Fitness Friday: Your Chance to Receive a FREE Nintendo Wii/Wii Fit Plus!

If you don’t know by now…you SHOULD know that I am one of the co-founders of the Wii Mommies. A Ning community that is based on the idea of virtual fitness we are there to support everyone in their fitness and weight loss journeys. My co-founders Sarah Pinnix and Julie Maloney and I are all Mommies…thus the name. The great thing? We have a very diverse population in our community! Men, women, moms, dads, single folks… they are all there supporting each other! Check it out!

Don’t have a Nintendo Wii game system? It just might be your lucky day! Today is the last day to enter our Citizen Journalist Program. We will be choosing FIVE individuals to receive and review a Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board! You will receive the product and be asked to post weekly at Wii Mommies for three weeks as well as do one radio interview with us on Blog Talk Radio. Sound great? Get on over and apply today!

Fitness Friday: Wii Eat Healthy Dinner

We can exercise to our hearts content…but being healthy…being fit… takes a complete package.  You need sleep, you need to eat right, and you need to destress!  Today’s Wii Eat Healthy is Dinner…an easy, quick recipe that you can make any night of the week…you can even toss it in the freezer to have on hand when there isn’t any time to cook!

Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes

1/2c.  fresh lemon juice

1/2c. fat-free chicken broth

2 Tbsp. olive oil

4 medium garlic cloves; minced

1 1/2 lb.  boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs

Cooking Spray

1 lb. uncooked new potatoes, cut in half (about 10 potatoes)

Place lemon juice, broth, olive oil, garlic and oregano in a large resealable bag or medium glass bowl.  Add chicken, seal bag or cover bowl and marinate at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 x 11″ pan with cooking spray.

Place chicken and marinade in pan, add potatoes  Bake 45 min (breasts) or 60 min (thighs) or longer for softer potatoes.  Yield is 1 breast or 2 thighs and appx 5 potato halves per serving.

This is  8 Weight Watchers Points Per Serving.  Pair it with some fresh, steamed green beans to round out your meal…be full, be healthy with very little mess to clean up when you are finished!

Tips:

*To make ahead and freeze: After you have added the chicken to the marinade, seal bag with as little air in the bag as possible.  Set in the freezer on a flat surface (cookie sheet or shelf) to freeze.   The night before you plan to serve, take it out of the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge.  Marinate all day the next day before baking.

* The longer you let this marinate, the better the flavor will be when you prepare it.

* This would be a great freezer meal to make for a friend with a new baby or who has been in the hospital.

Want to hear what other people have to say about their fitness journies?  Want to share your own story or get encouragement from others who are fighting the good fight?  Visit Wii Mommies and join the community!

Fitness Friday: New Year…Same Old Me…

Did you realize that the Wii Mommies are ONE YEAR OLD?  It seems unreal to me… that it was JUST one year ago that we all began this adventure together…and at the same time it seems like JEEZ…a year? Really?

We kicked off last year with the “New Year, New You Challenge”… challenging everyone to take charge of their fitness and health goals….and I was so excited.  One month later I found myself pregnant with my 3rd child and 20 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight from #2.  With the help of the Wii Fit … and the support of all of the members of the Wii Mommies… I was able to keep my pregnancy weight gain to a mere 26 pounds….not my goal…but incredible none the less considering that with my first I gained at LEAST 70 and with my second I gained a good 45 or so.  I was so proud of myself.  I really think that NOT being 9 months pregnant at the Holidays helped

So what happened? How did I get HERE?  And by HERE …I mean 60 pounds from my ideal weight and 70 pounds from my dream weight?  *sigh*  I forgot to factor in that whole “Post Partum + Holidays + No Self Control” thing.  I knew I was out of control… one of the tell tale signs that I am in a bad place is that I begin to hoard and hide food.  Not just food…but candy…chips…JUNK food.  Its a weird leftover habit from growing up with an eating disorder.  My husband recently found my stash again and the embarrassment coupled with the realization of what I’m doing to my body brought me to tears.

Then there was the point about 2 weeks ago when I looked in the mirror and I no longer recognized the woman that was looking back at me.  She was old, tired…and a COMPLETELY different shape than the Jenn I know and love.  Again, I broke down and cried.

Then I pulled myself together and called my friend Sarah, and got together a game plan.  She had such success with her sugar detox that I decided to give it a try… to kick start myself back into healthy eating.

