Happy Birthday to Me

So today is my 31st birthday...I don't feel any older, and quite frankly feel younger than I did when I was 21. I'm in a lot better shape, y'all I wish I had my old pics somewhere. I think around 2001 I gave up on dropping the weight and trashed all my old pictures. I'm glad I didn't give up, I don't know when it hit but in May of 2006 was when I had my weight loss epiphany. I never thought I could control my portion sizes...one day I said 'f' it and started going to 5-6 smaller meals a day. That did the trick for me, I stopped feeling hungry and overindulging. At the peak I know that I weighed 178lbs, this was in 2000. I could have weighed more but that is the highest I ever knew of. In 2001 I got down to 155lbs with exercise alone. But I couldn't ever break the plateau. Between 2001 and 2006 I hovered between 155 and 165lbs. On May 14, 2006 I weighed 165lbs. By late Summer 2006 I was down to 145lbs. PORTION CONTROL was my friend. In the Fall I got engaged to the hubs but I was feeling a plateau, I had lifted weights a lot in high school so I started adding weight training back into my routine.

By the time we were married I'd gotten down to 135lbs and felt great. I don't really consider myself to be in a 'maintenance' mode. I honestly don't want to necessarily lose weight. I want to get stronger. I want my muscles stronger for lifting and running. I want my mind stronger for learning. I try hard to keep my nutrition in line because I straight up feel better when I eat better. I know that the number hasn't really changed on the scale over the last 2.5 years but I see the differences, I feel the differences in my performance.

So yeah, that was one big useless tangent. LOL. I guess it was just a recap of where I am today...

For breakfast this morning I had a big Green Monster. Same ingredients as yesterday. I have a small sample of PB2, how should I use it? I was thinking in a Green Monster, or maybe mixed with some greek yogurt and puffins? Any ideas?

For my snack I had greek yogurt, pb puffins, kashi heart to heart, and strawberries.

For my lunch I am going to eat leftovers of the delicious cheesy chicken shells from last night.

I have an amazing workout planned for after work, I wrote it all out even! Here it is, obvi weights could change.

Cardio: 5 minute warm up on tread (varied speeds)

Dip assist machine 3x10 @ 30lbs
DB Shoulder press 3x10 @ 25lb dbs

Cardio: 5 minutes gradually increasing incline @ 7.0mph

Leaning lateral raises 3x10 @ 10lb db
Supine chest press 3x10 @ 25lb dbs

Cardio: 5 minutes of speed intervals (7.0 for 40 seconds/9.0 for 20 seconds repeat)

Frog crunches 3x15
Bicycle crunches 3x25

Cardio: 15 or 20 minutes of moderate running (7.0mph or so). Depending on how much time I have and how I feel.

I almost forgot! I have a couple of new songs on my little iPod Shuffle too, I love when a new song comes on. Here are my new faves:

• El Gitano Del Amor by Latin Soul Syndicate
• Love, Sex, and Magic by Ciara (feat. Justin Timberlake - yum)
• Whatcha Think About That by The Pussycat Dolls (feat. Missy Elliott)
  

Okay I'm going to go make my lunch in a few! Have a good afternoon all!

Saturday....

Ugh, I woke up with a pounding ass headache this morning. I tried to get it to go away naturally but it just wouldn't go. I ended up heading out for my run, which quite frankly sucked (I slept later than I wanted and it was already hot in the sun plus the headache). Here are the stats, I'm too lazy to upload and quite frankly it is one of my slowest runs in 5 years. I originally wanted to do a 6.75 mile loop but knew my headache would prevent that.

Time: 41:04
Distance: 4.5miles
Calories Burned: 478
Best Pace: 7:38
Avg. Pace: 9:07

I came home and treated myself to a huge Green Monster and shower. LOL.

I then went for a much needed pedicure and manicure. I'm now back home eating some lunch. I had some leftover Sloppy Joe's (without a bun, just the meat and veggies) and some sweet potato discs. I finally gave in and turned on the oven, I had to have them. Seasoned with some Johnny's Seasoning Salt and cayenne pepper.

