hey Everyone! Don’t reply to this post! Cas made a new forum AND blog for us!!! I posted Spring Booty Camp Day Nine over there. Check it out!! This is the BLOG

THIS is the FORUM!!

See ya there!

Happy MONDAY Everyone! We have one week behind us and three weeks ahead! Today, I want EVERYONE to workout! Do YOUR workout, whatever it is. You know the drill: Strengthening exercises, 25 minimum of cardio (aerobics) and some stretches.

Your meals should be evenly spaced apart. Why? So that you’re not ravenous by the end of the day. You should eat in “descending” order. Your largest meal at the beginning of the day to give you energy and allow you to burn off the calories as you go about your day to day activities.  Ideally, fresh fruit to begin with, so that your empty stomach can use and absorb all the nutrients. The next meal should have a bit of protein and a bit of whole grains, for sustained energy.  Cutting up fresh fruit the night before helps: That way it’s ready to go when you wake up. If you can make all of your “take along” food the night before, you have a better chance of sticking with your plan. Pre-pack raw nuts and dried fruits in small plastic containers or Ziploc bags.  Make your breakfast the night before, so all you have to do is re-heat it or unwrap it. Pack your lunch before going to bed.

Water, water and more water! Make a big thermos full of green tea and bring it along with you. Not a fan of tea? Don’t force yourself to drink it: Drink plain water instead. Try to cut out artificial sweeteners. Get your taste bus used to the natural flavors of foods. NO DIET SODAS! Quench your thirst with water!

Look at the first posts for Booty Camp for some menu suggestions.  Did anyone do the spa day yesterday? Check in with us! Holler back!

I want you all to rest today. Relax. This is NOT a “cheat day”. We’re not going to have any of those for the 30 Challenge. And, let’s face it, gang, I’ve been pretty loose with the food guidelines. Right?

Please, read through everything before you begin your spa day, to make sure you have everything ready.  Bathe or shower (this would be a nice day for a soak in the tub). Cleanse your face, wash your hair and apply your Phat Head Creamy Hot Oil, High On Coconut or Restorative Deep Conditioner. If you don’t any of these, add one beaten egg + 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to your daily conditioner and mix it together with a clean wire whisk: Pour the conditioner into a bowl, only as much as you’ll need for one treatment. If you have fine or limp hair, please omit the olive oil. Put a conditioning cap (thin shower cap). Wipe your face with toner and steam your pores, using some of your Pore Me Tres Bag or an opened bag of chamomile or peppermint tea. Click here for directions on facial steaming.(It’s at the bottom, with the Spa Ritual)

While your skin is still damp, apply one of my Pore Me masques (NOT the Pumpkin AHA one: We’ll be leaving the masque on for quite some time and that one is too strong to leave on for such a long period). If you don’t have one of my masques use:

• Plain yogurt + a squeeze of fresh lemon + egg yolk + honey (good for dry or mature skin)
• Ground oatmeal + honey + egg white + honey (general purpose)
• Small amount of baking soda + ground oatmeal + 1 crushed aspirin + egg white (oily acne prone).
  

Now, for your pedicure you will need The Good Foot Soak, The Good Foot Dead Sea Salt Scrub, The Good Foot Balm, Handy Job Cutie On Call Cuticle Butter, a basin large and deep enough for you to soak your feet in, a large bath towel, 2 small hand towels (1 damp), nail file, clippers, pumice stone, orange stick (to push cuticles back), nail polish remover (if needed) and a pair of cotton socks or flip flops.

If you don’t have the Good Foot products: ½ cup of Epsom salts, 1 orange , 1 lemon, about 1 tablespoon of olive oil, a rich hand/foot cream and a small plate.

If you’re using a Phat Head Deep Conditioning Treatment or plain olive oil as a hot oil treatment, heat up and put on your Phat Head Cordless Heat Cap. If you’re using egg yolks mixed in with your conditioner, wrap a head scarf/bandana around your head, tightly, then put on a winter cap (seriously) and then wrap a large towel around your head, tightly. This will be enough heat for the cuticles on the hair to open but not enough heat to start cooking the eggs.

