ActiveGal

I apologize for not posting yesterday, we didn't get back here till about 12:30 am and I was really tired. We went to see Valentine's Day, I thought it was cute. It was funny too so I think the boyfriend enjoyed it as well, it's not completely a girl movie.

I started off today with a lovely workout, which you can read all about here.

I was happy to be able to get back to the gym after feeling pretty cruddy all week long. I am still feeling a little sick, but I have come a long way since this all began on Tuesday.

Guess what...

It snowed here again last night! It was the perfect snow, it covered the grounds but not the roads. I enjoy snow but I hate when it keeps you inside all weekend.

After I got back from the gym I tried my very first batch of Pumpkin Oatmeal.

Ingredients:
-2/3 cup oatmeal
-1/2 cup low fat milk
-2 spoon fulls of pumpkin
-a few pinches of brown sugar

It was pretty good. I think I was missing something though, If any of you all eat this pretty regularly, what do you typically put in your pumpkin oatmeal?

I am off to get in the shower and get ready to go out to dinner. We are taking my Dad out for his 60th birthday party! It should be a fun night :) I'll be back later tonight! Have a WONDERFUL Saturday!

Today was a rough day. I had every intention of going to the gym after work, but I was feeling awful. I actually left early from work because I couldn't seem to even focus anymore. Long story short I didn't get in my run for today. The original plan was to run a 30 minute treadmill interval workout and then do my weight training workout. Today was a legs and glutes day.

I ended up doing all of the weight training workout, but I didn't run. I ran Sunday-Wednesday and my body feels exhausted. I don't know if it is because of the sickness or what, but either way I felt like I needed to take today off.

I seem to really be hard on myself when I have a day like today. I really need to stop doing that and realize I am doing the very best I can. Why does that seem to be SO hard sometimes?

By the way...I have a new best friend!

Kleenex and I have a love/hate relationship right now because even though we have been inseparable, they are really starting to hurt my poor nose :(

Breakfast this morning was a GreenSuperFood: Berry Whole Food Energy Bar. I wasn't so sure about it at first, but as I kept eating it, it really began to grow on me!

I will have a review up on this bar as well as some great drink mixes the same company sent me this weekend. I promise!

Lunch was another round of leftover Chili.

Happy almost Friday! I hope everyone has an awesome weekend planned. We are celebrating my Dad's 60th birthday, celebrating Valentine's day, AND it is a long weekend for me! hooray!

Today's Self-Love: Be a kid again. That's right, do something that you wouldn't normally do anymore. Do something silly, something fun, remember how it feels to not have a care in the world. We often get caught up in our lives and take live way too seriously, so go out and have some fun!

In honor of Valentine's Day here is my kitty Gorman wishing you some lovin'..

I think he needs to stay away from the kitty food, what do you think? :)

I woke up this morning feeling a little better, but still pretty groggy. You know that feeling when your whole body just aches and feels like it is struggling to move? Yeah that's how I've been feeling.

Breakfast was a blueberry bagel this morning.

Lunch was a banana and a turkey, cheese, and mustard sandwich on whole wheat bread.

Guess what came in the mail for me today!? My very first food scale! I am excited to try it out!

Have any of you ever had this food scale or one like it?

It works as a kitchen timer, clock, and thermometer as well.

Yesterday coming home from work I made the following comment: "I just don't think I can do it." My boyfriend was not very happy that I said that because he doesn't like it when I doubt myself. I sat there and thought a bit about what he said, and you know what…he's right (gasp! he will be so happy to read that I said that).

Negative comments will only bring me down, hinder my workouts, and make me feel inadequate. I have to STOP. Going along with this idea, here are some ideas to make your workouts a little more enjoyable and less dreaded.

- Plan out your workout. I plan a week ahead of time and this way it makes me know what I need to do when.
- Make it fun. Exercise at some point is going to get monotonous. I always try to add new ideas whether it is a new treadmill interval workout, new weight exercises, or trying out a new class.
-Listen to your body. If your body is hurting in some way listen to it. Don't force yourself to do something you know it can't handle.
-Find a workout buddy. It always helps if you have someone there with you. I don't usually work out with anyone in particular, though my boyfriend is typically with me when we go to the gym.
-Do what YOU enjoy. If you don't like to run, don't run. If you don't like yoga, don’t do yoga. Don't choose how to work out just because someone else enjoys it. You have to find what you enjoy and don't compare yourself to others.

Self-Love for today: Give yourself a compliment. It is so easy for each of us to be hard on ourselves, so for today give yourslef a much deserved compliment!

My compliment: I have great determination. I have a lot of stress, don't feel well, and have a lot of other things I need to do but I am still going to the gym and sticking to my workout schedule!

Off to the gym, then to shower, and head to the NC State vs. Virginia Tech basketball game!

Check Back Later: to see my workout for the day.

I just got done with a killer workout. It consisted of a 40 minute interval workout and weight training. I was also going to do an hour of yoga, but I don't feel good at all and I don't think my body could have taken much more. I am proud of myself for at least making it to the gym and getting a good workout in.