I'm just relaxing and enjoying a little Beverly Hills 90210 on the SOAP network.

Happy Friday!

This Friday is extra happy, our temperatures have finally cooled off. Yesterday was a busy day for me at work and then I met my mom after work to see Jewel at Zoo Tunes. Zoo Tunes was a lot of fun, plus it benefits the Zoo...what is not to love? I would definitely go again, even if it wasn't someone I was super interested in seeing. It's a small venue, all general admission lawn seating. I was afraid that we weren't going to get any shade so it would be super hot (it was 93 when we got out of the car). Fortunately the entire West side of the lawn area has trees so we weren't in the sun for long (maybe 5 minutes).

Here is a picture of Cooper trying to stay cool! So he really only stayed like this for a few minutes before he got up. One thing I found about him is that he doesn't mind water (or maybe he was so hot he didn't care?). I would wring a towel out on him and wet him down. He also liked me putting a frozen bottle of water (wrapped in a towel) in his little cat house with him.


I'm currently enjoying a delicious Green Monster.


I have to work super late tonight for our quarterly server updates so I'm going to hit the gym for a long lunch (and take a long dinner break LOL).

Here is the workout I have planned (weights are all estimates):

Cardio: 10 minutes on treadmill
Bicep curl 3x10 @ 20lb dbs
Lat pulldown 3x10 @ 75lbs
Cable hammer curl with rope attachment 3x10 @ 40lbs
Two arm dumbbell row 3x10 @ 15 or 20lbs
Stability ball back extension
Cardio: Run on treadmill probably 2.5 miles (20 minutes) plus 5 minute cool down.

Okay, time to get to work!!!

It's getting hot in here...

Le sigh! At 10:00 last night when I went to bed it was 85 degrees in my living room....this morning when I got up at 5:45am it was still 79. I'm just thankful we have AC in our bedroom so we can sleep at night...I actually moved my work laptop in there yesterday afternoon and worked on documentation from bed. LOL.

Last night I made a delicious dinner though I was breaking a sweat the whole time. I really wanted sweet potato fries but really didn't want to turn on the oven. No SP fries for me. :(

Super Sloppy Joe's
Adapted from Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
• 1 1/4 pounds ground turkey breast
  
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend, such as McCormick brand Montreal Seasoning
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2c chopped carrots
  
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• Trader Joe's multi grain hamburger buns

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and meat to the pan. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up.

Add sugar and Montreal Steak seasoning to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes.

Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Cover and reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 5 minutes longer. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, pile sloppy meat onto bun bottoms and cover with bun tops. I personally eat mine open faced so I can fit more meat/veggies.

This recipe is a fave of ours, and it appeared the 'skid' liked it a lot as well (he went back for a 2nd sandwich). The hubs wasn't hungry when he got home from his 2nd job, when it gets hot he doesn't eat as much. I hear a lot of people say that, I am so envious...my appetite is not deterred by anything (except for stomach viruses). I swear I am a bottomless pit.

We also went for froyo before DH had to go to his 2nd job yesterday...which hit the spot.

Last night when I went to bed I asked the 'skid' if he wanted me to wake him up this morning for a run. He said yes...I figured he'd just roll over and go back to sleep at 5:45 when I woke him up but he got up and was ready to run. Here are the stats from our run, I think the ascent/descent numbers are a little high but I could be wrong I suppose. Our first mile was all uphill and we were still waking up. I'm very happy with miles 2 and 3. I woke up with a raging headache this morning (despite drinking a gallon of water yesterday easily), so I wasn't into more than 3 miles.

We came back and made protein shakes, mine was a Green Monster with the following:
1 cup ff cow's milk
1 scoop Optimum Nutrition chocolate whey
1/3 frozen banana
5 strawberries
1 TB Natural Peanut butter
4c baby spinach

The 'skid' had
1 cup Simply Orange Orange Mango juice
1 scoop Optimum Nutrition vanilla whey
2/3 frozen banana
5 strawberries

Definitely hits the spot after a sweaty morning run (it was pretty humid).

