Day 2...Extreme Style!

Well well well...Day 2 has come and gone! I couldn't be more happier to get through these past 2 days and you know why??? Because I wasn't able to have ANY FRUIT! Today though (Day 3 - Wednesday), I get to have 2 servings of FRUIT which I am taking full advantage of!

Anyways, on to yesterday's review!

Yesterday was a lot easier than Day 1 that's for sure! It was a lot easier for me to get my 6 red containers in! But I feel like for the next 18 Days I will probably eat a lot of the same things especially if I decide to stick with the Countdown to Competition, which as of right now I am taking it week by week! If I feel like after this week I need to adjust I will!

Yesterday's workout was Upper Fix Extreme which I have really come to LOVE LOVE anything to do with lifting weights with my arms! I honestly would say I LOVE MY ARMS!

Women need to learn to not be afraid of weights. I used to be one of those people who avoided weights as much as I could! Even when I started doing Beachbody workouts I tried to avoid them! But I have learned that weights don't cause you to become bulky, they really help with leaning you out and yes you will get muscle but it's not going to be bulky - at least in my opinion!

It was an overall good day yesterday! I was kind of dreading the workout since Day 1 was brutal and intense! But I am glad I gave it my all and even used heavy weights the entire time unless we had to switch to lighter weights!

So far I have noticed a HUGE change in my body the last 2 days of just eating clean! Yes even as coaches we don't always stay 100% on track and I could tell I wasn't eating the best! The sugar came back into my life and I was having troubles getting rid of it! Thank goodness for this Challenge Group as it was much needed!

Until Tomorrow!

Sara Barry

21 Day Fix Extreme - DAY 1

Well...yesterday was my very first day on the 21 Day Fix Extreme. We are doing a team Challenge Group (Team Fired To Get Fit) where everyone had to pay $10.00 to enter! There are going to be two winners each getting $160.00!!! If that's not motivation then I don't know what is! 

 If you haven't heard of this program let me just tell you a bit about it. 

Autumn Calabrese created a program called the 21 Day Fix. This program is geared toward portion control with these amazing containers you use. The workouts in this program are only 30 minutes per day! Which for a mom, is amazing! You have a booklet that you can use to help plan out your meals! You are in control of how you use your containers and when you eat them each day! 

The 21 Day Fix Extreme is exactly what is sounds like, it's extreme compared the original program. You are still doing 30 minute workouts and using your colored containers but the workouts use weights a lot more and are more intense. 

Now with the 21 Day Fix Extreme you have two options, you can follow the Regular Extreme Plan (which is exactly like the original 21 Day Fix Plan) OR you can follow the Countdown to Competition Plan which I will explain. With the regular plan and the extreme plan in the bracket I fall into, I get 4 reds, 3 greens, 2 yellows, 2 purples, 1 blue, 1 orange and 2 tsp PER DAY! With the Countdown to Competition you get 6 reds, 3 greens, 1 yellow and 3 tsp PER DAY! 

With Countdown To Competition, you  do TWO DAYS of the Countdown Plan then ONE DAY Extreme Plan and you do that for 21 Days! 

Moving on...like I mentioned yesterday was my first day using the Countdown to Competition Meal Plan and let me just say one thing, it is very hard to get in 6 RED containers in one day! 

My day yesterday consisted of: 

Breakfast: 7 Egg Whites & Vegan Tropical Strawberry Shakeology with water and ice blended! 2 red

Snack: Cucumbers 1 greeen

Lunch: Chicken with peppers and quinoa 1 red 1 green 1 yellow

Snack: Chicken 2 red

Dinner: Barbecued shrimp with steamed asparagus 1 red 1 green

As you can see I did manage to get in 6 RED containers yesterday! Was it easy? Nope! I had to have egg whites about 30 minutes after I woke up and then about 30-45 minutes after I had my shakeology! 

Trying to eat like this takes a lot of planning and commitment. 

Yesterday's workout was Plyo (LEG DAY) and OMG I felt like I was going to have a heart attack - not literally though! I have done this workout before and for some reason yesterday just seemed 10x worse! But trust me when I say your legs will be on FIRE! 

Although I am doing the Countdown to Competition Plan I have agreed that if I can't handle this type of eating after a week then I am switching completely to the regular extreme plan. 

