April 25, 2012

The Friday That Wasn’t

I don’t know why it is, but I’ve gone through the whole day feeling like it was supposed to be a Friday. Nothing ruins your Friday more than realizing it’s only Wednesday. Luckily I’ve packed my schedule pretty full for this week so I hope it’ll go by quickly. There’s only a few more weeks of school so I’m ready to power through that and get a head start on summer!

Today I was planning on going to the gym for some strength training but by the time I got off work I really just felt like curling up in bed and doing absolutely nothing. Just one of those days! I don’t remember if I mentioned it on the blog, but I went to a kickboxing class last Thursday and loved it. It was one of the harder cardio workouts I’ve done in a while, but it was a fun challenge. Unfortunately I won’t be able to go tomorrow, but at least I know I can go on other Thursdays.

Breakfast:

Lately I’ve been loving cereal for breakfast with fruit. This morning was an early one, so I brought some of my TJ’s Maple Pecan cereal and sliced strawberries to work with me. I also poured some coconut milk to pour on the cereal when I was ready to eat. This is one of my favorite “breakfasts to-go” because it’s so easy to throw together. I’ve been trying to pick out cereal with good nutritional stats that will fill me up, and the past two have done a really good job. Plus I love the pecans in this one!

Lunch & Dinner were repeats. I get Subway fairly often for lunch because it’s easy to pick up when I’m running around. Usually it’s a 6-inch veggie sub with avocado, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, banana peppers, extra pickles, mustard & sweet onion sauce. Of course with a bag of jalapeno chips on the side!

Dinner was the same as my Sunday dinner, a yummy bowl of pasta with marinara sauce & parm. So good!!

Tomorrow is a full day of classes (except one was canceled!) and work. I’m hoping to get to the gym, but for some reason I didn’t realize until today that my gym closes ridiculously early so I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it.

Hope your Wednesday was awesome, and the rest of your week is just as great!

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April 22, 2012

Sunday Stuff

1. I started off my morning with an orangeish green monster. Weird. This one had milk, banana, vanilla greek yogurt, frozen berries, protein powder and frozen pineapple. So good!! It filled up this whole glass plus another, I am horrible at measuring everything out to fill one glass.

2. Today I dragged my mom to Trader Joe’s with me. I would live in TJ’s if I could. They probably wouldn’t appreciate me eating all the food, though.

I picked up pasta, three cheese marinara sauce, maple pecan cereal (super excited about the pieces of pecan in it!), vanilla coconut milk (my first time trying it) and dark chocolate with hazelnuts (so good!!!)

3. I finally got new athletic shoes. I’ve been switching back and forth between a pair of tiny shoes and a pair that is way too big for when I’m working out. Today I finally have a pair that fit perfectly!! Success.

4. My mom and I stopped to a local burger restaurant for lunch and oh my gosh. I can’t believe I never knew about this place!! Not only can you get almost any kind of “meat” as your burger (bison, beef, chicken, veggie, duck, etc.) but it’s local meat. I’m completely in love with this restaurant and I will probably go there everyday from now on. My mom and I split a bacon turkey burger with cheddar cheese and a side of sweet potato fries. Amazing.

5. I wore workout clothes all day and didn’t go to the gym once. This is my summer equivalent of wearing sweatpants everyday during winter.

6. I was REALLY craving a huge bowl of pasta for dinner…so that’s what I made!

Used up a bit of the mini penne pasta and 3 cheese marinara sauce from TJ’s and topped it with parm.

7. Cereal is for dessert tonight. I am so excited!!

8. There’s supposed to be thunderstorms this week after all of this gorgeous weather the past few days. What the heck??

I’m stopping at random number 8 because that’s all I have to say. I hope you all had a great weekend! I’m excited to start this week off, there are a few fun activities going on this week that I’m looking forward to.

What was your favorite part of the weekend?

Mine was going to the beach yesterday and spending time with my mom today. We definitely took advantage of the gorgeous weather the past few days!

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April 21, 2012

To The Beach

I hope you all have been having a wonderful weekend!!

 

I’ve been soaking up this beautiful weather the past couple of days. Friday it was 84 degrees…not killer hot but it was a huge change from the past couple months!

Friday I spent my morning house hunting. It was already about 70 degrees by 10am so I got to wear some summer clothes. It was awesome!! I am obsessed over this weather. The house hunting went pretty well, but I’m still searching!

