My Gluten Free Week

It seems like everyone is gluten free these days.  There is a lot of information and misinformation about gluten, Celiac Disease, and Gluten sensitivities out there.  I've read going gluten free can benefit everyone, basically were all sensitive to it even if we don't know/feel it. I've also read there is absolutely no need to cut out gluten if we don't experience symptoms of a sensitivity.  Soooo much info!  Whatever. I decided to try it, however, I have never had any symptoms after eating pasta, bread, etc... to lead me to believe I am at all sensitive to it.  I just wanted to see if maybe just maybe I had some untapped energy source under all that gluten waiting to be unleashed.

So I bought gluten free bread, went without any bites of my kids fishies, and munched lettuce over pasta.  Here are a few of my observations:

• Going gluten free was incredibly easy for me.  I don't really eat bread anymore except for my morning toast, which was a simple switch.
• As far as grains go, I cook quinoa more than anything, and even if I needed pasta, there are tons of gluten free options.
• I don't really snack on things that would contain gluten. My normal snack foods are nuts, popcorn, and hummus/veggies.

• I didn't feel any different.  There wasn't an increase in energy for me or anything.

The verdict. I think I'll continue to limit gluten.  Why not.  However, I love pizza, and I will eat it. Once or twice a month.  I also realized there is a lot of stuff that is gluten free that I normally eat anyway. Oh and Injera bread is gluten free.  It's Ethiopian and Ethiopian food is the BOMB!
I think it's my favorite. I wish I could eat it everyday.

Some Gluten Free eats:

Ethiopian... it's sooooooooo GOOD!!!!

Salad: Romaine + Chedder + Turkey + Egg Whites + Balsamic

Broiled Salmon + Quinoa + Veggies

Granola = Gluten Free oats + Flax + PB + Almonds + Cinnamon

 One thing I can say about avoiding gluten, is it made me a much more mindful eater. I didn't just take a bite of my kids food those bites of chicken nuggets and gold fish add up! When thinking about snacks I went for hard boiled eggs, string cheese, nuts, hummus, and yogurt, instead of a sandwich or crackers.

On a totally different topic I ran 12 miles on Saturday. My hip was really sore after, it was sore yesterday too.  I'm not sure how it will feel on my run today. Hopefully it will be ok. I need to be 100% without injuries. 


Question

Are you gluten free? Why? How has it helped?

Happy Monday!  Can't wait for the Olympics to start!!!!

WIAW and my new FAVORITE snack

It's been a while since I've done an WIAW. Mostly because I ALWAYS forget to take pictures of my food and a little bit because I eat pretty much the same things day in and day out.

Breakfast is ALWAYS egg whites, I'm trying to get into the habit of adding veggies.  Sometimes I do sometimes I don't.  The key here is to have them prepped before hand because chopping veggies in the morning is just not something I'm going to do every day!

Lunch is difficult for me, I can't eat meat more than once a day (I can, I just don't, I'm not a huge meat person).  So, I either have egg whites, hard boiled egg whites, a protein shake, or sometimes a veggie burger.  Boooorrrrrinnnnngggg.

These are amazing! My homemade "lara" bars and they are soooo easy.
Yesterday I made these:

Just blend the following in a food processor

 1 1/2 cups of pitted dates
1 cup almonds (raw)
1 cup walnuts (raw)
1/4 cup coconut (optional)
2 tbsp (cocoa powder)

+ a little water to make it all come together.

Than just press out into a pan, refrigerate, cut and eat!

I also did apple pie bars (my fav)

 1 1/2 cups of pitted dates
1 cup almonds (raw)
1 cup walnuts (raw)
1 apple
1 tbsp cinnamon

As you can see the possibilities are endless!

I snacked on hummus and hard boiled egg whites yesterday (it's good!)

Dinner was Kale salad, roasted veggies, and roasted turkey (yep I made a turkey in July)

I've actually been running this week, finally!  And my legs are feelin it!

Today is abs + arms + 5 miles.
There is a new workout from beachbody called body beast.  I haven't heard anything about it, but it's designed to pack on 10 lbs of muscle in 90 days! Crazy right? I don't want to gain 10 lbs of muscle, maybe 5? Plus I'd like to lose 5ish lbs of fat... but that's neither here nor there. Anyways... I really want to try it.