Here is hoping day 2 goes just as good! Looking forward to having some fruit and a little more carbs on Wednesday! 

Until Tomorrow! 

Sara Barry

Healthy Baking Recipes

I love baking especially when I can make something healthy and have it still taste amazing! The last couple of weekends I've been baking a lot! Last weekend I made some yummy Chocolate Cherry Heart Smart Cookies which were only 94 calories per cookie!!! They turned out amazing! Plus my little man LOVED THEM!

Below you will find the yummy recipe for those!

Chocolate Cherry Heart Smart Cookies

Ingredients

1.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/3 cup) 

1.5 ounces whole-wheat flour (about 1/3 cup)

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt 

6 tablespoons unsalted butter 

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup dried cherries

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten 

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Cooking spray - I used coconut oil spray

I used mostly all organic items except for the flours, rolled oats, baking soda. You totally don't have to use organic that is just something I have been trying to use more and more of! 

Preparation 

Preheat oven to 350. Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat; add brown sugar, stirring until smooth. Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (I found that my blender was a little too fast and things went flying a little). Add cherries, vanilla and egg; beat until combined. Fold in chocolate (I used organic small chocolate chips - they were the perfect size). Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes - I took mine out around the 10 - 11 minute mark. Cool on pans 3 minutes or until almost firm. Remove from cookies from pans; cool on wire rack! 

These are seriously so simple to make and like I said they taste amazing! I even froze some for later! You could also use dried cranberries or something else or even remove the fruit if you don't like fruit in cookies! 

Now on to my next recipe that some have asked about!!! The yummy Peanut Butter Banana 5 Ingredient Blender Muffins!!! They are so simple and so yummy! And again you can freeze these too! I still have a bunch in my freezer! 

Peanut Butter Banana 5 Ingredient Blender Muffins

Ingredients 

1 cup natural peanut butter 

2 large eggs 

2 medium sized very ripe bananas 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2 tablespoons honey (optional) 

Optional toppings: chocolate chips, coconut, raisins. 

Preparation 

Preheat oven to 400. Place ingredients in a blender and blend until well mixed. You could probably use a hand blender or mixer too if you wanted. Pour batter into muffin tin greased with cooking spray (again I used coconut spray). Add variety of toppings into each muffin spot and stir. Cooking time varies - 9 minutes for regular muffins or 8 minutes for mini muffins - I did mini muffins since they were the perfect size for my toddler. 

I really hope you enjoy these two AMAZING recipes! And please let me know how you liked them. Did you kids like them? Did your spouse like them? I know my spouse didn't really care for them. He did try the cookies and thought they were okay but to be fair he's not into eating healthy as much as I am! 

Until next time. 

Sara Barry

The craziness of last weekend....

This past weekend was such a hectic and busy weekend for my little family!!!

For those of you that don't know, on Saturday I did something I have been wanting to do for awhile! I went and got certified in Turbo Kick!!

For those of you that don't know what Turk Kick is, let me tell you a little about it! It's a fat-blasting, ab defining cardio workout! It's a mix of kickboxing and simple dance grooves set to heart pounding dance music that will have you looking forward to your next workout!!! It is such a high energy workout and a lot of fun!

We had our certification class at a fitness studio called LG Fitness! Juli Baker was our master trainer and as soon as I walked through that door she greeted me with a huge smile and she was so excited to see me! I got such a welcoming feeling from her! She also provided me with a copy of Round 64 which was the workout we would be using that day! I could tell just from those few minutes I saw Juli that you could tell she had a passion for doing this and that she loved it!

There was about 13 of us in the class which was a lot more than I thought was going to be there to be honest! We started right up and got into some training and then shortly after we did the master workout! It was so much fun!

And considering I was sick I managed to kick butt in the workouts and got a ton of information from Juli! She was absolutely amazing to work with and I am so happy I decided to do this! Not only did I get my workout in and burn 1,521 calories and took 13,396 steps that day I had a blast meeting new people as well!!

This experience was beyond AMAZING! I feel like I have the tools and information to teach a Turbo Kick class now! Best day of my life - next to my son being born!

On Sunday we had my little man's first day of swimming lessons! He is in Duck now! And let's just say he didn't really want to be there, he was a bit whinny but nothing major. He started to enjoy it near the end of the class which was good!