I also got to wear my new hat I bought earlier in the week. I never wear hats because I feel like I look goofy in them, but I love this one!

After the house hunting was over I went to work and then hung out and made chocolate covered red vines.

If you haven’t tried this yet, you need to. So simple, just melt chocolate (dark is delicious with this!) and coat red vines in them. I have to admit, I was a little unsure when I first heard of this, but after trying them I’m hooked!! Such a delicious treat, and a cute party food!

This morning I had a conference call super early, so I didn’t get to sleep in but at least I got my day started early. The weather was gorgeous, so a couple friends and I headed out to the beach. It really feels like summer already. We even saw a seal super close to shore! He kept popping his head out of the water and floating around. So cute!!!

Days like this make me feel so blessed to live where I do. It really is the little things in life that make all the difference in our happiness. I’ve found myself saying “so what?” more often to things that would usually stress me out and smiling more often. I feel like I have been so stressed out the past few months, but with summer coming I really feel myself relaxing more again.

Tonight I was planning on going to the gym, but as it got closer I just didn’t feel like it. There’s always tomorrow to do some cardio. For now, I’m happy just hanging out and relaxing.

I hope you all are having a great weekend and enjoying every minute of it. Monday will be here soon!

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April 19, 2012

Getting My Workout On

Remember when I was way too busy to make fitness a priority?

Lately I’ve been feeling more of a push to exercise more often. Usually I only go to yoga at my gym, but lately I’m making it more of a priority to try new classes and (gasp) use the machines at the gym.

Tuesday I went in and used the strength equipment for the first time. I’ll be honest, I’m ridiculously sore now and can’t walk, but it made me realize even more how badly I want to exercise regularly. I went to a kickboxing class and I almost fell to the floor because I hadn’t done difficult cardio in so long. I’ve never been in fantastic shape, but I used to be a lot more athletic and I can’t believe how out of shape I’ve let myself become.

For me, it’s extremely difficult to get myself into a routine. I have to tell myself it’s what’s best for me and that I’ll be happy when I get to the gym, but it takes a lot of motivation. But today I realized that it’s going to be even more difficult to get myself into a routine if I’m always giving excuses for why I’m giving up or quitting.

So, I’m back to attending a gym and I’m making my fitness more of a priority. And I’m really excited about it.

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April 15, 2012

Back to Planning

Hello again!

I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was busy but I enjoyed every minute of it! Well, besides the homework part :)

Friday was my Moms birthday, and we set out to the coast for lunch. I stuffed myself with seafood pasta and yummy sourdough bread. Later on I made chocolate mousse for a birthday dessert, which was delicious! We topped it with homemade whipped cream and raspberries. Amazing!!

Saturday we had a family celebration for my moms birthday, which was so much fun! Dinner included pulled pork sandwiches (amazing), acorn squash, roasted potatoes, coleslaw (I stuck with plain cabbage, I’m not a fan of coleslaw dressing), and 3 kinds of dessert. Yes, 3! it was awesome.

Oreo Cupcakes, Apple Pie and Blueberry Pie. The best.

I spent the rest of my weekend working on my giant pile of homework. I’m excited to have a life again once school is over, summer needs to come much sooner!

Speaking of which, it’s supposed to be in the 80′s this weekend here. I’m definitely thinking a hiking adventure or beach time will be happening.

 Meal Plan 4/17-4/23

Tuesday 4/17

Baked Pasta

Wednesday 4/18

Sushi

Thursday 4/19

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Friday 4/20

Dinner Out

Saturday 4/21

Dinner Out

Sunday 4/22 

Shrimp Tacos

Monday 4/23

Minestrone Soup

Workouts 4/17-4/23

Tuesday 4/17

Strength Training

Wednesday 4/18

Elliptical Intervals

Thursday 4/19

Kickboxing

Friday 4/20

Rest

Saturday 4/21

Rest

Sunday 4/22 

Power Yoga

Monday 4/23

Power Yoga

 

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April 10, 2012

What I Ate Wednesday #34

I haven’t done a WIAW post in weeks, but I just happened to take pictures of my Tuesday breakfast and dinner so I thought I’d join in on the WIAW fun this week.

While I didn’t exactly load up on the vegetables, I have been adding a bit more fruits and veggies into my meals so far this month.

