Feeling Like a Blog of Crap

Sunday Late Afternoon

What a fun and tiring weekend I had! I had high hopes of jumping on here last night to do a little more posting and to hopefully find a blog theme with a little more pizazz than this lovely theme, but when The Prospect asked me to spend Sunday afternoon/evening with him, I was all about the “lazy Sunday with a cute guy” plan.

After a quick but butt-kicking strength workout, I showered and guzzled down a strawberry banana protein shake before heading over to The Prospect’s apartment. I honestly could drink one of those bad boys for 2 solid meals a day, it’s just THAT good, and this morning’s shake nearly sent me over the edge. The Prospect doesn’t entirely understand my love for the shake and is convinced I’m head-over-heels with it because it’s nearly identical to a milkshake. What a smart boy. 😉

After our intense protein shake discussion, we got cozy on the couch and cheered on our believed Patriots! One of our biggest issues, or his issue with me, is that I’m anti Tom Brady. As The Prospect puts it, I’m all about Peyton “Big Forehead” Manning, but I was more than happy to drool over adorable little Wes Welker and Stephen Gostkowski.

[Source]

Cute.

 

[Source]

And Cute.

After watching our boys win, we flipped through the channels and ended up switching back and forth between several movies before I had to head home to get ready for the work week.

Monday

Last night I didn’t get that good of a night’s sleep. I think that because I headed home around 9 last night which is usually when I’m crawling into bed, messed me up a little. I kept waking up throughout the night as well which left me wanting to hit snooze a 2^nd time this morning, but I sucked it up and went for my workout.

Which was AMAZING. I was able to cover 4.5 miles, which don’t ask me how, because I’m not even sure how I squeezed that in. Must have been my ridiculously childish and dance crazy playlist I ran to.

I’m sorry, but Bieber, Carly Rae and PSY don’t exactly make for an easy run. All I wanted to do was dance while I ran! There were a lot of arm wiggles and fist pumps throughout Gangnam Style. I remember the first time my spin instructor played Gangnam Style in one of our classes and I was just having an awful day. I literally pouted throughout the entire song until she started fist-pumping. Those damn fist-pumps are more contagious than yawning!

I also threw in a little core work, and by little, I mean it. I was more interested in laying on the floor after my run than actually working out more, so I stuck to several moves.

• 1 minute plank hold, :30 second side planks
• 50 crunches
• 50 heel touches
• 10 leg circles, counterclockwise and clockwise

Easy peasy with a side of a strawberry banana protein shake.

Today’s lunch was a piece-of-cake meal I’ve been craving for a long time now (read: too lazy to make hard boiled eggs so I never made it).

Egg & Avocado Open-Faced Sandwich!

I brought 4 egg whites and half of an avocado to work with me today, and around lunch time, I cut and mixed it together before enjoying on a piece of Ezekiel bread. Since we’re honest with one another, I truthfully tried to fold the bread in half but I ended up with eggs and avocado all over my desk, which is why this sucker turned into an open-faced sandwich.

I served the sandwich with a side of roasted veggies, which I prepped yesterday morning.

Into the mix went

• 1 Summer Squash
• 1 Zucchini
• 2 Roma Tomatoes
• 1 lb. of Baby Carrots

I heavily sprayed Olive Oil Pam Spray and tossed salt and pepper into the mix before roasting the veggies for 45 minutes at 450 degrees.

These veggies are a favorite for The Prospect and I, and we’ve recently become jealous when one of us makes a batch and doesn’t share.

My appetite has been off the walls today, so around quarter of 3 I microwaved a Chocolate Peanut Butter Quest Bar in the microwave for 30 seconds before topping it with 3 TBSP of PB2.  These bars do a great job of keeping my appetite at bay for hours, and since I had spinning at 5, I needed something filling to keep me in a good mood until 6:30.

I know it looks like poop on poop, but it tasted like peanut butter on a brownie. If you haven’t tried Quest Bars yet, please do. You’ll love me.

