Motivate Me

Hi there to my wonderful readers!

I’ve had a few set-backs on the workout front lately. This is mainly attributed to the U.C. and associated appointments, but it also the summer coming to an end which has played a roll in my lack of exercise lately. Social gatherings have taken precedence over the gym, and for the time being, considering my health situation, I was okay with that.

Now that I am starting to feel better, and major doc appointments are out of the way, it’s time to get back on track. I know I feel better when I am active, not only physically, but mentally as well.

I have been feeling weak, and I am ready to rebuild my strength.

I thought I would look into Pinterest to get a motivational post up for myself, and maybe for some of you who may be in the same “rut.”

Pinterest, motivate me.

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I could have gone on for pages but I’ll stop at that. Every day is a new day and a new start to something good. We’ve got this.

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday.

Love,

M

Question: What motivates you?

Continue Reading Motivate Me

Shake Out the Nerves: HLS Day 1

Hi friends! I am home sweet home from my trip out to Cambridge, MA for the Healthy Living Summit 2012. I have A LOT to tell you. I was going to try to do a recap of this weekend in one post, but there is absolutely no way I would be able to do that without writing you a novel. So, I’m going to break it down day by day. Bear with me.

Last time I left you I had recapped my day with Dana in Boston. Moving on to Friday….

Friday morning, I was one lazy lady. I slept in, eventually rolled out of bed (I do literally roll out of bed), made myself a cup of joe, and plopped myself in front of the computer for a couple of hours. It felt phenomenal to just sit and relax.

I even ate breakfast in my room. I picked up a vanilla bean non-fat Greek yogurt from Trader Joe’s the night before and enjoyed (a few too many) cinnamon almonds from TJ’s as well.

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Then came the activity

I decided to make something of myself around 11:00, so I jumped into my workout clothes, laced up the ol’ Asics, and made my way to the river. I used MapMyRun to track me through 4 miles. I jogged and walked while enjoying the beautiful views of Cambridge.

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Back at the hotel, I had my first mini mingle with some of the HLS ladies. A fellow blogger Aundra, led a group of us in an outdoor Zumba class. She scoped out a nice shady spot for us just outside of our hotel, and there was a nice breeze to keep us cool as we broke it down.

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Image courtesy of Aundra

She got me sweatin’ and was the cutest, happiest, Zumba instructor I’ve had yet. Such a fun time!

After Zumba, I showered up and headed to the HLS registration tables to pick up my bag-o-swag, and then sat in on a presentation and discussion led by Derek of the blog Greatist.

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Derek emphasized the importance of being your best self, and staying true to who you are in life, and in your blog. His presentation was a great way to kick off the conference, and was a great opportunity to mingle with other bloggers, and discuss ideas with one another.

Let’s talk about this swag bag.

Holy cow I was a little girl on Christmas when I got this bag. Thanks to wonderful sponsors and donations, the gift bag that each attendee received was overflowing with great products from workout headbands and a t-shirt from Five Bamboo, to Organic Granola from Cascadian Farms, Odwalla bars, SoyJoy, and many other great products.

We were also loaded up with coupons for products from Almond Breeze, Wild Harvest ( a HUGE sponsor for this event), Laughing Cow, Stonyfield, and more. Such generous donations and swag bags!

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Oh, and did I mention Reebok? Um, hello! They gave us all a pair of absolutely adorable RealFlex shoes. Are you kidding me? That is amazing! They are so much fun, come in lots of different colors and are very comfortable.

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Thank you for all of the generous gifts!

After scrounging through the goodies, it was time to meet up for another “mini mingle” which was a photo walk around Cambridge. We walked our way to the very famous Fenway Park. Unfortunately we couldn’t look inside, but it was still neat to see the outside of it, and more importantly I had a chance to chat with so many sweet ladies.

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That marked my third sweat session of the day.

Once we got back I was drained, but knew I needed to gather up some last bits of energy because I had a cocktail partAY to attend to.