I’m still breastfeeding….two kiddos… so anything with the word “detox” is usually off limits to me…I won’t even consider it.  This is different however…you are cutting your dependency on sugar, your cravings…and working on re-establishing a healthy metabolism for your body.  Basically…chicken and veggies… lean protein… 6 times a day for four days.  Let me just tell you that I was STARVING on Day One.  Then I realized that I forgot to account for the fact that I AM NURSING TWO KIDS… so I had to up the amount I was eating…and the frequency. I decided that eating whenever I felt hungry was appropriate…I just made sure to stick to the planned foods.  Today is Day Four:  I’m feeling fantastic.  I’m still having some cravings…but I notice the TYPE of cravings I’m having has changed.  Instead of looking wistfully around the kitchen for some chocolate… I’m thinking about oranges and bananas!  I can’t WAIT for fruit salad tomorrow morning at my in laws!  I feel less bloated, more comfortable…less ICK.  And you know what else?

This morning I was down NINE POUNDS.  That is sickening!  To me, this is a true testament to how much I desperately needed this in my life.  I am completely aware that a healthy weight loss constitutes 1.5, MAYBE 2 pounds per week…not NINE.  But I also know that your first week of any weight loss is generally higher…and a large amount of what I lost was likely water weight as carbs bring with them bloating.

I didn’t realize until I started doing this how much food I was eating on a daily basis that was CRAP … things I wasn’t counting (when I was actually counting) in Weight Watchers… half of a chicken nugget on Brendan’s plate after lunch…. a whole one on Lilli’s… a breakfast bar here and there… snacking, snacking, snacking…and not on healthy food…on JUNK…and Christmas cookies (which I can’t , in good conscious, call junk LOL).

So now what do I do?  I move onward and DOWNWARD!  My husband is on this journey with me…and our next step is to reintroduce whole grains…fruits…and more lean proteins into our diet as we follow a Weight Watchers plan.  I am working out on the Wii Fit Plus again…I want to work out every day from now until Blissdom … and then start with an EA Sports 6 week challenge when I return.

Thats my plan, and I’m sticking to it.  One day at a time and all that jazz.

Want to see what other people have in line for their Fitness Friday? Have a fitness post you want to share?  Come on over to WiiMommies and share!  Working towards a fitness or weight loss goal? Come sign up with us and let us help you along the way!!

Fitness Friday: Back in the Saddle Again

I have loaded the Weight Watchers app to my iPhone. I’ve updated my points intake…I’ve actually removed the soda (diet or otherwise) from my home. I made up a pitcher of Crystal Light and filled my water bottle first thing this morning.

That was the easy part.

Today is the first day of the new EA Sports Active More Workouts 6 week challenge….and I’m nervous. It turns out being pregnant and having a baby was the easy part for me. Up and down all night crazy feeding schedules chasing three kids around…and oh, Halloween…have done a number on me and now that Ryan is 2 months old…I’ve actually managed to gain weight.

I didn’t have much luck with the plain ol’ EA Sports Active…because it was difficult to do while I was pregnant….and now I’m severely out of shape and my body and mind are in desperate need of some one to one attention from me. So here we go.

I’m going to be sore. I’m going to be tired. And it is going to be more than difficult to squeeze one more activity into my day. I have been giving it some thought and I think the best thing for me to do is to bite the bullet and try to work out WITH the kids…instead of fighting the uphill battle and trying to workout around their schedules. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Wish me luck as I begin this journey….again. I’ll need my Mommies to help push me on!!

Fitness Friday: The Pitfalls of Dieting

Why is it so incredibly hard to lose weight and maintain our healthy lifestyle goals?  We try and we try….and many, many of us derail ourselves time and time again.  Maybe its time we look a little deeper… our habits, our lifestyles…what pitfalls could we avoid that we don’t even see coming?

Originally I was looking for the “not so obvious” pitfalls….because we all know the major culprits, right? NO!  Silly me!  What an assumption to make.  Some people don’t know…or haven’t been exposed to the information that some of us (ahem…me) obsess over regularly.  So I’m going to lay it out here…some of the old…and a couple of new things that I hadn’t ever thought about before.