Spinning was only alright. I wasn’t feeling good and wanted to pass out, but I survived and came home to polish off another container of roasted veggies and crackers dipped in peanut butter.

Kip watched me intently the entire time I ate the peanut butter and I felt he deserved to lick the jar clean. Now it’s time to relax for the night and watch last week’s Grey’s Anatomy!

Feeling Like a Blob of Crap

Sunday Late Afternoon

What a fun and tiring weekend I had! I had high hopes of jumping on here last night to do a little more posting and to hopefully find a blog theme with a little more pizazz than this lovely theme, but when The Prospect asked me to spend Sunday afternoon/evening with him, I was all about the “lazy Sunday with a cute guy” plan.

After a quick butt-kicking strength workout, I showered and guzzled down a strawberry banana protein shake before heading over to The Prospect’s apartment. I honestly could drink one of those bad boys for 2 solid meals a day, it’s just THAT good, and this morning’s shake nearly sent me over the edge. The Prospect doesn’t entirely understand my love for the shake and is convinced I’m head-over-heels with it because it’s nearly identical to a milkshake. What a smart boy. 😉

After our intense protein shake discussion, we got cozy on the couch and cheered on our believed Patriots! One of our biggest issues, or his issue with me, is that I’m anti Tom Brady. As The Prospect puts it, I’m all about Peyton “Big Forehead” Manning, but I was more than happy to drool over adorable little Wes Welker and Stephen Gostkowski.

Cute.

And cute.

After watching our boys win, we flipped through the channels and ended up switching back and forth between several movies before I had to head home to get ready for the work week.

Monday

Last night I didn’t get that good of a night’s sleep. I think that because I headed home around 9 last night which is usually when I’m crawling into bed, messed me up a little. I kept waking up throughout the night as well which left me wanting to hit snooze a 2nd time this morning, but I sucked it up and went for my workout.

Which was AMAZING. I was able to cover 4.5 miles, which don’t ask me how, because I’m not even sure how I squeezed that in. Must have been my ridiculously childish and dance crazy playlist I ran to.

I’m sorry, but Bieber, Carly Rae and PSY doesn’t exactly make for an easy run. All I wanted to do was dance while I ran! There were a lot of arm wiggles and fist pumps throughout Gangnam Style. I remember the first time my spin instructor played Gangnam Style in one of our classes was an already awful day for me. I literally pouted throughout the entire song until she started fist-pumping. Those damn fist-pumps are more contagious than yawning!

I also threw in a little core work, and by little, I mean it. I was more interested in laying on the floor after my run than actually working out more, so I stuck to several moves.

• 1 minute plank hold, :30 second side planks
• 50 crunches
• 50 heel touches
• 10 leg circles, counterclockwise and clockwise

Easy peasy with a side of a strawberry banana protein shake.

Today’s lunch was a piece-of-cake meal I’ve been craving for a long time now (read: too lazy to make hard boiled eggs so I never made it).

Egg & Avocado Open-Faced Sandwich!

I brought 4 egg whites and half of an avocado to work with me today, and around lunch time, I cut and mixed it together before enjoying on a piece of Ezekiel bread. Since we’re honest with one another, I truthfully tried to fold the bread in half but I ended up with eggs and avocado all over my desk, which is why this sucker turned into an open-faced sandwich.

I served the sandwich with a side of roasted veggies, which I prepped yesterday morning.

Into the mix went:

• 1 Summer Squash
• 1 Zucchini
• 2 Roma Tomatoes
• 1 lb. of Baby Carrots

Instead of using olive oil, I heavily sprayed Olive Oil Pam Spray and tossed salt and pepper into the mix before roasting the veggies for 45 minutes at 450 degrees.

These veggies are a favorite for The Prospect and I, and we’ve recently become jealous when one of us makes a batch and doesn’t share. Eventually we will probably stab one another for the last veggie.

My appetite has been off the walls today(and consequently I’ve felt like a blob of crap) so around quarter of 3 I microwaved a Chocolate Peanut Butter Quest Bar in the microwave for 30 seconds before topping it with 3 TBSP of PB2. These bars do a great job of keeping my appetite at bay for hours, and since I have spinning at 5, I needed something filling to keep me in a good mood until 6:30.