Get any reading material you’re going to want, beverages, remote control, etc. Spread the large towel out on the floor. Remove your nail polish, clip your toes nails and file them (use the towel to catch the clippings, etc). Now, put your basin on top of the towel and fill it with very warm water. Add 1 tablespoon of The Good Foot Soak or your Epsom salts to the water. Peel the lemon and orange into fairly thick strips, place the strips into the water. Cut both lemon and orange in half and squeeze the juice into the water. Don’t discard them yet: Put them on the plate. Soak your feet. Chill. Relax. Be calm. Reflect.

After your foot soak, rub your heels with the halves of the lemon and then do the same with the orange. The naturally occurring alpha hydroxy acids will help loosen up the dead skin. If you used the Good Foot soak, you can skip this step, as it already has an alpha hydroxy acid (citric acid) in it.

Slough of the dead skin on your feet with the Good Foot scrub or your pumice stone. You can also use table sugar and a little olive oil. Swish your feet back in the foot bath to rinse off the dead skin, pat them dry with one of the hand towels and then wipe them with the damp hand towel. Give your feet a massage with your foot balm or cream. At this point, if you’re wearing a heat cap, take it off and let your hair cool down. Put some cuticle butter or olive oil on your cuticles and gently push them back with your orange stick. Put on your socks or flip flops.

If you used the heat cap and Phat Head Conditioner, rinse your hair in the sink with very, very cool water. If you used the DIY recipe, rinse your hair with warm water for at least 3 minutes and then rinse it with lukewarm water, followed by a vinegar rinse: Fill a large 2 quart bowl with tepid water and add the vinegar and put it near the sink before you begin rinsing your hair. After the vinegar rinse, rinse once more with cool, cool water. Remove the masque from your face by splashing it with warm water several times… even though it will probably be off after you’ve rinsed your hair.

Tone your skin once more, put on your usual facial serum, sunscreen and eye crème. Apply a leave in treatment to your hair and enjoy the rest of the day! I hope it’s a lovely one! Tomorrow, we work OUT!!!

Ciao Bootyiers! As mentioned, Cas and I will be away, so I am posting this now to guide you through Saturday… it’s really not much, but, well, you know.

Today, I want you to do your workout. Your REAL workout. I know, I know, “But, it’s Saturday, Brendita!!!! I wanna play” You CAN play: After you workout. Keep on thinking about what you’re eating: lots of water, green tea, more water, fresh fruit, whole grains in sensible portions, live veggies in a wide variety of colors, healthy protien & some whole grains for the second emal of the day (your first meal should be fresh fruit).  When it’s play time, PLAY! Go for a run, climb a tree, chase a chicken. You know? Like in the movie “Rocky”.

Come on back and let everyone know what you did on Saturday. I am going to post Sunday’s blog entry right now. You can read it in advance, of course. Maybe that would be a good idea, so you can get your spa day items prepared. Yup. Tomorrow’s going to be a spa day.

On MONDAY, I’m going to get a little Drill Sargent-ish on y’all. We’re going to get a little more speciific about do’s and don’ts. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if everyone brought a Booty Buddy on Monday!!! Yes! I am asking you to please tell a friend to join the Spring Booty Camp with you and post on MONDAY. Remember, the winners will be chosen by YOU all: We’re going to vote to see who put in the most effort and we will choose a winner together. Three words: PURPLE TRAIN CASE!!!  The winner gets a three tiered purple train case, filled with Brendita’s Body Works products of her choice! I’ll put up a photo of this train case next week.  It is SO cute, I was VERY tempted to keep it for myself… but that would just be wrong.

Thank you all for being so awesome. We’ve got a nice little group here and I am very happy to see how well everyone is getting along. Once the forum is up and running, well, it’s just gonna be ON! Cas is working on the forum in the way that only he can. It’s about 98% complete. When we return from our getaway, he’ll finish it and I have a pretty good feeling it will be live next week.

Go workout and please, post your workout and what you ate for today. Be well and as K-Stevia says “Make it a great day”!

Howdy Everyone! Cas and I will be away for a long weekend,  but fear not: I am going to post Days 6 & 7 right now, so just follow along and play nice, OK

Today, there is no “real” workout, but I do want you to do SOMETHING: The “Daily Show” workout, a series of exercises from Squeeze it in” or some other “brief but intense” workout. The idea of this near daily exercise is to get your metabolism going in order to keep your body burning fat 24/7.

