Matt and I had a great long week-end filled with dancing, yummy food and lots of time together. Saturday night we watched our niece in her dance recital. She did an amazing job. I was so proud of her. She’s a teacher assistant for a ballet class and she led one of the dances and she was so sweet and happy throughout the whole dance.
She’s almost as tall as me, which isn’t hard to do, but still! She’s growing up so fast.
I haven’t done much running since the half marathon and after brunch with a co-worker I was reading on our front porch and contemplating going for a run. There was a young couple that kept running by, which is super impressive because my hill is a beast, and then there was a cyclist riding by and I swear they were taunting me. So I got my shoes on and headed out. I really want to increase my speed so I was pushing myself and doing a great job. I usually use the mapmyrun app but it hasn’t been working all that well for me lately. My sister uses the nike running app so I tried that one out. I really liked it! I love that your mileage and pace are displayed the entire time and pauses when you pause. It was insanely hot out though and it was the first time that I had to call Matt to come and get me. I got a good 4 miles in before I gave up though.
I literally sat with an ice pack behind my head for 15 minutes to cool off. It felt so good!
We had an anniversary/ double graduation party to attend held at a good friend’s house. They always host the best cookouts. The food is ridiculously good and varied. But the desserts, freaking incredible. I ate everything way too fast to snap any pictures but let’s just say turtle cheesecake bites and lemon blueberry cake with cream cheese frosting. I would kill to have more of each. But the treat I was waiting for all day ……..
SMORE’S!!! These are what summers are made for.
I had a blast with these fabulous ladies and many other terrific people. We played corn hole and polish horseshoes and the night ended with a private dance party with crazy lights and music by DJ Swiss Miss. He played so many hits that I had forgotten about.
But the best part of my week-end was spending time with my husband. I love sipping coffee on our front porch in the mornings while reading and chatting with Matt. There is seriously nothing better than that.
So now I have to get back in the swing of things and hit up the grocery store, clean the house and maybe even lift some weights. I hope you all had a fantastic time too.
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Remember when I used to post my meal and fitness plans on Sundays? Yeah, I used to pretend to be organized. I’m hoping that I’ll get back on track this week-end. Anyways, I was kind of at loss at what to eat because I kind of loss my appetite after finishing the race. I’m supposed to be starving right? I guess I fueled properly? So it took me a long time to decided on our meals. Now I’m psyched because we’ve got some new recipes and a really yummy repeat.
Meals
Monday~ BBQ chicken and green beans with slivered almonds
Tuesday~ Paleo Shrimp Scampi with Zucchini Noodles
Wednesday~ Honey Spiced Glazed Chicken and Roasted Parsnips
Thursday~ Coffee- Chipotle Pork Chops with Asparagus
Friday~ Caramelized Brussels Sprouts and Chorizo
As far as fitness plans go I’m also kind of lost. I don’t have any plan that I’m following for the first time in four months. It’s freeing and terrifying! I took yesterday as a rest day to give my legs a break and now I’m a little scared to run. Is that dumb? I’m making myself go for a short run later tonight though. I know that the longer I wait the more likely I am to just stop running all together. I want to find a half in the fall just so I have to stick with running.
Fitness
Sunday~ Steel Rail Half Marathon ( I finished in 2:24:24)
Monday~ Rest
Tuesday~ 2 mile run and yoga
Wednesday~ speed workout and Zumba
Thursday~ back and ab workout
Friday~ Rest
Saturday~ 2 mile run (if I can get my butt out of bed early enough!)
Now that I have everything all planned out I feel so much better about this week. Do you have any races lined up? Did you lose your appetite after a race?
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I ran my first half today! I ran the ENTIRE thing too. I only walked to drink water and eat some shot blocks and for a minute when I thought I might have an accident. This run could not have gone better. I’m almost glad that last week’s 11 miler was so rough because it hilighted the areas that I needed to focus on. I made it a priority to eat at least one serving of grains a day (gluten free grains of course!).
