I have been a naughty girl, slacking on the blogging. For good reason, I learned a thing or two though about why I maintain this thing.
But really, tsk, tsk, Courtney. I would like to cement the fact that I have a blog because it:
A. Keeps my accountable
B. Really helps with motivation!
I was so surprised over the last week to see how the fire for a workout fluctuated. I did discover if I ever am lacking in motivation, I always head right over to The Inner Workings of a College Grad, and Meghann, with her amazing dedication and passion to fitness, is like a drug. I can’t wait to get a workout or a run in. :] We should bottle her and see what happens.
Let’s recap what has happened in the short while I have been away.
Met a guy
Lost 5 lbs
in the process of moving this weekend
have been baking like a bad woman
playing with new kitchen gadets
was offered to be in another photo shoot with friend justin march 19
Much to do, much to do!
I am starting the move this morning, so must make haste and get some Jillian action in pronto.
Today was a double-workout KIND OF DAY. So proud. :]
This morning before work, I ran my usual loop of 5.5 miles in 47 minutes, nothing too crazy. It was a beautiful, sunny day, I knew I needed to get out an enjoy it before the rain came on again!
But, I still needed to get my muscle building in for the day, too – so after work, grocery shopping and clothes shopping (couldn’t help it, after yesterday, I just needed a little retail therapy!), I hit up Level 3 of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.
I’m contemplating maybe another week or so of Jiliian, I may be able to pull out the big guns and try Insanityagain. If you have been following, you’ll know I made a resolution to complete 60 days of the program. Well – it kicked my ass to tim-buck-two, so I had to do drop back something a little easier!
I’m also thinking of doing P90X, too though. :] Or perhaps just mixing them up and doing them as I see fit? Variety is the spice of life, they say!
Questions & Answers
A reader asked what kind of stuff I wear when I run.
Well, Oregon is known for a variety of weather, so I wear a little bit of everything. I have a lot of technical gear, some technical long shirts, underwear, etc. But, I am the most comfortable when the weather is decent enough for shorts (even if it is not decent, I prefer wearing shorts) and a hat. If it’s raining, I just tough it out.
First thing AM, I am washing the roomies mirror. Haha, or just using my bathroom!
Another read asked what kind of dressing I use in my salads?
I don’t use any!
And on to that salad - that photo is a salad of the lunch I prepped tonight for lunch tomorrow at work. I also have a baggie of green grapes.
I was noticing my jar of TJ’s Almond Butter is looking a little low – almost low enough for YOU KNOW WHAT.
Grocery shopping was typical, except for a few special ingredients I picked up ~ I have some serious baking plans going on this weekend. :] Onto the clothes …
A pair of sassy new kicks from Nine West.
Denim.
And because I tried to hand-wash my Coach wallet over the weekend and am pretty sure I did more harm than good, I picked up this little number tonight (from Ross!) Also a flannel shirt and a coral/pink/orange wrap, my favorite color!
I’ll be sporting some of this new gear tomorrow at work. Love new duds to kick off a Friday!
Breakfast: 1/4 c. oats, 1/4 frozen blueberries, dash of maple syrup to sweeten and a LOT of tea this morning. :]
Today has been a really rough day, for a multiude of reasons. The past has come to haunt me, over and over today … A new friend really helped me out by asking me to listen to this song.
There may come a time
A time in everyone’s life
Where nothing seems to go your way Where nothing seems to turn out right
There may come a time You just can’t seem to find your way For every door you walk on to Seems like they get slammed in your face
That’s when you need someone
Someone that you can call
And when all your faith is gone Feels like you can’t go on
Let it be me
Let it be me If it’s a friend that you need
Let it be me
Let it be me
Feels like your always comin’ on home Pockets full of nothin’ and you got no cash
No matter where you turn, you ain’t got no place to stand Reach out for something and they slap your hand
Now I remember all too well Just how it feels to be all alone
You feel like you’d give anything
For just a little place you can call your own
That’s when you need someone
Someone that you can call And when all your faith is gone Feels like you can’t go on
Let it be me
Let it be me If it’s a friend you need
Let it be me
Let it be me Let it be me
{Ray Lamontagne, Let It Be Me}
Thank you. :]
I was ready to rock and roll over to DMV today, headed over there with my SS card, but I guess now you need 2 forms of ID if you lose your Drivers License, so I had to head home … but couldn’t find my birth certificate. Ugh. Still dealing with that mess.
(Like my roomies shower curtain? He has an obsesh with the beach like I do.)
I was really stoked to deal with that shizz later, and move on to more important things, like my new food processor.
Of all people, my grandma asked what I wanted for X-Mas, and I told her this. :] So, this is the first time I have used it. Crazy! I was afraid to use it before this, I think. Afraid of all the clean-up, maybe? More on how easy clean-up is, later!
Thanks, Gram!
I pulled it out of the box, and let’s just say I was a WEEEEETLE overwhelmed!
But I did manage to get it together, and I did manage to turn it on. (Everything has to be “clicked” into perfect place, or it won’t take power.)
