My New Workout Routine

Strength and Conditioning: My New Workout Routine

I started working out again. Now I have started to change my way of thinking.

Working out has become a mandatory part of my schedule. Its hard to do it, cause my schedule doesn't always have room with work, kids, maintaining home and family and friends. But I realize that I have to do it for myself.

Its been so long time since I have done something for me and my well being. So now, I am determined to maintain my health, getting my weight to the right BMI, and putting my self on a workout routine.

Instead of treating as a temporary routine that I will stop once I reach my goal weight. I am making It a part of my life.

The same goes for my diet. Its important for me to not treat it like a temporary diet. But to make a change in my overall lifestyle. Believe or not its a lot more refreshing thinking of it that way. It makes be see it as a challenge for myself.

What motivates me to do it? Its knowing that I am doing it for myself.

This is how I looked in my twenties:

Pregnant with baby #2

After two kids and in my thirties

 

to the left:That's my girl Ashente

Current Weight (don't judge me)

My Workout
I wake up early in the morning and work out on Sunday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

1. Treadmill: I started off with 30 minutes on the treadmill
2. Jumping Jacks: After the treadmill I do 4 reps of Jumping Jacks
3. Squats: 15 Squats
4. Lunges: 20 Lunges (each leg)
5. Plank: 30 second plank
6. Crunches: 50 Crunches
7. Sit Ups: 20 Sit ups
8. Calf Raises: 20 Calf Raises

It takes 45 minutes to an hour to complete.

My Goal is to maintain my weight, skin, hair and nails. Its my lifestyle change.

Easy Recipes - Slow Cooker

Easy Recipes

The husband is traveling on business, which leaves my days and nights over run with work, home, kids and oh, it’s the summer. During the past few weeks, I have tried to use some new strategies to help me get through the days and nights.

Lunch and Dinner #Lunch #Lunchanddinner #dinner #pin #slowcooker #Curry Chicken

The food network is one of my favorite channels to watch, and it helps me with the ability to make quick fix meals. Everything from fish and chicken to rice and pasta and can’t forget about the fruits and veggies. The food network has several shows that are the best at making quick fix meals “30 minute meals”, “semi-homemade”, “pioneer woman”, and the list goes on and on. They also provide some really good recipes on the food network website.

#Pioneerwoman, #30minutemeals

 

Slow Cooker Recipes

I had my slower cooker for two years before I actually used it. A friend of mine ‘fellow blogger’ was raving about how great it is and how much time it saves when preparing meals. With all of her convincing I finally attempted a slow cooker pork tenderloin recipe. It was great, my husband and kids loved it. They couldn’t believe how short of a time it took to prepare and then just putting it on the slow cooker for 4 hours. During that 4hours, I cleaned, did laundry, played with the kids and even read one of my favorite magazines. Pinterest is also great for slow cooker recipes #Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/

Below are some really good recipes. They are quick and easy #pork #currychicken #curry #recipes

The recipes below, you can always add your own twist, by including some other spices

Healthier Amazing Pork Tenderloin in the Slow Cooker

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/healthier-amazing-pork-tenderloin-in-the-slow-cooker/ (MakeItHealthy) – 6 servings (enough for leftovers)

#tenderloin #porkreceipes #porktenderloin #pork #redwine #wine

1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin

2 cups onion, sliced

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup red wine

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons minced garlic

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place pork in the slow cooker with sliced onion. Pour water, wine and soy sauce and coat the pork. Spread garlic over the pork, sprinkle pepper, cover and cook on low setting for four hours Serve with cooking liquid on the side.  

 

 

 

Slow Cooker Curry Chicken

Total Time: Prep: 25 min. Cook: 4 hours

6 boneless skinless chicken breast or thigh

6 peeled and cubed (cut in cubes) potatoes

1-1/4 teaspoon of salt

½ cup of Chicken Stock

¼ cup of water

5 teaspoons of curry powder

1 teaspoon of Adobo all-purpose seasoning

½ teaspoon of ginger minced

1 teaspoon of garlic minced

½ teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of ground black pepper

1 teaspoon of oregano

1 teaspoon of thyme

 

Combine the salt, chicken stock, water, Adobo all-purpose seasoning and 3 tablespoons of the curry powder, garlic, ginger, 1/2 teaspoon cumin and 1teaspoon pepper, and oregano in a bowl.

Spread the potatoes and chicken in the bottom of a slow cooker. Sprinkle the chicken with the remaining 2 tablespoon curry powder. Lay the chicken over the potatoes in a single layer. Pour the mixture over the chicken. Add the thyme and Cook on high for 1 hour and 3 hours on low.

Uncover the slow cooker and stir and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over rice or baked macaroni and cheese

 

Career Driven – Being strategic in the workplace.

Career Driven – Being called aggressive in the workplace. Is it because I am a woman?

I am a Sr. Business Analyst for a software company. Although this is not the path my career started on, this is where I ended up. When I started working for my company, I didn’t intend to continue in the software industry. Growing up, I aspired to become an obstetrician. When I entered college I didn’t have the focus for the amount of studying that was required.

In my current field, the perception is that I am aggressive when it comes to business and at times that can intimidate others or prevent others from working with you. By the way, I have only heard this from my male collogues. When it comes to business I am very direct, precise and analytical with all projects.

