Mustache Wednesday IV

A perfect gift for any groom...

Aren't these awesome?! I think cuff links should be worn more often, and these would be a perfect addition to anyone's link collection.

Happy Mustache Wednesday!

Let's Do This

Day 15 - 2nd Fit Test & Progress Report

Day 15 -

Quarter of the way through! Woo-hoo!

Yesterday I took my 2nd Insanity Fit Test, as well as measurements, pictures, etc.

Let's take a look at the Fit Test progress I've made in two weeks:



Not too shabby! I think half the battle on the first Fit Test is just not knowing what you're doing. The real challenge will be on Day 30. Then we'll see if I've made true progress.

So far my weight hasn't dropped as much as I've wanted it to. I've been teetering right around the 190 mark which is still really heavy for my frame. However I've definitely felt a difference in how my pants fit! Even though I'm not shedding lbs like Ghandi I'm still losing inches which means I'm probably also gaining my muscle back. In two weeks here is my progress report:

Lost 6 inches in my waist and about 5 solid lbs (not water weight)

Hope your battle is going as well, or better, than mine!

ASU Rugby

Rugby season starts this week! I'm so excited to be back on the pitch coaching a great group of girls. If you've never heard of rugby then you should most definitely Google it. In my opinion it is one of the greatest sports ever created. It will finally be in the Olympics in 2016! Here's to a great season!

Happy Friday Everyone!

*This poster was created by our good friend and alumni Ashley George. Check out her website - she does amazing work!

Mustache Wednesday III

Mustaches aren't just for your face!

May I introduce you to:

     &

Now your fancy whips can also ride in style with their very own staches! Choose from a variety of different colors to match your vehicle's mood. Great for tailgating!

I know, these are a little silly and perhaps over the top but I'm sure you can think of someone that needs one of these for Christmas :-{] 

 

Northern AZ Wine Tour

This past weekend I went with my cousin on a Northern Arizona Wine Tour. We were pleasantly surprised at the number of excellent wineries in this area. My only regret is we ran out of time once we hit Jerome! We're already planning our next visit North so we can share these wonderful places with the rest of our friends and family.

If you live in Arizona, or are visiting and need an activity for a day, I would highly recommend this tour! There are two important steps before you begin 1) Find a DD! And 2) visit Arizona Vines and Wines website to get a comprehensive map of wineries. They also list a few of the wineries that are in Southern Arizona.

We left Phoenix at 10am and we were at our first winery, Page Springs Cellars  by 11:30am. Our plan was to stay in Prescott for the night so we started with 3 wineries just East of Cottonwood/Jerome and made our way West until they closed the last shop.

We visited:

• Page Spring Cellars
• Oak Creek Vineyards
• Javelina Leap Vineyards
• Pillsbury Wine Company
• Arizona Stronghold
• Caduceus Cellars
• Jerome Winery (planned to visit but missed closing by 10 min)

Flight of Wine at Caduceus

  



Oak Creek Vineyards

 



Fruit and Cheese Platter

  



Pillsbury Wine Company





Merkin Vineyard Wine





Caduceus Cellars





Arizona Stronghold

 




Oak Creek Vineyard





Vino Tartare



 

All the wineries we went to had fantastic staff and great wine! We agreed that our favorite place was Page Spring Cellars. We had the combo flight there (both reds & whites) and all of them were so smooth. I'll admit that we're not wine connoisseurs of any sort but after visiting 6 wineries we just couldn't find anything as good as our first stop.

A few tips if you go on this tour:

- Start early. If your goal is to hit as many places as possible then be sure to be up there by about 11am. All the wineries we visited opened at 11am.

- Bring water! We went on one of the hottest days of the year. While almost all of the wineries had water we still couldn't get enough in between tastings

- Stick to the wine map. Some of the wineries up there don't have actual tasting rooms. All of the ones on the wine map are open to the public

- Ask questions about wines that aren't included in your flight. We ended up with a few extra tastings because the sommelier wanted to show off a different label

- Check out a vineyard tour at least once. Learning about how they make the wine is extremely interesting!

- Bring snacks! The wine and cheese platter in the pictures was something I put together and brought with us. We asked the winery if we could enjoy our own foods and they said "absolutely!". Our platter was much bigger than anything they serve there, and definitely a lot cheaper.