Thanks again, Gina! The first time I made this, I’d let the bananas defrost and thaw a little on the counter, and managed to whip it into shape with a FORK. (You can imagine the effort this took.) So I was extra excited tonight, to see the power of the PROCESSOR!
Right before I turned the beast on! (It took me a while to turn it on, sadly, I had to realize that the lid needed to “click” into place before powering on!)
Let the whirring begin!!
Whir, whir, whir! Let’s add some fun ingreeds now, shall we?!
Yum! It ground up the almonds just enough to make a nice crunch in every bite!!
And clean-up was much easier than I anticipated!
I tasted a little, and put the rest in a tupperware for later.
I have no idea what to do with all of these peices! :]
And an update – after freezing, the soft serve isn’t the same. I recommend eating it right after it comes out of the processor and not saving any for later! It’s too icey and blah tasting.
This was my first time purchasing Tilapia, so I am super excited to pull some out of the fridge and let it thaw for tomorrow’s dinner! More to come! :]
While searching for Curtis’s website, I came across this amazing recipe. Peanut butter cookies with chocolate chunks. Score! I have been looking all day for a great cookie recipe for a friend, and I think this one will be the winna!
I’m also looking for some kind of lemon bar recipe. Remember, it has to travel well … Any ideas? Hit me up!
Jeeze, my Macbook is being so slow and lagging like crazy this morning! I will need to add that to my to-do list – Run Cleanup on Mac and backup photos onto my external to make some space – because this is too much! Has anyone taken their Macbook into a Genius at the Apple Store and had any luck with them speeding things up?
Breakfast was quite the delicious surprise. I used a new box of Quaker Whole Wheat Pancake mix + egg whites + non-fat milk (because homie I was making breakfast for asked for it. He said he didn’t like the texture of Almond Milk. So, sure. I’ll make you breakfast and you can be a little picky punk about it.)
BAD IDEA. Dairy makes me feel like CRAP. The addition of milk in the pancakes this morning and the serving of ice cream I had last night? Eww, eww, eww. Stomach ache.
Now I understand why I made the switch to Almond milk and soy milk, and cut out yogurt and most dairy.
Blech.
The pancakes were delish though.
I had one pancake with a banana in it.
I chopped the banana, and poured the batter right over it in the pan.
YUM.
For the homie, I cooked turkey bacon slices, scrambled egg whites with onion and a little skim-milk, and then poured the rest of the pancake batter over a few remaining pieces of bacon for him.
Bacon cooked right into pancakes is pretty damn tasty.
His eggs and pancake.
My pancake with maple syrup.
Will be making these again! I think I will make them in advance and freeze them. Great for mornings on the go, popped right into the toaster.
______________________________________________
In the fitness world, Jillian Michaels made an appearance in my living room and apparently wanted to kill me.
30 Day Shred Workout consisted of Level 3 + Level 2 + 10 minutes of jump roping to round out an hour-long workout. Fabulous. :]
24 premiers tonight, but since I didn’t watch last season, I am planning to DVR it until I can get caught up! I am still working on Season 3 of Heroes, I didn’t watch as much of it yesterday as I’d have liked.
It’s been wonderful having MLK day off, but back to the grind tomorrow … I shouldn’t really complain, because then I have Wednesday off.
Even though I have never watched The Biggest Loser, I am a huge fan of Jillian Michaels. I love her 30 Day Shred DVD, I love following her on Twitter and Facebook. I love, love, love her BODY! I aspire for her amazing, amazing arms.
Look at these pythons!
She is just a badass.:] But still, a feminine lady! I think she represents independence. She represents taking charge. She has gone out there and done what a lot of women can’t and don’t think they can do – she owns it!
Jessica Biel is another favorite of mine.
Smoking hot!
Who do you go to for motivation? What kind of body to you aspire to?
I see so many cute puppy/doggie pictures from various bloggers (check out the Birthday Boy!) that I thought I would share a little puppy love, too. Thanks, Google!
What a cute little bumbly-bee!
I can’ believe I finished the 2nd season of Heroes last night! I was so tired but the suspense too much ~ I had to finish it before hitting the hay. I nearly watched an entire season in one night, phew. I see a lot more Hero watching this weekend. After last weekends festivities, serious rest and relaxation sounds grand to me! (Season 3 begins after I run errands this afternoon, whoo! LOVE YOU, Xbox streaming Netflix.)
I slept for a solid 8 hours and woke up to make a delicious breakfast.
What other than a tasty bowl of oatmeal! :] PistachioCranberry Oats, that is.
I toasted a few peanuts in with the shelled pistachios, and it turned out quite yummy! Toasting nuts in the microwave for just a minute or so really pumps up the flavor.
A few of my favorite spice thrown into the mix:
Allspice
Cinnamon
Pumpkin Spice
a dash of salt
Almond extract (not shown) makes for an amazing aroma.
Sweeten with your favorite, yum! And it was a double bagging kind of morning.
I’ve already cleaned the entire apartment, started laundry and now it’s off to do some showering and shopping. :]
Hope everyone’s weekend is great! Anyone else have MLK day off?