Do you workout at home or at a gym?

Do you follow any particular programs?

If you can't take the heat...

Get out of the kitchen!
Sunday's cooking failure...

Snapper Veracruz... A blurry mess!

That is Snapper Veracruz, basically Snapper cooked in a tomato sauce with onion, garlic, olives, and capers. The sauce was good, really really good, the fish was, in my opinion, UN-edible, hubby ate it. That isn't saying much (boys eat anything).  We purchased a whole fish from Dekalb.  Hubby cut it and and filleted it.  I seasoned it and baked it.  It was fishy.  Really fishy, and I guess seeing it go from whole fish to meal time kind of grossed me out.  I'm a meat eater, but I could really do without, and I try to not to put too much thought into it, or it makes my stomach turn.  Oh well... upward and onward. I have a whole turkey breast to cook this week, I'm sure I'll do much better with that!

Saturday morning, I planned a long run, remember? Well I woke up with some sort of stomach issue and didn't end up running until 1pm. I didn't feel great all day and only got in 6.5 miles.
 Also, it kinda killed most of the day. 

Sunday was much better.  Breakfast at the Flying Biscuit Cafe and the most amazing salad ever really made up for it.

Not my picture, Mine looked EVEN BETTER!

This is a BLT salad with Turkey bacon, fried green tomatoes, goat cheese, and some sort of AMAZING jalapeno cashew relish.
This salad was seriously legit. I am obsessed with salads especially creative unique one's, so whenever I come across a winner it really makes my day. I'm easy to please!

Add in a trip to the Dekalb Farmer's Market and I'm one happy chick.

Oh and the Yankees taking 3 of 4 at Fenway, just put it over the top!
Going into the All Star break with the best record in baseball, mean while, Pettite, Rivera, and Sabathia are injured??? PRICELESS!

Alright, I really dropped the proverbial ball last week, as far as running goes.  Time to get back into the groove.

Happy Monday!

Finally Friday

I don't know how I feel about this whole day off in the middle of the week thing. It kinda throws everything off. Oh well I'm glad it's Friday and I have plans to run an actual long run tomorrow. Not a stop at 8 miles and call it a long run, but like a real one, where my quads are sore afterwards.  We'll see how that goes.  I really need to get on the ball with running again. I've been in the 25 ish mile a week range when I used to easily hit 40.  I blame the heat and my foot. I still get that weird,  heel/ankle pain when I run more and/or faster than normal and the heat just makes every run seem so strenuous to me.  I get frustrated when I'm not running as fast as I like and when it's hot I cannot keep the same paces. I love love love the temps but I don't love them as far as running goes.

Since I've become obsessed with this whole homemade Lara Bar thing I will be going to Dekalb to buy a very very large amount of dates this weekend.  I try to go only every other week because it's so far from my house, plus it's so crowded and it frustrates me, but I can't help and am there every weekend.  I also try to spend less than $100, I can't do that either.  What can I say I really really love produce, olives, quinoa, and 4lb bags of almonds.

egg salad + greens + patriotic plate

Greens+ chicken lunch meat + quinoa salad + grapes

Turkey zucchini meatballs + crispy Kale

All of this hot weather has me craving lighter meals.  Lots and lots of salads, smoothies/protein shakes, and food that is no hotter than room temp.

The sassiest little baby

Have a great weekend! 

Weird Week

With 4th of July falling on a Wednesday and no plans, the odd middle of the week day off makes for a very strange week.
I was worried I wouldn't get my normal workout in yesterday with everyone at home. But I got it in and feel great.  We had a mini bbq and attempted to set off some fireworks. After going to sleep way too late, I am sure I'll be having a mid-afternoon cup of coffee today. Today is also cardio only and I'm planning on 7 miles. 

I took a try at homemade Lara bars and ummm let me tell you, I feel like they came out too well!
Seriously, they taste too good.
I'm going to play around and come up with some more flavor combos and I'll be back with hopefully a few recipes.  Plus, they are so easy to make, and for those Paleo peep's they're paleo friendly! Well most of them anyways.

Happy Thursday that feels like Monday!

