Can't. Get. Up.

Some days doing anything at all feels like I'm moving Mt. Everest. Playing host is an exhausting role and I will forever appreciate the tole it takes. I have been running from work to sightseeing spot back to work and then to family dinner...it sounds lovely, but don't forget, in Paris, this is all on foot. Go figure why I can't muster up the energy for a workout. Today was a good eating day though - it's so much easier to stay strong when you're eating food from home, no restaurant temptations to lure me away from the goal today! I was planning on rewarding myself with a proper at home pedicure but now, at 10:30pm, I can barely keep my eyes open. So here's the deal for today...

Eating sans regret:

Breakfast - Kellogg's All Bran 

Morning Snack - Tone It Up protein bar (the best fill-you-up-on-the-go snack ever!)

Lunch - homemade veggie soup, veggie omelet filled with spinach, bell peppers and mushrooms, 3/4 cup fat free plain yogurt with strawberries and 1tbsp chocolate chips

Dinner - caprese salad (tomatoes, mozzarella and basil), 2 slices smoked salmon and the same yogurt mixture from lunch

Fitness:

Okay, I'm still slacking. But what did I say? I'm exhausted!

- Teeny Bikini

Its Been Rough

It seems that I each morning I start off strong, have a good breakfast, proper snack...but somehow (once I meet up with family, of course) all my hard efforts go into the bin. Yesterday for example, I started off with some foam roller exercises - if you don't own one, you are seriously missing out - and topped it off with a delish bowl of oatmeal. Lunch was easy - I met with my (and In-Betweeni's) aunt for lunch. She is following the Dukan diet and has succeeded tremendously. Though I'm not a huge dieting fan (I know you can tell), eating with my aunt keeps me safely away from the junk food! I munched on a fantastic Thai chicken salad and yogurt with raspberries. But then....ice cream, authentic Italian pizza, wine...I fell into the blackhole of no return!

I started thinking this morning, we started Bonding Over Bikinis as a means to help each other stay motivated and be held accountable toward reaching our goals and I am doing far from that. How is my relentless, undeserved indulgence helping motivate my family? I need to start making a change. Pronto. I did so good for quite some time but with work and school and now visitors, everything I had accomplished has fallen by the wayside. Eating right is in fact not the hardest part of this adventure for me. I can whip up some delish and healthy goodies in no time, it's finding the time to work out - just like everyone else, right? But if I'm going to help my sis get prepared for her bikini, or shall I say prom, body, I better get my act together! Cause she's kickin' my butt right now!

So....the new plan? It's difficult now to start strong as my time is so thinly divided, but I am going to try my absolute best. A rockin', confident bikini body is a girl's dream!

- Teeny Bikini

Hello There Gorgeous

Is it possible, really, to have total self-control? You're thinking, but of course. I'm thinking, no. I think its actually impossible. Yesterday I gave in whole-heartedly and indulged while whole-heartedly full of guilt. I started off the day quite well, but as I got left alone to play tour guide, my passion for the (edible) delights of Paris took over. How could I not share them with our guests? We strolled through the 7th arrondissement, past Musée D'Orsay and through the winding streets of the Latin Quarter and Saint-Michel and landed, by absolute chance of course, at the best Greek gyro shop in all of Paris. Was I supposed to walk by without encouraging them to taste the staple meal of so many Sorbonne students? No way. I stayed remotely good, just picking at a few french fries while everyone else dug straight in to heaping sandwiches of greasy goodness. I stayed strong. Then we meandered over to the Tuileries - the massive gardens in front of the Louvre - and settled comfortably on a bench with a bottle of white wine and comté cheese. I could have been stronger. I didn't need quite so many pieces of cheese or that 3rd glass of wine...but it was so Parisian of me. Next stop: patisserie. Seriously, though? To deprive my guest of the perfect held within a French pastry is actually criminal. They're gorgeous. And you can never buy just one. That's just wrong. 

Tuesday's exhibition of anti-self control:
Breakfast - oatmeal with Trader Joe's vanilla protein powder, Red Mill flaxseed, 1/4 tbsp raw sugar, banana
Morning Snack - Tone It Up protein bar
Lunch - homemade asian salad (recipe below) and handful of french fries
Afternoon Snack - 3 glasses of white wine and a handful of compté
Dinner - 2 glasses of red wine (France is making me look like a drunk), eggplant ratatouille from Tankini, eggplant pesto parmesan, green salad, hand-sized piece of baguette, 3 slices of Tomme de Savoie cheese, 1/2 millefeuille (traditional pastry) and 1/2 strawberry tart.
Post Dinner Snack - 1 glass of white wine at O Chateau 

Exercise:

Does walking for hours around Paris count?

- Teeny Bikini

Those Darn Croissants!

Yeah...I was not so good today as I hoped, but hey! I was proud of myself for getting up in front of school and performing in front of them all that I just had to treat myself! So...I gave in and had a coffee and almond croissant with my lovely friend. Then to make matters worse, dinner wasn't much better, and exercise...yeah..

Brekkie

1/2 c. Oatmeal w/ blackberries

Green Drink

Snack

1/3 c. Almonds

Blueberry Yogurt

Lunch

Peanut butter & Jelly

Orange

Dinner

2 Slices of pizza...

Exercise

Uhm...none for today.

Not one of my best days,

In-Betweeni

Oh boy here we go...

