In less than 48 hours, we will be dancing the night away in the year 2012! I can’t believe how quickly 2011 flew by! So many great things have happened this year, I’m going to narrow it down to the best of 2011!

2011 Highlights:

1. My boyfriend became a successful attorney within less than a year of graduating

2. I went to Florida with my besties, in March

3. My best friend, Effie, got engaged, in May

4. My first cousin had a beautiful baby girl, in May

5. The Anna Vissi concert

6. I started my schooling at IIN, in May

7. Got back in touch with my college friend, Lea, who is constantly teaching me new things about health

8. My other best friend, Andria, got married, in June – I was her MOH

9. I went to Florida with my cousin/bestie, Patricia, in June

10. I went to Florida/Mexico in August with my boo

11. I ran my first 5k and 10k in November

12. I joined my cousin, Stella, on her no sugar detox all of November - fared out pretty well!

13. Both my weight and cholesterol have dropped from the year 2010

14. I have been cooking and baking (something I never used to do!)

15. Christmas Dinner at Southbranch, with Effie, Andria, Patricia and Nina

16. The first – and best yet- Christmas eve at my cousin JP & Kleo’s house

17. My cousin, Stella, opening her White Elephant gift (Charlie) a real rabbit.

18. According to Kleo, “The day after Christmas Eve” aka Xmas day – opening gifts in our pj’s with baby Katerina

19. Christmas Day at my cousin Patricia’s house – thank you for that amazing corn bread pudding

20. The day after Christmas eating like fat cows and watching the worst movie on earth, with Stella, Kleo & Lea.

Now that 2011 is coming to a close, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the past year – our triumphs and our failures, our strong moments and our weak moments, our family and our health. And now is the time to think to ourselves – how can we become better people than who we were last year?

In the new year, let’s make it a point to appreciate and focus on what we have in our lives and think less and focus less on what we don’t have because it’s what we have that keep us happy and healthy

Cheers to the New Year! May 2012 bring us health, happiness and love

One day of super clean eating and drastically cutting my caloric intake (compared to what I was eating before) has left me feeling fantastic! I do feel a little bit hungry (not to the point of dying), but I know this is false hunger because I clearly have the reserves to use up!! Therefore, this is where I insert #selfcontrol and suck it up!

With every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. When you eat like a moose you will look and feel like a moose. To counter this, you need to zip up your mouth, eat less and move more. It really is that simple! Life is all about striving to reach balance and that really applies to almost every category in life. Our bodies, our minds and our spirits are constantly searching for that balance. When you eat too much you feel lethargic, but when you eat too little you have no energy and feel dizzy. However, when you eat too much one day you can balance that out by eating less the next day – works like magic!

Same goes for work – if you work too much and have no time to relax you’re probably losing sleep which in-turn causes a number of other issues (stress, tired, crabby). Or when you work a lot to make a lot of money, but you never have the time to spend it because you’re always working! If you workout three times a day and stuff your face you won’t lose any weight. On the contrary, if you workout three times a day and eat too little your body produces the hormone cortisol which raises insulin thus, putting a stop to your weight-loss. However, when you don’t exercise at all you actually have less energy throughout the day.  So, as you can see, in order to achieve optimum health you really need to find balance in all areas of your life (physical, emotional, spiritual, and career.)  Everyone is different and we will all have different ideas of what balance is in our life, but it’s something that we should all try and strive for - or at least I will- in 2012!

I’m not going to lie, I completely fell let myself fall off the healthy wagon.  After five days of binge eating on foods that really have no nutritional value (chocolate, popcorn, pita chips and the like), I stepped on my new brutally honest and unforgiving scale this morning and told myself NO MORE. Enough is enough –  I am stopping myself in my own tracks before I go down that downward never-ending spiral. I went down that road last year and come May I was miraculously 8 pounds heavier.  I wonder why? Don’t they say Americans gain an average of 7 lbs over the holidays? Yeah, well I beat that average by a pound! How did I do that? Simple – one bad food choice after the next or my personal favorite – “I will start tomorrow,” but the “tomorrow” never came or “It’s the holidays I’m supposed to eat everything in sight – literally.”  The worst part of it all is knowing you are going to regret your decision while you’re making that decision, but don’t stop yourself anyway.  I think that is what annoys me the most – knowing I have all the control, but I choose to ignore it for one reason or another. All of this adds up in the end.  All-of-it. 

So, rather than waiting for January 2nd or waiting for Monday, I’m taking back my control starting today. I don’t know about you all, but I don’t like the way I feel when I overeat. I truly feel like a lethargic beluga whale.  Who likes to feel like that? I’m sure the beluga whale doesn’t even like feeling that way!! I may have kept up with my exercise (minus Monday and Tuesday) but it really made no difference! Perfect example of how diet is more important than exercise and I don’t mean that you should never exercise, but your focus should be on what you’re eating!