July Goals

I don't normally make monthly goals, but little by little I am seeing myself get off track.  From cutting my runs a bit short, to shaving 5 minutes off a strength routine, an extra cookie here. You know what I mean, it's not much but cumulatively it adds up. So here it is my get on stay on track goal for July:

• Post more!  If I am posting daily eats and workouts etc... I will be accountable.
• Every week I make a rough plan for mileage, long runs, etc... be a bit more aggressive with that plan and stick to it. Every. Single. Day.
• Focus on clean eats.  Cut down sugar. Stick to whole unprocessed carbs.
• Eat more often.  Throughout the day I tend to skip meals if I get busy. We all know what that leads to.
• Get more sleep. It doesn't get dark to well after 9pm these days. That means kids stay up later. When the kids are up later, I'm up later and it's getting out of hand

This is not any different than what I always try to do. But I need to put it down on the proverbial paper  blog post?

Moving on...
It's HOT. I can't believe how hot it's been. My poor A/C units are going to explode.
With weather like this, there is not a lot of playing outside going on and that does not make for happy kids.
We ran a lot of errands this weekend.  Dealt with car troubles. Went on a date. Hosted a kiddie play date. Shopped. And ate.  That makes for a good weekend. 
Wanna know what makes for an even better weekend?

That would be 4 pairs of shoes from Macy's for like $50.00, amazing!

 This definitely comes in second.  Eating sushi.  Or rather an iphone self portrait of us eating sushi.

I'm hoping for rain today or at least clouds. Something that helps it not feel like a sauna in my house.

Today's workouts:
an easy 5 mile run (legs are still sore from Friday) + Chest & Back + Abs... should be fun!

Happy short week but in a weird kind of way!

All the guts NONE of the Glory

This is definitely a healthy living blog, but this is definitively not a healthy living post.
This is a rant... please read on at your own caution...

I'm am a mom of 2 children, that does not work outside of the home.  BUT, I do work from home, and act as stay at home parent to my 2 kids. This day in age there is not a ton of glory in being a stay at home mom. My childless friends think I'm lucky, my friends with children think I'm lazy, the teachers, dr's, and dentists, think I have all the time in the world, and my brother thinks I sit at home doing crafts all day. 
Let me tell you what I really do.  I cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 4 people. Let me emphasize cook because that's what I do, no drive-thrus, or boxed mac and cheese over here. I work on this computer far longer than what a normal 9-5 would be, plus weekends. I workout 6 days a week. I run errands, clean, take kids to playdates and bday parties, clean, kiss boo boo's, and clean some more. With a 4 and 2 year old there is A LOT of cleaning to be done.  Most of the time when people ask if I stay at home with my kids I just smile and say yes. I don't find a need to tell them I also work from home full time.  It's really none of their business. But even if ALL I did was be a stay at home mom, that's a hell of a lot of work!  I don't expect praise, it was my choice to have kids and really it is a job, a very rewarding one. Lately, there have been a lot of articles about the new "stay at home dad"
STOP THE PRESSES
It is with utter amazement and disbelief that a man can stay at home with his kids. Those same people that pity me praise the man doing the same thing.  I'm sorry I cannot get on board with that. I just can't. My husband did it with our first for almost 2 years, while I worked outside of the house. This wasn't a reversal of roles, it was reality and it was great. He loved being at home with our son, as do I. I loved working and being around adults as opposed to kids all day. There are merits in both.
I don't want a medal for what I do on a daily basis, my life is exactly what I made it and I really truly love it. My friends have it right I am lucky, and no, it's not because I have time to shop all day (try going to the mall with 2 kids, just try!).  It's because I am able to do what I want on a daily basis with my kids, with my work, with my time.  But, I don't want that medal passed down to the dad because he is doing the same thing.

Rant Over.

Enjoy your weekend.

XOXO

A product review and return to normal?

I had a glorious 8 days of vacation on Sanibel Island and we left just in time to miss the most rain Florida has seen in years.  We soaked up the sun, put down the phones, computers, and tablets and chilled with the kids.  It was great.  I want to go back. I especially want to go back because Murphy's law has been in full swing since we got home.