I focused on hydrating and getting more sleep. Other than that I just relied on all of the training I’ve done to get me through.
My sister stayed with me the entire time even though I know she could have run faster without me. I’m so thankful that she was there. I felt like I couldn’t fail if she was by my side.
Last week my sister had me try her shot blocks when I was struggling and I could definitely feel a surge of energy. During the half I ate one block every three miles and I know that helped me stay energized through the entire race. I needed to pee during the whole race so that was uncomfortable but I was scared to stop because we were running at a great pace, for us.
My wonderful husband, Matt, has been so supportive during all of my training. He encouraged me when I doubted myself. He made me healthy meals. He massaged my tight calf muscles and gnarly feet. He and my brother-in-law, Luiz, cheered us on and we’re waiting at the finish line. My mom came to cheer us on too and my mother-in-law was there also. When we were rounding the corner to the finish line I was surprised by a group of our Zumba friends screaming and waving signs. The amount of support that we had during this run was wonderful and
helped so much.
Matt got me these beautiful roses and a massage bar that I used to roll out all my muscles that were cramping up. That thing is magic. I didn’t stay long after the race because I was pretty beat. We went home and I took a cat nap. Then Matt grilled us some shrimp, steak and red and orange peppers.
It was yummy and I can’t wait to eat the leftovers as a big salad tomorrow! Today is my mom’s birthday so we got together to celebrate at my sister’s house.
Ever since I did the whole30 I have been obsessed with cake. I never really cared about it before but I literally couldn’t stop thinking about cake during those thirty days. It doesn’t really agree with my body but I don’t care, today I was having some cake! It was ridiculously amazing.
I can’t believe that my half is over and now I’m wondering what’s next? I want to work on increasing my pace so I’m thinking I’ll focus on speed work. I might have to look for some other races too.
What did you do this weekend? Did you complete any goals? Did you eat fabulous cake?
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Early Friday morning the power went out in almost our whole county. It was awesome having the house completely dark, until the carbon monoxide sensor starting beeping every minute. The power was still out when I was getting ready for work and you would think that my biggest concern was that I couldn’t really style my hair, but no, it was how the hell was I going to get my coffee?! Thankfully I live about 15 minutes away from Vermont and was able to stop at a gas station with the freshest coffee in the whole world. The coffee line was ridiculously long!
It took me about 15 minutes but I was able to snag 3 large coffees to share with my co-workers, I was kind of a hero. We don’t close the salon just because we don’t have power. We work by the light coming from the huge windows and do what we can. It’s kind of fun/ exciting but I was super happy when the electricity came on around 10. We literally cheered. It ended up being a really long day for me, I was there until almost 9. My last client was so much fun and wanted something really bold.
She loved it. She especially loved that depending on where the part was the colors could just peek out or they could be big bold chunks. I foiled blonde and red into small triangle sections, alternating the colors and where the tip of the triangles lay. I was pleased with how it came out.
Saturday was a little frustrating because I had people cancel or forget their appointment all together. I was able to take a walk-in though that was a really fun cut to do so it all worked out. I’m loving how fashionable men’s haircuts are lately. I got to work on fading and did a lot texturizing to the top. When I asked him if he liked it he long paused and then said it was the best cut he’s ever had. I was definitely sweating during that long pause! But I was so glad he liked it.
I left work early to go to a Zumbathon. The event was part of our local relay for life and it’s the fourth time they’ve held dancing in the street. We literally take over part of Main St. and dance for an hour and a half. It was the perfect opportunity to bust out my Urban Decay electric palette.
I did some rainbow bright action on my eyes. I had a co-worker give me a Mohawk-like updo and it was awesome!
So far we’ve raised over $12,000 and we have a few more weeks to hopefully raise even more. After the event one of the crew members held a party for everyone and their significant others and children. It was a great night with great food and even better people.
Sunday morning was gorgeous and it was the first morning I got to sit on my porch and drink my coffee. I really
need to get some new sunglasses so I don’t have to steal Matt’s hat. I kind of like wearing his stuff though.
