Tired Tuesday

Hello! I have had such a long day so this will be quick… I’m so ready for bed right now!

Today I worked, came home so I could go running, then went back to work to help with inventory. And it rained pretty much allllllll day here.

I had a purty breakfast though:

fruit salad made up of raspberries, pineapple, and 1 nectarine. topped w/ plain nonfat yogurt (Walmart doesn’t carry my greek yogurt so this is all I have ) Plus drizzled w/ honey. And 2 slices of crackbread topped w/ honey PB and raspberry preservers. Couldn’t eat all the fruit salad!

This held me over til my Mother Salad at lunch….Today I made a southwest version:

Spinach, bagged lettuce, tomatoes, red/green/yellow peppers, 1/2 avocado, corn, black beans, sabra hummi, and blue tortilla chips for dipping. I also drizzled it w/ some Newman’s Own southwest dressing. I wasn’t too crazy about the dressing though. Not my favorite.

And I had lychees for dessert:

Sooo sweet and juicy.

Mid-afternoon, amongst the craziness that is my work, I snacked on this:

And then I came home and went for a run. Since it was raining, I went to the gym and hopped on the treadmill. I figured since I had to use the treadmill I might as well try and do some speedwork. I didn’t follow any specific routine, but just kind of made it up as I went along.

The first few minutes I warmed up and began a slow jog (4 on the treadmill)

Then it went something like this….

Minute 5: level 4

6: level 5

7: level 4

8:level 6

9: level 4

10: level 7

11: level 4

12: level 5.5

13: level 4.5

14: level 6.5

15: level 4.5

16: level 7.5

17: level 4.5

18: level 8 (only lasted 30 seconds here, I was beat!)

19-22: level 4.5

22-25: cool down

Total distance about 1.7 miles (incl. walking warm up)

Came home and had a coconut water…

And made a smoothie before I went back to work:

1/2 scoop choc protein powder (whey)

chocolate almond milk

1 banana

ice cubes

big handful of spinach

scoop of honey PB

Then when I got to work we had ordered Pizza Hut….at first I had zero appetite (that’s normal after I run) but eventually it came back so I had 1 slice of pizza and a teeny bit of pasta

This plate is actually kinda small so it looks like more than it was. Filled me up though! Now I’m home drinking some Tazo Calm Tea and plotting my dreams

So much to do before vacation!!!!!!! AH!!!!!!

4 Days Til Vacation!!

Yes, that’s right, I’m taking yet another vacation! Friday night I’m flying up to NY. Exactly what I’ll be doing there is up in the air…but I don’t fly home til wednesday! Woot woot! I’m flying into upstate NY but there’s been some discussion of driving into NYC. We shall see

Today at work I felt like I had ADHD because I was soooooo excited for my trip that I kept finding myself wandering around aimlessly, not doing work. Heh.

at 9am I had Breakfast-it was the 2nd serving of my Pomegranate Quinoa w/ goat cheese.

Plus 1 banana w/ cashew butter. I also drank the rest of my Mint Tea from yesterday.

This only filled me up til noon…And then I had the Mother of all Salads for lunch:

This Mother Salad contained…red, green and yellow peppers, 1/2 avocado, lettuce, spinach, shredded carrots, sugar snap peas, 2 roma tomatoes, sabra hummus, 1 cube of my feta cheese courtesy of the cute cheese boy, and drizzled w/ Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar salad dressing.

Holy Deliciousness. This salad was so big, it took me my ENTIRE lunch break to eat it!! (I get 30 min). Afterwards I was sooooo full. Must’ve been all the fiber from the veggies.

It actually kept me full til way into the afternoon…But I did snack on this before I left work even though I wasn’t very hungry b/c I knew I had tennis right after work:

And then tennis got cancelled It was storming. Poop. So instead I came home and made a nice dinner…

shrimp pasta with tomato cream sauce (whole grain pasta) and zucchini on the side

This pasta was pretty light and yummy. I’ll post the recipe tomorrow!

I also had a glass of ice cold milk (I was craving it!)