I neglected to really take any photos of the cocktail party, except for this awkward one which was taken in my room beforehand…

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I was all nerves walking into the cocktail party as I did not know a soul except for a few people I had spoken with throughout the day. When I am placed in situations where I don’t know anyone, I tend to get shy. It forces me out of my comfort zone and I realize that sometimes this is the only way a person can grow and get over the uncomfortable feeling. It’s good for me.

I approached the first friendly welcoming person I could find, and within minutes I was engaging in conversations left and right with fellow healthy living enthusiasts. Being that we all have so much in common, it was very easy to keep conversation flowing. I was meeting so many great people with interesting things to say!

The only thing weighing me down was that my energy level was at a 3 out of 10. My body was working over time to keep me going. I wanted to enjoy the moment though so I kept pulling through. 

At around 9:00, I managed to spill my glass of red wine all down the front of my tan skirt. I was that girl. Womp wooooommmmp. I used my clutch to cover it up as I quickly made my way up to my room. Embarrassing.

A little cold water and white bar soap, and I worked that stain right out.

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So here I am in my hotel room at 9:00 pm, the party is still going on downstairs, I’m debating what to wear if I go back down to the party, I’m feeling very cozy in my gorgeous Hyatt room, and little Ms. Melanie is completely spent.

I made an executive decision right then and there that I was going to stay in the rest of the night. I took the wine on my skirt as a sign that my body was ready to call it a night. After all, I had a very busy day ahead of me, and wanted to be in good shape for it.

I snuggled into bed, and slept sound. I had survived day one, which is the most nerve-racking of them all. SO much more to come. Please stay tuned!

Continue Reading Shake Out the Nerves: HLS Day 1

Veggies with a Runny Egg Are Back

Hello there! Everyone excited it’s Thursday? It’s almost Friday!

Yesterday morning started off with the usual Cream of Wheat, but this time I sweetened it with stevia, added banana slices, and Pb2 with cinnamon. Since I’ve been eating Cream of Wheat pretty much every morning, I’m trying to keep it jazzy and switch it up a bit.

I have been noticing that I have been eating a whole lot of extra sugar (maple syrup, honey, brown sugar, fruit, etc.) lately, and I really am working on trying to cut back on it again. But I LOVE the taste of brown sugar on my Cream of Wheat, so I will be putting a little bit on there every once and a while.

For lunch I ate a half of a grilled chicken breast with BBQ sauce and a bunch of green beans. I also ate a half of a banana with peanut butter and a no sugar added pomegranate apple sauce. Sorry for this totally unappetizing photo.

After work I headed to the gym, and on the way there I snacked on fresh honeydew melon. On the workout agenda was a 20 minute warm-up on the elliptical while drooling over delicious food photos in Rachael Ray’s magazine, followed by weights where I focused on triceps and chest.

On the drive home I contemplated dinner options, and decided that eggs were sounding pretty good. Should I make a frittata? I’ve never made a frittata but would really like to sometime. Should I make an omelette? Egg-white omelette? Scrambled eggs? A runny egg? Runny egg on top of a small salad?

YES please to the last option.

I plated up a small green leafy salad with cilantro, bacon bits, and Western Dressing. For the egg, I cooked it over-easy and sprinkled one side of the egg with nutritional yeast and freshly cracked black pepper. I gave the egg a gentle flip towards the end of the cooking process and left it on side two for just a short time before plating it up on top of my salad. I don’t want the inside to cook through because I want runny egg.

Oh, how I’ve missed you salads with a runny egg on top. So easy, and so delicious. I’ve still got to cool it on the green stuff but I am still slowly working it back in to my diet. Not yet onto the cabbage and broccoli point though. I am feeling a lot better these days and trying my best to stay positive.

Other variations of my favorite  veggie/egg combo from the past:

Leafy greens, broccoli, banana pepper, tomato, quinoa, and a runny egg.

Southwestern style salad including sautéed onions, black beans, tomato, corn, avocado, cheese, salsa and a runny egg. This one was killer.

