HUGE FITNESS GIVEAWAY

When I first started working out and trying to clean up my diet I seriously had no idea what I was doing.
I read so many different things I became overwhelmed, and half of the time I just gave up.
Now I wake up every morning and I'm at the gym at 5 am.
I eat 90% clean and I'm even trying to transition to Paleo
I lift heavy and I run hard.
I love the gym and I'm not scared to try new things there.
I owe a lot of this to a lot of different people, but the blogging community is a large part of that.
I wanted to give back and give someone a chance to win the one thing that made a huge difference in my journey...

A place to start. 

A few of my favorite blogging ladies and I have gotten together for this giveaway, and let me tell you it's huge.

Candra @ Camo & Lipstick
Val @ Fab Chick Get's Fit
Alicia @ Brew Mama
Sami @ Simply-Sami
Amy @ The Diary of a Fat Mommy

Here's your chance to stop saying tomorrow.
To get in there and get your feet wet.
To take the first step in YOUR journey towards the rest of your life.

We have all been there. Scared to start because we have no idea where, worried to step foot in a gym without having a plan.
Wanting to eat different but just not sure how or what.
We are hear to show you it's possible. We started out with one foot in the door and now we have big plans for ourselves.

Amy is currently fundraising for her Disney Half Marathon for St.Jude which is a total bucket list race for me.
Any donation helps, click here to donate.
This princess needs her running shoes, so help a sista out. 
Besides any fundraiser that raises money for sick babies tugs at my heart strings.







A HUGE HUGE part of my transformation (which is still in progress!) has been my coach and trainer Sara Willis.

She not only made me proud to lift heavy she answered each and every question I had. She gave me a clear plan, and ultimately gave me confidence.

I am giving away a 6 week fitness and meal plan customized for you by Sara. To add to the motivation all these lovely ladies are adding in some of their favorite fitness products! Rumor has it Val might even through in one of her coveted water jugs!

So make sure you enter below, and because this giveaway is so important to me I will be checking the entries. So no click click clicking!

Keep coming back all week, because not only are these ladies adding in the giveaway they were nice enough to guest post for me ALLLLL WEEK!!!!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow through Friday!

It's Friday Thank you sweet baby Jesus

Not only do I need the weekend badly 

It's time for our first link up! 

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This link up is for accountability 

Sticking to your guns and following through

Did you say you were going to workout 5 days this week and you killed it at the gym every damn day 

Well this is where I give you full permission to come and tell us how awesome you are! 

Did you not go to the gym at all? 

Well suck it up buttercup and make a plan for next week

Baby steps people 

As for my week....

My hubs got me a heated blanket soooo

I haven't been getting out of bed as much as I would like. 

I got to the gym 3 times this week 

Next week I want to do way better. 

My half marathon is slowly approaching and while I'm not fully training yet I need to get my weekly mileage up so I will be buckling down on that next week. 

Next week I will also go into more detail on my whole plan while I'm training. 

My eating has been pretty on point this week too! 

Last night was date night and I have shrimp tacos and lots and lot of booze 

Holla!! 

I'm really excited about this link up so hop around and check everybody out!! 

Also BIG NEWS make sure you come back on Monday! because some of my blogger besties and I are hosting a huge fitness giveaway! 

Over $150 in prizes! 

It's just what you need to get  started in your fitness journey! 

See you Monday!!

Get it together

One of my "resolutions" was to declutter my house AND my life.

My stress level is always about a 7 

I call it stress some same anxiety some same sanity

Tomato, tomato 

After working 10 hour days and coming home to only want to sit on the couch and relax but still having a million things to do gets old quick

Like REAL quick 

Don't get me wrong my husband is a huge help but when he gets stressed he disconnects 

It's like his only way of dealing with things

I don't have that option so I workout to save myself from goin to jail.

This year I want to work on organizing little things in an attempt to get rid of some of this nonsense 

Some of the things I am doing I have done in the past and I know they work.

1. Set out outfits 

I do this for both kids. On the weekend I do all the laundry and make 5-7 outfits for the week. I put them away together with EVERYTHING I need. For my son I include a diaper and socks and so on. This saves so much time in the morning I just grab and go.

