As I sit and write this post, I’m sad about the thought of leaving an absolutely beautiful city (that I unfortunately did NOT get to tour too much of), but am so excited to be returning home to JP and the hounds…beyond belief excited! I miss my family so much! Continue reading
Yesterday’s Workout: 3.07 miles @ 30:00 (treadmill run)
It’s been a while since I last posted, and I apologize! It started with me deciding to take a break from blogging over the weekend and actually relaxing, and ended with a craptastic beginning to my work week (I’ve been putting in 12-hour work days!). All I have to say is: Thank God for running to keep me sane! I really wanted to do a weekend wrap-up post but now it is Wednesday, so I thought I’d incorporate a few things from my weekend into this week’s Wicked Random Wednesday. Continue reading
Today’s Workout: 1 mile run @ 9:28 (didn’t even feel winded); 30 minutes yoga; Day 2 of 30-Day Ab Challenge
Today, I had a post lined up about Short-Term Goals vs Long-Term Goals, but I had this brilliant idea later in the day about all of these juicy facts about me that I just can’t hold in anymore. You should feel special – I’ve never told anyone about some of these things…not even JP!
Let’s see…where should I start?
CONFESSION: On Sunday, when I went out for my morning run, I was trying out a new pair of Nike Dry-Fit shorts that I bought. They seemed shorter than the ones I usually wear, and I was feeling pretty self-conscious, so I decided to put another pair of shorts on over them until I got to the part of the trail behind myself that is really private. When I got to the mouth of the trail, I ran behind a big, fallen down log, pulled one of my pairs of shorts off, and then resumed on my run. Well, when I got back to that spot to throw my shorts back on, a couple of teenage boys were coming up to the trail right behind me and saw me pulling my shorts up! My “private spot” doesn’t seem too private now – they probably thought I was copping a squat! I was so embarrassed (it did make me run faster up that horrible hill, though)!
CONFESSION: I haven’t cooked a real meal in over a week. Unless you count these delicious strawberry-lemon “ricotta” pancakes.
CONFESSION: There isn’t even really any ricotta in those pancakes. I substituted it with cottage cheese.
CONFESSION: I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but for a blogger, I’m not the most tech-savvy person. I posted an image that I was supposed to fill in yesterday without writing in it because I couldn’t figure out how to do it on my iPhone.
CONFESSION: I ate an entire, huge bag of these while at work today. Oops!
Confession: In yesterday’s post, I wrote that I got up early and ran 4 miles on National running day. I didn’t run 4 miles (I was off my schedule by a day and Wednesday was supposed to be a cross-training day), and I certainly didn’t get up early!
CONFESSION: I cancelled my hair appointment that I had scheduled for Wednesday so I could get my run in for National Running Day. And I didn’t even feel bad about it.
Your turn: Do you have any confessions you’d like to share?
Time is running out to enter the My Soxy Feet contest. Don’t forget to send in your submission!
Here I am in June last year – a lean, mean running machine!
Update: My cold is now pretty much all gone, so I’m finally going to be able to go running outside today!
Since I haven’t been running consistently lately, it’s been pretty hard for me to maintain my same weight. When I’m running consistently, I’m usually able to eat pretty much whatever I want without having to worry about gaining weight. When I’m not running and I gain a little weight, do I worry and think it’s a big deal? No, because I always know that it will come off again as soon as I’m running. But with my sister’s wedding in exactly two months, and a bridesmaid’s dress that is now too small, I’m actually getting little worried. But I have eight weeks to lose weight – if I lose 2 lbs a week, I’ll have lost 16 lbs (trust me, I don’t plan on losing that much weight, it’s way too much!). My main priority is to be in the same physical shape and have the same muscle mass that I was at last year, when I was running/cross-training five days a week. Here are a few ways how my active lifestyle helped me stay healthy all-around:
• when I’m active, I’m always concerned with staying hydrated; I usually drink about 12 large glasses of water a day
• I don’t over-eat, because I’m always concerned with how it will affect me while I’m running. I usually try and eat a full about meal four hours before I go running, and will have a banana or an orange as a snack 30 minutes to an hour before I run.