I know it looks like poop on poop, but it tasted like peanut butter on a brownie. If you haven’t tried Quest Bars yet, please do. You’ll love me.

Sore Booty Friday

As I sit here typing up this post, several thoughts are running through my mind, but two really stick out. For starters, incorporating more veggies into my meals has started to pay off and I find that I’m actually craving them now.

As a result, my jeans are a little looser and the number on the scale is dropping. The second thought running through my mind is in regards to how tight and sore my butt muscles are.

Holy cow halleluiah, Heather seriously kicked my booty yesterday in my training session. I went into the session thinking we’d be focusing on my core since she mentioned she’d give me an entire core workout before killing my legs again. Well, she gave me both, and let me tell ya, I was dripping sweat and in pain when the 50 minute workout was over.

Butt blaster, one legged squats, burpees, TRX hamstring curl. It’s all child’s play. Gag me with a rusty spoon. Those TRX hamstring curls actually caused me to whiter up in a ball on the floor not once, not twice, but THREE times because my left calf muscle kept seizing up. In that short amount of time, somewhere close to 6 F bombs were dropped while I fell victim to calf cramps.

My favorite move was actually the butt blaster, which is a move I can only do with someone spotting me, which really bums me out. I got down on all 4’s under the smith machine and lifted one foot so that it was under the bar. With Heather’s assistance, I tucked that leg into my chest and then pushed back and up as high as I could. It felt soooo good, but my butt is feeling soooo sore today!

I was supposed to try Zumba last night for the very first time, but I didn’t want to overdo it, especially with a sore calf muscle, so instead I went home, did a little work, enjoyed a bowl of Peanut Butter Banana & Jelly oatmeal, and spent the rest of the night talking with The Prospect.

I’m in charge of date night on Saturday so I’m still scheming and trying to come up with something fun! He mentioned he’s craving pizza so I’m thinking we make our own healthified pizza and then either stay in with a movie (kinda boring) or go out to: play pool, the movies, or bowling.

Friday

I knew when I went to bed last night that today would be an easy cardio day and that a great run wasn’t going to happen.

Instead, I jumped on the treadmill and planned on a walk/run interval workout. No stress in trying to cover 4 miles, just listening to my body. I started off with a half mile walk before running a mile and then alternating between .25 mile walks and .50/.75 mile runs. In the end, I covered 1 mile walking and 3 miles running. It was nice to take it easy in regards to running. Perfect way to start my Friday!

Morning Workout
• 3 mile run, 1 mile walk
• 1 minute plank, :30 second side planks
• 50 heel touches
• 50 toe touches
• 50 crunches
• Stretching

Oh and to end this post on a sweet note, Linds and I had our “fro-yo for dinner” date on Wednesday and I went for a bowl of plain tart and coconut fro-yo, with strawberries, blueberries, rainbow jimmies and whipped cream.

Best combo I’ve ever made, so good!!

I’m Still Alive!

Hihihihihi!! I’m still alive, my blog’s still alive and I’m just waiting for WordPress and Web Hosting Hub to complete the transfer of my domain.

By the time you’re reading this, the transfer will thankfully be complete and you can continue reading about my boring life.

It’s a weird feeling not being able to blog or have bloggers stop by, but I figured a quick recap of the past few days would be good!

I’m keeping this post short and sweet, mainly just so you can rest at ease and know I’m still alive and kicking.

Workouts have really been the same. Running 4 miles in the morning, strength workouts, oh and spinning on Monday, where I made a new friend! She even convinced me to go to Zumba with her on Thursday. Neva eva been to Zumba so I’m terrified but excited to try it!

Food has been off the walls over here. I still drool when looking at these meals.

Peanut butter banana & jam oats!

Hands down the best bowl I’ve ever made.

Strawberry banana protein shake with my new and best tasting protein powder, Syntha-6 Vanilla Ice Cream. Holy crap it tastes like strawberry ice cream. Nom nom!

