Fitness and Nutrition Links

I have been really off my normal routines for a few months and it's time to get back to my old self. I need to get back to my blogging, working out, sleeping better, getting back in shape, eating healthier, and cutting the alcohol intake. It has been a crazy few months for us. We bought a house, (our first), which is really fun and exciting but it has also been stressful. I also traveled to Hong Kong for work for two weeks in the middle of all of this and now I'm getting ready to go for another two weeks. I have so much to catch up on and so many posts to share!

Today, I want to share some helpful links that I have come across and that I am using to get myself back on track. Starting with eating better and holding myself accountable for what I eat.

1. Eatingwell.com

What I like about this site: The meal planner. It allows you to search for healthy recipes and add them to your menu plan. You can plan the whole week and then view your shopping list which is really nice! It will also total your daily calories and this is helpful if you are trying to lose weight and need to create a calorie defecit. You can also calculate your BMI and it will tell you how many calories you need daily to maintain or to lose weight.

2. Calorie Counter

What I like about this site: you can add your own recipes and analyze them so it will break down your nutrition information by serving. It's really great for me to copy and paste recipes that I want to try directly into here and then get the information so easily. Like many other sites, it too allows you to track your meals, excercise and weight loss progress, however, it is a bit more user friendly than some of the others I have tried to use. It also gives you in depth analysis of your progress and you will be surprised how detailed it is in evaluating your food. It also has an app for the iphone and android.

The next group of links relates to fitness. I wanted to share this new iphone app I found today and also a blog post that has a great ab workout.

1. Runtastic

I downloaded the app for my iphone but they also have a website. It is a GPS for outdoor or indoor tracking. I used it today to go for a run around my new neighborhood which I'm not very familiar with yet so it was amazing. It works as a GPS while recording your route on a street map of your neighborhood, tracks your speed, distance, calories burned, and saves them by date so you have a journal of your workouts. It's my new favorite discovery! I ran 2 1/2 miles today and I felt great so I'm going to be using this one a lot.

2. FollowTheLita

This is a fitness blog I follow and today I came across this post with a video of her abs workout. She posted these P90x videos off youtube and let me just tell you...they are not easy. I tried them today after my run and I can really feel it. I am going to start incorporating them into my work outs 2 or 3 times a week. Go over the FollowTheLita and check out the videos she has posted under my fav ab workout.

I'm really tired, it was a long productive day and I need to get some sleep before I start my week all over! Stay tuned for more web links and healthy inspirations!

Must See Fitness Site!

I just found this amazing site called Bodyrock.tv and am envious of this girls stomach for sure! She has so many great excercises, recipes, and other great advise. She also has many videos that are all free to watch. She posts quite a lot too. I haven't actually tried any of her intervals yet but they look really hard plus I'm willing to try if it means a body like hers!

Blog Links

While reading through my blogs this week I found a couple things that I wanted to share. I always love discovering new blogs from other bloggers who post links to posts on sites they read, so now I'm doing the same. Enjoy!

Get a subsription to Everday Rachel Ray for only $4.99 from ThriftyGrl

A really great and easy sewing tutorial on Chic Steals

In honor of SPA week , Beauty Woo Me, gives tips on how to do an at home facial.

For Childhood Nostalgia's sake, check out these free printable paper dolls on Creature Comforts.

These English Muffin Breakfast Pizzas at Our Best Bites look so good and not too bad for you either!

This one is not new this week but is a great makeup tutorial. I love her tape trick. Check it out on Misschievious

On another note....a friend of mine has just told me about this studio in Columbus and it's called the Tracey Gardner Method. It's sort of a combination of Yoga and Pilates in a hot room. I have to admit I was skeptical until I saw her site and photos of her. She is so lean and defined and she never lifts weights! I've decided to give it a try next week. I will let you know how it goes!

Inspiration

I am so inspired by Jelena Abbou, she has an amazing physique! Plus, I just discovered that her maiden name, Djordjevic, is the same as mine. Weird! Not many of us out there with that name.

This site is amazing

So...I know everyone doesn't have goals of competing in a fitness show like me, but this site is so good. I've been working on my diet to get lean muscle and it's a lot of work. I'm trying to keep my protein high, fat low, and maintain a certain amount of calories a day while cycling my carbs. Too much math! Then I found this site and it's free. It tracks your diet and workouts. It's a social networking site for fitness, how genius? Anyways, all you have to do is tell it what your goals are and then you can make your own diets or let it help you and choose for you. When your finished you can even print a grocery list. I am obsessed and it's so easy. Just go to fitclick and try it!

Oxygen Magazine

So, to let everyone know how I was inspired to start working out, I owe it all to this magazine and much of it to the lovely lady on the cover. A couple of years ago I was at the store and saw this magazine. I stopped because I was shocked to see my childhood gymnastics and cheerleading coach on the cover! Of course, I had to buy it, and from there I was hooked.

When I met with a trainer for the first time at the gym, he asked me to come with a list of goals. I showed up with this and said, "I want to look like these girls". 

After working out for a couple of months people at the gym started telling me I should compete in a figure show. So here I am totally obsessed and training for my first show in March. I will be posting updates to my progress along the way. 

If your interested, Julie has a fitness blog and a team she trains. Check her out here, she is quite inspiring. Since this issue I started subscribing to Oxygen and I have to say, it is a really great magazine. I read it cover to cover every month! They have a good on-line site as well with recipes, workouts and all kinds of tools for the fitness junkie like me!