PROTEIN!

Protein. I can’t seem to get enough of it lately. So what are my favorite ways to get it? I’ll tell you.

ALMOND BUTTER

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Ok, any nut butter really, but I just so happened to buy a ton of almonds the other day, so this is what I currently have on stash.

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The flavor is great and can be enjoyed on it’s own or mixed in baked goods and smoothies.

GREEK YOGURT

I used to be OBSESSED with Chobani when I was living in Boston- I would have it everyday either in smoothies or mixed with fruits/grains/etc. But sadly, Chobani isn’t available here so I have resorted to Oikos.

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It doesn’t disappoint. I use it in baking recipes, dips, as a topping, etc. I used it for my Dill Dip the other day, and almost every recipe for pancakes.

Raspberry Mocha Pancakes (with almond butter and coconut butter topping)

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Berry Infused Pancakes

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EGGS

Fried or Hard Boiled are my choices. With sriracha. MMMMMmmmmmm.

PROTEIN BARS 

Just recently, I was able to FINALLY get my hands on a box of Quest Bars. If you’re a blog reader, you might have seen these a lot lately- they have great stats (In my opinion)

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Tons of fiber, tons of protein, no added sugar or artificial sweeteners, gluten free…

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Yeah, I highly recommend trying these puppies (check out their website linked above to see the variety of flavors they offer)

In fact, I just had one…and it curbed my craving for sweets! SHOCKING.

MEAT

Chicken, turkey, beef, pork…all protein (obviously I wouldn’t rely on bacon being a source of protein, but ya know..) I have loved being able to incorporate lean meats in our weekly meals. They are filling AND I have found they give me the oomph I need to get to my nighttime cardio sessions (Is it weird that I get the best cardio workouts late at night?!)

PROTEIN POWDERS

Here are the protein powders I have been using as of late:

  • Click (the coffee lovers protein powder)

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What’s your favorite way to get protein?

Getting the ball rolling

Well, last night ended terribly. I committed a crime, a very bad crime. I weighed myself at the end of the day- at the end of a holiday weekend. The verdict? You don’t want to know. Ugh, I was so mad at myself. Hated myself even.

You’d think after 25 years I’d have learned to enjoy food and fitness in balance. But every once in a while- it takes a mean turn and I cry myself to sleep over a stupid number on a stupid scale.

After a huge sobfest and a good nights sleep, I started today with a clean slate. Breakfast was a bowl of oats w/honey, almond milk, almond butter, raisins and toasted coconut.

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Today’s workout included a 3 mile run- the first ever since moving to 3500 ft altitude. I think I did pretty good

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Sub-10 min miles. I’ll take it, thankya. And the route I took was hilly. Another high five for me.

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I listened to a new playlist for my run- it’s a weird mix of genres and old/new stuff, but it hit the spot for a run today!
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Oh, and Nicki Minaj’s new CD? Fantastic. She does a lot of the rap that she’s known for, but here and there she actually sings and she has a great voice. And great lyrics. And great featuring artists. Most of the songs talk about b*tches and d*ck, though. Hell, one song’s even titled Come on A Cone. For serious. But I really like the music- I’ll just have to watch my potty mouth for a bit 😉

My heart was a-thumpin’ by the time I got home. Theeeen, I did a quick at home circuit that consisted of

    Squats with alternating front kicks
    Side lunges with high knee
    Pushups
    Crunches
    Side plank dips
    Mountain climbers
    Jumping jacks
    Side crunches
    Jump rope

Oof!
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15 minutes of those moves, and I broke my second sweat of the day. Very pleased with my workout on day 1 of post-scale horror.

Lunch was a smoothie with an interesting list of ingredients.

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It included: 1 frozen banana, 2 handfuls spinach, orange juice, frozen raspberries, Oikos Greek yogurt, and 2 medjool dates. Totally delicious.

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Dinner was quickly and easy- another round of healthy chicken tenders with broccoli and spinach citrus couscous.