Sautéed vegetables including broccoli, kale, mushrooms, onions, black beans, tomato, cheese, and a runny egg. There are so many great ways to eat your veggies with a runny egg (or 2). I am crazy about this combo obviously.

To top off dinner I ate a small bowl of non-fat Greek yogurt mixed with a little maple syrup for sweetness.

After dinner, Mom and Abbie came over last night to hang out with me while Dana was out golfing. We relaxed, chatted for a while, and hung out with the pups. Always love her company.

I made sure to get to bed early last night, because I was really hoping and also planning to get myself out of bed early this morning and get a run in before work. Well guess what? I actually did it! I got up before work and got a run in. Sometimes I think all it takes is me telling myself before I go to bed that I WILL be running in the morning versus saying I might run in the morning. I made sure to have all of my stuff laid out last night so that it would be as easy possible for me in the morning.

I wanted to get this last run in before the race mostly to test out my outfit for the race. I know this may sound silly, but it’s so important. I may have bought a new bright pink shirt to wear for the run and wanted to make sure it wouldn’t rub me the wrong way anywhere. 🙂 Good news, no chafing. It’s a great shirt and it makes me feel good. You will get to see it in a few days.

I completed 3-easy paced miles this morning and obviously feel fantastic for running in the morning before work. I feel energized. This was my last run before the half-marathon on Sunday. It’s time to rest.

I have to get going and charge through my day. I hope you all have a good one!

Continue Reading Veggies with a Runny Egg Are Back

Well Rested, Well Fed

Well hello there! I am back from an amazingly relaxing 8 day vacation in the Dominican Republic. Vacation was filled with copious amounts of food, sun, rain, sand, exercise, and most importantly, a lot of R and R. It was perfect. I look forward to filling you in on my trip over the next week or so. I took lots of photos. Here is a brief introduction to our trip.

The first day we got there it literally monsooned. We took advantage of our balcony and played a few card games while drinking a cold beverage and getting into vacation mode.

Most nights we ate at the all-inclusive buffet at the resort but a few nights we made reservations at the hotel’s themed restaurants. This photo below was taken at the Caribbean themed restaurant. I had fish called Mori or Mauri (?) which reminds me that I want to google it and find out more about what I ate exactly. It was a very delicious white fish that did not taste fishy and had a fairly firm texture.

While on vacation, I managed to eat a lot of veggies and fruits. I steered mostly clear of the meats as I am very picky with meats plus I don’t know the quality control measures and I am bit weird with that sort of thing–hello food safety MSU. I indulged in fresh breads, pasta, rice and beans, pastries, and cocktails on a daily basis. I have more food photos which I will share later.

Every day we did a lot of this….

Note that is my bittersweet smile as this photo was taken on our last morning there. The bugs really like me in the Dominican, as I walked away with a grand total of 40 bug bites (Dana only got a few). You can see a couple of the bites on my left shoulder. They itch like crazy, but if that’s the only bad thing I can say about the trip, I am okay with that. It’s a sacrifice I can make. 🙂

I am proud to say that we exercised one way or the other every day except for the first monsoon day there. We ran on the beach, went for walks on the beach, hit the “gym” at the resort, or went for a hike.

That’s all I’m going to share today. I am off to tackle 5 loads of laundry and apply some anti-itch cream to my bites. I can’t wait to eat my normal foods again. The foods I really missed were peanut butter, greek yogurt, and my mongo salads. We already went grocery shopping this morning and restocked the fridge with all of our good healthy foods. It’s time to get back on track. I am also looking forward to getting back on track with normal workouts. Running on the beach was great and all, but there was only so far we could go plus it’s extremely challenging running in the sand. More on that later.

I am out for now. Happy to be home! As much as I love traveling and vacationing, there is nothing quite like coming home.