At times, I like to take the lead on projects and set up the appropriate direction for the project based on client expectations and the business needs.  But, I don’t believe this makes me aggressive, I think it makes me competent. I have always had an ambitious and optimistic outlook on life. With that comes a lot of passion for anything I put my all into.

I was introduced to a book a few months ago that I thought was one of the best autobiographies I have ever read, it called “LEAN IN” (Sandberg, 2013)

 

 

 It made me understand why women are perceived differently in the workplace and that I wasn’t the only one with this experience.

After reading the first few chapters, I was inspired and exhausted all at the same time.

It inspired me to learn even more about software development. My new goal is to go into either software engineering or software project management. After reading the book I felt more determined to pursue this path and I believed that I could do it.

Although I know I will do all that I can to reach this goal, I do know how much of a challenge this will become.

Here comes the feeling of exhaustion.

As a woman it’s not easy, although I have an extremely supportive husband, his career is just as demanding mine. We have two beautiful girls and both work 40 to 60 hours a week. In addition to maintain a balance in life with family, friends and each other now I have to go back to school to pursue my new goal.

Just recently, started looking into various women organization that provides the support, networking and mentoring that I believe I need as well as all women example: http://leanin.org/  (Lean In, 2014).  It’s important for women to come together to support each other in there endeavors whether it’s being a career mom, in the workplace or being a stay at home mom. In life, I have only maintained very  few female friendships and I have always asked myself why that is, I believe I know…but I will save that for another post.  

I have never felt a sense of support or mentorship from other women. It is definitely something that needs to change, and I know the change has to start with me. I might not be able to impact other women, but I can mentor and support those who need it or welcome the advice.

 In the corporate world, I have learned a lot about the business and how things work which has led to my success. Sadly, all those who have mentored to my level have been men.  They saw my potential and believed that I could progress beyond what I imagined.

I started mentoring my little girls since they were toddlers my youngest is 2 ‘she’s a diva’.

I have instilled in my girls that they can do anything they put they mind to and never settle for less.

I will post any other women organizations I find to my blog.

 

Stuck in Traffic

Stuck in traffic during the morning rush. Now I have to reschedule meetings. 

ME

Me

Quiet, I guess this how most people would describe me. There is so much more to me and who I am. I have learned a lot life lessons over the years. As a kid I was very sheltered, never allowed off the front porch of my parents home. We moved to Irvington, NJ from Brooklyn, NY.

The move was quite a dramatic experience for me. I was born into a pretty large family. Lots of aunts, cousins, uncles and siblings. Growing up in Brooklyn we were all so close, we did everything together school, going out, etc.. In Brooklyn as a kid, I witnessed a lot, in the 80s although we had fun times, there was violence.

At the time I didn't get it, when someone was snatch a chain off my moms neck and run off, or when someone would hold up my brother as we walked to school, it was something I didn't understand. No one really explained either, we moved on as if nothing had happened. I had so many questions. I was afraid to ask.

We moved to Jersey  in 1991, it was a different world. The people were different, they had different music, different styles and taught me different cultures. In Brooklyn all my cousins, brothers and myself went to the same school together. We were always together.

In Jersey, although we all moved to Jersey at the same time, my parents moved to a different school district. All of my cousins went to chancellor and I went to Florence, I felt alone. My brothers were in high school and college, so I didn't have them either.





Quiet, I think this is when the quiet started.

More to come....

Strength and Conditioning workouts

Strength and Conditioning workouts

This is a journey that I definitely need help with. So after having my daughter in 2011, I have struggled to get back to my original weight of 130lbs.

 

Now, I can blame all sorts of things for the weight gain, but honestly... It’s because I  haven’t worked out at all. In the past, I would get motivated ‘usually right after the holidays’ but the motivation quickly wears off. This past Tuesday June 10, 2014, I started to go to the Gym.

 

Started with the treadmill, did my crunches, the bike for (5min) and I did some lunges. I feel like I could have pushed myself harder…

5 Questions I have

1. How do I get my physique to this point?
2. How far I can push myself?
3. What other nutrients aside from protein and vegetables should I include in my diet?
4. Does it require a complete lifestyle change, to maintain this physique
5. Should I get a personal Trainer?

Dinner is done.. But wait look at my dish

Dinner is all done.. 

But this is mommy's dinner... All healthy

After work

Picked up the kids, washed dishes, cooked food amongst the 'mommy, I'm hungry, mommy I want juice, mommy need more juice, mommy can I have a snack. Wanted to get all the laundry done before the weekend. After this rough winter we had in Pennsylvania, want to enjoy the summer... Laundry is not done.

Wow, I am back….

Wow, I am back….

It has been over a year. April of 2013 I started a blog to express my journey through life, since then I have been through some ups and down. There were some challenges that I didn’t believe that I would get through. 

 

In 2013, it was discovered that I had a tumor in each breast. The news was terrifying. In 2011 after giving birth to my beautiful little girl, I discovered a lump in my breast. I was convinced that this was just hormones and I was going to be fine. In 2013, after a visit to the ER for a different reason, the test came back stating that I had a tumor in each breast. At the time the news didn’t register. 

So many questions began to come to mind. Was this the tumor that discovered in 2011? Did I make a mistake by not having it looked into then? What am I going to tell my kids? What If I have Cancer?

After a biopsy, it was discovered that I didn’t have cancer. I learned that I cannot ignore warning signs.