Fad Diets

Any diet that drastically restricts your caloric intake or the types of foods you are eating for a long period of time is going to ultimately derail you.  Notice I said “for a long period of time”.  Sarah did a carb/sugar purge that is actually very beneficial to break down addictions and clean out your system.  It is not a long term restriction.  Much different.  Diets that eliminate portions of the food pyramid indefinitely can leave you craving those foods…and binging on them down the road.  You can also risk damage to your organs by overloading your system with too much of one type of nutrient.  For example, a diet that focuses mainly on proteins is going to overload your kidneys and your liver.

The other problem with fad diets…or very loosely planned diets is skipping meals…ultimately back loading all of your calories into the end of the day when you just can’t take it anymore.

The solution? What some of us have been saying all along: eat in moderation.  Eat a variety of foods…cover ALL of the food group requirements and eat throughout the day.  Don’t restrict yourself from the foods that you love..just eat them in moderation.  Julie will tell you time and again: Put what you want on your plate….then put half of it away for another time.

Social Situations

Work in an office? I bet you have a “snack room” or a “lunch room” where yummy, calorie laden food magically appears.  Every day you dutifully bring your carefully planned sack lunch to work…so why are you not losing weight?  Maybe because when you are tired, or stuck on a particular work point….you need to break up your mental monotony … so you stretch your legs…and end up in the snack room…only to see that Rich down the hall brought in donuts.  Eating just half of a donut won’t hurt, right?  Well what about later when you come back and eat another half…or “just a small piece” of the birthday cake they brought in for your boss?  What if you are craving some caffeine but the only soda left in the fridge is non-diet?

Stay at home with your kids? My biggest diet fail is inconsistency.  I’m so busy taking care of the kids half of the time that I realize its 3 and I haven’t eaten yet…so I sit down for some lunch.  What I fail to take into account is that I ate the little bit of eggs that Lilli left on her plate at breakfast…and half of B’s grilled cheese from lunch…and I grabbed a muffin on our way out the door to class…and, and, and…..

The Solution? Hold yourself accountable.  Put it in writing.  Just like our bank accounts…those “little” expenses add up to be a big deficit if there are too many of them.  The most successful program I’ve followed is Weight Watchers.  Why? Because you journal each and every thing you put in your mouth and you assign it a points value.  You can eat whatever you want to…but YOU have to plan it…YOU have to write it down and YOU have to look yourself in the mirror at the end of the day.  If we become brutally aware of what we are eating…we are less likely to eat what is uneccesary.  If you have a daily caloric goal (points, whatever)…you are going to make yourself more aware of what you are eating.  I can crave a Blizzard from Dairy Queen until I look up the points value…is it worth it to put 16 of my daily 35 points into this ONE treat? Nope.

Relaxing

What?  Am I saying don’t relax? NO!!!  Actually…make SURE you relax.  Not sleeping and resting enough can cause your body to go into hibernation mode…and save every last calorie that you put into your body for a “rainy day”…or hibernation.

What I AM saying is watch how you relax.  Again…hold yourself accountable.  Families who spend a large amount of time watching television have substantially more weight and health issues than families who spend their free time in other ways.  Why?  Its not the sitting around part that is the problem, oddly enough…its the advertising and the fact that you aren’t paying attention when you do eat.  Children and adults who watch television are subjected to advertising which can subconsciously cause you to wander to the kitchen in search of a snack…even when you aren’t hungry.  Eating while you are watching television may cause you to eat without thinking….empty calories and too many of them!

The solution?

Plan activities for you and your family that don’t involve the television.  Pick a literary series and read them out loud to each other…plan one night a week for family game night.  Plan a healthy snack before you begin and prepare it so you don’t eat mindlessly.

So what can we do to help you avoid these pitfalls?  We can help you hold yourself accountable….and you can do the same for us!

Planning menus and journaling your food intake will drastically cut down on overeating, binging and general unhappiness with what you are eating.  We are opening a section of our forum where you can come and share what you ate for the day…share your goals, your outcomes…and get/receive encouragement from the rest of us!

Fitness Friday/Maternity Mommies: Walking the Whrrl

Fitness Friday/Maternity Mommies: Increasing Your Steps

Last week I talked about Nintendo’s Personal Trainer: Walking for DS and we explored how many steps was “enough” in the course of a day. Much to my dismay I discovered that anything less than 5000 steps per day was considered a “sedentary lifestyle”.

So, how do we increase our daily steps? This week I did some exploring… this is what I learned:

20 min of walking or aerobic stepping will net you roughly 2000 steps.

2000 steps is the equivalent of roughly 1 mile.

If swimming is your thing, you can add 150 steps per day for each minute you swim.