 We've had car troubles, home troubles, work troubles, kid troubles, foot troubles, you name it.
I didn't get in the workouts I'd hoped while on vacay. I got in a couple, but definitely fell off the routine pretty quickly. I wasn't too worried about it because my ankle is still not 100%.  It's not enough to where it's affecting my running, but I can still feel it.  If that makes any sesnse.
You know I'm obsessed with bengay, but hubby makes fun of me because I always smell like bengay, I actually like the smell.  But I'm weird.

Well Bengay has a new product called Zero Degrees, you can actually store it in your freezer, that's where mine is!
Here's the deets:

• Blasts away pain
• Medicated pain relief
• Lasts for hours
• Instant icy-cold sensation

• Vanishing scent***
• May be stored in the freezer
• Ideal for muscle and joint strain or sprain pain relief

Please note the "vanishing scent"

I've been using this after most runs.  It's nice and you don't get the heat like with traditional bengay and the cold sensation is nice since it's been over 100 degrees here, yup it's hotter here in the ATL than in Florida.  Go figure.  I think this product is great for sore muscles, but for a pull or strain I still like the regular bengay better. Nothing beats the heat!

I'm not going to complain about the heat because I love the hot weather, but it makes running HARD!
I'll be up bright and early to attempt my long run tomorrow.  TGIF Peeps... Stay cool my friends.

You HAVE to do this!

Yesterday I stumbled on the coolest thing since sliced bread.
It's blogilate's DIY Racerback workout shirt!  It's seriously easy, quick, and now I finally have a use for the dozen's of tshirts and race shirts I never ever wear.

This was a regular t-shirt that I got at a race last year...

These aren't the best quality pics, but you get the gist.  It's so cute it's actually longer in the back than in the front and it's totally comfy.  So go ahead and watch this youtube to tutorial and start cutting up your shirts!

Foodie PenPals and Some Random FUN

My life has been chaotic to say the very least!  However, I think I see at least a little normalcy over the next couple of weeks!
Ughhhh it's been a mess, but you know what they say upward and onward...

Foodie Penpals was great this month!

Heather from Kiss My Broccoli totally hooked me up.

This package was filled with so many fun and yummy treats!  The cookie butter goes great with the chocolate cookies.  Thanks Heather!!! I will be making a trip to Trader Joe's this week!

Jealous? Do you want to be a foodie penpal? Here's How:

The amazing Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean organizes all of this.

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 
You must submit your information by June 4th as pairings will be emailed on June 5th!
Click HERE to get started!

I'm out for June because I will be traveling, but I will surely be back for July!!!

Now for the FUN!

Cheryl at Live Fit Daily nominated me for this:

She was actually my first Foodie PenPal!  We have so much in common it's crazy and she used to live in GA very near me, too bad we never got to meet.

So here's how this works:

1) Post the award logo and picture on your blog and link back to the person who nominated you.
2) Tell seven things about yourself.
3) Nominate up to 15 additional bloggers whom you think deserve the award.
4) Post a comment on the blog of each nominee to tell them they have been nominated!

Ok, My seven randoms:

1. My treadmill is in my kitchen
2. I rewatched the entire series of Felicity over 2 1/2 months entirely on my treadmill. Finished the last episode yesterday and I'm thinking of just watching it again. (Best show ever!!!)
3. I currently have 12 mosquito bites all from being outside for 5 min yesterday, with bug spray on... they literally swarm around me, meanwhile no one else has a single bite... please explain this!
4. My birthday is in 5 days! And I don't plan to age AT ALL after this one.
5. In a couple of weeks I'll have officially gone through 2 rounds of P90X, I've increased weights, can do push ups like nobody's business, and am overall happy with the results, but I want to join a gym.  I know I'll never get the results I really really want bc I do too much cardio... but I LOVE RUNNING... it's truly therapeutic.
6. We had a BBQ at the lake for memorial day... a scary guy tried to fight us because he said we took his grill... it was delightful... with 4 frightened kids and all...
7. egg whites are my favorite food, I would eat them 5 times a day if I could.

Now for my nominations:

• Pain, Pride, and Perseverance (I just have to say Julia is the sweetest person I've never met and I really hope I get to meet her in person one day... she is amazing!)
• Little B's Healthy Habits (b/c she is gorgeous and knows her stuff)
• Sprint 2 The Table (b/c she is from ATL too and know's how amazing the Dekalb Farmer's Market is!)

