Week 8 Bikini Series!

Sweet summertime is less than a week away now, more than ever, is the time to work hard and stay strong! Let’s all finish the BIKINI SERIES STRONG!

Monday 6/16/14- Abs & Double Bikini Arms! 

• ✓  Cardio: Wake up and sweat it out for 40 minutes! Go outside for a run, head to a spin class, perform your favorite cardio routine…#100BySummer
• Toning- Find time to fit in these 3 videos! Bikini Arms- click HERE and tight and toned arms  HERE and sun kissed abs click HERE

Tuesday 6/17/14-  Tone it up triple threat! Double LEGS! 

• Toning-  Daisy Dukes Booty and Legs video comes out TODAY! 
• Inner and Outer Thighs- Click HERE and the Kettlebell workout! Click HERE 
• Bikini ABS click HERE

Wednesday 6/18/14- Yoga and Abs! 

• Morning- Wake up with love your body with YOGA! Click HERE
• Cardio-  In the afternoon do 30 minutes of cardio and then the bikini series YOGA- click HERE
• Toning- Itty bitty Bikini ABS - click HERE 

Thursday 6/19/14- Cardio and Double Total Body!! 

• Cardio- 30 minutes of cardio anyway you want! 
• Toning- Bikini Body 1 Click HERE Bikini body 2 click HERE

Friday 6/20/14-Fat burn and double ABS!! 

• Cardio-  Love your body with HIIT click HERE 
• Toning- Bikini Abs click HERE

Saturday 6/21/14- Pink Flamingo! 

• Pink Flamingo TWICE click HERE

Sunday 6/22/14- Cardio

• Run it out! Then go out and play :) 

Week 7 Bikini Series!

Sweet summertime is in just 12 days and now, more than ever, is the time to work hard and stay strong! Let’s all finish the BIKINI SERIES STRONG!

For the next two weeks we want you to do whatever it takes to stay on top of your workouts, healthy eatingand positive mindset!

Monday 6/2/14- Arms & Abs! 

• ✓  Cardio: Wake up and sweat it out for 40 minutes! Go outside for a run, head to a spin class, perform your favorite cardio routine…#100BySummer
• Toning- Find time to fit in these 2 videos! Bikini Arms- click HERE and sleek and slender abs- HERE

Tuesday 6/3/14-  Tone it up triple threat! Thighs, Kettlebell, and yoga! 

• Toning-  New Bikini Yoga comes out today! Check back here for the link! :) Also do Inner and Outer Thighs- Click HERE and the Kettlebell workout! Click HERE 

Wednesday 6/4/14- Arms and Cardio! 

• Cardio-  Making waves cardio! Click HERE
• Toning- Slim and toned arms- click HERE 

Thursday 6/5/14- Cardio and Double Ab! 

• Cardio- 30 minutes of cardio anyway you want! 
• Toning- 2 Abs routines- click HERE and HERE

Friday 6/6/14- Cardio- fat blasting! 

• Cardio-  You pick your own cardio routine! Here are some to choose from :) Click HERE
• Toning- Bikini Body 1 Click HERE Bikini body 2 click HERE

Saturday 6/7/14- Yoga, Arms, and Fat Burn 

• Wake up with a yoga video or class! 
• Arms and Shoulders, click HERE 

Sunday 6/8/14- Cardio

• Run it out! 
• HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK BEACH BABES! 

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE WORKSHEET! 

- See more at: http://thehealthypinner.blogspot.com/#sthash.IYnVnctc.dpuf

Week 6 Bikini Series!

Summer is OFFICIALLY 21 days away! JUNE is here and so is the warm weather! (Despite the flash flood we are having here in MN).

Here are your workouts for WEEK 6 of the BIKINI SERIES!

Monday 6/2/14- Arms & Abs! 