But what if you aren’t going to add exercise to your routine? What if you are starting slowly and just want to find ways to add movement to your day to day activities? Here are some tips:

Add 3-500 steps to your day by parking in the spot furthest from the entrance at the grocery store. Double that by walking your cart all the way back into the store when you are finished shopping and loading your car.

When shopping for groceries, don’t skip the aisles that aren’t on your list. Quickly walk down them anyway. At my store of choice, Dillon’s, this adds 40 steps per aisle.

When you talk on the phone, walk around instead of sitting down.

If you are in an office…use the restroom or water cooler furthest from your desk.

What are your tips for adding extra steps to your day? What simple ways can you think of to get more movement into your life?

Do you have a Fitness post you’d like to share?  Want some extra support in your fitness/weight loss journey?  Check out Wii Mommies and link up…or sign up in our forum and  join the fun!  You don’t have to be a mom…you don’t even have to own a Wii…just have a desire to be healthy and part of a great community!

Fitness Friday/Maternity Mommies: How Much is Enough?

If you follow the Wii Mommies at all…you have heard us talking about Personal Trainer: Walking
for the Nintendo DS.  I’m not going to spend time reviewing it for you here…there are several awesome reviews you can read at Momspective, Real Life Blog, and at The Dad’s Center.  I’m here today to talk to you about the nitty-gritty… how does this work? What do we need to do to make the most of this great new tool?

Like everyone else I know who is using this new game to keep moving…my husband and I are in competition to see who walks more steps during the day.  I’m pleased to say that I am in the lead…proving once and for all (?) that I don’t JUST sit around all day watching Soaps and eating BonBons.   What I am enjoying is not only the tracking of my steps…but the ability to see what my movement looks like throughout the day.  Am I resting like I should be to keep my pregnancy in check? Am I sitting too much?  Do I push hard and then crash?  Its very easy to see patterns in my behavior…or “Life Rhythms” when I look at the graph on the DS each night.

So I can see my patterns…and track my steps.  The Personal Trainer sets a default goal of 3000 steps per day….but how much should I be walking? What is a decent amount of steps to be taking and what should I do to increase my activity?  These are all questions that I’ve been asked over the past three weeks as I talk to everyone I possibly can about Personal Trainer: Walking.

So I cracked open my computer and began to search…to see what research has been done…to see how much we really should be moving…is it the 3000 steps a day that the Personal Trainer defaults to?  Not. Even. Close.

The best article I found was on About.Com based on research published in a 2004 issue of Sports Medicine by Dr. Catrine Tudor-Locke.  I find About.com a reliable source of information…their health and fitness articles are reviewed by their medical review board…a board of certified medical professionals.

Based on the idea that 10,000 steps a day is an active lifestyle…the article breaks down your number of steps into lifestyle patterns like this:

*Under 5000 steps per day is qualified as a “Sedentary Lifestyle”

*5,001 – 7,499 steps per day is considered a “normal” activity level exclusive of sports/exercise.  This would be considered “Low Activity Lifestyle”

*7,500 -9,999 steps per day accounts for daily activity that includes some exercisze/walking or a job that includes more daily walking.  This is a “Somewhat Active Lifestyle”

*10,000 steps a day is the referrence point used to qualify people as having an “Active Lifestyle”

*Anything over 12,500 steps per day is considered a “Highly Active Lifestyle”

“Whhhaaa??”"  I have a lot of work to do.

So what do you do if you are a sedentary person trying to increase your walking?  You don’t want to set yourself up for failure.  A person who walks 3000 steps per day isn’t going to jump to 10,000 with no complications or much success.  What is a person to do?  This article suggests that you wear your pedometer and track your steps/activity for several days to determine your average steps per day.  Then slowly increase your steps by 2-3000 steps per day.  This is the equivalent of 20-30 minutes of walking.  That is NOT much time to step up your activity level!  When that becomes average…step it up again (pun intended).

Adding 2000 steps per day to your routine can keep you from gaining weight.  6000 steps per day promotes a lower risk of death and 10,000 steps per day promotes weight loss.  2000 steps is approximately 1 mile.  You don’t have to walk that mile all at once, however, to reap the benefits of the steps.  Broken up over the course of a day you will still benefit from being a more active individual.

Fitness Friday/Maternity Mommies: Are We Done Yet?