 

Continue Reading Well Rested, Well Fed

That’s Strike Two

On my way home from work I snacked on one of my free LARABAR’s. I chose the Blueberry Muffin flavor this time and decided it wasn’t my absolute favorite, but it was alright. I wish it had more of a blueberry taste. Don’t get me wrong I really haven’t met a LARABAR I didn’t like, it just wasn’t my favorite.

It did a good job of stamping out my hunger and giving me energy for….Zumba! I had plans to meet my friend Amanda at a workout studio after work. This was a class we had taken before and with an instructor we knew we enjoyed, so I knew this would be a good Zumba experience unlike the last time Betsy and I tried a class out at our gym. It still makes me giggle thinking about the moves the instructor had us doing.

Before Zumba last night.

After Zumba. Glistening with sweat, and notice my huge smile. I had FUN.

It was definitely a good one! I shook it with every last ounce of my booty. At least Zumba was a success, because dinner was a total fail.

A couple of months ago, I bought Shirataki Tofu noodles which can be used as a substitute for pasta. I bought a different variety before and made them into a Thai peanut sauce type dish. They had turned out just alright, but I said I may have to try them again in a different way.

Well, here we are. This time around I bought spinach tofu noodles. I rinsed them very well (to get the stinky smell off of them), drained them, patted them dry on a towel, and placed into a bowl. I added steamed broccoli to the noodles along with two Laughing Cow Light Swiss wedges, a dollop of non-fat Greek yogurt, a dash of onion powder and garlic powder, and salt and pepper. I microwaved for 2-3 minutes, removed and gave it a stir.

It smelled good….

But I couldn’t get past the texture of the noodles. It’s hard for me to describe the texture but they were sort of gummy like to me. I took two bites of it and decided I couldn’t do it. I sat on the couch for an hour watching an episode of Modern Family before getting up to make something else for dinner.

At this point it was about 8:30 so I wasn’t going to go hogwild and bake a lasagna or anything. I decided on a PB2 wrap with Craisins (later I added some Welch’s Grape Natural Jelly).

Good old faithful PB wraps. They never fail me. I also had two large handfuls of sugar snap peas. So, that’s a strike two on the Tofu Noodles. I don’t think I’m going to give them another shot. Can’t say I didn’t try.

I am off for the day. I am so incredibly happy it’s Friday. Happy Friday to you all!

Question: Have you ever tried tofu noodles? What did YOU think?

 

Continue Reading That’s Strike Two

Cauliflower Fritters

Everyone happy it’s Wednesday? I know I am. It would be better if it was Friday though, right? Oh, how I love my weekends.

After work yesterday I headed to my parent’s “gym” (aka elliptical and weights) as I had plans to hit the elliptical for my workout. My initial thought was to go to the gym after work and do my thing there, but then I weighed my options.

Gym:

  • Other people around me to motivate me (pro)
  • Accessibility to weights should I decide to do strength training (pro)
  • Stuck watching old episodes of Ice loves Coco (con)
  • Stinky people (con)

Parent’s House:

  • Elliptical in the privacy of a comfortable basement (pro)
  • Free reign of the television (pro)
  • I get to see dad and Abbie (pro)
  • I can browse the cupboards and eat cereal to my heart’s content for lunch (pro)
  • No stinky people (pro)

Mom and dad’s casa wins by a landslide. Dad said he would even waive my initiation fee because I had been a member in the past. Such a jokester, that man. 🙂

Such a cozy little nook. I loved it AND I got to watch my favorite channel, The Food Network. Giada De Laurentiis and her aunt were cookin’ up some amazing looking pasta pinwheels (except they had a fancy italian name of course). They looked great whatever they were!

After 40 minutes on the elliptical, I completed 3×10 pushups and 3×26 planks with knee tucks.

Thanks for the free initiation fee dad, and by the way, mom said I get a free membership too.

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Dinner last night was quite a show. It involved a little more prep than my typical weeknight dinners, and I was a mess in the kitchen, but I managed to pull it together.