I made 3 fried eggs topped with guacamole to fuel me for my long run.
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I’m nervous for the race but I’m confident that I will finish it. This was such a great week-end and I’m so sad that it’s over.
How was your week-end? Did you have any challenging runs or color your hair a funky color?
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So yeah, I know it’s the 7th and not the 4th but sometimes things are better late than never. Plus I was busy throwing my niece a birthday party. Also, I was really indecisive and couldn’t figure out what I felt like eating. It happens sometimes. I made a lot of poor nutrition choices this past week and need to get back on track because this is week I have a Zumbathon and next week is my first half-marathon. So I have some intense training to fuel up for!
My runs continue to be so-so. Some are great and feel effortless and others feel like I’m running with lead shoes and like my bones are made out of jello. I’m pretty sure this means that I’m overdoing it. I’m really looking forward to the race being over and having more balance in terms of exercise. I felt like when I was doing the Body for Life program I was really focused on weight lifting. Then when I did the Whole30 my nutrition was spot on. Now with the training for the half I’m like the cardio queen. Once this is over I need to find how to balance these three areas.
I caught a glimpse of myself in my car windows after a recent run and almost died at how gorgeous my hair looked. I’m pretty sure I used to do this on purpose when Saved by the Bell was on TV.
I’m starting to test out non Whole30 foods to see how my body reacts to them. For breakfast this morning I had a bowl of ancient grains sprouted maize flakes with raw milk, fresh mangoes, banana and coconut flakes. It was filling and delicious.
I also indulged in a cup of vanilla coffee with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle. It was fantastic and gave me a raging headache exactly five minutes after my first sip. I’m hoping I’ve learned my lesson and can abstain from sugary coffee beverages.
My meals for the rest of the week aren’t sugar shock headache inducing.
Meals
Wednesday~ Meatloaf topped with BBQ sauce and baked sweet potatoes
Thursday~ Jerk Chicken with roasted Brussels Sprouts
Friday~Cinnamon Chili Pork Tenderloin with Apple Salsa
Fitness
Sunday~ 5 mile run (in the wind and cold)
Monday~ Rest
Tuesday~ 5 mile run/walk (with a super beastly hill in the middle) and Yoga!!!
Wednesday~ Run and Zumba
Thursday~ rest
Friday~ pilates DVD
Saturday~ 1 1/2 hour Zumbathon
Sunday~ 12 mile run on the rail trail
How do you maintain balance with healthy eating, weight training and cardio? I would love to hear any and all suggestions!
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Yesterday I was totally off my game. I overslept, which was fine since it was my day off. I pretty much hung out on the couch and caught up on my dvr all day. I did make it to Zumba so I wasn’t a total couch potato. I also made Paleo chocolate chip cookies. I held out on sugar for long enough. Theses weren’t the best cookies ever but they did hit the spot. I was surprised how sweet they were with just 1/3 cup of maple syrup. I only baked 5 cookies and rolled the rest of the dough in to bite sized pieces to use on Sunday for my niece’s birthday party.
I started today off with a yummy breakfast that started last night. I made up a huge batch of sauteed mushrooms and onions last night while I was cleaning up the kitchen from making dinner. I’ve been having a problem wanting to get up in the morning so I thought it would be a good idea to make cooking breakfast a little quicker. All I had to do was scramble up some eggs with a bit of my pre-cooked shrooms and onions. Super yummy and simple.
My eggs were a gift from one of my clients. My clients know the way to my heart, fresh eggs.
Growing up I absolutely hated eggs! I wouldn’t touch them. It wasn’t until someone gave me eggs from their chickens to try that I started to enjoy them. Now I eat them almost every single day! There’s just nothing better than a fresh and creamy egg for breakfast!