• Drink lots and lots of water & green tea.
  
• Try VERY hard to make fresh fruit the first thing you have in the morning
• Don’t drink anything with your meal: wait until you’re finished eating
• Try to keep animal dairy down to a bare minimum (it build up mucus in the body)
  
• Get as much sleep as you can
• Have FUN!

Update on our NEW Forum: Cas is nearly finished making our forum!!!  It’s awesomely awesome and I do believe you are going to LOVE it! Sadly, Allure has become a big ol’ SPAM repository. I was going in and checking every few days, but I haven’t been there all week. It’s just too sad.  Oh, well. The ONE great thing about Allure is it brought many of us together! I would have NEVER met my one and only pen pal, Sunshine, had it not been for Allure.  She is truly a wonderful human being and a great friend. She’s helped me through a few rough patches with her wise-beyond-her-years words of wisdom.

Speaking of Sunshine (Adrienne),  her family is going through a very, very rough patch. Her brother fell and hurt his head, causing bleeding in his brain. He’s been in the hospital for a few days already. I ask that you all please send your good vibes, positive energy, well wishes, thoughts and prayers her way. Thank you.

A big e-hug to you all!

Good Morning!! How is everyone doing? I know that a few of you are following along, but are too shy or busy or BOTH to post. That’s all right. It’s also all right if you “fall off the wagon”. Don’t beat yourself up about it! I want this to be fun for everyone.

Today is another REAL workout day, so remember: You need 25 minutes of aerobic activity plus some strengthening exercises. Pushups, sit-ups, tricep dips, bicep curls. Remember: You don’t need to go to a gym to workout! Nataly made an awesome point in yesterday’s blog: There are countless FREE workout programs on Net Flix, on-line. There are also a TON of workouts with various cable service providers On Demand… for FREE!

I hope every one is psyched about this weekend’s “spa day”! We’re going to do a facial and a deep conditioning hair treatment. Feel free to throw in a Mani Pedi, too. I will give you a recipe for a quick and delicious foot soak and scrub.

Since not everyone can post everyday, I am going to exclude that as a criterion for “the winner”. We’ll all vote on who has been the biggest… Bootyier at the end of the challenge. But, you know what? EVERY ONE wins because we’re all supporting one another and keeping each other company.

I’m going to give prizes to the top Three Bootyiers. I haven’t decided what the third prize will be, but it will be lovely. The first prize, as you know is an awesome brand spanking new PURPLE train case filled with Brendita’s Body Works products. I will give the second prize winner a train case, too, but it’s not new: It’s a silver one that I just emptied out a few days ago: Barely used, lovely and adorable as heck. I was keeping my mineral makeup in there, but I haven’t worn any face makeup in ages, so there’s no use in holding on to the case when someone else could enjoy it. It can be used for makeup, manicure supplies, pedicure supplies… whatever.

I hope that more of you check in… tell a friend! Holler back, Yo! Give up some recipes! Tell us a funny story!

So easy! So elegant! The recipe below is from fatfreevegan.com:

POACHED PEARS

By Nanette Blanchard

(Makes 8 pear halves)

I love the texture and buttery flavor of poached pears. This
microwave poaching method is so simple that sometimes I buy a
big bag of pears and poach them all at once. They can then be
refrigerated and covered and eaten as snacks throughout the
next week. Bosc and Bartlett pears are the best varieties for
poaching.

This is a nice holiday recipe because the cranberry juice turns
the pears a pale pink color. These pears are pretty garnished
with some fresh mint sprigs. This recipe is best made at least 30
minutes in advance to give the pears time to cool.

4 pears, preferably Bosc
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup cranapple juice

Halve, peel, and core the pears. Sprinkle freshly cut pears with
lemon juice to prevent browning. Place in microwave-safe dish
and cover with cranapple juice. Cover and cook on high 6 – 8
minutes or until pears are fork tender. (Check the pears after 6
minutes; the fresher the pears, the longer they’ll take to cook.)
Spoon juice over pears, cover, and let stand 30 minutes or
refrigerate overnight.

