Round 2 of the day

Today has been pretty uneventful so far. I am really busy right now at work which makes the day fly. However, at the end of everyday, I am left thinking, 'I still have a ton of sh*t to do.' There is one thing I never forget to do through the chaotic days.

My morning snack. Cottage cheese and grapes. Everyday! I am obsessed.

Running and weightlifting has made me hungry non stop. Some days I feel like all I do is eat. I am okay with that too.

I mean who could resist this delicious bowl of chili, otherwise known as lunch? I top my chili with some avocado and Greek yogurt.

The past 3 Sundays I have taken some time to meal plan and grocery shop. I make one dish for lunch all week. In the case of this chili, I have enough for 12 meals. I calculated out the cost of all supplies and it is about $1.50 per meal. Not too shabby.

Some of my past lunches have been:
Clean(er) chicken enchiladas
Spaghetti squash with meat sauce
Salads(Chicken, roast beef or salmon)
Turkey sandwiches

Just to name a few.

I will be doing a post soon on how my eating habits have changed in recent weeks and the difference I am seeing physically, mentally and emotionally.

Any questions so far?

I hope you guys are still hanging in there, this has been rather fun :)

Food Blogger for a Day

Good Morning, Everyone!!

I woke up at 5AM to hit the gym for a training run. Today called for a 3 mile run. I did it in 29:43. I am so happy with my pace lately! I have been working hard and I am loving the results.

After the run, I did 18 minutes on the elliptical.

Overall I burned 402 calories.

I came home to a fun little surprise. The gorgeous bouquet of flowers that the boyfriend got me for V-Day have all bloomed! He chose pretty darn well, I must say!

After the gym, I came home to make some post workout fuel.

That would be a scoop of protein powder, 1/2 cup of strawberries and 1 1/2 teaspoons of coconut flakes with a touch of water. It was delicious!

Now it is off to work I go!

Are you an AM workout doer? Or PM workout doer?
Typically, I am an AM goer. Sometimes though, I just feel so exhausted so I skip and go right after work.

I hope you enjoyed my AM post. I will type to you at lunch!

Tackling My Goal....

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I have a goal of PR'ing this half marathon. I am following the Hal Higdon half marathon novice 2 plan. However, I am tweaking it to fit my needs. I will only be running 3 days a week versus 4. My weeks will consist of 1 speed work day, 1 3 Mile Run, and a long run. I feel this is what works best for my body.

For my first half, I did run 4 days a week and I felt fine most of the time, but I was really burned out. I am hoping 3 running days will help me feel less burned out at the end of this training period. I have some bigger goals for 2013 and being burned out early will not help me get to those goals. Ha!

My goals for the SLC Half Marathon are:

1-To finish with a smile on my face.
2-Beat my best time of 2:16:00

Simple and attainable goals for this girl. I can't wait to post the updates to my training!!

When the going gets tough.....

I was sick last week. It seems like lately (more like the past 6 months), I get into an awesome groove and then get derailed. It is knee pain, ankle pain or I get an awful cold/ear infection. Through all this, I just refuse to give up on me and my goals.

I am doing 2 things right now.
1. I started "New Rules of Lifting for Women". Great great great!
2. It is once again half marathon training time. This time, I am kicking my best time(2:16:00) in the ass and doing it in less time.

Every day I wake up and think 'Ouch! I am so sore. I love it!'. I am loving my workouts lately.

Starting the New Rules of Lifting for Women and half marathon training will be tough, but I know I can do it. My workout routing for the next few months will look a little something like this:

Monday-New Rules of Lifting and 30-60 minutes elliptical
Tuesday-3(progressing to a 5 mile run) Mile Run and 20-30 minutes of elliptical, stairs, or bike
Wednesday-New Rules of Lifting and 30-60 minutes elliptical
Thursday-3 Mile(Speedwork) Run, 20-30 minutes of additional cardio if I feel up to it
Friday-New Rules of Lifting and 30 minutes easy elliptical
Saturday-Long Run
Sunday-Rest day

I may buddy up run days and lifting days occasionally. I am sure I will take an extra rest day from time to time. I am excited to have a focused strength training plan during half marathon training. I have not done that before. However, after only 2 weeks I am starting to tell a significant difference in my running and my legs.

I leave you today with a picture that totally cracks me up.

Who needs 2 lenses anyways? 

I hope y'all have a great week!

Are you training for anything?

Have you ever done the New Rules of Lifting for Women program?

Photo Lovin'

This is what 2 months looks like in my iPhone!