I think we'll either hole up in the bedroom with laptops or maybe make a trek to Starbucks for awhile to keep cool. Our house has zero shade and has east/west facing windows so we just get hammered, oh and crappy insulation. I'm bitter, can you tell? Oh well, I guess at least our house is still worth more than the mortgage so I should be thankful for that!

TGIF!

Busy, busy Friday. I've been on the phone all day it seems. :)

Quick update for the middle of my day, and a few fun links.

Breakfast this morning was the last of my container of Fage (I used the tub for a bowl LOL). 1/2c Kashi Go Lean Crunch (Honey Almond Flax) and 1/2 Multi-grain Cheerios, and 6 sliced strawberries.

Morning snack was a Key Lime Pie Larabar. This was my first time with a Larabar and it will NOT be my last. This was so delicious, the texture was great and I love the short ingredients list of whole foods that I recognize.

• Dates
• Cashews
• Almonds
• Unsweetened Coconut
• Lime Juice Concentrate

I managed to sneak away for a lunch break run, the 'skid' wanted to go with so off the two of us went. I don't know if he was going easy on me, or if I'm not as old and slow as I think but there was never any separation in our running. At the end he was going fast and I kept up (though his legs are WAY longer) and even pulled ahead! Here are the stats from our run, I am going to really like running with him while he's here and quite honestly it is nice to have something that just him and I can do WITHOUT the hubs.

After our run I made a quick Green Monster and got back to work. I made my choco PB cup flavor one, the 'skid' had a sip and I could tell he was surprised it didn't taste like spinach (I could see him watching me add the spinach). Maybe we'll get another convert to the GM Movement?

Without further adieu, here are some fun links if you need some Friday/Weekend reading material.

First off some EYE candy for the ladies.... Becks courtesy of Twirlit.
Yummy Tummy courtesy of Twirlit, I'd like to give the cami a try!
Electronic Cigarettes? WTF! Courtesy of Fit Sugar.

Labor of Love

This morning was TUFF (yes, I meant to misspell tough...inside joke). I knew I had to be up at 5:30 for my run, to start work at 6:30 since I have to leave at 8:30 to pickup the 'skid' from the aeropuerto. I tried to go to sleep at 10, but of course I had another bout of insomnia (mental note: pickup melatonin tonight). I don't think I fell asleep until 11:30 or closer to midnight. The hubs overslept this morning (his alarm goes off at 4:45, which he turned OFF. I told him at 5 that it was 5 and he bit my head off....so of course I was gloating when he freaked out at 5:15 about the time). I couldn't fall back asleep so I just got up (if you can't beat 'em, join 'em).

I choked down a Kashi TLC bar because my tummy was about to eat itself. Leaving the house at 5:30am is as close to a sunrise run as you'll get in Seattle in the Summer. It was already very light out, but the sun was just starting to rise. I didn't take my running sunglasses 'cause it wasn't super bright, thankfully I didn't regret that decision.

I started off super slow, as you can see by my Garmin stats:

I think it takes a few miles for my legs to wake up. I did my fave 4.2 mile loop (with the monster hill). Some dude was hanging out the window of his truck waving at me, I seriously wonder about people sometimes. I ran to the top of our hill, and wanted to run a little more so I ran around our little neighborhood a few times. Came in the house to this:


His tummy was also eating itself...you can see their catnip banana in the background. The hubs laughed at me when I brought it home for them, but the love it. What can I say, my cats like fruit? They also LOVE their catnip cherry (they've gone through two of them, one had the stuffing coming out).

Fed the beasts, took a shower, then made a green monster. I'm a nice kitty mommy and don't turn on the blender while they are eating since they hate loud noises.

By request...a pic of my haircut. The cut looks the same, I just got color done. I should have taken a pic on Saturday, I have ZERO patience for doing my own hair, so it never looks as good.
Pardon my messy kitchen.

