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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I have one more day left of the Whole30! I am being seriously tempted with yummy bunnies sitting on my kitchen table. So far I’m holding strong but I am giving a lot of thought as to when is the best time to test out sugar again? I am terrified that as soon as I eat a little bit the sugar monster will come back full force. It’s been so nice to not have to deal with that beast and I really don’t want to invite it back in to my life. On the other hand, it’s really unlikely that I’ll go the rest of my life without eating added sugars. I’m thinking that the best way to handle this situation is to completely change when and how I eat it. No more sitting on the couch watching TV and not even tasting the deliciousness that I ate. And no more treats that aren’t absolutely worth the risk of the sugar monster.
Today was a pretty typical Monday for me. I had some leftover breakfast from yesterday. It’s an insanely delicious egg sausage hash thing that I made up. I’m so sad it’s all gone now so I’ll be making it again for sure and maybe even share the recipe.
Whole30 hash with a side of Oxygen Magazine
So remember how I ran outside for 2 hours yesterday? I didn’t even think about the sun and completely forgot about sunscreen. I got a nice sunburn going on my face and shoulders. So dumb of me!
Sweet face sunburn.
I had a pretty busy day at work. I was kind of jealous of everyone coming in and telling me how gorgeous it was outside, especially because it’s supposed to be raining tomorrow and get colder on Wednesday. It was awesome motivation to get outside for a run as soon as I got out. I’m mad at my running app because it decided to pause itself so now I have no idea what my pace was. There’s nothing I can do about it though so oh well. It felt pretty slow. It seems like there’s no rhyme or reason to what my pace will be. I just have to keep pushing myself and keep on trying for better. My legs just feel like dead weight sometimes, I’m not really sure what I should do about that? Any and all running tips are appreciated! I hope you guys got to enjoy the fabulous weather!
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Happy Easter!
I hope you’re all enjoying your Easter holiday. Matt and I are staying home and enjoying a smoked pork tenderloin. Matt is the master smoker in our home, of meats anyways. Since I was so lazy last week I am on my game for this week. I seriously felt so lost! I know, I’m ridiculous. My Whole30 ends on Tuesday which means I get to eat some cheese on Wednesday!!! I could also technically eat some ice cream but I’m going to avoid anything super sugary for as long as possible. For some reason I crave cake hardcore and it’s not even something that I like all that much, so even though I don’t have intense sugar cravings at night I think it’s best to not rock the boat. So I’m planning on eating some dairy on Wednesday and then eating Whole30 style until Saturday. Fingers crossed that I don’t have any side affects! Then on Saturday I’ll test out non-gluten grains. This is timed perfectly because we’re going to a Hibachi restaurant Saturday night for a friend’s b-day and I don’t know how I would avoid rice, or alcohol. I’m equally excited and terrified to try out the eliminated foods. It’ll be nice to ease up on the ingredients we can use but I really don’t want to be bloated and foggy headed and feel gross. I really do want to know what foods don’t agree with me so I can avoid them.
I’m pretty excited for the meals we have planned this week, mostly because they’re tried and true favorites. (TACOS!!!)
Meals
Monday~ Easter dinner leftovers
Tuesday~ Orange Brown Butter Shrimp over Salad
Wednesday~ Tacos in Lettuce Wraps with Cauliflower Coconut Lime Rice
Thursday~ Baked Garlic Mushroom Chicken Thighs with Green Beans coated in Coconut Oil and Slivered Almonds
Friday~ Italian Wedding Soup
Saturday~ Hibachi
Sunday~ Grilling Skewers (if the weather allows)
You can find all these recipes on my “Healthy Eats” board on Pinterest.
I was the biggest slacker when it came to exercise last week. I just didn’t feel like doing anything, so I didn’t. I think sometimes it’s good to take a little break and let your body chill. I ran 5 miles on Monday after work and shaved some time off of my pace. It was a great run! Then the weather turned colder and it snowed and my motivation died. I went to Zumba on Wednesday and I haven’t done anything since. So now I’m missing my weights! I want to do two strength workouts a week in addition to running 4 times and my weekly Zumba class. I think that should be a good balance.