FITSpiration VS THINSpiration

It's literally all. Over. The. Place.  The "motivational" pictures of women with 10% body fat, followed by "100 crunches, 30 push-ups, etc" or "nothing tastes as good as fit feels" hmmmm...

Probably my ideal...

I can do all the abs and core I want! My booty aint ever going to look like that.

really?!?!

One of the quotes under this picture began with "I love this body..."  I'm not saying I DON'T but at 5'2 I'll never have it.

 

 source

Isn't this basically the same stuff that got BANNED all over the internet awhile back? You know the pictures of the girls with 10% body fat that weighed 90 lbs?  I know that all of this "fit"spiration is supposed to motivate us to eat better, exercise more, and love ourselves?  But, don't these images of an ideal most of us cannot achieve propagate the same negative connotations as the girls who have the narrow hips and thighs that don't touch?
More than likely the fitness models in these pictures spent the months, weeks, and days leading up to their photo shoot doing some un-healthy things to lean out.  Carb-cycling, twice a days at the gym, calorie and carb cutting, no water days before, ultimately dropping to an unhealthy body fat level to take a picture.  Much like a fashion model does. 
The truth is these women look great.  Better than great, but they way they look is not something most of us can maintain without extreme sacrifice and/or health consequences. As a society were trying to move forward with the "fit is the new skinny" mentality.  But, were still flooded with images that are not realistic, were still striving to be something that doesn't exist.  A person who is tanned, dehydrated, air brushed, in perfect lighting, at a perfect angle, holding her breath.  It's  a gorgeous picture, but we would all drop dead if we tried to walk around like that.

Being healthy and happy is not a number on a scale. It is not inches on a tape measure. It is not a percentage on a skin caliper.  It cannot be quantified by any measurement or number.  Being healthy and happy is being active, eating well, feeling good, and most importantly being comfortable in your own skin. 

Now don't get me wrong, I do find some of this stuff very motivational.  However, I am 28 years old, I am 100% dedicated to being active and eating healthfully.  I am no longer insecure and impressionable and I have enough knowledge to know, that women that look like that don't really exist in real life.

Everyone needs to find their happy place.  I know a lot of people who regularly do twice a days (heck I'm one of them) and eat 100% clean (not one of them).  But that is not necessarily the perfect lifestyle, it works for them. It takes sacrifice.  We need to stop ping ponging from one extreme to the other.  There is a perfectly lovely area in between 12% and 30%.
Were all women whether we have meat on our bones, 6 packs abs, thighs that don't touch, saggy skin, stretch marks, or belly pouches that will ALWAYS be there. We need to celebrate the inbetween.

Bummed, stressed, etc...

Things have been hectic, tense, and busy to say the very least.  The last few days have been a blur.  I've been sick, bronchitis?  It hurts! That's all I know.  That said my intelligent self decided to run on Saturday, only to stop at mile 4 in excruciating pain.  And I've been through completely natural child birth, I have a very high pain tolerance.  I almost fell, it hurt so bad.  I have no idea what caused it or even what really hurts.  It's at the top of the foot, I'm assuming somewhere under or around the ligament connecting the big toe.  When I feel around the area, nothing feels sore to the touch, but the area is very very sore when I flex my foot a certain way.  It is getting better, and hopefully will continue to do so.  I really really need to run! It's very frustrating I've been having foot issues for the last month and I have never ever had to deal with any kind of running injury so it's all new and upsetting to me.

The being sick, losing my voice, and coughing 24 hours a day kinda sucks too.

My husband's non-english speaking mother arrived for a month? long visit on Thursday.  She has not been to this country in 25 years and is from a town of maybe 1000 people.  So there is a definite culture shock going on for her.  I've actually never been out of the county, I only speak English, so this way of life is all I know.  So, obviously my life, is extremely normal to me.  It's amazing to see how my everyday things are such a foreign concept to someone else.  Things have been... interesting.

So you can see from the above why I so so desperately need to be running!

It's not ALL bad, just mostly bad (j/k), here is some of the good:

Mother's Day Flowers

Company cake! Strawberry!

My first school made mother's day gift, best gift I've ever been given.