Since tennis was cancelled, Bella and I took a walk to Wal-Mart to return the Confessions of a Shopaholic to the Redbox Machine. It’s about a 2.25 to 2.5 mile walk round trip. I don’t know if it was the walk or the weather (hot/sticky/just got done raining) but I was a sweaty mess when we got home!

My sweet tooth was craving something so I had some dessert…

raspberries, plus 3 choc-covered apricots and 1 peanut butter cup.

Now it’s more ice water (I’m sooo thirsty right now!) and off to beddy.

Running Is Euphoric

Today was a working sunday, which is my least favorite kind. Even though I only worked for 2 hours, it still takes away from the one morning a week I get to wake up and leeeeeisurely make breakfast and relax.

I still had time to make a pretty little breakfast plate though:

Two pieces of Publix Breakfast bread topped with cashew butter and raspberry preserves…

Plus a fruit salad made up of grapes, 1 chopped nectarine and 1 kiwi

Plus 1/2 of this:

After work I stopped by the Maitland Farmer’s Market on my way home:

I picked up all this stuff for $11:

And then I spent $7 on this cheese…

This is a type of feta, but it’s different from greek feta. It doesn’t have as much of a bite and it’s a lot more creamy. It is officially the most delicious cheese I have EVER tasted. The flavor practically explodes in your mouth. I’ve had it once before and when I saw it at the cheese booth again I couldn’t resist. Plus I think “The Cheese Guy” (that’s what I call him) that works the booth is adorable

After putting away my purchases, I made a light lunch using my leftover dinner last night-pad thai-plus the rest of my fruit salad from brekkie this morning (I couldn’t eat it all)

Mr. “Cheese Guy” also told me to try this with the feta cheese I’d just bought…He said to cut a zucchini in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and fill the hollow with the cheese. Then bake/roast it in the oven until zucchini is tender. I roasted it at 400 degrees for about 20-25 mins. In one I just put the cheese, and in the other half I topped it with plain breadcrumbs. It was yummy!!!!

Bella also tried to eat some veggies for lunch…

(that’s a green bean that she decided she didn’t like after she picked it up and bit it and licked it a trillion times)

After lunch I ran errands w/ the roommate and along the way we stopped for some TCBY

I had a peanut butter and cake batter swirled topped w/ reeses peanut butter cups.

I also had a Kashi Oatmeal Raisin Flax cookie while unpacking the groceries and cleaning up the apartment…

Workout today was a 2 mile run…before the run I was feeling kind of blah, but during the run I was feeling GOOD! And after, of course, I felt even better. I came home and sucked down my fave post-workout drink…

I am a hot, sweaty, goofy mess haha.

During my shower routine I decided it would be a good time to try out my Alba Face Scrub. I loved that it had teeeeeeny tiny grains in it and I scrubbed my face with it for a good minute or two. When I was done my face felt soooo soft!! I loved it!!!! I applied my nighttime lotion too. 

I whipped up a quick dinner of egg sammich and green smoothay:

Scrambled eggs mixed w/ 1 roma tomato, and 1 slice of pepperjack cheese on top of an english muffey

Green monster made up of skim milk, chopped pineapple, 1/2 frozen banana, a BUNCH of spinach and a few ice cubies. Tasted very tropical.

Now I’m watching Confessions of a Shopaholic w/ the Roommate and then heading to bed. Hoping to wake up early and take Bella on a walk in the AM. Night!!!

The Proposal

Hello! Hope everyone is having a luuuurvely weekend

So far mine is going pretty well and I’m sad to say that tomorrow is monday already! Yesterday I went to see The Proposal (Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds) with the Roommate. It was exactly what I expected with a few extra laughs!! There is one scene where I actually laughed so hard I cried. (If you’ve seen it, it’s the one where she’s dancing around the fire with “Gammy”…oh my gosh it’s hysterical!). Before the movie we ate at Elephant Bar…

When we arrived, there was a 30 minute wait so we walked over to the bar to get an appetizer (I was STARVED). As soon as we walked up to the bar, this *very cute* guy starting talking to us and ended up buying our appetizer and drinks. Since he was buying I decided to get a Sam Adam’s Summer something or other…

(had to wait til we got to the table to take a pic haha)

While we were chatting at the bar, I had 2 pieces of coconut shrimp and 2 pieces of a salmon tempura roll. Yum!