Turkey, avocado, spinach and mustard sandwich on Ezekiel bread with raw veggies on the side. Anyone else fart like crazy after eating Ezekiel bread? No, only me? That’s awkward then.

And my new favorite way to enjoy Greek yogurt.

With gooey PB2 in it – not just sprinkling the powder!

Random side rant, this guy always stumps me.

21 degrees out and he’s driving with the top down. Maybe he had Ezekiel bread for breakfast and doesn’t want to dutch oven himself?

Cat Puke in My Shoes

Happy Monday!

Exactly how I feel. If you haven’t heard this saying before, you HAVE to watch this great video. Mike is obsessed with it and got me hooked on it. Apparently it’s a pretty popular saying in Boston!

Last night wasn’t a great sleeping night. I felt like I kept waking up every several hours, and I even woke up to my cat heaving and getting ready to puke. I panicked and darted out of bed to try to get him out before he puked, but it was too late and he found a nice spot for his dinner in my old pair of running shoes that I wear all the time. Let me tell ya, cleaning your shoe at 3 am is pretty damn fun, I highly recommend it!

Morning Workout

A few short hours later my alarm went off a little too loud for my tired ears, but I was able to drag my butt to the treadmill for a surprisingly amazing run. Taking yesterday afternoon off from weights and letting my body rest did wonders for today’s workout.

I was so excited that I was able to run a little farther today, even if it was only an extra .3 miles. Progress has to start somewhere and I’m pleased with it so far!

After my run, I was a hungry hungry girl, so I polished off a strawberry banana protein shake before starting my work week.

Mid-morning I snacked on a Honeycrisp apple (my newest addiction), 24 almonds, and a clementine. My appetite is in full force today because an hour later I was more than ready for lunch.

Lately I’ve been enjoying an Amy’s veggie burger with veggies for lunch, but today I wanted carbs so I threw the burger on a slice of Ezekiel bread and enjoyed an open-faced burger.

This is easily my new jam! The firm but doughy bread took this lunch to an entirely new level, and will definitely be a staple in my work week lunches. It’s easy to prepare, healthy and satisfying. A 1-2-3 punch.. straight to the baby maker.

The veggies were leftovers from last night’s BBQ, which looked a lot like this plate of heaven:

Maybe dinner was what fueled my run this morning!

I skipped my lunch time workout today with plans of taking the Monday evening spinning class that I used to take back in the day before training. I’m pretty exhausted and am contemplating not going, but I know the workout will be great and I really want to test out my Polar FT4 heart rate monitor watch and see what I burn during the ride.

Also of noteworthy blog mentions, I have a killer headache and an uncontrollable bladder.

Let me hear your Monday horror stories.

A Weekend Full of My Favorite People

I’ve had such a great weekend filled with friends and family that I love the most. So far I’m doing perfect with my 2013 goals.

Yesterday I started my morning with my official weigh in for Erica’s Diet Bet before completing a run/walk interval workout. My legs were very sore from my leg workout from Thursday, so I started off with a 1.25 mile warm-up walk before tackling a 4 mile run.

By the time I was finished and showered, it was noon and I was ready for breakfast. I went for oatmeal in an almost empty peanut butter jar!

I mixed 1/2 cup of oats with 1 cup of almond milk, cinnamon, Truvia, 2 tbsp of PB2 and topped it with half of a banana (I ate the other half before working out) and several mini scoops of strawberry jam.

The oatmeal was so good and it was actually my first time having oatmeal in an almost empty jar of pb. I’ve seen this pop up on a lot of blogs, and I’m excited to try it in all of the remaining jars I have.

5 opened jars of peanut butter. I need help.

Since my Mom is recovering from surgery, I spent the rest of my day at home making sure she had everything she needed. I cleaned the house, went grocery shopping, completed a load of laundry, and just hung out with her for a bit before my Dad arrived and I was able to sneak off to the gym for a strength workout.

I had planned on doing the Pure Hell workout, but while drying my hands in the bathroom before working out, my workout unfortunately got screwed over by the dryer and sink. Womp womp!