Fitness
Sunday~ 10 mile run
Monday~ 3 mile run and compound workout
Tuesday~ 5 mile run
Wednesday~ 3 mile run and Zumba
Thursday~ workout at PFit
Friday~ rest/ possibly do Pilates DVD
Saturday~rest
Matt just pulled a beer bread out of the oven so that’s my cue to go do my run. 😉 Wish me luck! What are your fitness plans? Do have any strength workouts that you’d like to share?
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We’re gearing up for week 3 of the Whole30 and my LAST week of Body for Life! This is huge for me. I have a hard time following fitness plans all the way to the end, especially if they’re 3 months long. I’m really looking forward to being able to change of my routine and maybe even taking more of my workouts outside. I had my first outdoor run of the year and it was glorious! Slow, but glorious. Oh sun, how I have missed you. Thank-you for returning to my life. My nutrition has really clicked with the Whole30 eating plan. So far I’ve stuck to the rules 100% and I’m pretty confident that I can see this through to the end. I’m almost at the half-way point. I do have a bridal shower brunch to attend this week-end and I’m a little worried that I won’t be able to eat anything. I suppose that I can just eat a nice big breakfast at home and try to avoid eating at it at all.
Last week I made a huge pan of Apple Bumpkin Breakfast Bake that I’ve been working on for breakfasts all week. I topped it with coconut butter and it is absolutely delicious! I needed a break from eggs every morning but I think this week I’ll be bringing them back.
Meal Plan
Monday~Baked Mustard Lime Chicken
Tuesday~ Spicy Shrimp and Butternut Squash “Rice” with Tomatoes
Wednesday~Prosciutto Wrapped Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Chicken
Thursday~Chicken Nuggets and Sweet Potato Fries (made these last week and we’re in love!)
Friday~ Italian Wedding Soup
Saturday~Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs
If you’d like to make any of these dinners all the recipes can be found on my Healthy Eats board on Pinterest.
Fitness Plans
Sunday~ 5k run (OUTSIDE!!!)
Monday~ Upper Body
Tuesday~Lower Body, Abs and 3 mile run
Wednesday~ 5 mile run and Zumba
Thursday~ Upper Body
Friday~ Rest day
Saturday~ 9 mile run
So it’s shaping up to be a pretty fun week. Matt and I are ripping up some yucky linoleum flooring in the dining room today and using the grill for dinner. I’m so excited to see the hardwood underneath! What are you guys up to today? Any crazy house projects or long runs? I’ll keep you posted on the how the floors come out.
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Hey guys! I’m almost done with my first week of Whole30 and I’m feeling great! My sugar cravings are gone! I’m not sure if that’s because I’m really not craving them or if it’s because I’ve been going to bed earlier but it’s working and I couldn’t be happier! It gives me a lot of encouragement to keep with this plan. I have started to get a little bored with eggs and avocado in the morning so I’m branching out this week with a yummy looking apple egg baked thing. I’ll let you know how that goes.
Meals
Sunday~ Chocolate Chili
Monday~ Baked Garlic Mushroom Chicken with Green Beans
Tuesday~ Cilantro Lime Shrimp with Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Wednesday~ Meatloaf Cake with Baked Sweet Potatoes
Thursday~ Chicken Fingers with BBQ Sauce and Sweet Potato Fries
Friday~ Crockpot Curry over Cauliflower Rice
Saturday~ Apple Dijon Burgers topped with Caramelized Onions and a Fried Egg
Breakfasts~ Apple Bumpkin Bake
I found all of these recipes through Whole30 recipe searching. If you want to try them out you can click on them on my “healthy eats” board on Pinterest.
Fitness
Saturday~ 8 mile run (CANNOT believe that I did this!!!)
Sunday~ Rest day (really enjoying my lazy morning)
Monday~ 4 Mile run (hopefully outside if the weather co-operates)
Tuesday~Lower Body and Abs
Wednesday~ Upper Body, 3mile run and Zumba
Thursday~ Lower Body and Abs
Friday~ Rest
I’ve found it’s really tough for me to run after a long day at work. I try to switch out to flats for the last few hours to try and preserve my legs but my calves and my feet are pretty tired after about a mile. I was really lucky this Saturday because after lunch I had appointments where I pretty much sat the entire time which NEVER happens. It was so beautiful out all day and I kept hoping that I would be able to run outside but as soon as I was leaving work it started to rain. Oh well, hopefully that was my last long run on the treadmill! I’ll be back later today or tomorrow with a post on my Whole30 eats.