I ordered the Pad Thai:

And ate 1/2 and brought the other 1/2 home.

Earlier in the day:

Breakfast was my “pomegranate quinoa w/ goat cheese”…First of all, Quinoa is pronounced “Keen-wah.”

Recipe:

Pomegranate Quinoa W/ Goat Cheese

1 cup Quinoa (rinsed if necessary)

1 cup Pomegranate Juice

1 cup water

Goat Cheese

Honey (optional)

In saucepan, combine quinoa, juice and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes. When most/all of the liquid is absorbed, remove from heat. Pour into bowls, top w/ goat cheese and honey if desired. Makes 2 servings.

I mixed  mine with fresh raspberries and blueberries.

Mmm. It may look or sound weird but it’s so good! And quinoa is a grain that contains a high amount of protein as well.

Lunch was leftova:

(eaten at work).

On my way home from work I stopped at Targizzle to buy some fun new dishes to make for pretty blog pictures. I picked out such a random assortment of stuff…

Lots of white because I tend to think food looks best against white dishes. However this one was funky and I couldn’t resist:

I only spent around $20 and was pretty pleased with my purchases

I whipped up a hearty snack to hold me over til dinner and of course had to use my new bowl!

Small container of Fage yogurt (2%) topped with a crushed up Kashi TLC bar and raspberries. It was delish and held me over until about an hour before dinner. Including during the nap I may or may not have taken….

Off to go for a run and then I’ll post today’s eats/activities

Breakfast CrackBread For Dinner

Hello and TGIF!!!

I don’t know about you guys, but I am exhausted tonight! Work was long, and then I had to stop by my “2nd job” for a few minutes as well. I do have a second job but I only work there if/when I need extra $$. Otherwise I just work the bare minimum to stay on the payroll. Before I came home I picked up some more fruit (I felt I was lacking fruit in the fridge, even though there is a bunch in there) and I got some Publix Breakfast bread AKA Breakfast CrackBread. Seriously, this stuff is sooooooo good. Once I ate almost an entire loaf in one sitting (this was a long time ago lol).

In fact, it’s so good I had it for dinner topped w/ raspberry preserves. Along with my raspberries (raspberries are my MOST favorite fruit and I love when they’re in season and cheap!!!) plus 2 choc-covered apricots and 1 piece from my Chocolate Springs chocolate box-this one was creme brulee flavored. MmmMMmm.

Note to self: Need more vegetables! I’m thinking I need to try some of that Amazing Meal or Amazing Grass Jenna is always drinking….

Look how pretty:

Before I left work I had a very tart cherry pie lara bar…

Lunch:

Turkey sandwich, garden salsa sun chips, grape tomatoes, and kale chips…

These sandwiches are soooo good. I work in a pharmacy in a nursing home and there is a little store-we call it the “country store”-and the little lady that runs it is sooooo sweet! She gets pastries from Panera and everyday she makes sandwiches fresh….they are delicious!! And I don’t even know what makes them so good b/c all  it is is turkey, cheese, iceburg lettuce, and mayo on bread. Maybe it’s the mayo? Or the crunchy iceburg lettuce? But they are SO GOOD!

BEfore lunch I snacked on grapes:

And breakfast was cold today…it’s SO HOT in Florida during the summer.

Plus I went through the Starbucks drive thru for this monster:

It was cold, delicious, and refreshing!!!

I’d planned to go running tonight but a few friends stopped by because they were in the area and they just left. My eyes are already heavy and it’s barely 10!! I think tonight’s gonna be an early night!

See ya

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

Well I’m sure most of you know by now that Michael Jackson has passed away. I heard it in the car while on my way to Martial Arts and I was shocked! I had heard earlier in the day that he had been taken to the hospital but I didn’t think much of it. Apparently he died of cardiac arrest, and I know there are a lot of people saddened by this great loss to the music industry. R.I.P.

On another note, today was a little better eating wise as far as actually eating the food instead of making it and wasting it

I had pecan-apple oatmeal w. brown suga:

I ate about 2/3 of it. Woo. :-/

Now, as far as lunch goes, when I was making my lunch last night I was really distracted and exhausted so the things I threw together today were not all that great. Look:

An english muffin with the last of my cinn raisin PB and a banana, plus a container of 2% fage yogurt drizzled with honey and a crushed up kashi TLC bar.  I actually only ate the english muffin and waited til about 3 to eat the yogurt and granola bar. It was good though.