I have my Starbizzle FREE PASTRY coupon printed out. For those on the West Coast you have until 10:30 to get your free pastry. :) I'm going to stop and get mine on the way to the airport. :)

ALSO! Make sure to vote for Danica's Nectarine Raspberry Sorbet over fresh fruit! She's in the top 5 for the myrecipes.net best summer dessert contest! The contest ends on THURSDAY!

Taking it Easy yo!

Last night the husband and I cooked up a delicious dinner! He manned the grill, we had 3 small steaks we needed to use up (two little pieces of filet mignon and one small top sirloin). I sauteed up some shrimp in a little olive oil and canola margarine with some garlic and cajun seasoning. I also sauteed some zucchini and mushrooms in olive oil and cayenne pepper for some zip. Dinner was delicious. We also went for froyo after dinner, I had my usual a plain yogurt with coconut on top. Sooo good, I just love the texture.

This morning the hubs had to go into work for awhile, I more or less woke up with him at 5:45. I got a solid 8 hours of sleep last night and felt great this morning. I laid in bed and petted Cooper and Jada. I got up and fed them (and myself). I had a slice of spelt flour cinnamon raisin toast with a touch of almond butter and headed out to the gym.

I knew I needed to take it easy on the legs so I started with 12 minutes on the elliptical at a moderate pace.

I then did bits and pieces of Gina's Summer Shape up.
Dumbbell hammer curl 3x10 @ 20lb dbs
reverse plank (hold 30-45 seconds) 3 x held for 45 seconds each

I then did a cardio burst on the tread. I did 4 x of 1:00 @ 6.5mph and 1:00 @ 9.0mph. Then did a 4 minute gradual cooldown.

Triceps dip assist 3x8 @ 24lbs assist.
Straight bar cable bicep curl 3x10 @ 50lbs
standing triceps extension 3x10 @ 20lbs
long arm crunch 3x20

I skipped the rest of the cardio to rest my legs, came home and made a huge Green Monster.

There are a few sweet giveaways going on!

Erica is giving away some Mix1!
Ruby is giving away a copy of Jillian Michaels' book Making The Cut.

I'm about to shower and head out to get my hairs did. Enjoy your Saturday everyone. :)

Friday Almuerzo

I got up at 5:45 for my mile repeats this morning, my legs felt like bricks to be honest. I didn't get 8 hours of sleep last night, whether that played into it or not I don't know. What I do know is that I felt like I weighed 400lbs, but my times were less than last week so I obviously pushed through it but I never felt great during my run. I have the stats on my Garmin but they are upstairs, will upload a pic in a bit. I did 3 mile repeats and then a cooldown of a slow 1.5 miles (I just kinda kept going, it was a beautiful morning and there was a beautiful hawk sitting on the fence by the track, so I was intrigued by him/her when it left, I left LOL).

I came home, gave the cats breakfast. Once they were done eating I made a Green Monster (Chocolate PB cup style, soooo good).

Morning snack was 1/2c 0% Fage, 1/2c Kashi go lean crunch, last of my strawberries all sliced up.

Lunch was leftover chicken/beans/corn from last night into a flat out with some hummus and pepperjack cheese like a dang quesadilla. And the last of my riceworks Sweet Chili brown rice chips (it's mostly crumbs though, sadness). I'm sure I'll have some grapes after for dessert.

Never mind our crappy coffee table, I'm watching some fine tv (Real World: Cancun) on the DVR.

Freebie alert: Print this out for a free pastry (with beverage purchase) from their new line on 7/21! Starbucks is debuting their newly remastered pastries, I'm excited about the changes they've made. :)

Changes include: no trans fat, no artificial ingredient and no high fructose/corn syrup. I'll be stopping by for sure. :)

I can't think of anything better...

Nice title, right? I don't think anyone reads them anyways.

So I actually woke up before my alarm went off this morning (only 4 minutes early). Which is surprising because it was far less than my usual 8 hours. I strapped up with my gear and took off for a run. My intention was to take it super slow this morning, which is good because my body didn't want to go any faster. I didn't think about it, but I did my leg workout yesterday afternoon and I finished at 5:15pm. I left for my run at 5:50am, yeah barely more than 12 hours of rest.