On the menu: Cauliflower fritters served on top of sautéed vegetables and drizzled with marinara sauce

First, I chopped up a head of cauliflower and steamed in the microwave  for 10 minutes (covered with a little water in the bowl).

Next, I transferred the steamed cauliflower into a food processor and processed until it turned into what looked like mashed potatoes, but I was actually trying to keep them from getting to the phase. There were some small bits still which I had wanted, and the rest was nearly pureed cauliflower. It still all worked out though.

Next, I added 1/2 cup diced onion, 1 Tablespoon minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon dried parsley, 1 egg, 3 Tablespoons egg whites, 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast, and 2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese; and mixed well. You want to make sure the cauliflower has cooled slightly before adding the egg products so that the egg doesn’t begin to cook in this process.

I prepared a large skillet on the stove top by spraying it with non-stick cooking spray, and placing it over low-medium heat. I then formed 2-inch patties in my hand and placed them in the pan for a light fry.

In the meantime, I placed another pan on the stove top and began sautéing 1 1/2 cups chopped asparagus, 1 cup diced onion, 3/4 chopped cup zucchini, 3/4 cup chopped mushrooms, and 2 cups kale.

Once the cauliflower fritters were beginning to lightly brown (about 3-4 minutes), I flipped them and let other side cook for another few minutes. I did this until all of the fritters were cooked. This head of cauliflower made a lot of fritters, but I had plans to freeze the leftovers for another day so it was all good.

Once the veggies were sautéed, and the fritters were cooked, I plated it up. First, the green veggies, then a drizzle of marinara sauce, and lastly the cauliflower fritters.

The texture of the fritters reminded me of mashed potatoes but except in a patty form. Not pictured is a sprinkle of parmesan cheese I added after the photo was taken.

Not bad, huh? Dana and I both really enjoyed this dinner. It was a very fun and different dinner and the first time I have ever attempted making cauliflower fritters. We both agreed that you would definitely need to like cauliflower to truly enjoy these guys. Makes sense though, right? The only downfall of this dish was the mound of dishes which accumulated in the cooking process. Whoopsie!

The rest of the night was spent organizing wedding photos (finally), watching an episode of Modern Family, and relaxing.

To all of my wonderful readers: If you have any recipes you would like me to test out and review, or would like me to try to “healthify” one of your favorite dishes, feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to help you out!

Continue Reading Cauliflower Fritters

I Cook, I Eat

Happy April! Today is Dana and my 6 month wedding anniversary (and that’s no joke). 😉

Here is a very quick recap of my weekend. It looks like all I did was eat seeing as most of the photos are of food, but I promise I did more than just eat. I cooked quite a bit too!

Saturday

Morning run

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Flopped lunch. It looks pretty but didn’t taste pretty for some reason.

Amazing homemade banana bread courtesy of yours truly.

Dinner from Axel’s Bonfire at my in-law’s who just moved into their new home!

Sunday

Attempt at pumpkin protein waffles.

Part of Sunday’s lunch.

Moose and Dana.

Special 6 month anniversary dinner. 🙂

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I plan to share some of these recipes with you soon so check back!

Continue Reading I Cook, I Eat

Overnight Chia Seed Yogurt Bowl

I had a request from one of my loyal readers for the measurements of ingredients in my overnight yogurt bowl.

You would think I would have learned my lesson to  measure ingredients each time I make a new dish, but no such luck. Usually when I make this yogurt bowl I toss in a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and wait to see how it turns out. This pretty much makes for a different consistency in the yogurt each time. I like surprises, so it works for me! But, I thought I would figure out more appropriate measurements for all ya’ll, so last night, I prepared a bowl of overnight yogurt, and measured the ingredients. Give this a shot, and let me know how it turns out. 😉

Overnight Chia Seed Yogurt Bowl

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons oats

2 teaspoons chia seeds

1/2 cup almond milk

1/4 cup frozen blueberries

1/3 cup non-fat Greek yogurt

stevia or other sweetener

Directions

Combine all ingredients in bowl; mix. Cover and place in refrigerator over night. In the morning, remove cover and eat as is, or add your favorite yogurt  toppings such as fresh fruit, honey, granola, cereal, etc.