Work was just ok. I had someone not show for their lengthy appointment and then I couldn’t reach anyone on my cancellation list so there was a huge chunk of wasted time. I also forgot my fitbit at home charging. I was pleasantly surprised during my lunch by my amazing husband who went home during his lunch to get it for me. I couldn’t believe he did that! I was really feeling kind of lost without it so it made my day to have it back. For lunch I finished up my salmon and green beans from the other night. Sorry to all my co-workers for smelling up the kitchen but it was delicious!
After work I did a 3 mile run around my parent’s neighbor hood. I love running there because I don’t have any giant hills like I do in my hood. The sky was filled with really dark clouds and tiny pockets of the setting sun. The air was warm and breezy and it felt wonderful to be out there.
Matt cooks on Thursdays and he made us baked sweet potatoes and chorizo with Brussels sprouts. It was so freaking delicious!! We will definitely be keeping that recipe in the dinner rotation!
I apologize for the super grainy iphone pictures. One of these days I’ll learn how to use the DSLR. What have you been up to today? Have anything super yummy to eat? Watch anything good off your dvr?
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Yesterday I had such a great run! I think I just really needed a new mindset and some new shoes. 😉 I did have to stop and adjust my laces on the new kicks a few times but other than that the run felt great. It was actually almost effortless. I was really dreading doing this 6.2 run because it was dreary out and I just didn’t feel like running. I was starting to run out of time so I basically kicked myself out of the house and I’m so glad I did!
Matt grilled up some steak and these gorgeous veggie skewers for dinner last night. They were amazing!
I had an entire day of training at one of our bigger salons today and we were treated to lunch made by our boss Vasso. He’s from Greece and he’s a fantastic chef and a seriously talented hairstylist. He made my favorite, meatballs! I had to eat my entire plate full! His salad is always full of delicious greens, dill and a homemade dressing. I said no to an assortment of pastries, garlic bread, pasta and spanakopita. I did however say yes to two black jelly beans. They’re my fav.
After class, which got out early, I did a little shopping at Ulta. I wanted to reward myself for sticking with the Whole30 so I bought myself a little something that I’ve been wanting.
I can’t tell you how excited I am to play with this! I’m pumped to use it for an upcoming Zumbathon! (Now I just need some fun new leggings to go with it!)
These are some seriously fun colors! After my shopping I hit the bike path where I’ll be running my half-marathon. The training plan I’m following called for a 3 mile run but it was the last nice day for quite awhile so I decided to do my 5 mile run. My stomach was so mad at me for eating those meatballs during my run! It was brutal you guys. A big lesson learned. The bike path is really beautiful and part of it goes around a lake so I was beyond happy to be out there. I always see a lot of animals and this time was no exception.
I found out why the chicken crossed the road…
To hang out with his friends! I kept seeing these chickens running around ahead of me and I was psyched to get some pictures of them. I love chickens! My poor phone died during my run so I don’t have my pace or any pictures of the ducks and geese that I saw. Oh well, next time.
I took a super fun Zumba class later on and when I got home Punky was begging to go for a walk. We did a quick 3/4 mile walk and even managed a few sprints up our beastly hill. Who know my little monkey dog was such a great running coach?
I’m going to finish watching Dancing with the Stars (everyone’s getting hurt:( ). I hope you guys had a great start to your week!
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Hey guys! How’s your week-end going so far? Mines been great. I worked yesterday, like I do every Saturday, and then went to dinner at a Hibachi place for a friend’s birthday. It was so much fun and I can see Matt and I going often. We had fruity rum drinks and our food cooked right in front of us. I was drowned in sake and got squirted by a little boy water pistol thing. It was a blast! I ate so much food! It was really dark so I didn’t take many pictures but I had a small salad with a ginger dressing, crab ran-goons, fried rice, shrimp, chicken and loads of veggies. Then I came home and ate the ears off one of my chocolate bunnies. I was terrified that I would feel like death today after trying so many non Whole30 foods, but I actually don’t feel bad at all. I slept for like 9 hours and drank a ton of water before bed so I think that probably helped me quite a bit.
