Monthly Archives: September 2013

Choosing Positivity

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, Jazzercise, , ,

Happy Monday! I hope it’s been a good one for you so far.

Today started earlier than normal for me…ahem…2 AM. Why, might you ask? I woke up with a screaming Charlie horse cramp in my left calf muscle! Before I was even awake, I was out of bed, screaming, and trying to work out the most horrendous cramp EVER. It lasted a whole 10 seconds and I thought I died. But it passed (like it always does!), and I went back to sleep within minutes. Luckily it didn’t come back, and I slept soundly until my 5 AM wake up call for my 5:40 AM Jazzercise class.

Workout (x3!)

I had a small crowd this morning at my early Jazzercise class. All my students were half asleep and it was hard to stay motivated, but we powered through! I always feel amazing when I start my day with a fun workout. Energized and ready to go!

So it’s going to be a serious Jazzercise Marathon day today. I was super smart and overbooked myself today for teaching. I typically teach twice on Mondays, once in the morning and once in the evening. But today one of our instructors is out of town, and I volunteered to teach her 5:40 PM class as well. Oooops! I’ll survive though. Plus, I’ll have 3 solid hours of Jazzercise under my belt by the time I hit the sack tonight, so I’ll sleep like a dream!

I truly love teaching, and it’s days like today that bring that back to my attention. If I didn’t LOVE it, there is no way I would be willing to put so much time into it. I’ve already told myself that I’m going to most likely be tired by the time my 3rd class time comes around this evening, but I’m going to choose to be positive and power through it. I know my body is able, and I’m so thankful for my job, so why be cranky and negative?? Today let’s choose positivity and make this Monday as wonderful as possible!

Breakfast

Breakfast was quick and simple to grab as I was leaving for work this morning. I prepared a nice big bowl of Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats last night. I added a splash more of almond milk, some Craisins, and a few chopped walnuts for lots of texture.

photo(91)I love, love, love adding craisins or raisins to this mix because the sweetness is a special little treat! I also had lots of coffee and some caramel spice cake yogurt on the side for extra protein.

photo(90)This big bowl of oats + the yogurt kept me extra full all morning, which can be a challenge after a morning workout! I love the staying power of some hefty oatmeal. 🙂

Lunch

Lunch came together quickly thanks to some leftovers!

photo(91)I had the very last tiny bit of my quinoa salad, a few brussel sprouts, and some veggie pasta. I cleaned out 3 small tupperware containers from the fridge. Win!

photo(90)My favorite part was the leftover pasta. This girl loves her carbs! I also had a few tortilla chips on the side for some crunch, plus an apple since my meal wasn’t very fruit/veggie dense.

photo(89)After lunch, I threw another apple and some more yogurt into my purse as I’ll need a snack before my 2 Jazzercise classes right after work. I’ve decided I need to be more creative with my healthy snacks – I’m such a creature of habit at the grocery store! Oh well, today my go-to yogurt and fruit will get me by.

Hope you’re enjoying this lovely Fall day! I’ll see you all later! Stay positive!

Finally Fall!

Daily Life!, Food for Thought,

Happy Fall, everyone!

photo(81)My Fall decorations returned yesterday evening, no thanks to Mac. He cried and barked through the whole ordeal. He’s especially bothered by this cute little scarecrow wreath. But I got all my goodies up despite his ill-spirit!

photo(83) photo(82)Yay for Fall! I’ve been anticipating the official start for a few weeks, so I was very excited for today to roll around! Nick arrived home from visiting his parents to find the house extra festive. My fireplace mantle makes me very happy, especially with my fake fire burnin’!

Breakfast

This morning started in typical Sunday fashion.

photo(80)Sunday newspaper ads + oatmeal + coffee! And today’s coffee was festive to celebrate the start of Fall. My house smelled like spicy pumpkin-goodness when I woke up thanks to the Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Spice, so I kept my cup full all morning!

photo(79)Yum! Gotta love a good caffeine buzz to start your Sunday off right.

I walked Mac after a few cups of coffee to get a my body moving a little before I taught a 9 AM Jazzercise class. My quads were BEYOND sore from my long run yesterday, so I was very okay with only getting in a quick walk plus my class for my workout today.

Lunch was a grilled chicken and spinach salad at a Mexican restaurant with Nick as soon as he returned from his trip. I forgot to snap a pic because our normal go-to Mexican place, La Mision, changed over the last week so we were trying out the new franchise that has taken over the location. It’s called Las Margaritas, and it was okay. But it was a little more expensive, and we really missed the homey feeling we got from the hispanic family that owned it previously.

Thankfully, the salad was good and extra healthy. And healthy dishes were basically non-existent on the La Mision menu. We may try it again. Or we may try the other new Mexican restaurant that opened up next door to Las Margaritas. I’ve gotta a feeling our beloved La Mision family has moved next door under a new name. Stay tuned!