For the most part I was able to remember everything since the workout was still burned in my brain.

I had originally planned on only doing a cardio workout, but I’m so glad that I changed my mind and went for the weights. Before my strength workout I did warm up with another mile walk and finished up with 10 minutes on the elliptical, followed by 10 minutes in the sauna.

I quickly headed home to shower and get dolled up for a night out. I ended up allowing The Prospect to treat me to a very fancy dinner at Cotton for several hours before we met up with Mike for several drinks at Strange Brew. I ended up ordering the Spinach Salad with Grilled Salmon and absolutely loved it! This is easily one of my favorite meals at any restaurant. I hadn’t seen Mike in what seemed like forever and I was happy that both Mike and The Prospect wanted to meet each other.

I’m pretty sure it was the first time that Mike has approved of a guy I’ve brought around, and coming from the most honest and over-protected best friend I have, this is big.

Around 1, The Prospect and I headed out and fell asleep watching Rachel vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off. Holy crap this show was so good. He was out cold but I only snoozed during commercials. I’m pretty sure the new season kicks off tonight, so I might have to add it to my line-up! By the time I got home and into bed it was 3 am, SO late for me, and slept like a rock until 10 am.

Sunday

After popping 2 clementines into my mouth, I tackled a 4 mile run, which was a little difficult after a late night of great food, beer and a skinny girl marg. Definitely worth it!

I enjoyed a Strawberry Banana protein shake before taking care of several things. Now I’m just finishing this post and watching a Cougar Town marathon until my cousin Nikki arrives. We have plans to go shopping at the Merrimack Outlets and Target, which I hope I can refrain from spending money!

Knowing that I’d get hungry while shopping, I packed a PB2 & J sandwich for the trip.

2 slices of Ezekiel bread, 2 tbsp of PB2 and a little strawberry jam, and that’s all you need for the perfect comfort food sandwich! I hope I get hungry soon so I can dig in.

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend! XO

 

My Goals for 2013. Gonna Be A Life Changing Year!

So far 2013 has left me with a weird taste in my mouth, but after talking with several of my closest friends and family, I’m truly excited for the new year.

On that note, I’ve decided that 2013 is about 4 things. These 4 things aren’t resolutions. They’re simply goals that I’d like to accomplish, or start to accomplish.

• Family
• Friends
• My Health
• Having Fun

The one thing 2013 will not be about is finding a guy or making dating a priority. If it happens, then thumbs up cool, but it’s one of the last priorities I have. After a tough dating year in 2012, I’d like to step away from dating for a bit and focus on people who will always have my back.

Since girl power is flowing through my veins, it’s time to finally share my 2013 goals!

Goals for 2013

• Spend more quality time with my friends and family: I do this a lot already, but I want to do it even more and go more places with them.
• Focus on eating as clean as possible: I eat clean for the majority of the day, but I would really love to eliminate more processed foods and boost my intake in veggies.
• Eat more structured dinners: I typically eat my larger meals during breakfast and lunch, and by the time dinner comes around after a day at work, I’m not really in the mood to cook something large. I usually stick to a protein shake, oatmeal or a Quest Bar with PB on it, but wind up snacking after. My goal is to experiment with dinners and eating patterns, and stick with what works best.
• Prep healthy meals: I’ve always been inspired by those that take several hours from their Sunday to prep meals for the week. Hopefully you’ll be seeing a lot of this on the blog in the future! Such a great way to always have healthy meals on hand when you’re in a pinch or too lazy to cook!
• Travel: I have a lot of plans to travel this year to visit my friends from afar. Brian in Los Angeles, Viss & Kate in San Diego, and Betsy, Morgdizzle and Charlie in Iowa. Hopefully a little travel outside of the U.S too, but that might have to wait until 2014. I miss those friends dearly and they’re more important for me to see!
• Tone up and shed fat: You’ve seen my workouts on here before, and with all the hard work I put in to working out, I definitely don’t have the body I’d love to have. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very comfortable in my body and love who I am, but I’d love to lose a little bit of body fat and see some abs!
• Run more races and challenge myself: My goal is to run at least 3 5k’s and my very first 10K. For the past 2 years, I’ve always been interested in running in The Dempsey Challenge 10k, but have never been trained enough to run a 10k. This year I plan to start training early and fundraise early. Helllllo, if I raise enough I get to meet Patrick Dempsey!