6 a.m. came way too early this morning. I enjoyed this yummy bowl of Cascadian Farms Honey Granola before getting my very tired body in the shower.

 Lunch was a big bowl of leftover Chili from last night. I wanted a big lunch today because I knew how much energy I would need to complete my workout.

I also snacked on a handful of granola, almonds, and dried cranberries mid-day to hold me over.

Self-love for today: Schedule in some you time. A lot of times so many of us are so busy we forget to have time for ourselves. Take an hour to do whatever YOU want to do; meditate, watch TV, paint your toenails, get a massage, or just sit there and enjoy the silence. We all have to make time to love on ourselves.

I am going to spend my hour tonight painting my toenails and watching some shows I have missed this week on Hulu and then proceed to go to bed EARLY.

Off to make dinner and get ready for bed. I promise a much longer post tomorrow, I just am not myself today.

Goodnight loves!

The weekend sure came and went very quickly. Why can't my work weeks do the same?

Today's workout was an hour of high intensity cardio and weights. I stayed low on the cardio after my 6 mile run yesterday.

I have a crazy week ahead of me, but I am welcoming it with open arms.

This week started with a Banana Walnut Gnu Bar. I was so hungry I forgot to take a picture before eating it, so here is the best I could do.

Lunch

A Peanut butter sandwich, bleh.

I finally got around to fixing the dinner that I was supposed to fix on Friday, Chili.

Ingredients:
-1 pound ground beef
-1/2 cup chopped onion
-2 large tomatoes
-4 cups kidney beans
-1 teaspoon sugar
-1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
-2 tablespoons cornmeal
-Jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped (I used 1)

Directions:
1. In a soup pot, add the ground beef an onion. Cook over medium heat until the meat is browned and onions are tender.
2. Add the tomatoes, kidney beans, sugar, chili powder, and jalapenos. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Uncover and add water to get your desired consistency.
4. Stir in cornmeal.
5. Cook for at 10 more minutes.

In honor of Valentine's Day each day I will tell one thing you should do to give yourself some self-love. Valentine's Day is not only a day to love those around you, but a day to love yourself.

Self loving for today: Go out and exercise. Exercise is an ultimate display of self-love. Your body needs exercise to be strong and healthy. Go work it out!

Going along with this self-love tip, here is my workout schedule for the week:

These go along with the fitness goals I set last week. Pink represents abdominal workouts, green represents weight training, and yellow represents cardio. If there is a red box that represents a class; for this week I only have Yoga on Tuesday and Body Pump on Saturday scheduled.

Do you plan out your workouts for the entire week, or just take it a day at a time? I always found it hard to stick to something if I didn't have it planned out, so that is why I have begun to map out the whole week on Monday.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Sunday! Happy Super Bowl Sunday to those who are watching the game! We are watching it here.

I don't really care either way who wins, but I enjoy watching the game and the commercials!

My favorite commercials so far:
1. Snickers commercial with Betty White
2. Doritos commercial with the shocking dog collar
3. Hyundai Brett Farve commercial
4. Career Builder Casual Friday commercial

I went to church as usual this morning and babysit in the nursery. I ate a bowl of Kashi granola cereal before I headed out the door.

I got back around 12:30 and we headed to start our long runs for the day. I completed 6 miles, which you can read about here. If the weather is nice on Sundays the boyfriend and I always head out to the American Tobacco Trail about 15 minutes from our apartment.

It lasts for a total of 13 miles roughly. I really enjoy the fact that they have the miles marked out for you along the way.

I am still living in the dark ages and don't own a Garmin, so it really helps to be able to track my mileage as a I run.

We went over to my boyfriends parents house for a while and just got back to finish watching the game. I am not ready for Monday, but at least next weekend is a long weekend for me!

What were some of your favorite Super Bowl commercials this year?

Coming Soon: tomorrow I will be making my Chili recipe that was planned for this weekend

What a day! Nothing turned out as planned and my whole scheduled got turned around. The worst part, I didn't get a workout in.

I had about 30 minutes of free time at home so I did a makeshift workout:
-50 power lunges
-3 sets of 25 squats
-25 girl push ups
-3 sets of 10 pulls up (we have one of those total gym pull up bars)

That was my workout for today. My plan was do a Body Pump class but sometimes life happens and you just have to do what you can.

Last nights cleaning session was a huge success. I vacuumed all the furniture, vacuumed the floor, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned the bathroom, dusted the entire apartment, and went through the mail for the week. I feel so much more organized and happy :)

The boyfriend and I got into a conversation about brown vs. white rice tonight. Most of my life I have been a white rice girl. I ate it whenever we went out to place likes P.F. Changs or Pei Wei and would even fix it with my meals. Wes on the other hand loves his brown rice, so since meeting him we have transformed into a brown rice household. I looked more at brown rice and discovered a lot of healthy facts.