Happy Saturday!It feels like Friday around here! :] I normally work a half-day on Saturday’s and enjoy Sunday’s off. But thanks to the amazing MLK, I will also have a 2nd rest day – Monday! So, I will finally have a two-day weekend!
Tonight’s workout was a little more on the laid back side. :]
I used my Netlfix membership and my ability to stream live through our Xbox (coolest thing ever!) And I finally started watching the 2nd season of Heroes! I watched the first season, but I have a hard time following along with the TV, even if things are recorded. So, now that I have access to commercial-free and the entire seasons worth – I am watching it now as I type this! It’s incredible!
My living room workout just flew by tonight!
I used my jump rope and a pair of 3 lb. dumbells and mixed up a combination of a ton of moves to keep my heart-rate steady, but not through the roof (about 140-160). I did a variety of moves and kept changing it up and coming back to a few of them!
Jumping jacks w/ weights
Double jump ropes
High knees
Wide Leg Squats with shoulder raises
Pendulum lunges
Pike crunches
Sit ups (Rocky style)
V-Ups (abs)
Running in place with weights
Butt kicks with weights
Rock star hops with weights
Random dancing around, jumping around, with weights …
You might notice a lot of these are from Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred!
I did work with the suspense of the show – because I didn’t have commericials to work with, I worked with the music and the setting. As the scene got more intense – I sped up! As it climaxed, I went as hard as I could, with whatever move I was doing, then rested for a few moments as the scene changed.
This made it really fun!
Afterwards, I need to get my green in.
Out of curiosity, I wanted to see how much spinach I could handle in my Green Monster tonight, so I left all the other stuff out I normally put in it (the yogurt, the protein powder, the Almond Breeze, etc.) I was concerned with just getting as much green in there as I could. So, I started with just a few ice cubes and a little water, and 1/3 of a cup of frozen mango chunks. Then, I just kept adding and adding the spinach! I finished almost that WHOLE BAG! I sweeneted with a tiny bit of agave nectar … It was perfect! And so clean and fresh and light! Because I didn’t add any of the stuff I normally do. :] I much prefer it this way, just a refreshing drink, packed full nutrients. Mmmmm.
It is a rich source of vitamin A (and lutein), vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, folate, iron, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, folic acid, copper, protein, phosphorus, zinc, niacin, selenium and omega-3 fatty acids. Recently, opioid peptides called rubiscolins have also been found in spinach. It is a source of folic acid (Vitamin B9), and this vitamin was first purified from spinach.
Dinner was another delicious and easy peasy ordeal. Three-Cheese rigatoni, topped with parmesan and italian seasoning. To celebrate the weekend, a glass of pinot grisfrom the bottle I received for Christmas! Thanks, Aunt Patty!
Waking up early was a success! I can’t believe it! It totally changed my outlook on the day and I managed to accomplish much and had a great attitude/outlook all day.
Jillian Michaels stepped in this morning! I completed Levels 3 and 1/2 of Level 2, and also P90X Ab Ripper X 300+ core and abdominal exercises.
Breakfast was 1/3 c. oats in water, 1 scoop Optimum Whey protein powder in Vanilla Ice Cream, with a handful of fresh, tart and juicy cranberries. A little swirl of cinnamon and top and yummo-o! (Thanks, Rachel Ray!)
Starting the day this successfully made the rest of the day a walk in the park! Just goes to show how important it is to take care of you!
Another early morning is upon me, wish me success!
My heart goes out to all the sufferers and those lost in the crisis in Haiti. I am sure you’re all doing what you can! If nothing else, we sure can appreciate all that we have today!
Q. Have you noticed a change in appetite on days you work out as compared to days you don’t work out? I was amazed to document how little I needed to eat yesterday after taking a day off. I wasn’t hungry for breakfast, but I made myself eat an orange with my tea. I had a small 300-400 calorie lunch, and after an apple snack, dinner was a mixture of vegetables and a whole wheat muffin!
I attribute this to two things: not working out means not raising my metabolism through-out the day, requiring more calories, and also, because naturally I have less muscles these days, attributing to a lower-standing metabolism bottom line.
Things to work on, things to work on!
Did anyone gain any poundage or inches through the Holidays? I would say I did a few. Damage control is not fun, but a girls got to do what a girls got to do!
One more question: Regarding birth control. I was continuous-cycling my birth control (even though I haven’t been in a relationship and I’m not sexually active (yay, 40 year old virgin!), and have decided to stop taking it if I don’t need to be. I am concerned this will lead to breakouts, and of course, I will not enjoy having a period every month now. It was great having it every 3-4 months and a very light, maybe 1-3 days at that!
I have read that birth control inhibits muscle gain. Fact?
I have read that birth control makes people hormonal. Well, I have been on it for a long time and I definitly have my bouts of depression, “moods,” so I am hoping this stops.
If it doesn’t and breakouts ensue, I will go back on it! I used to have back acne until I was put on birth control, even though it’s a high dosage of estrogen that works the best for me. Odd, right?
And that’s all I have for you this morning. Questions!
For good reason, I learned a thing or two though about why I maintain this thing.
Love new duds to kick off a Friday!
Smoking hot! 