2. Meal Planning and Meal Prep

This month I sat down and wrote out a meal plan for the family for the whole month. Then I went back and highligted the meals that I can easily make Paleo friendly and for the others I wrote down what I was eating.
This is not only a huge time saver but in the long run it saves money. Knowing what I am making for the week makes grocery shopping easier and I only go once a week. It also makes it easier in the morning. I can look at the calendar and know what I need to thaw/ set on the counter.  I am def going to be doing this every month

3. My Planner/ Home Calendar. 

I write everything down, like everything. My schedule is so crazy I usually write in "shower". That's how lame my life is.
I also schedule in my workouts. If you want it to work, make it like a job. You wouldn't miss a day of work, or be late so put that same thought into your workouts.
But you know what. It works. So there

4. Go to sleep. 

This one may sound weird, but I make sure I am in bed by 9:30 every night. I may not fall asleep until 10 but if I stay up and try and get everything into one day I am useless the next day. A good nights sleep is critical. It's even part of the Paleo diet.
Imagine your brain during the day is like Mardi Gras
When you sleep its like the clean up crew picking all those discarded undies and bras and puke
Getting ready to start again with a clean street.
If you don't sleep, they don't get a chance to clean so the undies and bras just pile up, and get covered in more and more puke, eventually someone is going to slip and land in something yucky.
Okay that doesn't really make sense, but maybe you see where I'm going.

5. Empty the sink every night, make your bed every morning. 

Little things like these make a huge difference.
Crawling into a nice made bed every night just makes you a little happier and waking up to a clean kitchen does the same. It doesn't take a lot of time, but its worth it.



What do you do to de-clutter, save time, or save your sanity??

Also are you following me on Facebook, and Instagram (@candra_ellen)? I started a Wednesday "Get up and Move" challenge. Go check it out and see if you can beat my number 34!

Make sure to post your number and get competative! Share it with a friend and try to beat each other!

One more night

Well two things happened last night.
Pretty Little Liars came back
and so did Ravenswood.

I was instantly reminded how un awesome my hair is, and how amazingly hot Caleb is.
I even follow him on instagram for some man candy.

This little girl is not cute she is creepy as shit.

Anyway. Before it gets too hot in here.
Which is impossible because it's still frickin freezing outside.
Tomorrow night is DATE NIGHT

Such a good show!! Go see it!

My hubs and I need this badly.
We need a night away from the house and some time to reconnect.
My favorite little minion is going to babysit, and since she is about to pop out a little baby of her own I am sucking every ounce of babysitting out of her before.
One thing I hate about cleaning up my diet is going out to eat.
I don't want to stress about what to order or just ordering a saladddddddd....

I also don't want to say FUCK THIS SHIT and eat everything I want just so I can stress about it for the rest of the night and into the next day.

So what do I do?
Fuck if I know.
What I do know is I'm going to enjoy myself which means drinky drinky. Since we are going to my old stomping grounds (Margaritas) I obviously have to relive my college days with a few.

I also know that cheese is my kryptonite and if I want to actually see the show instead of cry in the bathroom I should probably avoid it.
I also know Marg's (when you sacrafic years of your live to work there you get the honor of calling it margs) has a bomb diggity steak and chicken fajita.
HOLLA

On another note Mabel is having her first friend sleep over this weekend and I am stress cleaning the house.
Remind me why I feel like a 4 year old is going to hate me if we have dust on the mantel??

Happy Wednesday BISHES, and if it's super cold where you are I give you permission to day drink. You're welcome.

Heyo Paleo

Hey everyone! Welcome toooooo.....

So I'm going to let you all in on a little secret.
Sometimes I call it Paleo like PA-LAY-OH and sometimes I call it Paleo like PAY-LEE-OH.
Depends on how I'm feeling.
In reality it's the second one because it's short for Paleolithic, which was a prehistoric period in human history.
BAM. I'm an educated son of a bitch.
Anywho.
Before I get into my recipe reviews I wanted to explain the Paleo diet in simple terms because I have gotten a lot of questions about it.
There are PLENTY of resources, and some of them are very contradicting. In the most simple terms while eating a Paleo diet you cut out
Dairy, Grains, Legumes, Sugar, and Processed Food.
It's similar to eating clean just a little more strict.
Here are some graphics that I found really helpful. 

 Here's another good one that showcases lots of veggie and fruit options

 I like this one a lot because it reminds me I can eat Kangaroo, I was really worried about giving that up....

It seems overwhelming and intense and pretty much like you can't eat anything, but just remember this
Build your plate around a source of protein then add a little fat, and then fill in veggies and colorful starch.

Example  of a quick meal plan
Breakfast- Omlet
Protein- Eggs
Fat-Bacon...yup thats right
Veggies- tomatos and spinach

Snack- Apple with Almond butter

Lunch- Taco Salad
Protein- Ground Turkey cooked in taco seasoning
Fat- Avacado
Veggies- Lettece, tomato, pico de gallo

Snack- Bell peppers or carrot sticks

Dinner- Marinaded Chicken with Veggies
Protein-Chicken
Fat- Marinade
Veggies- Asparagus, and Sweet Potato

BAM!

See it's not that crazy when you break it down.

Alright. Now lets get to the good stuff.

The first two recipes I tried was this Marinaded Chicken Salad, and this Pumpkin Fudge.

Source

 The marinade for the chicken was amazing, and I'm lazy so I didn't make the salad dressing. Next time I will.