Breakfast: 

For breakfast I topped Vanilla Chobani with my new Nature’s Path Crunchy Maple Sunrise cereal and sliced strawberries. I absolutely love this cereal and this breakfast actually filled me up for a while, so this may be my new favorite breakfast!! The cereal is super crunchy and has a real maple taste, which I love.

Lunch: 

I completely forgot to take a picture of my lunch! This is pretty much the exact Subway sandwich I had though, 6 inch veggie on honey oat with pepperjack, avocado, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, extra pickles, banana pepper, salt & pepper, mustard & sweet onion sauce. I also had a bag of jalapeno chips on the side. Dessert was a couple homemade cookies & cream rice krispy treats I made for my friend’s birthday…those are the best, I think I’m going to have to make more!!

Dinner: 

I have been craving buffalo chicken pizza for so long, I finally decided to make it! I topped the whole wheat crust with mozzarella, parmesan, cooked chicken, buffalo sauce & arugula. I also had a side salad with lettuce and heirloom tomatoes. I ended up having 2 slices of pizza because it was so good!

What’s the most delicious thing you’ve eaten today? 

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April 8, 2012

Happy Easter!

This morning I whipped together a quick green smoothie to get my day started.

This smoothie included Vanilla Chobani, apple juice, frozen strawberries, mangoes, pineapples, 1/2 of a frozen banana, 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder and a whole lotta spinach! Since the green smoothie challenge ended, I’ve found myself craving green smoothies more and more. I’ve found a good combination that fills me up and tastes great so it works!

After breakfast I got ready and headed over to visit my grandma with my mom for Easter. On the way home we stopped by the store to pick up a few things we both needed, and I found some new items I’m excited to try!

I was looking for a hearty cereal and decided to try Nature’s Path Crunchy Maple Sunrise cereal. The ingredients looked great and I compared to nutritional stats to other cereals around it and this one measured up pretty well. I’m a BIG cereal fan so I have high hopes for this one!

Larabars were on sale so I grabbed two flavors I haven’t tried before, Apple Pie and Coconut Cream Pie. I haven’t seen the Cappuccino flavor around since it came out but I’m dying to try it!! Hopefully I’ll find it soon. Originally I picked up a Dark Chocolate Almond Butter to try out but it was a little pricey and I didn’t want to buy the whole jar if I wasn’t sure about it, but then I saw the mini Justin’s Maple Almond Butter and quickly grabbed that! Every time I go to the store the mini packs are sold out and I’ve been dying to try it. I’m excited!

By the time I got home I was huuuuungry (the worst state to be in while grocery shopping) so I threw together a quick salad. Dinner was going to be ready in a couple hours so I didn’t want to make a big lunch and be full for dinner. The salad included spinach, arugula, strawberries, tomato, walnuts, salt, pepper and olive oil. I also toasted up a piece of sourdough bread on the side.

Dinner was salmon, asparagus, broccoli and a piece of sourdough bread. So good!! I haven’t had salmon in way too long, and I’ll always love my parents’ cooking.

I hope you all had a wonderful Sunday, whatever you may be celebrating today. Hopefully it included lots of laughter, happiness and chocolate!

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April 7, 2012

5-4-3-2-1

This weekend is going by so fast!

Yesterday I spent the day looking for a couple birthday presents and going out to dinner. Today was a fun birthday party, tonight is a whole lot of nothing! I’m exhausted and it’s only Saturday!

I thought I’d put together a fun post for the mid-weekend craziness. 5-4-3-2-1 go!

5 Foods I’m Craving…

  • Sushi (I had this last night but I’m always craving sushi!)
  •  Froyo
  • Clam Chowder Bread Bowl
  • Chili (I might have to make some this weekend!)
  • Rice Krispie Treats (random craving…but I’m making some on Monday and I can’t wait!!)

4 Recipes I’m Dying to Try…

3 Foodie Pictures From the Week

  • My grocery list from last Saturday.
  • Yesterday’s lunch…2 egg sandwich with cheddar cheese, arugula and a side of strawberries. Amazing.
  • Keeping up with the green smoothie challenge. I love them!

2 Items I Really Want

  • Toms- The non-boot shoes I have are getting old & dirty and I really want to find a cute pair of “everyday” shoes. If you have a pair give me advice! I can’t decide what style I want, I’m so indecisive!
  • A new yoga mat- Mine is getting old and I’d really like to find a new one. Any suggestions? I’m not looking for anything too pricey, but something that’ll last me a while!