• Cardio- First thing you do this morning get up and get in 2 miles! Either running or do the HIIT workout routine- you can find that HERE
• Toning- Find time to fit in these 2 videos! Bikini Arms- click HERE and Itty Bitty Bikini Abs video- HERE
• Sunset Challenge- Put fresh grapes in your freezer for a refreshing snack this week! 

Tuesday 6/3/14-  Thighs, booty, and total body! 

• Cardio- 20 minutes of cardio, your choice! Run it, walk it, dance it out, elliptical, stair stepper, treadmill, bike! You pick it babe! 
• Toning-  New Bikini Video came out today! Click HERE Also do Bikini Body- Click HERE and the Pink Flamingo workout 3 times! Click HERE
• Sunset Challenge- Get wild in the kitchen! Experiment with a new healthy recipe! 

Wednesday 6/4/14- Abs and Cardio! 

• Cardio-  You pick your own cardio routine! Here are some to choose from :) Click HERE
• Toning- Bikini Abs- click HERE and Sunkissed Abs- click HERE
• Sunset Challenge- Invite friends over for a patio mixer- everyone brings their own dish :) 

Thursday 6/5/14- Yoga and Booty!

• Cardio- 20 minutes of cardio anyway you want! 
• Toning- 2 booty videos- click HERE and HERE
• Sunset Stretch~ Stretch it out with a nice Yoga routine.  After yoga, we want you to unplug!  Put your computer and phone away for the rest of the night. No TV or anything ~ just enjoy some YOU time. Maybe a bubble bath, read, write or have a glass of wine with someone special.  

Friday 6/6/14- Cardio blasting! 

• Cardio-  You pick your own cardio routine! Here are some to choose from :) Click HERE
• Toning-Bikini body 2 click HERE
• Sunset Challenge- DANCE!!  Blast your favorite songs and just dance ~ in your living room, out with girlfriends or on date night.  Our new favorite song to dance to right now is Jubel by Klingande ~ it’s on your BIKINI SERIES PLAYLIST!  
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6vSf0cA9qY

Saturday 6/7/14- Make your weekend count! 

• Wake up with a yoga video or class! 
• Get in 4 miles today however you can! 

Sunday 6/8/14- Cardio

• Bikini cardio workout you can find HERE
• Go for a 40 minute walk before the new week starts! Go with a friend or by yourself to clear your mind! Picture how this summer will look like and how you will feel! 

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK BEACH BABES! 

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE WORKSHEET! 

Week 5 Bikini Series!

Well the holiday weekend is over and it's time to get back to the gym HARD because there is less than one month until summer. AND we just booked our engagement photos! :) AHHH so officially have a date I want to look "fly" by :P

Yay Week 4 Bikini Series is here already! I know I am definitely feeling more energy even though I have had a few slip ups on food, I haven't missed a workout yet! :)

Monday 5/26/14- Cardio & Toning in ONE 

• Cardio and Toning- Click HERE for stars and stripes cardio!

Tuesday 5/27/14-  Abs and ARMS!

• Cardio- 30 Minutes of Cardio any way you choose- they recommend running 15 minutes from your house and then back for 15 :) 
• Toning-  New Bikini Abs came out today! Click HERE! Also do Bikini Arms- Click HERE 

Wednesday 5/28/14- Stretch, tone, and lengthen! 

• Cardio-  You pick your own cardio routine! Here are some to choose from :) Click HERE
• Toning- Sunset Workout routine- Click HERE
• 10 minutes of meditation to put your mind into focus! 

Thursday 5/29/14- Abs and Booty!

• Cardio- Sweat session found HERE
• Toning- New abs video and bikini booty! Click HERE

Friday 5/30/14- Abs, Shoulders, and Arms 

• Cardio- Wild card, 30 minutes of your favorite cardio! 
• Toning- Take me to the sea! Click HERE

Saturday 5/31/14- Slim and Toned Arms!  

• Click HERE for pura vida! 

Sunday 6/01/14- Cardio

• 5k folks! You got this!! 