Ooops, how’d he get in there?!

• Meet Patrick Dempsey: See above. Duh
• Don’t drool when I meet Patrick Dempsey: I’ll fail at this one, but worth a shot!
• Try new things: Whether it’s related to food, activities or experiences, I want 2013 to be full of new, exciting and terrifying experiences. It’s all about getting out of your comfort zone!
• Don’t take love or anyone for granted: I learned my lesson on this with Rob, and while it wasn’t the reason our love didn’t last, I know that had we both not taken each other or our love for granted, our future could have turned out a little differently.
• Move out and get an apartment/condo: Either with Allie and Kris, or by myself. Time to grow up.
  
• Watch this blog grow: I want to meet bloggers, attend conferences, reap the benefits of writing and blogging about fitness and eating clean, and hopefully watch my blog grow! I’m hoping it’ll be a great year for Running on Peanut Butter!

And most importantly, and one that doesn’t need any explaining,

• BE HAPPY

Questions: Do you have any similar goals for 2013?

Staring at Val Chmerkovskiy’s Abs All Day

It’s finally Friday! I don’t know about you, but this week left me all screwed up. I keep thinking that New Year’s Day was Sunday and not Tuesday, and I continually refer back to that mindset. I’m just so excited that it’s almost the weekend, and so far the only thing on my agenda is to spend Sunday with my cousin, Nikki. Right now I’m enjoying the fact that Saturday is completely free with nothing on the agenda.

Last night I enjoyed another night of troubled sleeping. Too much on the brain, so once again, I settled in for a long read of Blog Inc.

Seriously loving this book SO much! I love blogging, but this book is making me so excited for the future of my blog, which is another goal of 2013.

It got me so excited that last night I did a little research and this morning I signed up with Web Hosting Hub and purchased a redesign for good ol’ Running on Peanut Butter! 🙂

At the beginning of December I actually purchased a package with Blue Host but had too many difficulties so I cancelled with them and have been trying to find a great host the past several weeks, since I’ve been dying for a redesign since October. The selling point with Hub is that for $25 they will transfer everything for you. Yes, everything. That was my big issue with Blue Host. Every time I contacted support I was led in 20 different directions and after a while, it was too time consuming and frustrating.

So hopefully in several weeks this little blog will be even prettier!

Oh, ps, did you notice anything unusual about the above picture of Blog Inc.?

That’s right, since my bookmark is actually in the visor of my car (don’t ask), I had to resort to using a dryer sheet as my bookmark since it was on my nightstand (again, don’t ask) and I was too lazy to move.

Morning Workout

This morning I woke up with extremely sore thigs. Don’t know what a thig is? Well neither do I, but sometimes typos are just too good to correct.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well my run went this morning, although tomorrow might be a New Year’s Day repeat since my body always feels the biggest workout pain 2 days after.

I was able to cover 4 miles and fit in several core exercises before heading to work, where I enjoyed my Strawberry Banana protein shake while drooling at Val Chmerkovskiy.

What? That’s a totally acceptable wallpaper for your work computer, right?

I really wanted to use a picture of his wonderful body for my wallpaper, but I didn’t think that was such a good idea.

Instead, we can all enjoy those abs right now.

Dessert for breakfast, if you know what I mean. 😉

Alright, time to minimize my open documents and drool over Val, power through work.

Men Get Periods Too

I have this constant habit of jinxing myself whenever something good happens. I need to learn to shut my mouth, which is actually pretty hard as a blogger. Ever since New Year’s Day, things have been weird with The Prospect, which won’t make Jen too happy since she’s been loving the dating updates.