• When I have a solid running/exercise schedule, my sleep schedule improves a lot.
• I make healthier decisions in general, because I think about how the food I eat will affect my running (ie, I won’t eat a doughnut on a day I’m going running because I know if I do I’ll be tasting it throughout my entire run; or I won’t drink wine because I know it will dehydrate me).
• I make sure I get a good mix of foods, including lean meats that are high in protein and plenty of carbs. I don’t ever look at carbs as being something bad! And I make sure I eat plenty of fruits and veggies high in potassium and other vitamins and minerals.
Your turn: How does running/exercising help you make healthier decisions and maintain that lifestyle?
Hello all! The last time I updated you on my clean eating, I was having a few obstacles I was trying to overcome, and I wanted to give you a brief update on how everything’s going:
• Going out: Clean eating sure can be a struggle while going out. I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post that I attended my cousin’s wedding shower last weekend. This time of year is always crazy busy for me, but now, it’s gotten even busier – I have something going on every agile weekend until July. For the most part, I’ve been able to make healthy choices, but when someone puts a piece of cake in front of me (today, last weekend, and next weekend, we’re celebrating Easter dinner a week early because we’ll be in South Carolina for the holiday), I just can’t say no!
• The coffee dilemma: I think you all know that I LOVE my coffee. Well, I’ve been really trying to avoid putting sugar or weird creamer in my coffee, but I love my International Delight Almond Joy creamer a little to much to to give it up completely. Up until now, I was trying to use skim milk, almond or vanilla extract, and stevia to make my coffee experience more enjoyable. And since I can’t have cream (high cholesterol), I have moved back to enjoying my International Delight creamer.
• Swedish fish: My husband bought me these little guys the other night and I couldn’t help but devour them. What can I say, I don’t have the best willpower.
I understood when I decided to try clean eating that it would be difficult, but I don’t regret any of the foods that I’ve eaten. For the most part, I’m trying to stick to this lifestyle, and I do feel so much better because of it! Luckily, because JP is trying to eat healthy, too, it’s not as difficult as it would normally be.
Also, I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I made up my own smoothie recipe. If you love coconut and you like strawberries, you’ll LOVE this:
Lis’ Strawberry Coconut Super-food Smoothie
Ingredients:
1/2 cup lite coconut milk (I used Thai Kitchen
1/2 cup 0% fat Greek yogurt (I used Chobani)
1/2 cup chopped strawberries, fresh
1 banana
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 tablespoon sweetened coconut flakes
3 stevia packets, to taste
10 ice cubes
A splash of water to help break down ice cubes
Directions:
Put everything in the blender, and blend. Enjoy!
You can also substitute other ingredients (I want to try substituting the banana with watermelon and/or pineapple in the near future). Also, if you’re on a Paleo diet, just substitute the Greek yogurt with more coconut milk. There are so many different ways you can make this recipe!
Hello all! I know I haven’t been posting much lately, and I apologize. This blog – that was supposed to be about running (and still is, I promise!) – has recently turned into a blog about food, clean eating, and all random factoids about me that somehow relate to different days of the week. I’m not sure how I feel about constantly relating my posts to different days of the week, but as long as the content is quality and you, my readers, enjoy it, I don’t mind. And since I always receive great feedback on my Saturday (and sometimes Friday) posts, without further ado, here are six things I love!
1. Springtime
Can anyone deny how awesome warmer weather is – especially after the crappy winter we’ve had? And the higher temps and longer days make me hopeful that I can start running again soon.
2. Smoothies
I’ve really been enjoying making smoothies for myself lately, and came up with one particular concoction that I can’t wait to share with you tomorrow. Now that it’s getting warmer out and the days are longer, I can’t help but crave superfoods like strawberries, pineapple, and watermelon. Mmm, watermelon!