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE WORKSHEET! 

- See more at: http://thehealthypinner.blogspot.com/#sthash.V8AuNbet.dpuf - See more at: http://thehealthypinner.blogspot.com/2014/05/week-4-bikini-series.html#sthash.ftP2iutN.dpuf

Week 4 Bikini Series!

Yay Week 4 Bikini Series is here already! I know I am definitely feeling more energy even though I have had a few slip ups on food, I haven't missed a workout yet! :)

Monday 5/19/14- Abs & Arms! 

• Cardio- 2 miles anyway you choose, add those miles to 100 by summer! 
• Toning- Bikini Arms! Click HERE AND bikini abs! Click HERE

Tuesday 5/20/14-  Total Body and Bootie! 

• Cardio- 30 Minutes of Cardio any way you choose- they recommend the spring into summer cardio routing- click HERE 
• Toning-  New Bikini Body 2 comes out today! Click HERE Also do Bikini Booty- Click HERE 

Wednesday 5/21/14- Cardio & Yoga!

• Cardio-  You pick your own cardio routine! Here are some to choose from :) Click HERE
• Toning- Yoga routine- Click HERE

Thursday 5/22/14- Abs and Arms!

• Cardio- 45 minutes of cardio- they suggest the bikini routine found HERE 
• Toning-  I don't have the beach babe dvd so I will do love your body abs and arms- click HERE and Bikini Arms- Click HERE

Friday 5/23/14- Suns out, buns out!

• Cardio- 2 mile run! You've got this! Work towards 100 by summer! :) 
• Toning- Kettlebell routine- Click HERE Don't have kettle bells? You can easily use hand weights! :) Also add this thigh routine to the end of your workout! Click HERE

Saturday 5/24/14- Run 

• Stretching routine! Click HERE

Sunday 5/25/14- Cardio

• 5 miles! WOOO! 

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE WORKSHEET! 

- See more at: http://thehealthypinner.blogspot.com/#sthash.V8AuNbet.dpuf

Bikini Series Week 3

Week three of the bikini series starts tomorrow (Monday, May 12th)! There are only 6 weeks until summer :)

Monday 5/12/14- Cardio &Full Body  

• Cardio- 3 miles, any way you choose! Just remember if you are biking 3 miles, you divide by 3. So to get 3 miles on the bike you do 9 miles :) 
• Toning- Bikini Body Workout Click HERE 
• Sunset Challenge- Develop a mantra for the week and use it when you wake up, during your workouts and anytime you need a boost. They suggest "I am strong," "I will not get up" "I'm a gorgeous bombshell who can accomplish anything!"

Tuesday 5/13/14- Abs & Arms

• Cardio- Wake up and run for 2 miles, make sure you count those miles towards your 100 by summer!
• Toning- New bikini arms workout comes out today! Click HERE
• Abs- The best ab workout Click HERE 
• Sunset Challenge- 20 squats every chance you get, for example every time you go to the ladies room 

Wednesday 5/14/14- Cardio & Booty

• Cardio- Making waves cardio click HERE  - count those miles towards your 100 by summer!
• Toning- Bikini booty- click HERE 
• Sunset Challenge- Get creative and tap into your artistic side, this will create a great tress relief :)

Thursday 5/15/14- Full body and abs 

• Cardio- Wake up and squeeze in 2 miles! Count them towards your 100 by summer!
• Toning-  Under the sea workout Click HERE and 3 rounds of abs click HERE
• Sunset Challenge- Do something to encourage and inspire those around you 

Friday 5/16/14- Cardio & Yoga 

• Cardio- Go for a bike ride with the biker babe cardio routine- click HERE 
• Toning- Love your body with yoga, click HERE 
• Sunset Challenge- Reward yourself with something that will make you smile! 

Saturday 5/17/14- Run 

• Run and bring a friend along Click HERE 

Sunday 5/18/14- Cardio

• Bikini body video click HERE  

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE WORKSHEET! 