These rum drinks totally brought Matt and I back to our honeymoon in Jamaica.
My drink was really sweet so I was only able to drink about half of it before I called it quits. I never would have done that pre-Whole30! I’m pumped for this week’s dinners. We’re going to do some grilling later and we have a bunch of new recipes to try. I’m also going to try to do more prepping today to make dinners quicker this week. I have class all day tomorrow so I have to work Tuesday and it’s hard to get everything done with only one day off.
Meals
Sunday~ Shrimp skewers and steak on the grill
Monday~ shrimp and steak salads (from Sunday’s leftovers)
Tuesday~ roasted salmon with green bean, apricot and pistachio salad and tarragon tomatoes
Wednesday~ spicy pork lettuce cups and citrusy carrots
Thursday~ caramelized Brussels sprouts and chorizo with baked sweet potatoes
Friday~ easy crockpot chicken fajitas
I have come to the conclusion that I need new running shoes. My feet were killing by the end of even three miles. I took this quiz on runners world to help me figure out what I should be shopping for and got lucky with a sale on Zappos for the Asics Gel Cumulus15. I can’t get over how quickly Zappos delivers! My shoes were seriously here in less than 48 hours! I can’t wait to test them out today and fingers crossed they keep my feet smiling.
Fitness
Sunday~ 10k run
Monday~ 5/3 mile run (depending when I get out of class) + Zumba
Tuesday~5/3 mile run (depending on what I run Monday)
Wednesday~ Pilates DVD and Zumba
Thursday~ 3 mile run and weight session
Friday~ REST
Saturday~ 20 min Pilates DVD
Unfortunately the forecast is calling for a lot of rain this week so I think I’ll be spending some time on the treadmill. I only have a few weeks until the half so training must go on rain or shine. I had some hard runs last week and I again find myself needing to reset my mind and focus while running. I am truly lucky to be able to run. It doesn’t matter how fast or slow I go, only that I’m doing it. I really beat myself up last week and now I know how silly it was. It doesn’t make me a better person if I can run faster or longer. It doesn’t even make me a better runner. It does give me something to work on though. When I was running my 3 miles on the treadmill I decided to work on my speed. I increased the speed every minute and I was able to run at 6.4 mph for a minute. That’s fantastic for me! It made me realize how far I have come in just the past few months. I only have to keep at it and I’ll get better. I have to stop comparing myself to everyone else. I’ll only ever be me so the only person I should be comparing myself to is me. (This applies to more than just running.) Sometimes this is easier said than done but it’s something that I’m going to consciously keep working on in all aspects of my life.
I have lots of house work to catch up on and that 10k to run so I’m going to end my ramble now. Have you ever been unnecessarily harsh on yourself? What did you do about it? I wish you all a healthy and happy week!
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I finished up my Whole30 reset yesterday so that means I got to start reintroducing some of the eliminated foods. I decided to start to with dairy because that’s what they recommend in the book “It starts with food”. The one food that I really missed was cheese. I wasn’t craving it or anything but there were quite a few meals that we ate and I would think to myself this would be so good with some cheese on it. For breakfast I fully intended to have some yogurt but I was so full from my bowl of Whole30 Hash that it had to wait for lunch.
That first bite was complete and utter bliss, but the after taste was a bit off. I’m not sure if it was the berries or what but it just didn’t taste right. The yogurt wasn’t sour or going bad, it just had a different after taste than I’m not used to. I managed to eat most of it though. I had really wanted to eat some skyr from a local farm that’s owned by one of my client’s family but the health food store was out when I went shopping. I also had some left over salad with orange brown buttered shrimp. This dish was fantastic and we will without a doubt be making it again. Matt has all sorts of plans to grill it next time.