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I am off of work today and have a to-do list that is nearly endless. I feel highly motivated though so I should be okay. Plus, it’s a gloomy kind of day today which makes it easier for me to be productive inside.

Some of my to-do list:

  • Shop for shower curtain for new bathroom
  • Decide on accent colors for new bathroom
  • Make a dentist appointment
  • Make a couple of phone calls
  • Clean
  • Workout?
  • Decorate shelf ladder that we put up eons ago

I better hop to it! Speaking of hop, Easter is only a little over a week away which means Lent is nearing to an end. I am pretty darn excited to have a big ol’ hunk of chocolate; possibly a Reese’s peanut butter cup. Oh, and did I mention there is a Freeziac Frozen Yogurt Shop opening up near me? Needless to say I am just a little pumped about it. I will be going there once Lent is over and concocting something like this:

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A real quick recap of last night

I had mentioned that I had fun workout plans for after work yesterday. After work I headed to the gym and ran 3 miles on the treadmill. That’s obviously not the fun part. I was waiting for my cousin Betsy to show up. We had planned to meet at the gym and go to Zumba together. Now, I have been to three different Zumba classes each with a different instructor, and I realize that each Zumba instructor has their own style, and I respect that. With that being said, I went in to class last night with an open mind.

After the first minute of class, I could tell today’s Zumba experience was going to be, shall I say, “different.”

I really don’t know if the instructor was a certified Zumba instructor or not. Some of the moves she had us doing were completely off the wall, extremely awkward and very repetitive. The moves were nearly impossible to repeat because there was a total lack of rhythm which, as a former dancer myself, drives me crazy. I am the type of person who has a hard time NOT running to the beat in the music because I have been so trained to listen to music in dance.

We were so dissappointed in the class that we only stuck it out for the first half. I understand each instructor has their own style and there were a lot of people in the class, so it could be possible that many people out there do like this style and instructor. I just was not a fan.

Anyway, I was glad I had got my workout in beforehand, because I hadn’t broken a sweat from the first half hour of the class. Looking on the positive side though, I got to see my Betsy. LOVE HER.

After dinner I got home and Dana fired up the grill. On the menu was turkey burgers! Num!

I couldn’t decide if I wanted ketchup or bbq sauce for the burger, so I squirted a little of both on my plate! I also had a big green kale salad on the side.

K, that ended up being a little longer than a “quick” recap from last night. Now, I’m off to tackle that to-do list!

Continue Reading Overnight Chia Seed Yogurt Bowl

Plank with Knee Tucks

First and foremost, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY AMAZING BROTHER JEFFREY!

Love you and miss you like crazy! Love the photo above too (Jeff is to the direct right of me in the red tie and Kevin my other brother is behind me to the left of Jeff, also in a red tie; missing is Scott and Dana, probably out back smoking a cigar). 🙂 Kidding (sorta)!

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Yesterday afternoon I headed to the gym to work it out. I began with a 30 minute elliptical workout while oogling over Rachael Ray’s Magazine and all of her amazing Spring recipes.

I then headed over to the weights to grab a couple of dumbbells. I brought them over to a secluded area in the gym over by the racquetball courts (I like my privacy sometimes) and got to work. Here’s what I threw down.

Exercise Sets and Reps
Tricep Kickbacks (each side) 3 x 10
Two arm tricep extension overhead 3 x 10
Tricep Dips 3 x 10
Bent over barbell rows 3 x 10
Push ups (knees) 3 x 10
Plank with opposite knee tucks 3 x 26

Lately I have really been loving the plank with opposite knee tucks. I have been doing them daily. I actually think they are fun and they make me feel strong. I have been very proud of myself lately with my fairly consistent strength training! It is amazing how good it makes you feel.