- See more at: http://thehealthypinner.blogspot.com/#sthash.b27lJnmr.dpuf

Bikini Series Week 2

Last week started the Tone It Up #bikiniseries! For those of you who don't know what it is you should check out the toneitup website by clicking here :)

In short, it is basically a workout challenge from now (started April 28th) until the first day of summer to get ready for those bikini bodies :) I thought this would be perfect timing to give myself some confidence when I start trying on wedding dresses (EEEEEEEP)!!!

The website is sometimes confusing so I decided to start laying out the upcoming week on here as soon as they list the workouts on their website. I encourage all of my friends to do this with me! The workouts are fun, totally do-able, most of them don't require a gym, and you'll feel great afterwards!

Each day there is usually a toning and cardio routine so I am going to split each day into those categories

Monday 5/5/14- Cardio &Abs (Cinco de Mayo!)

• Cardio- Excited for Spring Cardio- 30 minutes (don't forget to add your miles to your 100 miles by summer!)
• Toning- The Best Ab Routine- 15 reps of each move- repeat entire routine 3 times
• Sunset Challenge- celebrate Cinco de Mayo with friends! Check out their selected recipes and remember if you're at a restaurant, skip the chips and drink water with each margarita! :) 

Tuesday 5/6/14- Booty & Fat Burn 

• Cardio- HIIT- either HIIT the beach 2 from the Beachbabe2 DVD or the love your body with HIIT Every 10 minutes of HIIT counts as 1 mile towards your 100 by summer! 

• Toning- New booty workout comes out today! Click here for the workout :)
  
• Sunset Challenge- Yoga inspired stretching 

Wednesday 5/7/14- Cardio & Surfers Paradise 

• Cardio- Bikini Cardio - count those miles towards your 100 by summer!
• Toning- Surfer's Paradise Routine 
• Sunset Challenge- Visualize your goals- take 5-10 minutes thinking about your goals and picturing yourself achieving them! Why are you doing this challenge? Why is it worth it? 

Thursday 5/8/14- Running & Toning 

• Cardio- Wake up and squeeze in 2 miles! Count them towards your 100 by summer!
• Toning-  Inner thighs and waistline with Kettlebells
  OR New Bikini Series Toning Workout (Check back for link)
• Sunset Challenge- Stop, drop, and make a list! What are you grateful for? 

Friday 5/9/14- Running & Toning 

• Cardio- Spring into summer cardio (35 minutes) Count your miles towards your 100 by summer!
• Toning- Ab workout playlist
• Sunset Challenge- Take the opportunity this weekend to do something outside of your comfort zone! 

Saturday 5/10/14- Yoga

• Beach yoga with Karena 

Sunday 5/11/14- Running 

• Run a 5k and count your miles towards 100 by summer!
• Check back here for next weeks schedules :) 

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE WORKSHEET! 

Simple Skinny Chicken and Asparagus Stir Fry

Clean eating? Yeah me too. BUT it doesn't have to be lettuce and vegetables every night! This is simple and SO good! And only 162 calories PER serving! It makes 4 servings and it is very filling :) If you are not clean eating you could put this over brown rice and make an even heartier meal!


Don't like asparagus? Try this with green beans instead! :)



Ingredients:

• 1 pound skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium shoyu or soy sauce (or Tamari for GF)
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tbsp canola or grapeseed oil, divided
• 1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces (or green beans)
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• fresh black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Cut up asparagus bundle into about 2 inch pieces. 
2. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat, when hot add 1 teaspoon of the oil. 
3. Add the asparagus and cook until tender-crisp, about 3 to 4 minutes. 
4. While asparagus is cooking, cut up chicken into chunks and lightly season with salt and set aside
5. Add the garlic and ginger to asparagus and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Set aside in a bowl. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Increase the heat to high, add 1 tsp of oil and add chicken. 
7. While Chicken is cooking,  In a small bowl, combine chicken broth and soy sauce. In a second small bowl combine the cornstarch and water and mix well to combine.
8. Cook chicken until brown and cooked though on each side (about 4 minutes each side on high heat). Set aside with asparagus in small bowl.
9. Remove pan from heat and cool down. Add soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Cook for about a minute. 
10. Add lemon juice and corn starch mixture stirring frequently. 
11. When simmering, add asparagus and chicken mixture and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cool, and enjoy! 