The wonders of brown rice:
1. Process for producing brown rice only removes the outermost layer, which is called the hull. This part of the kernel has the least nutritional value.
2. To convert brown to white rice you takes away a lot of the vitamins and nutritional value of brown rice.
3. Brown rice is a high source of fiber and selenium, which has been linked to preventing colon cancer.
4. The oil in brown rice also helps lower cholesterol.
5. Brown rice is a rich source of magnesium, which reduces your risk of type 2 diabetes.

Brown rice is an awesome source of so many vitamins and minerals!

Well off to get ready for bed, I have to get up early in the morning to babysit at my church.

Coming Up: I will be back to regular posting tomorrow: including a recap of my long run, my chile recipe, and a new product review!

Sleep tight bloggies!

Is anyone out there as strange as me and finds cleaning and organizing relaxing?

That is exactly what I plan to do with my Friday night.

On the Agenda:
-clean out my desk
-VACUUM (two cats = way too much cat hair everywhere)
-Go through the mail that has piled up this week
-Finish laundry
-Re-arrange furniture (if time permits)
-Wash blankets and sheets

Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me tonight. It will make the rest of the weekend a lot more relaxing or me. I know; I am a strange individual. :)

Breakfast was a banana and a few bites of a Zing: Blueberry Almond bar.

Lunch was some Chinese leftovers from last weekend, chicken-lo-mien.

If you have been reading my blog you will know that on my Let's Get Cooking schedule tonight was supposed to be Barbecue Chicken Pizza. The boyfriend woke up this morning feeling terrible. He wasn't in the mood for anything more than Macaroni and Cheese tonight, so I am going to have to put off the pizza for another night this weekend.

Keep your fingers crossed that he will feel better soon!

I ended up fixing myself a turkey and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread.

Alright bloggies, I'm off to start this cleaning extravaganza! Have a wonderful evening!

What do you do to relax? Do you have anything that you enjoy that most people don't?

My rest day is over and now it's time to get back into action.

You can check back later tonight to see my workout for the day.

Breakfast started out with a Fiber One: Oats and Chocolate bar.

Nutritional Facts: Calories: 140, Total Fat: 4 grams, Sodium: 90 mg, Carbohydrates: 29 grams, Fiber: 9 grams, Sugar: 10 grams, Protein 2 grams.

Lunch was a banana and peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat. 

I have been thinking a lot about fitness goals today. I was reading Caitlin's blog this morning and she was listing the races she has coming up. It made me realize, I need attainable fitness goals.

I don't run too many races anymore, although I would love to run some 10k's or half marathons in the future.  I have a very far off goal of completing a triathlon, but that is not feasible right now, so what fitness goals can I set for myself?

 Fitness goals (Feb 4th-April 30th):

1. Complete at least 4 days of weight training a week (I want arms like Jillian Michaels) :)
2. Complete at least 4 days of cardio a week
3. Go to 2 Body Pump classes a week (these count as weight training).
4. Complete at least one long run (5+ miles) a week. (These typically happen on Sunday's because it coincides with my boyfriend's long run on his marathon training schedule).

I typically work out 5 days a week so I think these are all very attainable goals. I just need to stay focused, organized, and motivated.

I am going to take before and after pictures starting today (before) and ending on April 30^th (after). I think seeing results really help you to stay motivated.

Off to the gym for my workout, to shower, and then heading over to a friend's house for dinner and a movie.

What are your fitness goals? Do you think mine are enough or do you think I should push for something more? I welcome all opinions!

P.S. Click here to ask me an anonymous question. I haven't received any yet, so ask away! I will answer them on my blog.

"Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work." – Ralph Marston

Today is one of my two (the other is Friday) rest days this week. I usually feel lazy when I have a rest day, but today I am very happy to take it easy. I am so sore from the past two days of hard workouts that my body needs a day off.

Tomorrow of course, it is back to work!

Breakfast (unpictured because it was lame) was an apple with honey. No excuses, right? Ok, I'm sorry, from now on no more unpictured breakfasts.

Lunch was a banana and peanut butter sandwich on toasted Arnold's whole wheat bread.

I am going to jump on the bandwagon today. Click here to ask me anything. It is anonymous and I will respond to your questions on my blog. You can also let me know anything you would like to see on the blog. I am new to this, so your suggestions are always welcome!

I originally had planned to make something quick and painless for dinner, but going along with my Let's Get Cooking initiative, I decided to make Pomodoro Pasta.

I pulled the recipe from The Essential Pasta Cookbook, and altered it slightly.

Ingredients:
-1 lbs whole wheat pasta
-11/2 tablespoons olive oil
-1/2 onion, very finely chopped
-2 13 oz cans of Italian tomatoes
-1/4 cup fresh basil

1. Cook the pasta and return to pan to keep warm.
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and cook over medium heat until softened.
3. Stir in the tomato and simmer for 5-6 minutes, or until sauce has thickened.
4. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Stir in basil and cook for another minute.
6. Pour sauce over pasta and gently toss.
7. Add Parmesan if desired.

Off to watch some basketball and get ahead on some laundry. Have you noticed that I hate doing laundry and put it off as long as possible? J

Coming soon: New product review coming later tonight.