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Dessert was an orange.

I finally got around to trying out another way to get hard cooked eggs. Rather than boiling them, I baked them!

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In the oven they went at 325 for 30 minutes, then I plunged them in ice water to stop them from cooking. They actually turned out! I’ll be eating them over the next few days! Yum.

Fine Friday

While it feels like every other darn day for me, but for most of you…it’s FRIIIIIIDAY! End of the week. Go out tonight. Have fun. I’m staying in with the man to paint and watch TV. In a word: romantic.

I did manage to finally snap a few pics yesterday. Let’s start with the best one..me!

Do I look fierce or what? Fast forward 20 minutes and I’m out for a walk with the pup- the pup who happens to have diarrhea- the dog who happens to have diarrhea while it’s windy- the dog owner having to carry said diarrhea in a poop bag in the wind- and it’s not so fierce.

We took a different route today and managed to hit some of the streets that are actually just around the corner. I am flabbergasted that EVERY HOUSE is different. When I grew up in CA, you could tell the different neighborhoods because the developer only had about 4 different models of houses. So each street looked identical; maybe some of the designs were flipped or something. But here, every single house is different. I have secretly been on a mission to find our house’s twin.

I made some fabbbb apps when I got back. I found the idea at Healthy Tipping Point.

Mushrooms stuffed with hummus and topped with cheddar cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes. Yum!

Next, came dinner. Spinach salad with steak, strawberries, pineapples and poppyseed dressing.

Jen was happy.

I finally decided to walk to the Y last night for my workout. (My walk to this Y is shorter than my walk to the Oak Square Y in Boston! I didn’t think that was possible. But, oh, it is. This will help extend that tank of gas even longer!) Like I mentioned before,  I did an entire tabata workout. I found that this type of workout is not only quick; it helps keep me focused and motivated; and it helps me get in a good workout when the gym is absolutely PACKED. My workout looked like this:

2 cardio tabatas (heel taps for the first, alternating plank jacks and high knees for the second)

bicep tabata (one leg stand bicep curls- one foot on stability ball)

tricep tabata (tricep extensions and kickbacks)

8 minute tabata on the row machine (holy YES this was my favorite part)

lunge tabata (elevated; holding weights)

squat tabata (alternating between regular body weight squats and elevated squats)

2 cardio tabatas (jumping jacks for the first, alternating between up-downs and front kicks)

ab tabata (mix of crunches, russian twists, leg lifts and pilates pulses)

Done in just under an hour. Boom.

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Breakfast this AM was a delicious and nutritious yogurt bowl. Haven’t had one of these in for-ev-er. I used my new-to-me Oikos

A sample box of Great Grains blueberry pomegranate cereal we got in the mail yesterday

and fresh strawberries to create this yummy delicious bowl:

So that’s what I’ve got for you on this fine Friday morning: food and workouts. Story of my life.

Anyone have any awesome Friday plans?

Most random post. Ever.

Who would have thought an unemployed lady like myself would be too busy to blog? Crazy, I know. But when you spend your morning on the phone with insurance companies and your afternoon having coffee and window shopping, the day tends to get away from you.

Last night’s dinner was a find-what-you-can-in-the-fridge-and-make-a-meal-out-of-it kinda dinner.

Quinoa, broccoli, pepperoni and marinara sauce.

I also made these brownies that I found on Hungry Hungry Hippie. I tweaked them a bit, and they came out ok, but I’ll take the super unhealthy homemade brownies I normally make over these. Doesn’t hurt to try though! And now I have chocolate almond milk in my fridge, so I’m not complaining!

If you notice, my picture is not nearly as nice. Ah well, it cured the chocolate fix I was craving.

After watching Survivor (haha, Tarzan had poop stains on his underwear) we watched the first two episodes of American Horror Story. Yup, bad idea. I woke up screaming in the middle of the night. I couldn’t fall asleep afterwards. I’m such a sissy. I need to man up. I’m getting heart palpatations just thinking about it. I’m determined to watch the whole season. I will just have to give up sleeping in the dark for a bit. Hey, I’ve got free daytime hours anyways.