Nutrition 

Recipe name

Number of servings

Serves  people

Total:	Calories 646	Carbs 13	Fat 17	Protein 149
Per Serving:	162	3	4	37

Skinny Enchilada Bake

Clearly I am on a melted cheese, comfort food, kick... but it's the winter and it's been -35 all the way to -50 here so I can have comfort food when I want it right? Haha if only comfort food was as comforting to our weight as it is to our taste buds ;) This dish gives you comfort AND is still on the healthy side. I used whole wheat tortillas but you can use whatever kind of tortillas you enjoy most (fiber, spinach, tomato basil, etc). This definitely has a kick to it so if you don't like spicy then you can substitute the enchilada sauce for tomato sauce or marinara. There is also wiggle room with the ingredients, you could add less cheese depending on your preference and less enchilada sauce. We really like enchilada sauce so we went with the full two cans but I think next time we could do a can and a half and it would taste the same and cut down on the nutrition!

Prep time: 15 minutes (including cooking and shredding the chicken)
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 1 pound shredded cooked chicken (I cooked mine in a pan and shredded right before, but you could buy already shredded chicken) 
• 1 can corn (no salt added), drained 
• 1 can (15.5oz) black beans (low sodium), rinsed and drained 
• 1 1/2 cups fat free Mexican cheese (or cheese of your preference) 
• 6 whole wheat tortillas 
• 2 10oz cans mild red enchilada sauce 
• Optional: sour cream for topping 
• Optional: rice for side 

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350 
• Heat a pan on medium heat and cook boneless skinless chicken breasts 
• After pink is gone from center of chicken, shred chicken with two forks (if you bought shredded chicken, skip this part) 
• Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray 
• Lay two tortillas on the bottom of the pan (overlapping is fine and preferred)
• In a bowl mix shredded chicken, 1 can corn, 1 can black beans, and 1 can enchilada sauce (leave other can of enchilada sauce to the side for now) 
• Layer half of chicken mix on top of the tortillas 
• Sprinkle on a 1/2 cup of cheese 
• Lay down two more tortillas 
• Lay down the rest of your chicken mix 
• Sprinkle on 1/2 cup of cheese 
• Lay down last 2 tortillas 
• Pour on the last can of enchilada sauce 
• Cover with foil 
• Bake for 20 minutes 
• Take foil off, add 1/2 cup of cheese and bake for another 10 minutes 
• Cool and serve! 

                                     
                                                                           
 

Quick and Easy Bruschetta

One of our favorite restaurants in North Liberty, Iowa has the BEST bruschetta. Kyle and I always crave it and are tempted to make the 4.5 hour drive there from Minnesota just for the appetizer (don't worry, we haven't gotten to that point....yet). We have however found a recipe for at home! We made it as simple as possible. 

 

Ingredients: 

• 1 loaf of wheat french baguette (or french roll)
• 1 can of petite diced tomatoes with garlic, onion, and basil (no salt added), OR 1 container of Pico de Gallo  (your favorite flavor) 
• Balsamic Vinegar 
• Mozzarella Cheese 
• Parmesan Cheese (I bought the fresh Parmesan that comes in a round container, we call it the fancy Parmesan, haha) 

Directions: 

• Heat oven to BROIL 
• Slice bread about the width of your pinky 
• Place bread on a greased baking sheet 
• Heat bread until it is just starting to brown (about 2 minutes depending on your oven) 
• Drain pico de gallo or tomatoes (depending on which you use) so that you only have the tomato chunks and no extra juice (it will make your bread soggy otherwise)
• Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on bread, lay on tomatoes, sprinkle parmesan 
• Cook for about 3-5 minutes (you want the edges to just start turning) 
• Drizzle on balsamic vinegar 
• Voila! 