After work, I went with my dad to the bank to see if I am able to be approved for a mortgage. I was pretty nervous because I have a lot of student loan debt but I actually was approved!!! Now we can start looking for houses! That’s exciting!

The mortgage meeting lasted 2 hours and by the time I got home it was dinner time! I made annies mac and cheese and I added sun dried tomatoes, chopped up roast beef, and a little extra cheddar cheese. Plus I chopped up some peppers on the side (I realized I didnt have any veg today til then!) and an applesauce cup (i only eat all natural applesauce-no sugar added or anything else).

I also added 1/4 of an avocado on top

After dinner it was off to Martial Arts where we did a good set of cardio drills, followed by more stretching (i.e. more middle splits), which brings me to my next thing:

I GOT MY MIDDLE SPLIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was painful…ok, *very very painful* but finally!!

Here is where I’ve been for a while:

(actually, this is a bit lower than where I normally am….so I’m already feeling pain here….)

**drumroll please……..**

Look at my face!!! I was in so much pain!!!

Today I felt like I was walking funny, and my legs were super sore, just from stretching!! And then tonight in class, we did it again…..and it hurt EVEN WORSE!! I actually cried. Like actual tears. Stretching is a different kind of pain, I think because you endure it for longer than you’d like to. I’m working on a stretching post so look for that soon.

After class I came home and had (and by had I mean I SUCKED DOWN) a Coconut Wata:

It was soooo refreshing, I almost drank two! Now I’m having some Tazo Calm tea and about to be in bed. I’m exhausted.

Nighty night!

Workout Wednesday

Hi!! Today was a super workout day that tooootally made up for my *laziness* yesterday

First, in the morning, I had work super early at 7am. Of course I prepacked all my food last night, and put together my brekkie when I got to work. I had the last of my Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal and the last of my Kashi GoLean cereal (not measured), blueberries, 1 sliced banana, and 1 champagne mango (my first time having this kind of mango-not bad! very tart though!) plus 1 container of 2% fage yogurt drizzled with honey.

It was really good. Unfortunately, I only ate about ten bites before I lost my appetite. Stress has that effect on me

Before lunch I had a leeeetle snack since my breakfast was practically non-existent…

Look what my tea-cap said:

Cute

By lunch I was super hungry but still no app. However, I forced myself to eat this:

Lots of veg!

I didn’t realize it but I didn’t eat again until after I went running and then realized I’d felt a little weak during the run. 1.75 miles, and I’m not gonna lie, it was a bit tough since I just had 5 days off. Plus it was so hot and sticky outside it’s like drinking the air instead of breathing it!

After the run I had 2 dates:

And then went to Martial Arts. I helped teach some white belt kids (beginners) and then did a class of strength training. We did legs and abs. Then we stretched. I touched the floor on my middle split!  I have a pic but I’m too sleepy to post it so  you’ll have to wait til tommorrow hehehe.

Dinner was a smoothie (my appetite is still kinda iffy)…

This was the best smoothie I’ve had in a while!! I think it was the chocolate almond breeze. Mmmmm. Despite it’s yumminess, I only drank half. Ugh. Stress.

Night!

5K Training Schedule

The pink boxes are missed workouts.

The workouts typed in pink are “make-up workouts” (So for example, I missed the first workout of week 2-Run 1.75 miles-but then I made it up the next day, tuesday)

Workouts with a line through them are also considered “missed”…(For example, yesterday-first day of week 3-I didn’t run, but I did have a tennis lesson)

Weeks 1 & 2 are marked purple on the side because they’ve already passed. Currently I’m in week 3.

Operation Beautiful

Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point has started a movement called Operation Beautiful-Ending Fat Talk One Anonymoust Post-It At A Time. The idea is to place post-its with inspiring messages anywhere women (or men!) will see them.  Some examples are “You are beautiful!” or “Love yourself first!” For more, please check out  Operation Beautiful The Movie.