Morning Workouts

 Silly Photos

 Self Explanatory

 Snuggles

 Finding Old Photos

 Reminiscing Old Times

 Best Friends

 Girls Night Silliness

 Happy Birthday, KrystalAn!

 Most Amazing Santa Present

 Netflix Disney Watching

 2013 Started In The 120s

 Funny

 Cops At Bank

 Cop Car Crash

 Happy 30th, Stevie!

 Happy 30th, Steph!

 Happy 6th Birthday To My Number One Girl, Abigail!!

 Healthy Eating

 Blendtec Smoothie Love

 Garmin Love

Baby Wine Bottles

Talking About Workouts

I was so excited to throw a post up last Monday all about my workouts. However, someone *cough* me *cough* got injured AGAIN!

Let's back up a little. Last I left off, I was training for the Halloween Half Marathon. Training was going well, I was certain I would beat my previous time, and WHAM! Knee and ankle pain hit me hard! I took some time off, R.I.C.E.'d, and focused on lifting with light cardio. After a week, I gave it another chance and it was a no go. I was extremely bummed about missing the half, but I didn't want to get injured further. So, I took off 3 weeks from running.

In the 3 weeks I took off, I decided that I wanted to focus on gaining speed and endurance. So, I downloaded a couch to 5k app. I was all set and ready to run.

The first workout was great. I did the walking parts in a light jog at a 5.0 on the treadmill and the running parts were at a 6.5. I felt terrific. Like I could run on that damn treadmill forever. The second workout was much the same.

The third workout I decided to pick it up a little. I did the jogging parts at varying speeds 5.2-5.8. The running I kept at 6.5. After the workout, I felt fantastic. This was last Monday. I came home and started getting ready for work. In the shower my back was a little sore, but I didn't think much of it. Throughout the day, I had nagging pain, but tolerable. By 5 o'clock, it was excruciating! I took a hot bath at 1AM, that didn't help. I iced and it felt a little better. Enough for me to get some sleep at least.

Tuesday and Wednesday I took ibuprofen every few hours, iced, and applied a heating pad to my back. Today is Sunday and it still isn't better! I mean, it's better, but not back to normal.

I don't know at what point I got the injury, and I am not sure it is from working out. I do know that I have taken the week off from working out, just in case. I just hope it isn't from running. I was just starting to love it again.

Tomorrow, I am going to go to the gym in the AM for some elliptical action. Depending on how I feel after that, will be what next weeks workouts look like.

Here's to hoping my back quits being a jerk!

Simple Paleo Eating

I don't have any pictures, but fully intend to take some this week. I have been eating fantastic and simple paleo meals for the past few weeks now.

Breakfasts

• Egg and Veggie scramble. Mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and spinach are my favorite mixes right now. Top it all with guacamole and add a side of turkey bacon. It makes the perfect filling breakfast! 
• Almond flour pancakes. I make my own almond flour, which I will blog about someday. Top it with fresh bananas and a touch of maple syrup. Again, add turkey bacon and you have another fun, filling breakfast.
• Turkey Bacon and hard boiled eggs. If I am in a pinch, I just take already hard boiled eggs and a side of turkey bacon. I top the hard boiled eggs with sriracha and it is heaven!!

Lunches

• Spinach, strawberries, chicken, tomatoes, and homemade paleo honey mustard dressing is soo good! I will blog about the honey mustard dressing. This mix is a current favorite right now.  I have it for dinner quite often too. 
• Chicken and Normandy vegetable stir fry. This is simple and so tasty. 

Snacks

• Grapes and almonds! I have been having this everyday this week and OMG...so freaking tasty. 
• Paleo approved bars, I have been loving the banana bread lara bars lately. 
• Bananas and almond butter are my favorite! I usually eat this as a dessert if I am craving something sweet. 

Dinners

•  Steak and veggies.  I love this because it is so easy and takes about 10 minutes. The last thing I want to do when I get home from a long, busy day at the office is make dinner. So, this is a typical go to.
• Chicken salad of some kind.  Most nights, this is what I do. The Boyfriend likes to eat breaded chicken tenders...daily! He basically lives off of them. So, I just throw in some defrosted chicken breasts and make up a salad and dressing while it is cooking.
• Salmon Salad. I put strawberries, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and (occasionally) avocado in for the salad portion, then top it off with some salmon and homemade honey mustard dressing.

They are all so simple, I love it. Especially because it is the holiday season, which means the furniture industry is crazy busy right now. I love coming home and just getting simple meals ready.

I feel better, my skin is better and I am feeling healthier than ever! Tomorrow, I will be back talking exercise! Woohoo!

What are some simple meals you make?