The rest of the afternoon consisted of a final fitting of my bridesmaid dress for Katie’s wedding this weekend! It fit (thankfully!). And then it was onto some light grocery shopping with Nick. BTW, avoid the grocery store at all costs if you are health-conscious at all. There is Halloween candy everywhere!!! It was literally haunting me the entire time we were in the store. Luckily, I have Katie’s wedding as incentive to not gain any extra weight/bloat this week from candy. After the wedding?? The candy may win. Time will tell how strong my willpower is.

Dinner

Dinner was quick and easy. I had some lean ground beef that needed to be used. So Nick picked out an old favorite at the store.

photo(77)Hamburger Helper is always okay by me. Supa simple! And he’ll gladly eat the leftovers (which is rare – he’s soooo picky).

photo(78)I quickly made this for our dinner along with some green stuff on the side to make myself feel healthier.

photo(84)Little spinach salad and some steamed broccoli. Yumm! It felt good to get some veggies in my belly.

Now we’re just watching some Duck Dynasty reruns, and I’m trying to pull my brain together before this busy week begins. I did take a moment to make a batch of Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats though. Can’t wait to dig into those tomorrow!

Tomorrow morning will start bright and early with a 5:40 AM Jazzercise class. Hopefully my students are a little more awake this week! Enjoy your first evening of Fall!

 

Mac & Cheese Long Run

Food for Thought, Workouts, , , ,

Happy Saturday morning to ya! Hope you had a great start to your weekend last night. Mac and I hit the sack early and slept for a little more than 8 hours! It’s so nice to wake up without an alarm.

We rolled out of bed at 7 AM feeling refreshed and ready to hit the pavement. I checked the weather to find that is was 48 degrees outside! Nippy!! I pulled on some running tights and  a long-sleeve Lululemon top that I bought just for mornings like this and set off to accomplish something I’ve never done before: 6.2 miles.

Obviously Mac had to sit this one out. Like I’ve mentioned in the past, anything over 1.5 miles makes his ‘tiny dog syndrome’ kick in, and I have to drag and/or carry him the rest of the way if I want to keep running.

The run was fairly easy for me today, and my running pace was immediately faster than normal. I’m going to chalk this up to the cooler temps.

photo(76)I made it in record time! Well, according to my records at least. 🙂 It felt great to run that final stretch down my street and have my Runkeeper app tell me I was over my goal of 6.2 miles. I’m so ready for my 10K on October 12th! I was most worried about making the distance without stopping, but now that I know I can do it, I only need to focus on maintaining my endurance and possibly increasing my time.

So you’re wondering why I called this post the Mac & Cheese Long Run? Well because it was exactly that…

Kraft Factory
Kraft Factory

This is the Kraft Factory that I run by each time I mention going on longer runs. Yes, Kraft as in the Macaroni and Cheese that we all know and love. Most days, the parking lot is full, and I can see smoke coming out of those pipes. But today was slightly different. I got right next to the building (on the sidewalk of course), and I could smell Kraft’s macaroni and cheese just like there was a big bowl sitting right in front of my face!

kraft mac cheese blue boxUmm YUM!! I continued to smell the delicious cheesy stuff for about another mile. I even changed my breathing from my mouth to my nose (which I don’t like doing) so I could get a good whiff of it!

The craziest thing to me is how Kraft’s mac and cheese has such a distinct smell and taste compared to a homemade mac and cheese. It’s very distinguishable! And when you’re about 4 miles into your run, it makes it hard to focus when all you want is a big bowl of carbs to dig into. But I got quite a kick out of it. People driving by probably thought I was crazy as the whole thing had me laughing out loud at myself. So lesson learned: keep your nose ready for some cheesy goodness if you’re ever running down Bennett street in Springfield!

Breakfast

I made it home from my run and stretched well while sipping some water to rehydrate. I was then ready for coffee and FOOD! I brewed my Candy Corn flavored coffee this morning from Target and immediately poured myself a big mug full along with a splash of Pumpkin Pie Spice creamer. It hit the spot after being chilly during my run! I wanted the warmth to continue. So I toasted some bread while I microwaved 2 eggs with a splash of almond milk.

photo(72)A little raspberry jelly perfected this sandwich with the awesome combo of salty and sweet. My eggs got extra nice and poofy in the microwave making my sandwich extra filling!

photo(74)Mmmmmmmm eggy goodness. This hefty sandwich left me super satisfied, but I also had a small cup of Greek yogurt on the side for extra protein.

photo(73)And now I’m very full but still sipping on the coffee. I can’t get enough of the Fall-flavored coffees. But tomorrow is the FIRST DAY OF FALL!!! So my obsession is finally legitimate.

The rest of today will be spent teaching a Jazzercise class (yes, I’m crazy, I know) and doing some Fall decorating with a tiny and extremely whiny dog.

photo(75)For some reason, every time Nick leaves for a longer amount of time, Mac goes into this annoying & whiny mode until he returns. I may have to go to Hobby Lobby to A) Look at all the Fall decor that is 40% off today! and B) Get away from my annoying furry baby for a bit. I love him, but momma can only handle so much.

Have a great Saturday! Get out there and carve some pumpkins or something!