 For the marinade:
juice of 1/2 lime
1-1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

Combine all ingredients in large bowl, add in raw chicken, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 min

 I took out the jalapeno and doubled the lime. I also used Cilantro paste, because...well. I wanted to.

I was the only one who ate this in my house, but I will be making it again because I am sure everyone will like it. I used it for meal prep and will be having it throughout the week. I even snacked on a few pieces because it's that yummy!

Verdict: KEEPER 

Now onto the sweet.

Pumpkin Fudge
1 cup pumpkin puree
5 medjool dates, pitted
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp cloves
pinch of salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

 In a food processor combine all the ingredients for the pumpkin layer other than the coconut oil. Blend until very smooth. With motor running, slowly add coconut oil. Process until combined.

 So a few things...
The original recipe calls for a chocolate layer, which looking back I should not have skipped.
I added more dates because.. again.. I wanted to. I also used unsalted butter instead of coconut oil. Unsalted butter is considered paleo, and I'm cheap. Sooo yeah.

Here is the picture of the original... next to a picture of mine.

It kinda speaks for itself.

It was okay but I am still used to super sweet fudge which this was NOT. It also did not have a fudge texture, more like a cold semi solidified baby food.

My kids would not eat it, my husband said it looked like diapers, and I wasn't going to choke it down.

Verdict: TOSS...for now.. maybe revisit!

Next Time on Heyo Paleo I will talking about a Coconut flour pancakes and Honey Meringues.

Gah I'm Geeking OUT!

Hey Friends,
I have some super exciting news.
Maybe not as exciting to you but I am having a total geek out moment here.
I am co-hosting a new weekly link up with some of my FAVORITE bloggers.

A lot of us are going to be training for races this spring and wanted a way to keep ourselfs accountable. We thought the idea of having a weekly link up to check in with eachother would be the perfect way.
Don't worry you don't have to be running any races to joy in
You don't even have to be a runner!
You can link up about anything you want to be held accountable for.
Trying to eat cleaner this year?
Trying to save more money?
Trying to spend more quailty family time?
Join us every Friday to recap how on your week and let us (and yourself) know how you did.
You can even join in the fun on Instagram using the hashtag #FTF make sure you follow me (@Candra_Ellen) so I can keep up with you!!

Personally I will be using it to keep track of my half marathon training as well as my eating habits!

I mentioned before that I am trying to eat Paleo for the month of January, and let me tell you this shit is hard. My girl Amy over at The Diary of a Fat Mommy is also working her way into the Paleo world and she posts awesome meal ideas on her Instagram.

I am hoping to review some Paleo recipes here on Tuesdays so make sure you check back tomorrow for my first rendition of Heyo Paleo where I review a marinade for chicken and Paleo Pumpkin Fudge!

 

WARNING! I am NOT and most likely will NEVER be a food blogger. Do not count on food porn pics or even semi-professional pictures.

Hell count your lucky stars if I even take a picture on a real camera.

 Just true reviews of recipe's I have tried and what I truly think of them as well as what my unsuspecting children and husband think. 

I'm part Ninja

Alright 2014 I'm ready for ya.

Except when I woke up this morning to go ham at the gym our bedroom door didn't even make one squeak before BOTH kids were SCREAMING in their beds. 

I stood still for about 3 hours, which I considered a workout and tried to start my day when they were finally quite. 

I have never peed so quietly in my life. 

When you become a mom, you also become part ninja. 

Bet you didn't read that in those baby books!

You get lots of practice when they are infants and you tip toe out of their room when they finally fall asleep, but the real fun comes when they get a little older and you remember 

"Oh wait I'm a human too and I like to do things"

You find yourself silencing your pee and not flushing until they wake up... don't act like you don't do it, 

eating cookies in the closet and inhaling the crumbs as soon as you hear those sticky little fingers on the door knob. 

You also learn how to open doors, cabinets, toy boxes, etc with your toes since your hands are permanently full. 

If you are like me and your box spring decided it wants to try out for Tin-Man in the next rendition of The Wizard of Oz, you also get in a full yoga workout trying to wiggle your way out of bed without waking up those sweet cherubs. 

You can quote me, and even curse my name, but just when you think you have got your ninja skills down and you might be able to get out of the bedroom in time to watch The Big Bang Theory, 

or get to the gym with enough time to do an actual workout and not just weigh yourself

you will forget that you moved that baby gate, and that you put those legos/dolls/matchbox cars on the floor right next to the door because you were being ninja last night,

It will of course, make the most noise humanly possible, and your ninja license will be temporarily revoked.

To top it off when you finally get the kids back to sleep, 

your husband will come out and slam the door, flush the toilet, start a band with the pots and pans, and turn on the T.V. and those sweet little babies

will not even budge......