- Realize each winery has a tasting fee - we spent $5-$10 at each location. That will get you an average of 5 tastings at each place, and usually they'll give you a souvenir wine glass

- Have fun! Don't take yourselves too seriously. After all they're just grapes!

Easy Healthy Yogurt Pops

These are by far the easiest (and healthiest) Popsicles to make. If you're on a diet, or just trying to eat better, these pops are a fantastic way to curb your sweet tooth!

Ingredients:

Plain greek yogurt

1/2 cup Blueberries

1 Kiwi
 Honey (optional)

• Mix fruit, yogurt, and honey into a bowl
• Transfer mixture to your Popsicle maker
• Be sure to pack yogurt in tightly or it leaves gaps in your pop
• Place in freezer for approximately 2 hours
• Enjoy!

I used honey in my pops because the plain greek yogurt is too tart for me. You could also use artificial sweetener, other flavored greek yogurt, or perhaps more fruit to make it sweeter.

If you don't have a popsicle maker you could put the mixture into smaller tupperware containers so they're ready to be on-the-go!

Hope you enjoy!



Sabotage

Just when I start doing really well I always find a way to muck it up! I slow down all my progress thanks to the 3 dreaded "E's" - Excuses, Exceptions, Errors.

This weekend was my cousin's birthday so, being the fun-spirit person that I am, we decide to go wine tasting and have a fun Saturday night out at the bars. Obviously I was already doomed as soon as this thought popped in to my head.

 Drinking + dumb eating habits + lack of sleep + no exercise = ruined progress.

I realize I have no one to blame but my self, but I was still disheartened when I weighed myself this morning and saw the "damage". I've been keeping a graph to monitor my weight and this snapshot really explains it all:

That small dip shows my rapid progress, and the sharp incline shows my rapid stupidity.
WHY do I do this to myself?!

My only saving grace is I'm still at the beginning of my journey so I just need to kick it back into gear. Today I'm back on the right foot and moving forward full-steam ahead!



Jalapeno Jelly Time

One hot Summer night, as I was wondering down the aisle at the super market, a box of Ball Fruit Pectin caught my eye. Being the A.D.D. child that I am, I fore go my nicely printed shopping list and decided to take a gander at the recipes on the back of the box. Mind you I have never done canning before so this isn't a normal everyday activity for me. I've pinned about 50 different recipes on my Pinterest board in hopes that one day I'd have the time (and patience) to make such an old timey creation, but I never thought it would take place on this random Friday night.

Now of all the recipes that are out there which one would you expect a person to choose? Strawberry jelly? Raspberry preserves? Cherry jam? If you've already read the title of this blog then I'm sure you've guessed the correct answer - JALAPENO JELLY. What sane being voluntarily picks such a recipe you might ask? Sanity is not one of my strong suits. It sounded different! It sounded easy! On some cheese and crackers it sounded delicious! So off I went to buy my supplies, and join the millions of domestic goddesses that have mastered the art of canning.

If you're new to canning as well then I'll share some of my pictures with you. It truly wasn't as hard as one might think. I'd give the intimidation factor about a 4. The 2 areas I struggled were: 1) Chopping 12 jalapeno peppers, I recommend gloves; and 2) knowing when the jars were done in the water bath. Since I didn't have an actual "canner" I used a large pot with a towel at the bottom to keep the jars from touching the heat source.





Ball Canning Jars



Canning Supplies. 12 jalapenos. Cilantro. Apple Cider Vinegar.



Dicing the peppers (use gloves!)



Ball Fruit Pectin   

Towel and boiling pot 

   

Jalapeno Puree

Food Coloring for effect

Ladeling into jars  

Leaving head room

         8 jars full    

Pulling the cans out of the water bath

   

Finished Product - so pretty!



I read in the instructions that the jelly can take up to 2 weeks to gel so I haven't had a chance to try an absolute finished product. I put a jar in the fridge to speed up the process but it still a little soupy. My first reaction to this recipe is VINEGARY. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, it was just the first thing I noticed. I'm really pumped to try this out once it has completely gelled. I think I'll put it over some cream cheese and serve with Triscuits!


Ball Jalapeno Jelly Recipe:

Taking it day by day

I believe that how you feel is very important to how you look - that healthy equals beautiful. 