Also, after indulging in Greek cookies and chocolate my skin is already showing signs of dermatitis – something I had exactly this time last year (with eating habits exactly how I displayed these past few days.) I went on antibiotics for it and it cleared up, but somehow it has returned again and I was seriously thinking, how can this be? I refuse to take drugs again! And then the light-bulb went off. I have been eating processed junk and sugar! Duh! How did I not even think of that before? You are what you eat and what you eat directly affects your body! It makes perfect sense and I’m embarrassed that I didn’t figure this out before. More of a reason to NOT EAT CRAP. PERIOD.

Now that my crazy rant is over, I encourage you all to check yourselves before you wreck yourselves! If you feel that you are going down that same path again- just stop. Cut it cold turkey. It’s going to be hard because the temptation is there, but work around it.

This morning I woke my ass up at 7 am and jumped on the treadmill for a 30 minute HIIT workout. For breakfast I had a protein pancake (protein powder, flax meal, egg whites, 1/2 banana and 1/4 cup blueberries) and it’s now 2pm and I haven’t eaten lunch yet (my lunch break is usually 12:30,) but I’m not even hungry.  It’s so incredibly easy to fall into a routine or eating pattern where you eat when it’s “lunch time,” so you eat out of habit not out of hunger.  That is going to be one of my new year’s resolutions.  Eat when hungry- not when bored, angry, sad or happy. Getting in-tune with our bodies is extremely important.  When we don’t know our bodies, only listen to our brains, and just eat for reasons besides hunger, we find ourselves ‘living to eat rather than eating to live.’  And that, ladies and gents, causes the downward spiral!

I hope Santa was good to everyone this year – he sure was good to me I apologize for the week of neglect, but there was just too much going on! I completed the 12 days of FITmas – including workouts on Christmas eve and Day! Don’t be fooled though – the food consumption was a little over the top so my workouts helped negate some of what I ate.

What we managed to eat on Christmas Eve:

Greek-style riblets

Caprese Skewers:

Spinach and artichoke dip:

Tiropites and Spanakopites:

That was just the appetizers… now, the main course: (mostaccioli, mashed potatoes, mousaka, okra, roasted veggie medley, salad, ham, turkey, filet and roast pig.) You’d think we were feeding an army!

I was so excited about dessert that I completely forgot to take pictures! At the end of the night we played our White Elephant game, which was hilarious! Last year, I decided last minute to take a picture of myself and put it in a frame (it was so funny) so this year, I decided to get really crafty and use the same exact picture, but put it on a T-shirt!

I also added my old scale since Santa bought me a new one this year My uncle ended up choosing my gift and quickly put on the fabulous shirt!

My Uncle and the designer of the Tee:

Apparently snuggies and onesies were a big hit: (my kermit was so comfy)

Christmas morning  we decided to have some dessert for breakfast, so after that I jumped on the treadmill and did a 5 mile HIIT run with my new Dr. Dre headphones – amaze  Christmas day was pretty much the same as Christmas eve, just at a different house and with different food.

Some food images from Christmas day:

My plate: Lobster, cream of corn, double baked potato, brussel sprouts, cauliflower gratin and Ceasar salad

Different angle..

And for dessert I brought banana pudding with the Christmas version of Chessman Cookies:

I guess you could say that I definitely didn’t go hungry this weekend! Oh, and I don’t know if you noticed some of the pictures I took in the beginning were from my new camera (Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX9V) from Santa I am fully stocked with new electronics!! I guess I was on the nice list this year

Okay, I’m sorry for being such a terrible person and neglecting my blog, but I’m a procrastinator and I was busy Christmas shopping all weekend. Fortunately, I am officially done and I bear great gifts

Friday – Day #4 

• I completed the ‘At Home Fitness’ workout (3x) –  holy sweating!

Saturday – Day #5

• Booty-call 30 minutes walk/jog (2.0m)
• X-mas shopping outdoor mall walking 2 hrs

Sunday – Day #6

• X-mas shopping outdoor mall walking 3 hrs – yes, I count this as activity

Food wise – I did great up until yesterday. I find that it’s really hard staying on track when you are not on your normal schedule. I don’t know about you all, but I know that my X-mas Eve and Day = lots of food so I need to prepare this week  by eating super clean – that way I can enjoy myself on those days!

Good morning and happy Friday!