Well, hello there! I hope that you had an AWESOME day yesterday. Did you workout? Remember, you MUST MUST MUST workout FOUR days a week!!!  I hope that after the Booty Camp is over, you will continue to workout on a regular basis: a minimum of three days a week. It is my hope that everything we do over these 30 days spills over into your daily/weekly routines: eating regularly scheduled meals, working out, drinking a couple of quarts of water every day, saying “NO THANK YOU” to artificial sweeteners and “diet” ANYTHING, giving yourself weekly facials and deep conditioning hair treatments… Once you begin to do these things with regularity, they won’t be chores; they will just be how you live your life.  If you have children, you’re setting a great example and introducing their taste buds to a new, wider variety of healthy, delicious nutritious foods.

I would like for everyone to do me a favor. Tonight, when you’re watching TV, I want workout during the entire show AND commercials. If you TiVo or DVR your shows, you won’t need the remote for half an hour: You’re going to workout through the commercials. The areas we’ll be focusing on will be the lower body (butt and thighs), shoulders, biceps, waist line and abs.

Let’s say we’re watching the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (you can watch whatever you’d like… but EVERY ONE should watch the Daily Show!!!):

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Stand with your arms at your side, feet shoulder width apart. Squat down until your thighs are parallel with the floor. As you’re squatting, raise your arms out to the side until your hands are level with your shoulders, keeping your elbows bent slightly. As you return to a standing position, lower your arms back down to your sides.  Keep doing this until the commercial comes on. Upper thighs, butt, shoulders

Commercial Break: Lie on the floor, and do as many leg raises as you can. Muscles worked: Lower and upper abs (mostly lower). Click here for a demonstration

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Stand with legs wide, back straight, feet turned out, and hands clasped behind your head. Bend your knees (go as low as you can) and bring your elbow towards your thigh without leaning forward. Straighten out your knees as you return your torso to an upright position and then do the same thing on the other side. (To make this more challenging, rise up on your tip toes as you bend from side to side. That will force your calves to work AND make the workout on your inner thighs even more intense). Muscles worked: Inner and outer thighs, waist line and upper abs.

Commercial Break: Lie on the floor in the push-up position. Tighten your abs and slowly raise your left foot off the floor. Slowly, raise it up as high as it will go and then slowly bring it back down. As soon as it’s down, repeat the same thing with the other leg. Muscles worked here: Upper and lower abs, butt and hamstrings (back of the thighs).

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Same squatting routine as you started out with, but keep your elbows close to your waist/rib cage and do a bicep curl (bring your hands up towards your shoulders and squeeze/flex your bicep at the top of the movement) as you squat down and then straighten your arms as you come back up. Muscles worked: Upper thighs, butt, and biceps.

It’s the end of the show, so take a deep breath in and raise your arms over your head. Keep your arms close to your head, lean back and exhale. Bend at the waist and touch your toes (or come as close as you can). Keep your feet planted firmly on the floor, especially your heels. Hold this position for about 1 minute. You’re still bent over: Lace your fingers behind your back and raise them up and away from you. You should feel this stretch in the shoulders and upper back and you should still feel the stretch in your hamstrings. Hold your arms where they are and bend your left knee. Be sure to keep both heels on the floor. Keep the left knee bent for about 30 seconds and then repeat with the right knee. Remember to keep breathing throughout these stretches, taking in as much air as your lungs can hold and then letting it out slowly and purposefully.

Please, share with everyone what you ate & drank yesterday (everything). What did your workout consist of? Are you sore today?  AH! Here’s a wonderful “recipe” for asparagus!

• 1 Bunch of asparagus (the tips should be tight and purple, the stalks should be relatively firm)
• About 1 tablespoon of extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
• Sea salt & fresh ground pepper

Heat oven to 375. Cut the tough ends off the asparagus, rinse them and pat them dry. Coat a cookie pan or shallow baking dish with 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil (use a piece of wax paper to spread the oil around the whole pan). Place the asparagus on the pan in a single layer. Drizzle 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil over the aspargus and then roll them around so each one is coated.

Sprinkle sea salt and ground pepper (and any other dried herbs you might like) over the veggies.  Bake for 20 minutes, uncovered. ENJOY!

OH! OH! OH!!!  Cas is making us a REAL FORUM!!!  I kid you not! It may be up and running this week! REALLY! Isn’t he awesome? He is!