I don't know when I will be running again.  I'm hoping this week. I am stubborn.

WIAW - I'm boring...

 What I ate Wednesday is hosted by Peas and Crayons head on over to here awesome blog and to see all of the other WIAW posts.  You can get so many ideas, but beware you will leave the page with some serious food envy.

Breakfast - La Tortilla Factory Tortilla (seriously AHHHHHHHHHHMazing!) I love those things!  Egg whites, spinach, mushrooms
Lunch - Spinach salad with Strawberries, walnuts, and Raspberry Vinaigrette + (more) egg whites, black beans, fresh salsa (I made it, it's delish!), and another La Tortilla.
After Running/Pre Strength - Protein shake w/ Chocolate Protein powder, 1/2 frozen banana, strawberries
Dinner- - Crockpot Taco Chicken (easiest thing in the world, boneless skinless chicken breasts + packet of taco seasoning) Roasted zucchini and yellow squash, black beans.... salad (not pictured).
***not pictured the copious amounts of peanuts and almonds I eat every time I walk by the  pantry... and plain 2% greek yogurt before bed, while watching LA Complex.

I eat a lot of salad.  I eat a salad with dinner every day and with lunch most days.  I really really like lettuce!  I eat basically the same food every day.  Well Mon - Fri anyways.  I think next week I will do a weekend day... one that includes a splurge!  I work from home which is nice as far as food goes, but I'm still always crunched for time.  I don't like to do a ton of food prep... (I'm not huge on left overs)  Egg whites take like 2 minutes to prepare and I adore them so yea I eat them for at least 2 meals a day most days.  Same with salad. 

Question?

Do you love egg whites? Do you eat them?

I LOVE them!!! I will never ever get sick of them, they are the only thing I ALWAYS look forward to eating!

I ran 5 miles!!!

... and all it took was a couple Motrin, Ben-gay, and ice.  So, maybe not the smartest thing.  But! as I was running the pain was less and less and pretty non existent by the time I was finished!  I'll try it again today! *finger's crossed*
I really want to run this 5k on 5/20.  I know at this point if I do, it won't be the sub 22:30 I was hoping for, but I would at least like to be pain free.  I don't run a lot of races so I want each one to be an all out effort and I've been running 22:30 "5k's" on the treadmill and would like to have actually done it in race.  So, I'm back and forth between running it know I won't do as well as I hoped and just waiting a running another next month.  

I had  a great strength workout and felt really motivated with the heavier weights.  I'm starting to feel stronger eeeeeeeeeeee!

Before working shoulders, triceps, and chest, oh and abs too!

Speaking of... I need new workout clothes.  I see a trip to the outlets sometime around memorial day (best sales).  I'm in survival mode for the next few weeks.  I really hope to be able to stay on track during what will be a very hectic and busy time! I'm such a creature of habit, it's so difficult for me to function efficiently when things get shaken up!  I think I'm going to start using my blog as my food/workout journal to keep myself accountable.  We will have company for the next 4-6 weeks... and that means there will be food around that I normally wouldn't keep around.  Hopefully it won't be a problem. My main issue is making sure to get my workouts in.  But I'm gonna do it!

Happy Tuesday!


Question?

Do you like routine or do you like constant change?

I crave routine!

When you have company, additional work, additional obligations, etc... do you find it hard to stay on track with diet and exercise?

Good Weekend/Bad Foot

My foot/ankle/heel/achillies is still bothering me.  I don't know what it is. I've iced, ben-gayed?, wrapped, elevated, massaged, and rested it and it still hurts when I try to run.  The weird thing is, it doesn't hurt when I walk.  GET BETTER FOOT!

I was on such a roll, as far as running goes.
I've still been doing the P90X workouts, and am increasing weights from 10-15 lbs today... Woo Hoo, finally getting up there!
I really need to refine my diet.  I know the whole 80/20 thing and that is usually my motto. But I really want to drop a couple of pounds of fat and "lean out"  and in order to do that, clean is the word.  I know this, but it's hard.  I definitely like to eat and I love food and I LOVE sweets.  I often wonder if this whole thing is easier for people that don't have large appetites or a large sweet tooth.   I have a large appetite, especially for someone my size.  I eat well and very clean maybe 85% - 90% of the time.  It's those bites of things here and there that get me. Plus not running consistently for 2 1/2 weeks hasn't helped either.  Yet another reason I need this foot to get better!!!