What have you got planned for this week? Trying any new recipes or running new distances?
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This week is a more normal work week for me and I’m so thankful for that. I feel like I actually have time to plan out our eats and my workout routine. I learned from last week and I’ve spaced out my workouts. I’m hoping that this helps preserve my legs. I literally felt like they were going to just completely freeze up on me and that’s an awful feeling. I’m really struggling with running longer distances on the treadmill and I would LOVE if Spring would just get here already! Any tips on increasing mileage on a treadmill is much appreciated.
Meals
Monday~ Matt made the most delicious Corned Beef and Cabbage in the crockpot!
Tuesday~Parmesan Red Pepper Fish, oven potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts
Wednesday~ Stuffed Chicken and tossed green salad
Thursday~ Pork chops and mixed veggies
Friday~ leftovers
my lunch~ Quinoa salad with asparagus, peas, avocado and lemon basil dressing
I decided instead of always eating the leftovers for my lunches I would just make something that would keep all week and wouldn’t have to be microwaved.
Fitness
Sunday~ 6 mile run (I hated every minute of this run!) 😦
Monday~ Lower Body and Abs
Tuesday~ Upper Body and 4 mile run (possibly outside if the weather warms up like it’s supposed to.)
Wednesday~ Lower Body, Abs and Zumba
Thursday~ 3 mile run
Friday~ Yoga DVD ( I really REALLY need to do this!)
Saturday~ 7 mile run (maybe do this on Sunday if I get out of work late, which is likely to happen.)
So that’s the plan for the week. Plus a lot of cleaning and organizing of my house. I should really get a house-keeper for the weeks that I have all day class. I’m really going to try to stay positive during all of my runs this week. I want to get to the place in my running that I start to crave it. I feel like that’s a long way off but I have a feeling that once I’m able to get outside things will change pretty quickly.
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So this is a little late since I like to post these on Sunday but life gets busy and sometimes you just get to things when you can. I had a really fun week-end. Friday night Matt and I, with our friends Care and Russ, went to see the comedienne Loni Love.
We’ve watched her on Chelsea Lately a million times and when we saw she was coming to Pittsfield we bought tickets right away. She was hilarious and inspirational. It was a great night with great people.
Then on Saturday night we went to a paint and sip party put on by the Progressive Palette. It was their first party and I was psyched to get to go. We were guided step by step how to paint a hill landscape and they encouraged you to make it your own and switch up the colors and mostly to just have fun with it. I was surprised how much I liked my painting and I was blown away by how amazing Matt’s painting came out. His apple trees are fantastic and I love how swirly the sky is!
My painting isn’t as great as Matt’s is but I really liked the whole process and I can’t wait to do it again. In fact I’m signed up to do a whimsical tree painting in a few weeks.
Then on Sunday morning I went to brunch with a few of the girls from work. It was a bittersweet time. I always have a great time with my co-workers but we were there to say to good-bye to one of our receptionists, Jenna. I’m going to miss that girl so much! I love week-ends that are jammed pack with fun!
Last week we ate out of our freezer and this week we are doing the same thing. It’s been really nice to open the freezer door and not have anything fall out and smash your foot. And there’s more room for ice cream. 😉
Meals
Monday~ leftovers from Sunday’s cheesy Italian Chicken and tater tots (sometimes you just have to have tater tots)
Tuesday~ Crockpot Salsa Verde Chicken
Wednesday~ Vegged Up Shepherd’s Pie
Thursday~ Ribs and Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Friday~ Leftovers
I realized that I was making a bit too much food during the week and we were throwing away quite a bit of it. So now I’m trying to make Friday night “leftovers” night. Sorry Matt (he’s not a fan of leftovers, unless it’s something really delicious). My plan should not only save me some money but also some time, which I am a huge fan of.
Fitness
Sunday~ 5 mile run (thought I might die but I got through it)
Monday~ Upper Body, 2 mile run and Zumba
Tuesday~ Lower Body and Abs
Wednesday~ Upper Body, 4 mile run and Zumba
Thursday~ Rest
Friday~ Yoga DVD
Saturday~ Rest
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 