I also didn't eat anything before I left, but I really don't think they played into it. One thing I've noticed is that when I workout first thing I don't drink as much coffee (if any). I did drink one cup this morning after my delicious Green Monster (chocolate peanut butter cup style).

I have to leave at 9:30 for a 10:30am meeting, I'll probably be home at 1:30pm. I have a quick Costco stop I'll make on the way home because I need more spinach, and I will drive right by a Costco. I'm trying to figure out what food to take with me to eat during my meeting. Probably a wrap and some grapes. I'm already the weird food person and I rarely go into the office. The last lunch time meeting we had there was pizza, I took a bar of some sort to eat while everyone else had pizza. I made a deal with myself that if it was GOOD pizza I would eat some (like Pagliacci, for the Seattle locals). But if it was crap like Domino's I would eat the bar. Yeah, it didn't look good so I ate the bar.

I don't think I look overly skinny (I hate that word btw) because I do carry a lot of muscle mass (especially around my shoulders) but I got some comments like "you need to eat some pizza, put some meat on your bones". Ahh, typical "Lazy B" culture...

I digress, I suppose I should do some work before I leave. ;)

The Best Laid Plans...

So I had actually planned to lunch/relax during my lunch break today. Unfortunately for me it didn't happen. :( I decided to spend my time chopping veggies for tonight's dinner, I'm heading to the gym after work and it's nice to be able to just throw dinner on the stove after I get home and shower. By then my stomach is usually about to start eating itself. While chopping veggies, the DH called and needed computer help so I was multi tasking. UGH...but here is the cute kitty pic of Cooper and Jada yesterday. We have this ugly as sin old Ikea chair that they love to sleep on (they also have a heated cat bed that detects their weight and activates, but I unplugged it for the Summer). Spoiled little beasts!

Breakfast was what I call the GI Jane Green Monster. It came out Army Green today. Lots of spinach, blueberries, and strawberries. LOL. It tasted amazing though!

Morning snack was 1/2c 0% Fage, 1/2c Kashi Go Lean Crunch (Honey Almond Flax), and some sliced strawberries.

For lunch I heated up one of my leftover black bean burgers for a wrap. A wrap is much better because they are super fragile.


Leftover roasted sweet potato wedges

And a bunch of camera shy grapes that I am currently munching on as I type this (and listen to a conference call). I cannot wait for my workout this afternoon, I have a feeling it's going to be a good one.

There are some fantastic giveaways right now!

Some compression shorts and amazing running socks @ Run To The Finish.

Kelly from Every Gym's Nightmare has an amazing Artisana nut butter giveaway.

Busy Worker Bee

So I've been meaning to post since before lunch but I've been too busy with work, every time I clear something off my plate something else comes up. Tuesdays are always busy for me at my job, it's the day I have to answer all support queries for our project so it's a lot of email all day long. I was happy that I got my run in at lunch (I pretty much cleared my plate and marked myself away for lunch as fast as possible LOL). I'm happy that I shaved about 5 seconds off my time for the hilly mile. But otherwise my times are almost identical to the times I ran this route at a few weeks ago.


So I was going to post last night after I made the black bean burgers...but I was really just too pissy and wanted to wallow in self pity. First I blended the peppers and onions together, which resulted in an epic failure because I blended too much and it was liquefied. A food processor is really necessary for this. Next time I'd just saute the peppers and onions and call it good. So to try to save my mixture I added ANOTHER can of beans and another scoop of oatmeal. It helped but they were still a little soft.

Well to add insult to injury I was slicing a sweet potato for oven fries, and a couple of baby reds for DH and I freaking cut my finger with the sharp knife. Right around the finger nail bed. BRILLIANT! Stupid thing wouldn't freaking stop bleeding, it didn't hurt but was just an annoyance. So yeah, all I wanted to do was feel sorry for myself. I had my burger on an Orowheat sandwich thin (my first time with one), some TJ's guacamole and tomato. The flavor of the burgers was outstanding (I used cumin, chili powder, and Tapatio hot sauce). I can't wait to make them again and recitfy the issues I had.