I got a new phone... My iphone 4 took a beating and kept on kicking, but I couldn't actually talk on it, yea that part didn't work.  So now I've got the iphone 4s... at least I can take "better" crappy pictures with it!  And, I've got a new friend in SIRI. (we already got in a fight).

The weekend was good.

• hanging out with friends having babies
• hanging out with friends with babies
• Ethiopian food
• Shopping
• more eating...

 I have A LOT going on this week.  I have a lot going on for the next 6 weeks and I just want to get through it, without pulling my hair out. 
 AHHHHHHHHH life.
 Gotta love it.

Happy Monday!  Hope your's is better than mine!

Foodie Penpals

This month my foodie penpal was Ashley from Cooper's Cravings and she sent a ton of goodies, most of which are already gone...

Chocolate, nuts, and fruit, how could you go wrong?
The chocolate was delish, too bad I had to share with hubby and kids.
Thanks Ashley!!!


If you want to sign up for foodie penpals for May, here are the details:


Here’s a detailed explanation of the program:

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
- Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

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I got my hair cut and highlighted on Thursday night, and 3 hours later, I hated it!  It was BAAAAAD.  Like fried all of my hair, which was ALL white blonde by the way.  I've never had an experience like that. I've always heard salon horror stories, but was lucky enough never to have it happen to me.  So, I spent Friday "fixing" my hair.  I'm still not happy with it, but at least now I can live with it.  It's really truly fried though and unfortunately that is not reversible.  

Other than that the weekend was pretty craptastic.
I still have this ankle pain and cannot run. I don't know what to do, or how to get it better. Very frustrating.  We tried to plan a lot of out door activities this weekend, but it was too hot for the kiddos. Plus my 1 year old will not sit in a stroller, she has to walk and trying to do that with 20,000 other people around, is very difficult.  She got trampled a few times.

I'm trying to run a 5k on May 20th, so I am going to down some IBProfin, suck it up and run.

Have a great Monday!

WIAW - Lunch Ideas

I don't know about you, but lunch seems to be my most difficult meal of the day.
Breakfast is easy because I literally eat the same thing every single day. Dinner is always planned out for the week so I always know what I'm going to make. Plus, I plan dinner with the whole family in mind, not just me.  Dinner always tends to fall to the same pattern:  Salad, Veggie, Carb, Lean protein, in some form or another.  But lunch... lunch is hard for me.  I work from home, so I don't have to pre plan this meal.  Also, I'm the girl that ate peanut butter on whole wheat pita for 2 1/2 years every day when I did work at an office.  Well, that and a salad.  I never got sick of it, nor could I ever get sick of it, but in the name of clean eating that's not the best option.  Plus, I workout after lunch, so it's an important meal.  I'm usually too busy to actually cook something, sometimes I'm too busy to throw ingredients into a bowl for a salad or wrap.  What usually works best for me is to cook something and eat it all week, but sometimes I get sick of that too!

So here are my goto lunch ideas WIAW style:

Hop on over to peas and crayons for tons of other WIAW'ers to see some yummy eats and to get the scoop on how WIAW works!

Salad: grilled chicken, hard boiled egg whites (mostly), greens, onions, cuke, tomato, peppers, balsamic

Left over's salad, left over dinner, over greens!  Chicken, quinoa, purple potatoes

Grilled chicken, spinach, grilled sweet potato (left over's re-purposed)

My standby: Quinoa Salad, over greens, with chicken, in a wrap, it's sooooooo yummy

La Tortilla Factory wraps... Ahmazing! Grilled chicken greens, salsa, jalapenos.

  I also love this wrap with egg whites and salsa

Turkey muffins (all in one lunch)... Turkey, sweet potato, flax

It's lunch time and I've just made myself very hungry!

My foot is still bothering me, I did plyo yesterday and it hurt a little, but no running. That definitely hurt it.  I'm stubborn so I'll give it another go today.  Other than that, I've got back and biceps and abs today! 

I'm off to eat lunch!

Question

What is your most difficult meal of the day?