I actually did some Pilates today! My brother bought me Mari Winsor’s DVD set for Christmas and I’m ashamed that it took me this long to use it. I had the VHS tapes years ago and I used them so much that it wore the tape out in spots and would get all those lines running through it. Did I just date myself? :p I remember it being so HARD! I was pleasantly surprised that I could do most of it. There are a few moves that I just couldn’t manage but I know that that will just motivate me to keep at it. It felt so good to work my entire body and to really focus on my core. I keep reading that core work is really beneficial to running and you know how much help I need with my running.
After my Pilates session I did a bunch of house cleaning and finished up removing some icky flooring in the dining room. I think we just need to sand down the hard wood and we can finally start using that room! I have been working on that dining room since the first week we bought the house almost 6 years ago. Why can’t DIY take a half hour like it does on HGTV?
I was pretty hungry about an hour before Zumba and I’ve been wanting to try to make my own energy bites ,so this afternoon I finally made it happen. These are so yummy, like a larabar but fresher. I found the recipe on Pinterest. Here’s the link to the recipe. They’re simple to make if you have a food processor. My one mistake was eating four of them in about 15 minutes plus munching on mangoes and pineapple that I was chopping up. About a half hour later I had a headache. I’m pretty sure it was sugar overload.
For dinner we had tacos in lettuce cups and I FINALLY got to eat some cheese! My taste buds were singing and I may have moaned in bliss. I was too excited to dive in to even bother taking a picture but I’m sure you guys know what a taco looks like. I freshly grated some raw cheddar cheese from Grafton Village, which is only about an hour away. It says it was aged for two years. I figured if I was going to eat some cheese I had better make any potential pain worth it and go with the best stuff I could find.
So far my stomach feels just fine. I’ll be eating Whole30 style for the next couple of days and I’m really hoping that I don’t have any inflammation or any other reactions to dairy because I really enjoy it. I probably won’t eat it as much as I did in the past and when I do it’s going to be high quality.
Did you guys try any new recipes or bring back an old staple?
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This was so yummy that I had to make it again this morning and I thought it was just mean not to share it with you. It’s a little time intensive for a week-day morning so it might be better to make on the week-end and possibly re-heat during the week, if it lasts that long.
Whole30 Hash
Serves 6
1 Tablespoon Ghee
1 Butternut Squash, chopped into one inch pieces
1 Yellow Onion, chopped
1 Pepper, chopped (I used an orange but any color pepper would work),
1 lb Paleo Sausage (see instructions below)
6 Farm Fresh Eggs
1/2 Teaspoon ground Cumin
1 Teaspoon Herbamare (or Sea Salt)
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
Paleo Sausage (adapted from this recipe)
1 lb Ground Pork
3/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Dried Sage
1/4 Teaspoon Dried Rosemary
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1 Teaspoon Herbamare (or 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt)
1 Teaspoon Fennel Seeds
To Make Paleo Sausage
In a medium bowl mix all ingredients together really well. Yup, it’s that simple!
Whole30 Hash
1. Melt Ghee in a large skillet over medium heat. Add squash and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
2. Add the onion, pepper, cumin, and garlic powder to the skillet. Cook for 5 minutes and remove vegetables from skillet to a large bowl.
3. To the skillet, add sausage and break up into small bite sized pieces. Cook the sausage thoroughly.
4. Add the cooked vegetables back to the skillet with the sausage.
5. In a small bowl beat the eggs with Herbamare. Pour into the skillet and stir continuously until the eggs are cooked through.
My only regret with this recipe is that I didn’t make it from the very beginning of my Whole30 journey. You don’t need to be on a Whole30 reset or even eat a Paleo diet to enjoy this. It’s super filling and sustained me for my 10 mile run without feeling heavy in my stomach. I think you could also eat it for lunch or dinner but for some reason eggs just scream “Breakfast!” to me. I hope you try it and like it as much as we did!
I'm a continuous work in progress. I'm 31. A professional hairstylist & make-up artist. I love to dance, cook clean food and bake dirty desserts. I really love coffee. I have a monkey dog and a fluffy cat. I love crafts and shopping. I sometimes love working out. I recently married my best friend. Stop by and check on my progress.
Ms. Mandipants 