 1 Thing I Learned Today

  • Licorice dipped into dark chocolate (and let harden) is the most delicious snack/dessert in the world. True story.

Now you play along: Answer in comments below or post on your blog if you’d like to! I can’t wait to hear your answers!!

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April 3, 2012

What? It’s April?

I am completely shocked today is the third of April. March completely flew by because I spent most of it on spring break and sick with a sinus infection. The sinus infection completely knocked me out and I feel like the past couple weeks have been a blur just trying to keep up in school while feeling horrible. I am finally healing, which I am super thankful for. I feel like I’m playing catch-up trying to get caught up in school and get back into a blogging schedule but it’ll work itself out.

I haven’t had much of an appetite, so almost every breakfast has been a green smoothie, lunches have been whatever I can grab and dinners are pasta with butter and parmesan. Exciting, no? I haven’t been able to taste anything, anyway so it’s not that big of a deal.

As I said before, I am totally shocked it’s already April and I’m completely unprepared. I’m really hoping to get back into my normal schedule this month, and I have some really fun events planned for this month so it should be fun! I thought I’d come up with some goals to help me get back to normal. I haven’t come up with monthly goals in a while so this will be a fun change!

1. Go to yoga at least twice a week- There are 4 classes each week I am able to attend (according to my usual schedule) so there’s not really any excuse not to go at least twice a week. Yoga makes me happy, makes me feel better and makes me feel stronger. It’s a positive thing in my life and now that I’m better I need to start going more!

2. Take more pictures- I need to be better about taking pictures. To help me with this I’m participating in April’s Photo A Day. I’m going to have to catch up to today’s, though! I tried participating in March’s but I got too far behind so I decided to wait for April. I will complete this!

3. Eat more fruits & veggies- Whenever I’m sick I eat super bland, boring food so I really need to start adding fruits & veggies back into my diet. Luckily while I’ve been sick I’ve been drinking green smoothies for breakfast and it actually helped with the sinus pressure and made me feel better when I drank them. Maybe because of the cold? I don’t know, but it’s also been a great way to get my fruits & veggies in. I need to step it up though!

4. BLOG!! I need to get my regular schedule going again. I also want to start making more recipes and sharing them, of course! I really do want to blog more now that I’m feeling better so I’m going to stick to a schedule again, hopefully even better than I did before

5. Don’t procrastinate- I have a lot of work to catch up on, and a lot of work to do in April. Procrastinating will just hurt me and I really really need to stick to a schedule of work I give myself. No more putting things off to tomorrow!!

I’m reallyreally going to stick to my goals this month. I am promising myself!! Now, to study for that test that’s tomorrow…

What are your April goals? Or 1 April goal? 

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March 30, 2012

Green Morning

So…

This has been my life lately:

Family size cough drop bag (already went through 1, halfway through the second), Vicks, empty cough drop wrappers, empty tissue box, new tissue box half full all on the side of my bed.

I got sick last Thursday and whatever this is has no signs of stopping. Fun times over here!! I haven’t been posting because I’m still going to work & class and by the time I get home I’m extra exhausted because being sick gives me no energy.

I’ve still been participating in the 7-Day Green Smoothie Challenge, though. I thought the smoothies would hurt my throat but it makes it feel better. I’ve been drinking a green smoothie every morning for breakfast with a Chobani yogurt and it surprisingly has been keeping me full for a couple hours.

Today’s green smoothie:

Everyday I’ve had some combination of:

1 cup almond milk

1 cup cranberry juice (unsweetened)

1 frozen small banana

1/2 cup frozen fruit (pineapple, mango, strawberries)

2 cups spinach

1/2 scoop protein powder

On Monday my smoothie was a complete fail. Too much milk, too little fruit. Luckily they’ve just gotten better since then! I love the unsweetened cranberry juice in the smoothie because it makes it a little tart, but not too much.

I’ve found that drinking a green smoothie every morning starts my day with more energy and I have motivation to eat a little healthier the rest of the day. I’m definitely going to keep up this habit and drink green smoothies in the morning more often, especially now that I have figured out a combination that fills me up.

Today I’m planning on getting my nails done, going out to lunch, going to work and then going to yoga! I haven’t been able to work out all week so I’m excited to go to yoga tonight.

I hope you all have a great Friday, it feels like this week was going so slow during the week but looking back now it sped by. I have a ton of homework & work to do this weekend so hopefully I’ll get through all of that so I can do some fun stuff too!

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