Grandma and Grandpa also came by to visit and watch and take lots of pictures too!

Afterwards Grandma ended up taking him for a little - thank goodness! Me and my partner needed to go to a walk-in ASAP. Our throats were just KILLING US by Sunday (this started on Thursday night) and we needed some antibiotics. Once we did that we managed to squeeze in some time to get groceries too! It was nice to get all this done without having our little toddler with us!

We had a fantastic weekend regardless of being sick. It might have sucked but thank goodness the antibiotics are kicking in now and I am happy that I am feeling 100% better now!

What did everyone else do last weekend? Did you have fun, were you sick too?

I am so excited the weather is getting nicer and I can't wait for summer time to finally arrive!

Until next time!

Sara Barry

New Recipe!!! AMAZING!

Evening!!!

Today I had to stay home with my little boy because of his daycare being closed so you know what that means??? I actually have time to plan / cook dinner and have it at a reasonable time!!!

I decided to try something completely new to me!!! I have never tried quinoa before and decided it was time for me to try it. Although it wasn't very visible it was still something new to me, especially cooking it as I know I am not good at cooking brown rice for some reason! 

Tonight's recipe was Quinoa & Extra Lean Ground Beef Enchilada Casserole. You can make this without ground beef but I wanted some more protein, I am sure you could even add ground turkey or chicken too!

Here is what I used to make this amazing recipe: 

- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 (10 oz) can of enchilada sauce - for those in Canada I found mine at Safeway, it was Frontera Red Chile Enchilada Sauce in the Mexican aisle - it was hard to find - you could also make your own if your up for it.
- 1 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chilies, drained
- 1/2 cup corn kernels, frozen or canned - I used organic
- 1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed - I used organic
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1 tomato, diced

Directions

In a large saucepan add 2 cups of water, cook quinoa according to package instructions and set aside. While this was cooking I cooked the hamburger as well. Preheat oven to 375. Lightly oil an 8 x 8 or 2 quart baking dish or coat with non-stick spray. In a large bowl combine quinoa, enchilada sauce, green chilies, corn, black beans, cilantro, cumin and chili powder. Stir in ½ cup cheddar cheese and ½ cup mozzarella cheese. Spread quinoa mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining cheeses. Place into oven and bake until bubbly and cheese has melted, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately and garnish with avocado and tomato if desired.

Leave a comment below if you make this and how your family enjoyed it!

Hop Hop..Easter Weekend!

Easter weekend was a success at our house! I ended up cooking a full dinner for my family (7 of us in total)! Turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, my step-moms AMAZING perogies, stuffing and apple pie! I was beyond proud of myself since I haven't really cooked for that many people in awhile!

It was so nice to sit down with loved ones and enjoy and amazing meal together. We don't do family dinners a lot but we try to get them in whenever we can! It was kind of a happy occasion too because my brother's girlfriend from Germany finally arrived! So it was great to sit down with her and get to know her a little more! Plus she also bought me beautiful flowers! My house smelled amazing with all the flowers I had in my house! 

Once we got little man to bed, which was WAY LATER than planned, me and my partner as well as my brother and "D" - we call her "D" since we can't seem to pronounce her name properly and she is okay with it - decided we would have a little bonfire! It was so nice outside and there was barely any wind! It was great! 

A little too much wine may have been consumed but that is okay! I enjoyed myself and that is all that matters! 

I had so much fun this year getting my son's Easter basket all ready for him! I may have gone a little overboard but that's okay! This was the first year I was able to actually do something fun for him since he didn't understand it last year! 

He had so much fun collecting the eggs the Easter bunny left around the house too! It took him a little bit to realize what I was telling him to do but once he figured it out he was off like a race horse! We also played outside with his chalk from the Easter bunny, he kind of figured out what to do with it but was more interested in trying to put in his mouth! He will be 2 in May so he's still interested in putting things in his mouth. 

Did your little ones enjoy their Easter weekend? What kind of goodies did you get your little ones or big kids? 

The one thing I noticed is a lot of kids were getting HUGE ITEMS! I am not judging anyone at all because honestly as parent's it is your decision on how you choose to do holidays with YOUR KIDS. I originally wanted to get our son something big but the it just wasn't in the budget for that! Again I am not judging any parents! 