No pictures from today yet, but I can paint you a picture:

Wearing sweats (daily uniform. God, I’m starting to get really disappointed with my shoddy appearance), got my hair re-done (thank you LOTS Sadie!) and went to coffee in Cochrane with Sadie and Kate. What did I order, you ask? The answer: Irish Cream coffee and a fruit scone. On the way home, I picked up some groceries. (Decided to give Oikos a try. Holy crap couscous is over $4?! You want HOW MUCH per pound of zucchini?!!)

Let me just slide in a little fun fact. It’s about one of the only things I am currently giddy about. I have had the same tank of gas for 35 days. You’d think I was under house arrest or something. I just drive to the Y and the grocery store and they are both about 1/4 mile away. I need to get out more often. My stomach just turned thinking of how lame I must sound.

Tonight’s workout is going to be tabata style. Both cardio and strength. I tend to do these workouts (not only because they are effective) but when I am not super gung-ho on going to the gym. That way, I can get in my workout and not get bored because it changes every 4 minutes. I’m pretty sure that’s brilliant.

I am a few pages shy of finishing the third book of The Hunger Games series and I am getting disappointed. Weird stuff is happening. It doesn’t help that the first movie was not a great reflection of the book, either.

Does anyone else still wear their Orthodontist issued retainers? Athena and I have talked about this- we both still do. I have a red glittery one for my top teeth and a clear plastic for the bottom that broke into two pieces. I just cannot fathom the thought of not wearing them and having my teeth get crooked after having about SEVEN years of orthodontic work done. I mean, I was a metal mouth for FOREVER. I had each tooth in my head spaced apart, the front ones then pushed back, and then they were all pushed back together. I had wires. I had a retainer cemented to the roof of my mouth with a key that I had to use to turn the retainer and expand it (apparently they gave me the wrong instructions and I ended up turning it 3x faster than I should have. I didnt eat solids for 2 months I was in so much pain) I even had those stupid rubberbands. In fact, I had to rubberband my whole mouth shut, except for the front four teeth. What’s even more awesome is that that was the same time I performed in Carnegie Hall. I KID YOU NOT when we sang, I opened my mouth too wide that the rubberband broke and smacked the girl standing next to me. It was during rehearsals, but she got her revenge by standing in FRONT of me during the actual performance. Not my fault!

Sometimes I hate the whole process of showering because it entails to many duties. Shampoo hair, rinse hair, condition hair, rinse hair, wash body, shave (on occassion). Dry off, lotion, put product in my hair, brush hair…I’m tired just thinking about it.

Has anyone ever taken the raspberry ketone supplement? I saw it on Dr. Oz yesterday (only because I was home, I swear!) and I had never heard of it. If anyone has, let me know..I might be interested in trying it myself!

I kind of miss home. In the sense that I won’t get a government charge every time I used my debit card; that it’s called a bathroom and not a wash room; that people are in the same boat as far as health insurance, so they don’t ask me about it; Dunkin Donuts; mph not kph. Ok, I’m starting to put myself in depression mode. Must stop.

The good news is I passed my background check, so the YMCA is allowing me to take the certification courses in April so that I can be one step closer to volunteering/working there.

I can’t stop thinking about my nightmare last night. If I type it out, it sounds incredibly silly, but I swear to you it was the scariest thing ever. I was with Betty White and Tyler and there was a demon in the house and we were hiding from it and finally I screamed at the top of my lungs “GET IT OUUUUUUUUUT” and then Tyler laid on the couch and Betty and I laid on an air mattress until the devil came up the stairs. And that is when I sat up awake and started screaming. See? It sounds super silly.

I just realized I have been sitting here typing this whole thing and I haven’t taken off my coat.

This is the most random post ever. I guarantee you it won’t be the last.

Happy Thursday!