazing workout in the afternoon while the hubs stays with the boys but I get to chow down on clean meals when I get home! It's such a wonderful feeling to be able to be satisfied after I eat rather than stuffed. AND I love knowing that what I put in my body is healthy. I've decided to post a picture of myself (this first one really makes me cringe) once every 3-4 weeks and here's the first one.



On the topic of what I'm eating, I made the most delicious clean pizza yesterday! It didn't take long at all and honestly, it's the best pizza I've ever had.
Marissa's Clean Pizza
I preheated my oven to 375 and cooked about 2 lbs of lean ground turkey (what I didn't use on my pizza slices, I refrigerated for other meals) and seasoned it with fresh grated garlic. I then toasted two slices of whole grain bread and placed them in the center of a baking sheet lined with wax paper. I used roughly two TBSP of low-sodium tomato sauce on each slice of bread and then topped each with about 1/4 c. of the ground turkey, a small handful of low-fat feta cheese, chunked up portobello mushrooms and a nice handful of fresh baby spinach. I then baked it in the oven for 10-15 minutes and oh boy was it de-lish!



Unfortunately I don't have a picture of today's clean meal--I was too hungry to take the picture! It was a small whole-wheat tortilla filled with ground turkey, fresh baby spinach and one clove of garlic. If you can't tell by now, I am a huge fan of garlic! I'm loving the groove of my cardio workouts which consists of mileage at the track, sprints, sometimes lunges, old interval stuff from my cross country days, and running bleachers. I also guzzle the water. Today, I've literally had about a gallon. I am so excited about the direction I'm going with this; I can't explain how happy working out and eating clean makes me!

I'm Embarking on a Journey...

I'm not technically going anywhere--I'm just shrinking my body. I'm almost 30 and I am NOT ringing in that milestone birthday as a 147 lb cow. I talked to the hubs about my plan and bless him for not objecting! Day 1 begins Monday. I'm not joining WeightWatchers, Jenny Craig, or any other insane diet program. I'm taking the Marissa approach of cleaning up my diet and hitting the weight room again. It's that simple. I don't need someone giving me a certain amount of points to count, I don't need to drink meal replacement shakes for 30 days... that's just silly. It's time to be accountable to myself (and any subsequent readers of this blog) for what I choose to eat. I've been reading all my favorite bodybuilding/fitness websites extensively for motivation and it's time, ladies and gents.

If I don't do it now, I'll never begin my journey for my ultimate goal to participate in a figure competition and that's something I hope to accomplish next summer. Yep, it's time to get my stuff together, quit just saying I'm going to slim down and just do it!

4 Months and Counting...

That's how long (give or take) until my 30th birthday. I don't know why it bothers me so much, but it does. Maybe because I know I'm rapidly reaching... MIDDLE AGE! I had planned to look like this (that's fitness competitor Jen Hendershott by the way) but unfortunately, I'm still not where I want to be. I get so down on myself. I know I shouldn't but really, it's my own fault. I do not eat at all like I should, I do not make time for myself and I don't sleep much. I guess I think that I'll obtain my ideal body through osmosis via websites like this and this. It's time to focus on me. I won't get there by November BUT, I could be well on my way. The dream of a figure competition still looms in my heart and won't be quelled until I achieve what it is I want.

Testing Signature

Mic check, mic check--1,2,1,2. Test, test, test.

Iowa Pictures

There's no way I could post all 73 photos to my blog, so here's a link to the Facebook album. Enjoy!

July Already?

This summer is flying! We got home from our second family vacation yesterday and now I'm ready for my "grown-ups only" trip to Destin at the end of the month.

We've taken the boys to San Antonio, Corpus and Port Aransas every summer for the last 7 years and we had a nice time. The boys enjoyed swimming in the ocean--a good time was had by all until my baby was stung by a jellyfish!

I knew it really hurt the lil guy because that child has an incredibly high pain tolerance and hardly ever cries; he cried when he got stung.

Despite the mishap, he got back in the water the next day. Now I get to do all the "fun" stuff--unpack and start laundry. Woo. Hoo.