On vacation in Massachusetts this past weekend, I left a note in the bathroom of a Target and it made me feel so good!

“You Are Enough” is my favorite-I saw it on one of the post-its I first read on Caitlin’s blog and it really stuck with me. I think I’m going to put that one on my fridge because it really speaks to me. It’s refreshing to reassure myself that I am enough just the way I am.

I showed my sister, who is 15, the Operation Beautiful Video because I think it’s such a great message. I then urged her to leave a note, so she did-in the bathroom on the airplane!!

Pretty cool huh? I still have post-its and tape in my purse so I can leave more notes! Go ahead, leave one yourself!!

Facial Advice

So if you’ve been reading, you know that on Friday when I was on vacation I went to the spa and had a facial and a pedicure. Now, I’ve had a facial once or twice before but it’s been a long time. My “facialist” (I have no idea what they’re called?) was soooo nice and very helpful.  She told me a couple things I need to try to remember. **Please remember that I am just passing on her advice and I am not by any means claiming to be an expert on this subject!!**

-First, I have combination skin-oily and sometimes red in my “T-zone” (forehead, nose, chin) plus my cheeks, and then the rest of my skin is normal to dry. She also said I have very good skin including good muscle tone and texture. And because I have freckles, I’ll always look younger

-I should use a face wash that is considered a “cleansing milk” (Most face cleansers foam and this is a sign that it has a lot of detergent in it, which can irritate the skin). I told her that I use Cetaphil face cleanser and asked if that was OK?  Cetaphil is normally used for people who are allergic to other cleansers, so it’s very mild.  She said it was fine to use in the morning, since my face will be makeup free at that point. However, the Cetaphil isn’t strong enough to remove all of the makeup and dirt from the day, so she still recommended a cleansing milk at night to remove all the yucky stuff.

-Use a night cream with no water in it. Bacteria in the skin that can cause breakouts require water to survive, so if you use a night cream that does not contain water, the bacteria will suffocate.  (I have NO IDEA if this is true? lol)

-Exfoliate well with a scrub or mask once a week. This will help to remove the dead skin cells and yuckiness and reveal brighter looking skin. (I do this already)

-Use a day lotion with SPF (I already do this)

So based on her advice, this is what I’ve put together. Now, she of course recommended the line of products that they use at the spa (a line called Decleor), but for $$$ reasons, I didn’t buy any of those. $40 dollars for a teeny jar of night cream seems a bit excessive to me!

Pre-facial, this was my skin routine. I always wash my face twice a day, with either Cetaphil or Neutrogena Cooling Facial Scrub. Then I follow with Dove face lotion with SPF 15, both day and night. The facialist said it’s better to use a night cream in the PM because lotions with SPF in them tend to not contain much else in the way of moisturizing healthful ingredients for your skin. Nighttime is a time of repair for skin.

Now, let me first say that I try to follow 2 main principles when it comes to shopping:

1-Spend as little $$ as possible

2-Walmart has Anything and Everything 

So, with that being said, here is my First Attempt:

(Of course, this is in addition to my Cetaphil, Dove lotion, and Face scrub.)

I know the Neutrogena says “cleansing cream” instead of “milk” but it was the closest thing I could find in the aisles of Walmart. So I went with it! And the night cream shown does contain water but again, alllllllll of them on the shelf had water. So I picked a cheaper one.

Now, I said this is my first attempt because I’m taking both of these products back. I’ve used them for 2 nights and now I have little bumps all over my face and neck. This is NOT OK. The bumps are not super red or anything, and it’s not very noticeable unless you’re thisclose to me but they are raised and I can feel them and it feels icky!

So, today I ran some errands and one of them was to pick up a few things at Whole Foods. While I was there, I picked up a few things from their skincare aisle.

Second Attempt:

 

Here we have: Alba cleansing milk, Alba facial scrub, and Apricot intensive night cream (with no water listed…although I am debating about the “aqueous infusion”):

All together:

The plan is the Cetaphil facewash in the morning, plus the Dove deep moisture lotion. The Alba cleansing milk at night to remove all makeup, followed by the Apricot night creme. And the facial scrub once a week.

We’ll see how attempt #2 works!!