My friend reminded me last night that “men get periods too.” Thanks for that Jeff! I’m hoping that men’s periods don’t last as long as ours do, but let me tell you something, if The Prospect is on his period, then geez, it’s worse than a girls!

Last night was a little tough for me since I had no freakin’ idea what the heck was going on between us, or lack thereof, but I’m glad Betsy and Lisha were able to make me laugh a bit.

When things are going wrong, I can’t sleep. Instead, I lie in bed and can’t stop thinking. And by thinking, I mean overthinking and overanalyzing. My conclusion is that The Prospect is just being a straight up weirdo. There’s no way someone can just do a complete 360, and I know for sure I did nothing wrong, so I’m just settling on that.

Since I couldn’t sleep, I decided to start Blog Inc., a book that Ryan and Chelsey gave to me for Christmas. This book is really great and insightful, and I had such a hard time putting it down! I can’t wait to tackle it this evening.

Morning Workout

Since I had trouble falling asleep last night, and didn’t get much of it, I wasn’t too sure how my run would go, but it was better than my runs have been the past several days!

I finished up my workout with a little core work before enjoying my Strawberry Banana protein shake on the way to work.

Chugging that baby while I was walking into work in 10 degree weather wasn’t my brightest move, but it was too good to stop for air.

I haven’t had much of an appetite today since, hey, it’s us women who are supposed to be on our periods, not men. 😉

I had an early training session with Heather today and with all the crappy cramps, I thought for sure I was going to curl up in a ball under the Smith Machine, but luckily, her workout made me feel a lot better… cramp wise at least. My legs weren’t loving her though. She almost had me buckle into a sweaty pile while doing step-ups with a barbell.

The workout flew by, but I was disappointed that I didn’t burn more with it, although after looking back at it, I’m not surprised. This workout will be paired perfectly with a cardio session to burn extra fat and more calories the next time I do it, which honestly, I would prefer to be never.

My appetite finally showed up while I was showering, and I immediately heated up last night’s planned dinner of grilled chicken and roasted veggies.

Undocumented was the ginormous amount of ketchup that I dunked the chicken and sweet potatoes in. Can I change my blog to Running on Ketchup?

2013 Goals

While I plan to do a post very soon about my goals for 2013, I wanted to quickly discuss my major goal(s) of becoming even healthier this year. This includes shedding fat and toning up, along with eating less processed food and more clean meals, with an emphasis on sitting down for balanced dinners. I’m such a grazer at night and I want to stop this as I believe it’s playing a big role in NOT giving me the results I’ve been working hard at achieving.

With that said, since we have all gained a little over the holidays, I’m excited to announce that I signed up for Erica’s Diet Bet. For $20, you enter a contest with other individuals who are looking to lose weight. The contest runs from January 7th until February 3rd, and if you lose at least 4% of your weight, then you, along with all of the other winners, split the pot of money.

This is the type of accountability I need, and I’m actually motivated to kick butt in this. I look at it this way, if I lose 4% of my weight, I will be 6 pounds lighter and will get my $20 back. I hate to be negative, but I’m sure there will be some individuals who won’t reach their 4% goal, which I hope is NO ONE, but if that happens, you stand to earn even more money. As much as earning more money would be awesome, I’d love it if we all succeeded, didn’t lose a penny, but all lost weight!

So far our game has 30 participants, with the pot at $600. You don’t have to join me in Erica’s game, in fact, you can create your own game with a group of friends or even join a different group’s game, but if you’re looking for accountability and to lose weight with a possibility of earning money, then this is what you need.

I’m so excited for this and already now I’m going to lose that 4%! Here’s to a new year and a new me!

My Body is Telling Me “More Veggies!”

Today was my first full day back at work since Thursday, December 20^th! Thursday, Friday and Monday I took half days to spend time with my family and the prospect, so easing back into the work week after the holidays wasn’t too painful. Let me tell ya, I was seriously dreading a full day of work, more so because the holidays and vacation are over. Take out the tissues. 😦

I do have to admit that although it’s sad to say goodbye to the holiday spirit, I am beyond excited to get back into my daily routine of lunch time workouts and more structured meals. I’m beyond ecstatic that cookies and desserts won’t be popping out at every corner.