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For dinner last night I baked about 10 of Alexia’s Sweet Potato Puffs in the oven. While they baked, I began lightly sautéing broccoli on the stovetop. Once the broccoli were slightly cooked, about 3 minutes, I pushed the them to the side of the pan and cracked an egg in the middle of the pan. I cooked the egg over easy. At the very last second, I tossed in the last of the leftover cowboy caviar. I dished the broccoli egg mix with the puffs, sprinkled the dish with nutritional yeast (and a touch of ketchup) and enjoyed an easy and satisfying dinner.

I had greek yogurt for a little snack later in the evening.

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Today, my morning started off with a bowl of goodies much like yesterday’s. In the mix today was a oatmeal, Fage plain non-fat greek yogurt, almond milk, chia seeds, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and honey. I combined the ingredients together last night (minus the blackberries and honey) and let it sit in the fridge over night again. This morning I added the honey and blackberries and once again had a sweet creamy fruit and yogurt bowl.

I neglected the morning workout yet again for sleep, but I have fun workout plans after work today!

Continue Reading Plank with Knee Tucks

My Feel Good Workout Gear

Good morning! Nothing like Saturday morning huh? I woke up early, headed to the gym, hashed out a 7k on the treadmill and then did the pyramid arm workout courtesy of the Tone it Up Girls. Both the run and the arm workout were extremely challenging for me today. I feel like even just a week of slacking a bit on the strength training, and I am noticing a loss already. I’ll get it back though! Have you ever felt lower back pain after deadlift sessions? If so get back to basics with this post.

Right now, I am relaxing in my sweaty gym clothes, sipping on my morning juice, aka coffee. I have some fun plans for the day!

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I thought it might be fun to share with you some of my favorite workout gear. Everyone has their favorites, here are mine!

1. Nike Tempo Shorts. I used to think I wouldn’t like any running shorts that had the built-in ‘underwear’ but honestly these shorts are the comfiest things ever! It feels like you aren’t any wearing shorts. Is that weird? They also come in a wide variety of colors which make for a fun get-up.

2. Dry-fit tanks. Nike, Gap, TJMaxx…these are very easy to find and inexpensive. They keep me cooler and dryer. If I plan on workout out on any type of machine where my skin will touch the machine, I will throw on a long-sleeve t-shirt because that grosses me out. There are some sweaty men (and women) on those machines.

3. Under Armour high-impact sports bra. I’m baring it all. I’m not ashamed. I like bras that offer a lot of support. It is on the pricier side but I cannot believe the support I get from this bra. It is a challenge getting this bad boy off after a sweaty workout session.

4. Moisture-wicking socks. The ones pictured here are from Target and I love them. These socks are so important for helping to prevent blisters and extra sweaty feet.

5. Asics Gel Kayano 17 Soft Top Duomax: In other words, a good pair of running shoes for my feet and my stride. Of course finding the right running shoe for you depends on your arch, where you land when you run, etc. Consult the pros on this one. I go to speciality running stores in my area so that they can help me find the right shoe for me. It is so important to have a good pair of running shoes, and remember to replace them when needed as well.

6. Bicband. This sparkling beauty is GREAT at keeping my bangs out of my face and it does not slip off of my head like other bands tend to do. They have so many cute ones to choose from and in different widths as well!

The only thing missing is my music. I usually always have my iPod Nano or my iPhone to jam out to while I workout.What pumps me up the most is when I add new songs to the mix. I look forward to hearing them while I am running. When the new song comes on, I generally amp up the speed through the duration of the song. I gravitate toward pop and hip-hop music for my running tunes.

I have found that I feel better about myself when I am in cute workout clothes versus frumpy old t-shirts. No doubt I still wear the old t-shirts for at-home workouts though! Anyone else agree with me?

There you have it! Some of my favorite workout pieces! Have an amazing Saturday!

What are some of your favorites? Can’t wait to hear from you!

Continue Reading My Feel Good Workout Gear
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