Optional: add garlic and onions, olives, etc, all to your preference :) 

Simple Skillet Lasagna With Healthy Substitutions

Sometimes you just need a dish with ooey gooey cheese and pasta! Well we made some healthy modifications to this dish and it was great! Kyle and I had a fun time making this together and we had plenty of leftovers! Will definitely be on our list to make again! :) 

Serves: 6-8 hearty servings 

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped (we left this out due to the picky eater...)
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• salt and pepper to taste 
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes (for more of a kick use anywhere from 1 to 1 1/2)
• 1lb lean ground turkey (93/7)
• 8 wheat lasagna noodles, broken
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce (no salt added) 
• 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (no salt added) 
• ⅓ cup water
• 6 oz part skim mozzarella cheese (we bought the tube, pre-sliced)
• 1 1/2 cups fat free cottage cheese
• optional: Parmesan cheese for topping 

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. If using onion, add in the chopped onion and cook until translucent (4-5 minutes). Stir in the garlic and ½ tsp salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
2. Add in the turkey and brown
3. Layer the lasagna noodles over the turkey and pour the tomato sauces and water over the pasta.  You can stir your sauces on top at this point so all of the tomatoes aren't in one spot. Cover and bring the dish to a simmer, then lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until the pasta is done. Season the lasagna well with more salt and pepper to taste.
4. Take the lasagna off the heat and ROUGHLY stir in the cottage cheese, breaking up your noodles at this point. Top with big chunks of mozzarella and let sit covered for 5 minutes or until cheese it melted.
5. If desired, top with Parmesan and basil.

<-- before the cheese melted! :) Yummmy 

Have a happy, healthy, positive, active, day! :) 

Guilt Free Chicken Parmigiana Slow Cooker

I saw this recipe on pinterest a while ago and always forget to make it! BUT since Kyle and I are planning our meals weekly, it makes it easy for me to plan in new recipes and make sure I have the ingredients without spending 150 dollars every time we go to the store (which was the case before). Soon, I will make an entry on how weekly meal planning is working for us, maybe after we have been doing it for about a month :). ANYWAY, back to the meal! Let's be honest, who doesn't love chicken, gooey cheese, tomato sauce, AND a simple recipe? I know I was ALL over it! It was as good as it sounds, easy, and loaded with flavor! Next time though I will add the onions only to my dish because they were too much for kyle (big baby) :)

Ingredients: 

• 29 ounces canned tomato sauce
• 14.5 ounces canned petite diced tomatoes (no salt added) 
• 12 ounces canned tomato paste (no salt added)
• 2 cups sweet yellow onion, finely diced (or any onion you choose)
• 1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped (about 2 cloves)
• ½ teaspoon dried parsley leaves
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 2 bay leaves 
• 4 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped (about 6 leaves)

• 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I am putting mine in frozen, you could do thawed)
• sliced or shredded mozzarella cheese
• grated Parmesan cheese
• optional: rolls or buns 

Directions: 

• Start the slow cooker on low heat. Either spray with cooking spray or use liner to avoid a messy crock pot cleaning process. 
• Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste and stir until combined.
• 
• Add onions, garlic, stir.
• 
• Add parsley, oregano, bay leaves, basil and stir.
• 
• Set chicken breast on top of the sauce, sprinkle generously with salt/pepper, cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours. 
• 
• Shred the chicken using 2 forks after it has cooked for 6-8 hours 
• 
• Top with your favorite cheese, serve on buns, or as a main dish and serve with a side salad! :)

Over a salad
Or as a sandwich :)