Weekend Warrior!

Wow, WHAT a weekend. After my pity party and then new found inspiration (along with some fantastic supporters) I got back at it this weekend. First, I bought some cheap but healthy food, along with a bunch of lean cuisines (JOD was so proud) and got some serious gym time in.

My new stash of LCs, along with some other healthy cheap food

I have been reading a lot of Health magazine, and one thing that I have really taken away (along with paying attention to what Bethenny Frankel teaches) is to find ways to be active/squeeze in work outs throughout the day besides just hitting the gym.  So Saturday I had a BIG workout sesh and then because we out for the great Her Campus Maine Breast Cancer event we did some serious dancing there and at the after party. Sunday I went for a walk in the woods with Cooper and captured these great shots

Today I hit the gym for about an hour (walked for 40mins and then did some different yoga and toning move from my Health magazine) and then discovered the most obvious but BEST small exercise to throw in randomly through out the day: DANCING!!! By playing music during my shower and actually dancing in the shower I was adding some extra core exercises. I also danced in my room while I was waiting for my hair to dry. It's really fun (who doesn't love dancing?) and adds a little extra to my activity level throughout the day.
The other way I'm switching things up is...gasp...not drinking. Saturday night I only had one beer the entire night. I kept myself going by having a red bull before going out and then getting a small coffe at T-Hos a 1am before hitting the after party. I cut way back on calories consumed by doing that, didn't feel like shit the next day, didn't binge eat, and was able to stay out until 4am (which is something I can never do when I drink because I get so tired!). My big pit fall this weekend? We did a real housewives of NJ watch party last night at JOD's and had some serious munchies (buff chix dip, mini weiners, fried ravioli and a delicious dessert concoction that Josh made). I tried to keep the buff chix dip somewhat healthy by using 1/3 less fat cream cheese, vegan mayo, fat free cheese and greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Today I gotta make sure to load up on veggies and water and keep that calorie count low. Hopefully this week I can fit in another 2 hour workout at some point (probs Friday), but until then I just gotta keep hitting the gym the best I can and try and squeeze in other small activities when I can!
XOXO

The Pity Party is OVER!!

Ok, so I had a little bit of a pity party today. I was feeling pretty down about life, so I went over to my friend Sam+Creadles's house and we had a solid girls night. We all vented about shit that has hit the fan and gave each other some solid feedback. Since they are also poor grad assistants and fairly healthy eaters, they gave me some tips on cheap healthy eating. Sam said that celery and carrots are always cheap, and she buys them with a big cuke that she slices up and eats throughout the week. She also said yogurt and oatmeal is pretty cheap too. Creadles told me about apple cider vinegar and that it's supposed to help with weight loss. She started drinking it before every meal (1 tablespoon mixed with 8 oz water) and said that it not only makes you feel full but it also really flushes out your system. We then brainstormed some ways to make it taste better, like mixing it with a little Agave nectar or a packet of Emergen-C. This, combined with some super sweet support from my Floridian transplant friend Erin, really helped pull me out of my funk. We also made the most INCREDIBLE pasta-less eggplant lasagna (basically just layered eggplant parm), followed by "Raising Helena" and brownies with cream cheese frosting (hey, it was a girls night, we needed a little something extra).  We also drank martinis and discussed the finer aspects of porn, but that's besides the point. I really thank everyone for their support, and I was really inspired tonight to pick myself back off, shake off the rainy day blues (it has been overcast for 2 weeks now!!!! -_-), and take this weekend to get back on track. Tomorrow and Saturday are gonna be big gym days, and Sunday I'm going on a hike up by Dover-Foxcroft with a friend.
For now I'm just going to polish off my Emergen-C/Vinegar drink (which basically tastes like Kombucha) and hopefully flush out the brownies and cream cheese frosting I just ate cause HONEY BADGER DIDN'T GIVE A SHIT, IT WAS A HUNGRY LITTLE BASTARD!!!!

Frustration

Ok so I haven't posted in a while, I've been crazy busy and crazy stressed and crazy broke. Busy, stressed, and broke has meant no time for working out and stress eating. Stress eating is the worst. I;ve also been frustrated because I feel like I was working out and eating healthy and not really seeing results except in my fitness ability but not in weight/inches lost, but this past weekend was homecoming and we did some eating and drinking, and it seems like it undid all the work I had been doing. Like I just puffed up and gained weight after ONE weekend. What the hell?? Also being broke means not being able to get the healthy food I need. Kelsey made the point that there are cheap healthy foods like lentils, but I have $0 right now which means I'm just taking what I can get for food.  UGH being broke and busy and stressed just takes such a toll on my eating/exercising. Any suggestions? How can I step things up in a busy time??

Tone it up!