Morning booty-call (one time through) :

Followed by this- one time through and 10 minutes of stepper:

• Breakfast: was two eggs over medium – yum!
• Mid-morning snack: 1/2 grapefruit
• Lunch: an apple with 1/2 a tbs pb and a protein bar (because I didn’t like what I brought)

When I got home from work I jumped on my stepper and cranked out 30 minutes plus an ab circuit (3x). I made a post workout french-vanilla protein shake and then went to dinner with my besties! I ordered a Greek style pork chop with salad and some veggies – delish

It may be the weekend, but we still need to stay on top of things! I will be updating my workouts tomorrow and Sunday to keep me accountable.  Happy Day #4 of 12 Days of FITmas!

Good morning, fellow challengers! My day two (yesterday) was fantastic!

I started my morning with a booty-call of 30 minutes on my amazing stepper.

Then ate my TIU protein pancake and was off to work!

Lunch was a salmon salad with balsamic and an apple:

Afternoon snack was Trader Joe’s three layer hummus with veggies:

When I got home I started to get lazy to workout, but somehow I managed to get my dad to do the TIU Rush Workout with me.  We completed it three times and went into the ab circuit I posted yesterday. I was like his personal trainer – it was quite entertaining!

Dinner was a Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Chicken Burger w/ Avocado and leftover okra:

The chicken burger was de-licious!! Low in fat, calories and ingredients! After dinner I got on my mini-stepper and stepped away for 30 minutes while watching X-factor.  Overall, I’d say it was a great day

What was your workout?!

Day 1 was a great success in both areas of food and fitness. I didn’t manage to get up for my booty-call, however I made up for it after work.

I recently became a member of the TIU team and am starting off with their 7 Day Slim Down into their Lifestyle program.  I have often referenced ToneItUp’s workouts – you can find them on my workout tab. Well, I must say they kick major bum! Karina and Katrina, as well as the whole team, are incredibly inspiring and simply awe-some! Visit their website for fabulous workouts, recipes or if you want to become a member: http://toneitup.com/

I started my day with the TIU slim down protein pancake that I posted yesterday.  My mid-morning snack was 1/2 a grapefruit followed by my lunch which was a chickpea salad w/balsamic dressing.

Please note: It’s best not to eat at your desk, but our lunch room is too cold!

Before my workout I had a ‘thinkthin’ bar in ‘chunky peanut butter’ which was okay (I personally prefer larabars or kind bars because they have way less ingredients and no sugar alcohol.)  The plus side to these are: 20 grams of protein, gluten free and sugar free!

My workout:

20 minutes on the elliptical – intervals

40 minutes on the stair glider – intervals

Followed by this circuit 3x: 

Let’s just say I was a sore, sweaty and hungry mess. When I got home I ate baked chicken and spicy okra!

Spicy Okra: (so you know, I make things up as I go and throw in things I like you can always alter it)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb fresh okra
• 2 medium tomatoes or canned tomatoes if you wish
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/2 a red onion
• canned chili peppers (was not a fan, next time I will use fresh)
• spices of choice (cayenne, chili powder, paprika, s&p)

PS: Target is having a sale on Smart Water! 6-pack of 34oz bottles is $5.99 – Stock up!!!

Good afternoon, my pretties! I recently came across a post by a fellow inspiring member of the TIU team and was intrigued (as usual) by her challenge, so I thought I’d put myself to yet another test and let you all in on it too!

12 Days of Fitmas:

Your Our challenge for the next 12 days of Christmas is to workout every-single-day. Yup, no rest! This doesn’t mean that you need to run 10 miles every single day, but a minimum of 30 minutes a day of whatever you can do is quite doable even for us busy bodies! The key here is to MOVE.

As Bridget stated, “For everytime I choose to indulge I must add to my workout the next day. I am not using that as a punishment, it is a way to enjoy goodies at the holidays, but not gain weight and feel guilty or sluggish.” I think that is a great rule because lets be honest, trying to ignore the treats that will come our way is nearly impossible, so in order to not gain weight we will need to balance that out with some physical activity!

By the way, our challenge starts today … I’d love for you to check in with your workouts either @vickyptrakas or on here!

Happy 12 Days of Fitmas, Challengers!!!

Good morning! Happy day two of clean eating week! I woke up ravenous so I didn’t get my booty-call in, but I did eat a delicious TIU protein pancake!

Some clean eating ideas: 

Juicy Ruby Red Grapefruit as a Snack: Grapefruit supposedly helps speed up metabolism- bonus!

Salmon with steamed green beans and a few olives:

Shrimp with Spicy Okra:

Pesto omelet with Trader Joes Stuffed Shrooms:

And if you’re running out of workout ideas, bored with your routine or simply want a good challenge:

Also, here is a good article on interval training and its benefits. You’ll burn mega calories!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/estelle-underwood/interval-training_b_1130652.html?ref=health-and-fitness&ir=Health+and+Fitness