-Victoria Principal

4 Days Down, 56 More to Go

Insanity - Day 4

It may seem like a small milestone but I've made it to Day 4 - woohoo! I may be a little crazy (or insane) but so far I've really enjoyed the program.

Pros:
- The workouts are tough but short
- I haven't had to give up all my carbs
- My body already feels less bloated/sluggish

Cons:
- Terrible headache yesterday which I think is from the lack of caffeine
- My toes hurt from all the jumps and push-up position exercises

Biggest Challenge:
I had a meeting last night at one of my favorite local restaurants - Four Peaks Brewery. While everyone was enjoying their Arizona Chicken Egg Rolls, Beer Bread, and Kiltlifter, I had about 5 glasses of water and a nice grilled chicken salad. Man, that was a tough one but I felt pretty proud for staying strong. Obvi this is only Day 4 so I still have my resolve - lets see if I can do the same on day 44!

PROGRESS CHART - so far I've lost 3.8 lbs!

MOTIVATION

Mustache Wednesday II

Welcome to the 2nd edition of Mustache Wednesday! View Mustache Wednesday I here.

Today's mustache product is for the dogs (literally). I give you HUMUNGA STACHE by our friends at Moody Pet.

This toy creates an amusing doggy stash when your pet has it set firmly between their teeth. There is nothing more entertaining then seeing your favorite pooch with a fantastic handlebar mustache. I don't think this would ever get old to me.

 

Be sure to head over to Moody Pet to view some of their other fantastic pooch products including the Humunga Lips and the Humunga Tongue! 



Spotlight - Girls Who Like Beer

"A light hearted website fueled by beer"

This week I'd like to highlight a website who's theme is near and dear to my heart - Girls who like beer! While dinking around on my Pinterest page I was redirected to this website where they had all kinds of fun posts about beer (be still my heart). I only wish I lived in the Los Angeles area so I could try out some of the breweries they list on their site.

My favorite part - the "about" page:

"Girls Who Like Beer isn’t just about beer. (Say what?!)

Beer, margaritas, happy hour, incredible eats, and Los Angeles – because girls who like beer do it different. We can ditch the heals and lipstick, kick back with the boys, and still get through Los Angeles like a pro."

Simply fantastic. Clean, fun website - well done ladies!

1st Fit Test

Woo! First Fit Test done! I thought it was going to be a bit of a cop-out to only do the fit test today but I was exhausted after only 35min. Here are my results:

SWITCH KICKS - 55
POWER JACYK - 47
POWER KNEES - 75
POWER JUMPS - 30
GLOBE JUMPS - 8
SUICIDE JUMPS - 13
PUSH-UP JACKS - 14
LOW PLANK OBLIQUE - 30

Not great but I kept going for the majority of the time. The woman on the fit test put me to shame. I think she is bionic.

Here's to improvement!

Quick & Healthy Chicken Ranch Wraps

Quick & Healthy Chicken Ranch Wraps

3 oz - Shredded Chicken

1 Tortilla/Wrap/Pita

1 tsp Light Ranch

Cucumber

Red Onion

Bell Pepper

Add chicken, ranch, and veggies into a bowl.
Mix together so that ranch coats the chicken and veggies.
Place mixture into tortilla, pita or wrap

Enjoy!

*Nutrition information per myfitnesspal.com*

Day 1 - Road to Insanity

Ok here we go - 60 days. Just 1,440 measly hours. Only 86,400 short minutes. It's ON like Donkey Kong.

My goal end date is 10/11/12. Goal weight loss - 35lbs or 12% body fat.

The hardest part for me has always been the mental game. I make excuses, accept exceptions, bend the rules, and justify my poor outcomes. Not this time! I've asked everyone close to me to keep my accountable for my goals. Hopefully you will too!

Stay tuned for updates on my journey :) If you're taking on a similar challenge let me know so we can suffer through this together!

If you've joined MyFitnessPal.com and you'd like to follow my progress please "friend" me here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/KateDelisa

California Dreaming

Such a great weekend in SoCal! Amazing weather, fantastic friends, and beautiful views. It was so nice to have a relaxing weekend before the "Insanity" starts.





                                 

Diet Starts Monday!