After having a difficult run yesterday, I was hoping it was a fluke and that this morning’s run would be easier and not as painful. While it wasn’t as bad, it still wasn’t my best, and I think I know why. My body felt lethargic and heavy, aka it was screaming for more veggie love.

Ever since our NYE dinner, I’ve been craving roasted veggies and grabbed ingredients during yesterday’s errand run to prepare tonight. To be honest, I was going to prepare them last night, but only had time to prep chicken breasts since I made seeing Mark a priority over roasting veggies. I had veggies in the freezer at work so I knew I could get away with preparing the veggies tonight.

Morning Workout

I mentioned I was excited to get back into my workout routine as I’ve realized during the last week and a half, my strength workouts have been seriously lacking! Today I told myself that I was going to complete the Pure Hell workout from last week’s training session, you know, the workout that almost made me puke.

I’m Calling BS on Those Numbers

After my 4 mile run, I tackled several of the core exercises so that I wouldn’t be pressed for time during my lunch workout.

• 4 mile run
• 3 sets of 15 stair push-ups
• 2 sets of 10 burpees
• 2 sets of 10 leg circles – clockwise and counterclockwise
• 50 crunches
• 2 sets of 50 bike crunches
• Stretching

Breakfast

I’ve been so sad lately since I ran out of frozen strawberries, but worry no more, I grabbed a new bag yesterday and was finally able to drool over my Strawberry Banana Protein Shake again.

Seriously, after my first sip I was going crazy. You’d think Patrick Dempsey had just pinched my butt and kissed me passionately. That damn good! 😉

Before my lunch time workout, I snacked on an apple, roughly 12ish almonds and the Apple Cinnamon Chobani bowl that Ryan picked up but never ate.

I added ½ a tbsp. of chia seeds, raw oats and PB2 to the bowl and loved every bite of it! I typically have several snacks in between my breakfast and workout, and save my lunch for after, although now that I mostly do strength training on my lunch hours, I could get away with having lunch beforehand since cardio isn’t involved as much.

Lunch Time Workout

Prior to tackling the Pure Hell Total Body workout, I busted out a quick mile on the treadmill before heading into the vacant class room to complete my strength workout.

• Jump Overs Pulsing Squats, 2 sets of (8-6-4-2-1)
• Squat Jump to Shoulder Press 12.5 lbs, 2 sets of 15
• Summo Squat to Upright Row with 25 lbs plate, 2 sets of 15
• Back Row on Bench, 15 lbs, 2 sets of 15
• Reverse Back Flys on DB Bench, 5 lbs, 2 sets of 15
• Step-Ups, 10 lbs, 2 sets of 15 each leg
• Isolated Back Lunge on Steps 2 sets of 20 each leg
• Sit-Ups on Bench, Arms Extended Up, 5 lbs, 2 sets of 10
• Reverse Crunches, 2 sets of 20

The workout wasn’t as vigorous and puke worthy as it was with Heather, but I left a sweaty beast and felt strong.

I was more than ready for lunch by the time I cleaned up, and I enjoyed an Amy’s All-American Veggie Burger with Green Giant Garden Vegetable Medley.

I’ve been addicted to Amy’s Veggie Burger’s lately, especially when loaded with ketchup and mustard! I’m really only a sweet potato fan so I left roughly 60% of the potatoes and focused on the sugar snap peas.

Dinner

Last night before heading to Mark’s apartment for a lazy night in, I cooked up 2 abnormally large chicken breasts on the stove top.

I also roasted a mix of carrots, broccoli and cauliflower in a mix of olive oil, salt and pepper, and had planned on enjoying a clean and healthy dinner of chicken and roasted veggies.

I really haven’t had too much of an appetite since lunch, so I snacked on several leftover baby carrots and a little pb, one of my favorite ways to eat peanut butter!

Exhaustion is kicking in so it looks like it’s time for me to curl up with a book and read the night away! Hope everyone survived being back at work!