OK, so, I read about this FABULOUS website in Real Simple magazine.  A really perky & energetic woman gives 30 second demonstrations for exercises you can do while vacuuming, at the bathroom sink, mopping, etc. Check it OUT!  Squeeze It In.com is the name of the website.

Now, for food, for those of you who like fish, this recipe caught my eye. I haven’t tried this, but it got good reviews. I would make the sauce as written and then just bottle whatever I didn’t use.  This is from Eating Well.com

Ginger-Steamed Fish with Troy’s Hana-Style Sauce Serves 6

Fish

• 6 5-ounce portions striped bass, halibut or any flaky white fish
• 6 1/4-inch-thick slices peeled fresh ginger

Sauce

• 1/4 cup minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup chopped garlic
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons grape seed oil, or canola oil
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2-3 scallions, thinly sliced, for garnish

To prepare fish: Bring 1 to 2 inches of water to a boil in a pot large enough to hold a two-tier bamboo steamer. (If you don’t have a steamer, improvise by setting mugs upside down in a large pot and resting a large heatproof plate on top.) Put a heatproof plate in each of the steamer baskets. Place 3 portions of fish on each plate with a slice of fresh ginger on top. Stack the baskets, cover and set over the boiling water. Steam the fish for 7 minutes per inch of thickness.

To prepare sauce: Meanwhile, combine minced ginger, garlic and sesame seeds in a small bowl. Heat grape seed (or canola) oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ginger mixture and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 minute. Add sesame oil; allow the mixture to get hot. Add soy sauce (be careful, it will splatter a bit) and cook for 1 minute more.

Transfer the fish to a deep platter. Discard the ginger slices. Pour the sauce over the fish and garnish with scallions.

If you cook this, please share (I shall do the same).

Hey There!!  How are you feeling? I hope you’re feeling refreshed and wonderful. I also hope you’ve started your day off with loads of water and lovely citrus fruit.

I don’t know what your workout schedule is, as far as what time of the day you’ll be working out, but today is your first workout day. Your workout should be a FULL workout: A brief warm up, a minimum of 25 minutes of cardio (with your heart beating at its target rate) and some strength building exercises for all the major muscle groups: front, back, inner and outer thighs, arms (biceps and triceps), butt, chest, shoulders, upper and lower abs and waist (obliques).  This is the workout you’ll be doing 4 times a week. Make it a good one! Think about the muscles you’re working on: don’t just go through the motions. I would LOVE it if you worked out first thing in the morning, but I know that’s not possible for everyone. Just be sure that you WORKOUT!

Work up a sweat and exercise until your muscles are tingling. If the DVD you’re using isn’t causing you to sweat, it’s time for a new DVD! If you’re able to spend 15 minutes on the elliptical, treadmill or stationary bike and you’re not sweating, it’s time to increase the tension/incline. Remember: You can’t fake fitness.

Here’s an easy recipe you might want to try this week:

Vegetarian, Beef or Turkey Chili

1 pack frozen Morning Star Burger Crumbles OR 1 pound lean ground beef OR 1 pound lean ground turkey breast

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can pink beans, drained and rinsed

1 can navy beans, drained and rinsed

1 yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon chili flakes (more or less to taste)

1 can no salt/no sugar added crushed tomatoes

Garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, fresh ground pepper to taste

Place olive oil in a cold pan. Add garlic and onions and turn the flame on to low-medium. Sautee, stirring frequently, until the onions become translucent.  If you’re using turkey or beef, add it to the pan and turn the flame up to medium. Brown the meat by breaking it apart as you stir it. Drain the fat from the pan if necessary. If you’re using soy burger crumbles, add the beans, tomatoes and spices to the pan and stir well. Add the frozen crumbles and stir once more. Cover the pot and reduce the flame to low-medium.

For beef or turkey stir, taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary after 25 minutes. Cook for a total of 35 to 40 minutes. For soy stir, taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary after 10 minutes. Cook for a total of 20 to 25 minutes. One serving of this would be about…3/4 of a cup?  This would be the protein portion of your dinner.  For a change of pace, try it over yolk free noodles instead of over rice.  Better yet, boil and mash some white or gold potatoes and serve the chili over that! This recipe freezes really well; you can eat it twice in one week and then freeze what’s left over.

Holler at me!