I had a delicious Green Monster for breakfast (along with my java). Morning snack was pre-run fuel (Rainier Organic bakery cinnamon raisin toast with TB of Almond butter).

Lunch was a wrap (morningstar farms, hummus, tomato, avocado, cucumber, and spinach), some rice works sweet chili chips, and a bunch of grapes.

I have a cute cat picture but I don't have time to upload it now (have to use my other computer), but I will post it later. :) Work beckons.....the things we do for a paycheck!

Quick Weekend check in

This is going to be a quick one, this weekend has been so busy and I'm trying to clean the house. I thought I'd post really quick while a load of laundry finishes. :)

Yesterday I did my mile repeats (3 miles, plus one super slow mile cooldown). My legs wanted to give up, I ended up taking today off of all physical activity (sans cleaning). I screwed up my timing with the Garmin so my first lap around the track was a total wash time wise. Oh get this, I went to the local high school at like 6:15 yesterday morning to get this workout in since I knew the rest of the day would be busy.

There was a group of guys doing landscaping and no one else using the facilities. Since I have all these random irrational fears, I figured better safe than sorry. As I went to get in my car and leave they were mowing the field in that area so I'm walking with the key to my car (Volkswagen switchblade key) out thinking if they try to kidnap me I'll be all tough and stab them with my key. Yeah, I'm genius.


Went home, showered and got dressed and hit Starbucks with the hubby. I was so happy! They had the venti cold cups there, so I got one. These are so great (and BPA free), I find that I drink a lot more water when I have a straw. LOL. They had about ten there, of course after that we find out they are super hard to find, so we went back this morning to buy the rest and of course they were sold out. C'est la vie!

Quick run down of eats...

Friday dinner: Indian. DH and I split an order of lamb tikka masala and baigan burtha with some roti. We were stuffed but went for froyo. I got a small plain with coconut and white choco chips. DH got a kids size (lol) plain with peanut butter cup pieces. We both ate about three bites and got lids to take it home.

Saturday: pre-workout fuel was a Kashi honey almond flax bar. After workout recovery was a green monster with protein. Lunch was a grilled chicken sandwich and a small salad. Dinner was naughty...we went to the local bar and shared an order of boneless buffalo wings (extra hot) and a chicken fajita wrap.

Today: Worst...Green...Monster.... EVER. Seriously. It was so gross I plugged my nose to drink. Here's the combo to never do...

1 cup cow's milk
4 cups spinach
1/2c frozen blueberries
1/2c frozen raspberries
1/2 frozen banana
1TB almond butter

I think it was the blueberries and raspberries together, but it was freaking gross.

DH and I went to Sports Authority to get some gear, I found some Nike tanks for cheap! Then we did Pho for lunch since it's grey and gross today.

Ok, laundry done. Lates!

Wednesday

I'd like to say I was too busy to post today, but really just too lazy. I more or less eat the same stuff every day until dinner time, I'd like to say I mix it up but really I find stuff I like and eat it until I get tired of it. Fortunately since I started blogging I noticed that a lot of people are the same way. I think it is the convenience factor. Anyways...I started my day off with two cups of coffee and then made a sludge monster.

• 1 scoop of ON vanilla whey protein powder
• 1 cup of vanilla unsweetened Almond Breeze
• 4 sliced strawberries
• 4 cups of spinach (the spinach I bought at Costco is going bad FAST this week)
• 1/2c of frozen blueberries
• 1 TB almond butter
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1.5c crushed ice

My morning snack was 1/2c 0% Fage, 6 sliced strawberries.