3. Family
I’ve been blessed with a wonderful, loving family that I’m very close to. I’m literally close to them – my parents live 5 minutes away from me in one direction and my sister lives 5 minutes away in the other direction. Lately, I’ve been spending even more time with my family. Last Saturday, I enjoyed some quality time with my cousin, grandmother, mom, and sister at my cousin’s bridal shower. And tomorrow, I’ll be spending the day at my parents’ house, celebrating my grandmother’s and father’s birthdays.
Me with my sister, cousin, and grandmother at my cousin’s shower.
4. Game of Thrones
Aaaaargh, I’m so excited for Season 4 to start again tomorrow night!
5. The ocean.
I love, love, love the beach…and the ocean, in general, and am so excited that I’ll be going on vacation to South Carolina fairly soon to enjoy some time in the sun and on the beach!
Ahh, pure heaven!
By the way, I took this quiz today and found out that I belong on Cape Cod. Although I love the ocean, I can see myself more in Rhode Island or on the coast in Southern Maine.
But then I took this quiz, and was told that I belong in Massachusetts. I was hoping I’d get somewhere warm, but instead got my place of residence. Creepy! Maybe I should look into moving to the Cape…
6. New England
Yeah, I’ve had it with winter, but I have to admit, New England is pretty awesome, and although I kind of live in the sticks of Massachusetts (we don’t even have a grocery store in my town), I’m lucky enough to have pretty easy access to a lot of stuff. If I want to go to the beach, I can drive 45 minutes away and get there. If I want to go skiing (something I say I’m going to do every year and then don’t), the closest place to go is about a half hour away. We have the mountains in the Berkshires, Vermont, New Hampshire, and even Maine; part of the Appalachian trail; we abut the Atlantic Ocean; and there is so many food unique to New England. Hello, we’re home to Dunkin Donuts! So although I love visiting other states – and who knows, I may someday venture out beyond these six states and find somewhere new to live – a piece of my heart will always belong to New England.
What season do you prefer…and why?
Would you rather live near the ocean, near a lake, in the mountains, in the city, or somewhere else? If somewhere else, what would you prefer…and why?
I found this recipe in the Food Network magazine a year ago, and have been dying to try it ever since then. I finally bought all the ingredients and made my own version of it today…and it was delicious!
Well, folks, another hump day has come and gone! I have to say this one has felt quite…strange to me. Usually I always have something BAD happen to me on Wednesdays. I guess I should say, something happens that really throws me for a loop, whether it’s at work or at home. But today was, in fact, totally random. So, without further ado, here are some random things to share with you for this week’s post. Continue reading
They say breakfast is the most important part of the day, so I always try to eat a good meal at the start of the day. During the week, my breakfast tends to be coffee and overnight oats, but on the weekend I kind of get “crazy” and make myself pancakes, muffins, or something of the sort. This post is for you, Marissa
Yesterday’s Workout: 3 miles @ 30 minutes (treadmill)
Today’s Workout: 4 miles @ 38:37 (treadmill)
After Thursday’s post about my knee bothering me and taking a rest day, I decided to wait and see where I was before resuming my training plan yesterday. My knee felt a lot better, but I still didn’t want to overdo it, but I was determined to get some type of run in.
So after I got home from work, I changed into my running clothes, did some calf stretches, and hopped to it at around 6:00 p.m. I was also dealing with some time constraints – I was planning on going to my parents for dinner – so I knew I wasn’t going to get the 5-mile run in that was originally scheduled. Again, this was probably a blessing in disguise, because if I pushed too hard, I probably wouldn’t feel as good as I do today. So I ran a nice, easy 3 miles on the treadmill at a 10:00 mpm pace. I felt great, and really felt like I could have done the entire 5 miles I had scheduled, but by the time I was done running, I was already late, and still needed to stretch out a bit.
26.2 x 2 