Oh jeez, sadly this insane craving for amazingly tasty (but not at all good for you) food particles digesting in our tummy's runs in the family...but hey hey i'd like to see you try and go without a croissant or better yet a godly piece of wonder: CHOCOLATE. It's definitely difficult having to sit at Starbucks every day after school because I get picked up late and oh, what do I see sitting ever so lovely behind a glass frame? Food! But, I am proud to say that I somehow remain seated for an hour until I leave hell. I've also been eating slightly better and actually exercising. Whoo way to go me! So now it's goodbye nourriture and hello healthy protein drinks, cardboard food, and gym!

Wednesday:

Brekkie:

1 scoop of Green Healthy Drink (Yum Yum, Healthy Healthy...)

1/2 c. Oatmeal w/ Blackberries

Brunch:

Pumpkin Spice Bar

Lunch:

Classic Peanut Butter & Jelly

Green Apple

Home Snack:

Spiru-tein high protein powder (some good protein drink according to papa's lady. Hmmm...) 

Din Din:
Half of a burrito 

Work Out Time:

20 minutes of jogging

10 Reps of Seated Row x 4

7 Chest Press x 3

10 Reps of working out triceps x 4

10 Reps of working the obliques x 8

10 Reps of Crunches x 5

30 Seconds of plank on all three sides

Pshhh Teeny, and you thought I had no self control...sheesh.

- In-Betweeni

Can't Live With 'Em, Can't Live Without 'Em

As I have previously professed, I am a lover of food and family. The past six months in France have highlighted the turbulent love affair I have with food, the love/hate/love/hate more passion. I have just started to "normalize" my eating habits (aka: taking a different route home as to avoid the delicious smell of fresh baked bread from the boulangerie) but am no doubt about to take a turn in the wrong direction. My boyfriend's parents are here to visit for a month and will no doubt want to indulge in the delicacies of the city - how do I just sit and watch? In the 5 hours his father has been in this town, I have completely let go of all my self-control (as if I had any to begin with). But family is family and you've got to do what makes them happy, right? Even if it means a few buttered pastries....

Tuesday's business:


Fitness:
Because of some strange back sprain, I only could do arm work laying down (weird, right?)
20 minutes of: skull crushers (tricep work laying down), fly (on the floor and on the edge of the bed for ab control) and foam roller toe touches.


Food:
Breakfast - raspberry, banana, pineapple smoothie
Morning Snack - Tone It Up protein bar
Lunch - salmon and 1 cup white rice
Dinner - eggplant ratatouille (delish recipe from Tankini), grilled chicken breast
Evening Snack - 1 bowl Kellogg's All Bran cereal


Today's total derailment:


Fitness:
Hasn't happened yet but planning on doing this Tone It Up Itty Bitty Bikini workout


The trouble maker:
Breakfast - Activia mango yogurt
Breakfast 2 - hot cocoa, buttered croissant
Lunch - went to one of my favorite cafés in Paris, Café La Fusée, and devoured veggie soup, half a tartine (bread with melted cheese and chives), green salad, 1/2 mozzarella, tomato and basil sandwich, 1 slice baguette and a handful of finely sliced salami.
Afternoon Snack (because for some reason I felt compelled to keep eating...) - a few pieces of white cheddar cheese, camembert, Tone It Up protein bar.
Dinner - grilled chicken breast, leftover ratatouille
Evening Snack - Activia mango yogurt, kiwi

Wish me luck in (trying really hard) keeping it together!

- Teeny Bikini

First Check-In

Saturday was when all this feel-good motivation came blaring out of me like some frat party on college game day. The sun was shining and I had just signed up for a women's only beginners running group through Bois de Boulogne. I have "run" all of 5 times in my life but as gyms in Paris are outrageously expensive, nothing sounds better than "cheap fitness." Waking up a bit too late - the group takes off at 8am! - I missed the group but decided I better just jog it alone since I was already there. After 50 minutes of jogging (a record first, might I add!) I was feeling on top of the world. The day continued on equally fantastic as I indulged in the first truly warm day of the season.

Just workin' on my fitness:

50 minutes of jogging

40 lunges

30 second plank x 2

20 push ups x 2

20 tricep dips x 2

And food, too:

Breakfast: raspberry, pineapple, banana smoothie

Post-workout: Tone It Up peanut butter banana protein smoothie

Lunch: quiche and green salad

Afternoon snack: 2 glasses of red wine (okay, okay, I know...) and 1 scoop pumpkin spice ice cream (ugh, I LOVE food ok?)

Dinner: homemade vegetable soup and Activia Kiwi yogurt

Today wasn't quite so successful....

Fergalicious fitness:

zero.

The eats:

Breakfast: oatmeal with flaxseed and raisins

Lunch: tabouli and tomato basil soup

Snack: Tone It Up protein bars and 3 oz. mocha

Snack 2: baguette

Dinner: 3 oz. grilled beef, 1.5 cups potatoes, Activia yogurt

- Teeny Bikini

The Start of Something New

The first post always starts off a bit rough, right? Good. I'm Teeny Bikini and I've got a confession to make - I am in love with my family and (equally?) in love with food. Thousands of miles away from my mom, sisters and brothers, I often find myself drowning my sorrows in one of Paris's many patisseries. The chocolate cake or eclair usually does the trick....until, it doesn't. And remorse sets in. And it ends even worse than it started. Which brings me to my point, why I am here. Together with my fantastic, hold-it-all-together mother and creative, free-flowing sis, I'm here to share my successes (and foreseen slip-ups) in the adventure to living a healthier, happier life. So following along for good fun we share each step of the way!

- Teeny Bikini