LUNCH, I was really craving sweet potato fries but we are out of sweet potatoes (cry). Fortunately I had bought a bag of organic red potatoes for DH so I sliced one of those up and baked it with some cayenne pepper. Pretty good, but still not a sweet potato. I also made a wrap today: 1 morningstar burger, hummus, spinach (gotta use it fast), 1/4 'cado, 1/4 tomato. I even grilled it today. Fancy pants!

Hopefully you all have noticed that the quality of my pictures is improving, I started to use my digital camera instead of my craptastic cell camera. Of course this also contributes to the laziness of my posts, see my desktop computer that I use most of the day has no reader for the memory card...so I'm posting now with my laptop since it has the little reader built in. Yeah, I'm lazy.

I grazed a bit for my afternoon snack, I had 6 cubes of fresh pineapple, a few TJ's chocolatey cats (whatever was left in the tub, like 6). Right as I left for the gym I had a Kashi trail mix bar (no pic).

Here is my workout today. I did Gina's summer shape up day 2.

Warmup: 1 mile @ 8:02 + 3 minutes cooldown.

split squats 1x10 @ 20lb dumbbells. 2x10 @ 15lb dbs.
Pilates side leg lift 1x30 each side
Pike up with the ball 3x10 - these are HARD
Seated calf raise 3x12 @ 100lbs

Cardio: Hill intervals
0-1:00 7.0mph 0.0 incline
1:00-2:00 7mph 3.0 incline
2:00 - 3:00 7.0mph 0.0 incline
3:00 - 4:00 7mph 4.0 incline
4:00 - 5:00 7.0mph 0.0 incline
5:00 - 6:00 6.5mph 6.0 incline
6:00 - 7:00 7.0mph 0.0 incline
7:00 - 8:00 7.0mph 6.0 incline
3 minute cooldown

leg extension 3x10 @ 75lbs (legs were TIIIRED after hills)
stability ball hamstring curl 3x12 (I love doing these, I hold for a few seconds at the top)
Weighted plie with calf raise 3x12 with a 30lb db

Cardio: 14 minutes on the elliptical at varying resistence (7-13) and varying crossramp (between 6-13). 5 minute cooldown and stretch.

After that I made dinner. I was totally wanting a big ol taco salad. I poached a few chix breasts early in the day so that all I had to do was shred and cook in seasonings at dinner time.


In my salad: 1 shredded chix breast, 2 cups of mixed greens, 1/2 tomato, handful of corn, a lot of salsa, a little plain yogurt, a little shredded pepper jack cheese, and 1/2 c of black beans...oh and a handful of riceworks sweet chili chips for a little crunch.

And with this I leave you with some random pics that I found on my camera!

Jada!

Cooper! This picture was actually on the local news, they have a morning "pet walk" forecast, and I submitted this picture for Apple Cup petwalk last year. I still have the clip saved on our DVR, such a proud kitty mommy.

And a pic from our last trip to Maui (February 2009), this is at the Ho'okipa Lookout on the North shore of Maui. This is a big windsurfing spot, though none where there the day we stopped in.

Aloha!

Multi-tasking....

Ahh, I slept sooo good last night! New mattress (and all new pillows) for the win.

I got up and had my requisite two cups of coffee this morning (both with vanilla creamer). Then I felt like a Chocolate PB cup Green Monster this morning. In went the following

• 1 Scoop ON Chocolate whey protein powder
• 1 cup unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze
• 4 cups baby spinach
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 big TB Adam's crunchy peanut butter
• 1.5 cups of crushed ice

It was actually GREEN today!

I did some benchmarking tests for work and then dug into a pre-run snack around 9:30. A few cubes of pineapple and this:
My run today was just so-so, I didn't feel good about it and I don't know why. Times seem a little slow, but the first mile is mostly up hill (there's a slight descent only to climb another hill). I also kind of got lost (I went down a side road that wasn't marked DEAD END but was a dead end).
I did 100 crunches (standard and crossover).

Okay, I'm on a conference call so time to devote my full attention to this!

Happy Monday

Since our new mattress is being delivered this afternoon I got up with the hubby at 4:45 and went to the gym. I had to pry myself out of bed, but once I was done with my workout I was glad that I did. I had 1/2 a banana with a little bit of almond butter in between (like a sandwich).