Tone it up! Is a FANTASTIC fitness blog for women! (@toneitup) It has all the tools any woman who wants to get in shape needs from workouts, healthy recipes, even a diet plan! It was started by two friends, Karena and Katrina, who are quickly becoming the "it-girls" of fitness. I think what they are doing is so great because it gives women a place to go and find all the resources they need to help get them on the right path! I have already started checking out some of their workouts and recipes, and it is definitely a tool I will be adding to my routine.
The other thing I found during the break was an article in Health by Bethenny Frankel that had her quick 15 minute power yoga routine. By doing this routine twice a day (I was thinking when I wake up and either before bed or during my workout) you can lose up to three inches of your waist! I tried the routine this morning and it was really great, definitely some challenging but invigorating moves.
Yesterday when I hit the gym I actually ran a mile on the treadmill (haven't had the motivation for it in a few weeks) and a major part was because the perfect mix of song came together on my playlist. While some obvious ones really put me in the zone (Run the World and Till the World Ends) a surprising perfect ryhtmic running somg is Lil Wayne's "Right Above it". Listening two it twice through got me through half a mile and really put me in the zone! So here is my new and improved running playlist:

If that isn't the face of Pumped Up I don't know what it

1. Super Bass (warm up)
2. Run the world (Girls)
3. Till the World Ends
4. Right Above it
5. Play your part (Pt.1)- Girl Talk
6. The Edge of Glory
7. Who's that Chick (feat. Rihanna)
8. Blow
9. Hands All Over - Maroon 5

It's short because I'm very particular about what songs I run to. They have to have the perfect rhythm/tempo and pump me up enough that I not only set my pace to it, but get lost in the song and forget that I'm even running.
It's the start of homecomimg weekend which means lots of drinking and hanging with old friends, so I'm going to have to make sure I moderate my drinking, avoid eating too much tailgating food, and try and fit in some workouts around hangovers and visiting friends (which is why Bethenny's yoga routine is so great).
GO BLUE!

 

Guilt free baked chicken

Oh My Goodness, once again I astonish myself with my stumble upon culinary genius. I bought a bunch of hannaford's boneless tenders (basically just pre cut strips of breast meat made for people like me who dont want to touch/cut raw chicken) and marinated it in balsamic vinegar and miso paste (OBSESSED with miso) and was just planning on baking it. But I REALLY wanted baked chicken with a crust, but I didn't have breadcrumbs and that wouldn't fit with my diet. So what did I do? I crushed up some of my Nut Thin gluten free crackers (made with pecans) and mixed in a little bit of parmesean chease, then rolled the chicken which was coated with dressing and miso in the crumbs and baked it on 375 for probabaly 15-20 minutes. It was SOOOOO good!!! Tasted just like regular baked chicken only way more flavorful and no eggs or gluten to weigh me down!!!! I would have taken a picture, but I ate it too fast because it was soo good. I'll make it again and take a picture so y'all can see how it's done ;)
So humble

New Week, New Goals

The best news ever is that I AM FINALLY OVER MY COLD!! That really put a damper on my work outs because it was hard to breathe and I couldn't stop sweating. But I'm over it and I took Cooper for a run last night and FINALLY did a morning workout today. My motivation was I went with my friend Sam and she gave me a wake up call at 7:45. Our original plan was to do this Crossfit running workout, but sadly the track was wet from them cleaning it and we didn't want to slip and die. However, we will be going back this evening to attempt it again (lucky me). We just did some inclined treadmill walking and gossiping, which is really what the gym is all about. Here is the workout:

1. Sprint 5 laps around the track, with 90 sec breaks between each lap
2. Try to to do each lap under 1 min 30 (easy)
3. Time each lap. Your slowest lap is your score.
4. Do this again in a week with the goal of having your slowest time this round be faster than your slowest time the first round

This sounds easy but it's pretty brutal, at least for people who don't run a lot (like myself). For more crossfit work out check out this site for a good work out of the day or my friend Monica's blog More Mojo, Less Nojo for other work outs of the day.
I have also gotten some great tips from people that I am really going to work into my routine. Coach Kelsey has left me some great comments about beating the hunger and stepping up my game that I will work into my day, and I had a nice talk with my aunt Julie this weekend and even though she really didn't say anything new (work out in the AM, change your eating habits but never deprive yourself) just hearing it from another person, and a family member at that, helped drive it home and motivated me to really try for it. So, on that note I think the best way for me to change my diet is go back to eating as Paleo as possible. Now last time it was great because I had a partner (shout out to Susan) but it was hard because we went strict Paleo. This time around I won't have a partner :( But I am going to allow myself some non-paleo foods so I'm not depriving myself which then leads to bingeing.

• one 3 oz serving of cheese a day
• my gluten free frozen waffles
• one latte a week (because I have issues)
• Quinoa or brown rice pasta
• 1 1oz serving of dark chocolate a day
• 1 cheat meal a week

I also must say that I feel really great today after that morning workout, so I want to try to keep that up even though I totally failed at it last week (womp womp so I love to sleep, sue me).  Having someone come with me really helps, so hopefully I can coerce Sam into coming with me the rest of the week!
Obvi I'll let you all know how it goes!

^^Ready to go                                                           ^^How fucking cute is that puppy?????