31 weeks and counting!!  This morning is my ob appointment and I’ll get my weigh in.  Two weeks ago…before I left for BlogHer I was 13lbs. from my start weight.  I’m gaining about 1lb a week… which is the general rule for this stage of pregnancy.  So why do I feel lousy?

Because I’m pregnant.  LOL.  That and my OB set a goal for me to only gain 15 pounds.  I’m not going to make it.  My own goal was 20lbs…I’m not going to make that either, I’m afraid…but I’ll be close.  If I continue at this rate I will have a total gain of 23lbs.  This should be amazing to me…not dissapointing.  TWENTY-THREE POUNDS.  That is a hell of a long way from the 60+ I’ve gained in previous pregnancies.

I’ve been derailed in my plans to exercise.  Contractions keep me less active than I would like.  I’m thrilled to be using the Personal Trainer: Walking for Nintendo DS because it is making me aware of exactly how much I rest and don’t rest…how sedentary I am.  But I’m staying on track with my eating.  This is a major accomplishment and a success due in no small part to the Wii Mommies and all of the support and accountability I have through this group.

So find my tweets, my posts… all based on keeping me healthy and on track in these last few weeks of pregnancy and beyond.  I need YOUR help as well…it is through the success and trials of everyone around me that I stay motivated … that I continue to see a goal at the end of this journey…one that seems obtainable.

That is what this is all about, really.  Support…friendship…accountability.  Without these things each of us would be fighting an uphill battle.

So…if you find yourself struggling to stay healthy, strugglingn to lose weight…check out Wii Mommies blog and forum.  You don’t have to be a Mom…you don’t have to own an Wii   It is a place to find all kinds of support and encouragement.  You can follow us on twitter through the hashtag #wiimoms .  Have a blog?  Post your trials…your successes…then link up with us on Fitness Fridays and get even more support from those around you.

Fitness Friday: Maternity Mommies: Imposter

This is my day for coming clean with the rest of you fabulous Wii Mommies. I feel like a total imposter (Julie says its hypocrite…I don’t think it matters THAT much)… because you all are working so very hard…and I just am not. I encourage you, I NAG you (Chris…I mean you), and I am genuinely happy for you…and sick with myself.

I was so optimistic this pregnancy…maybe a little bit in denial. When I was pregnant with Lilli I was on bedrest from 19 weeks on because I was having contractions that landed me in the hospital. Nothing EVER came of those contractions but for a wee little bit of dilation. Let’s say “Irritable Uterus”. A better description would be “irritating uterus”. So here we are with #3 and I’m thinking that exercise and less weight gain will help me avoid that complication again…but I was wrong.

Maybe its that I started 18lbs over my previous start weight…maybe its that I’m getting OLD (I will be 35 in August) or maybe its just the way I’m built. I’ve been having fairly regular contractions since I hit the 18 week mark, 5 weeks ago. I was thinking that doing the EA Sports Active would be okay with just the upper body and dance routines..a little Wii Fit FreeStep on the side…but in reality I can only do that about every 3 days or so…and that is the ONLY thing I can do that day…no shopping, no housecleaning, nothing else or I’m in some serious trouble…and I’m generally worn out the next day as well. Am I that out of shape? Other pregnant women are working out and getting fit!!

NOW…that being said…it is also important to know that I am completely at peace with the well being of my baby and my pregnancy. I’ve delivered 2 healthy, full term babies..this one will be no different. I get my cervix checked via sono on a regular basis to make sure nothing crazy is going on. It is just annoying…and a little painful.

So there it is…I’ve unburdened my soul…I feel *slightly* better. I’m just unable to work as hard as the rest of you right now…but darn it if I’m not holding on to your every struggle and success to get me through and keep me motivated to burn all of this off once this little boy arrives!

All whining aside…I AM doing SO MUCH BETTER this pregnancy than I did with either of my other two…its just that pesky 18lbs extra I started with that is making it not seem so. Today I am 23 weeks pregnant (26 if you ask me LOL) …and to date I have gained 8lbs. EIGHT! That is unheard of for me. I would really like to have my total weight gain for this month be 3 lbs, not 4 ..and I have one week to go *gulp*…wish me luck.

To see some REALLY fit folks giving it their all…visit the Wii Mommies. Have a fitness goal of your own? Grab our button and BLOG IT! Then come on over on Fitness Fridays and link up your story! Need some support or advice? Join us in our Forum. This ain’t just for Mommies you know!

Next Page »