Also, did anyone else get their significant others a little gift? I got mine some Wonka candy since I know he loves that stuff and an egg shaped holder with some Ferrero Rocher inside! He loved it but then he gave me that look of "well I didn't get you anything". I don't mind one bit! 

Now on to another topic...NUTRITION...

Did you keep yourself on track this weekend? Did you get a workout in? 

I managed to get my workouts in all weekend! My nutrition on the other hand was..okay..

I did eat some of those yummy perogies because they are too good to pass up! I also had wine, which to be honest I don't drink a lot anyways so I didn't find it a big deal if I was having a glass or a whole bottle...

I may have eaten some chocolate and candy - which is a HUGE WEAKNESS of mine! I try really hard to not keep any junk in the house but this weekend between our gifts and the grandparents gifts we do have chocolate and candy in our house. I am DETERMINED though to not eat any more for awhile! I have it locked up in a cupboard and I have a sticky note telling myself not to go in the cupboard unless it's for Liam or my partner! 

Regardless I don't regret anything I ate or drank. It happens and if you have been consistent with your nutrition then having a cheat meal wont kill anything just make sure you get on track and keep going strong! 

I hope you all had a great weekend full of laughter, fun and food! 

Until next time! 

Sara Barry

Pretty Flowers

Tyler's Easter Gift

Little Man's Goodies

Little Man's Candy Collection

LAST CALL for April Challenge Groups!

Final Call!!! There are LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE!

I want YOU to join me on my healthier lifestyle journey!! Why? Because you are worth it and there is no better time than now. If you've been wishing and hoping to change your life, this is your sign that the moment is here! Take a chance with your health and life and take a chance on your future! YOU DESERVE IT!

I have TWO amazing Challenge Groups starting up on APRIL 6 (MONDAY)!

1. BYE BYE EASTER CANDY!

This challenge group will be using the AMAZING program called 21 Day Fix + Shakeology! This program is designed to help you learn how to portion your food better and let's me honest I know this was one of my BIGGEST problems! The workouts in the program are only 30 MINUTES?!?! SAY WHAT!!!! That's right who doesn't have time for 30 minutes! (p.s. I am a mom and still make time)

If you haven't heard of Shakeology, why the heck not??? This superfood dense nutrition has completely changed my life around! This amazing meal replacement not only has helped me with my weight-loss but it has also helped with maintaining my weight which I know can be a lot of people's issues once they loss that weight! I have noticed I don't need coffee anymore, but let's be honest I do still get a black coffee on the drive home! I have also noticed that my digestive system is a lot better, not getting into any details!

So what will you get with this program? Here is what is included:

1. 7 color coded containers to help with portion control 
2. 7 workouts - plus a bonus DVD 
3. Meal plan booklet to help guide you 
4. Shaker cup 
5. 1 month supply of Shakeology 
6. Me as your FREE COACH!

As an added bonus...I am giving out a $15.00 GIFT CARD your choice!

I lost a total of 6 lbs and 6.5 inches overall! Some of my challengers have lost a total of 20 lbs and 9 inches overall and 7 lbs and 7.5 inches overall!!! (See Photos below)

20 lbs 9 inches GONE

7 lbs 7.5 inches GONE

6 lbs 6.5 inches GONE

2. BIKINI BOOT CAMP! 

This challenge group will be using something that just came out this year!! It is the Netflix of the fitness world! Beachbody On Demand!!! Seriously this is such an amazing thing for them to come out with! You have the ability to stream TONS OF WORKOUTS and get access to NUTRITION GUIDES at the tips of your fingers! As long as you have internet you can use your phone, computer, laptop or ipad to access these workouts! IT'S AMAZING!!!

We will have a schedule for everyone to follow so you know what programs to do on which day!

As well, you will also get a MONTHS SUPPLY of Shakeology!!!!

Both of these groups will be run on Facebook in a PRIVATE GROUP!

ADDED BONUS FOR EITHER CHALLENGE GROUPS....If you decide to join either one of these Challenge Groups, I will put your name in a draw to win a $25.00 GIFT CARD!!!!

If you are ready to get yourself in shape before summer time hits please fill out this application http://tinyurl.com/k2dv34d or hit the contact button on my page!!!

You may also send me a Facebook message or Instagram DM!