Workout:

Warm up: 1 mile @ 7:59, 4 minute "cooldown"

Stability ball chest press 3x10 @ 30lb dumbbells
DB Deltoid lateral raises 3x10 @ 12.5lb dbs (keeping the weight down since I have shoulder pain)
High Row 3x10 @ 60lbs (I do mine with both arms)

Cardio blast: Intervals.
1 minute @ 6.5mph
1 minute @ 9.0 mph
multiply times 4
3 minute "cooldown"

Stability ball push up 3x10
Front DB raises 3x10 @ 12.5 (again keeping weight down grr)

Cardio:
2.25 miles @ 17 minutes

I came home and took a shower and immediately made a Sludge/poop/green monster.

I'm going to get through the rest of my Google reader and get some work done. Here is a cute pic of Cooper trying to keep cool over the weekend. I love to rub that tummy. :)

The Poop Monster

So I thought about getting up early before work to get a run in, well I quickly changed my tune when I saw that it was 46 degrees outside. Yeah, no thanks. I'm a baby. So I went back to bed and will do a gym strength workout this afternoon instead (tomorrow I will run outside at lunch since we have stuff going on in the evenings, I always look at my schedule for the week and then set my workout schedule so that it is set in stone for the most part).

I started off my day with two cups of java, in the first cup I tried some of the International Delights White Chocolate Macadamia Nut creamer. I heard about it last week and knew I had to try it since white choc mac nut is my FAVORITE combo. The macros for the creamer aren't great but I don't use too much so it's fun to mix up with the vanilla creamer. I had my second cup with the vanilla creamer.

After that I moved onto a Green Monster, since I missed out yesterday I decided to make this one chock full of fun. Well it turned into more of a Poop monster...but it tasted AMAZING. Here is what went into the Poop Monster
1c Unsweetened Almond Breeze (original)
1 scoop ON vanilla whey protein powder
4 large strawberries
1/3c TJ's frozen blueberries
1/2 frozen banana
4 cups of spinach
1.5 cups of crushed ice

See, I love the flavor of blueberries and I know they are chock full of antioxidants but I hate, hate, hate the texture of raw blueberry. I do not know why but they make me gag. So I bought a bag of frozen ones yesterday at Trader Joe's. Perfect for smoothies!

I'm just munching on my morning snack right now while doing some work email.

1/2c Fage 0%
6 sliced strawberries
Half of a crumbled Kashi trail mix bar
5 PB puffins

It's a nice sunny day I'm stoked for dinner tonight, I'm making a Thai red chicken curry (one of my fave foods). I need to make sure the cilantro I have in the fridge is still good (doubtful) so I know if I need to swing into the grocery store on my way back from the gym after work.

Hope everyone is having a good Monday. :)

Sunny Tuesday!

So the sun was finally out this morning when I woke up, which is obviously a good thing! Too bad I am stuck inside working, I need to run to Cooper & Jada's vet at lunch and pickup some food for them so no lunch time run today. :(

Here's Jada enjoying the sun in my office today. Sorry for my crappy pics, my camera phone isn't so great but it's easier than using the digital camera (lazy for the win).


Today's eats so far...

Breakfast: Green Monster
1 scoop ON vanilla whey powder
1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze
Strawberries
1/2 frozen banana
4 cups spinach
1tbsp almond butter

It was a light green monster lol

2 cups of coffee....I love the bottom of my cup, it makes me happy to see the heart so I happily drain my cup. I am obviously easily amused.


Snack:
Approx. 1/2 cup of Fage 0%
Raspberries
Strawberries


Make sure to head over to Hangry Pants, Heather and Mark are giving away some yummy looking Musselman’s Healthy Picks Apple Sauce to three lucky readers!

Let Me Introduce Myself...

My name isn't Humpty...and it doesn't rhyme with Umpty. I'm Danielle, I'm 30 years old. I like cats, running, healthy and delicious eats, and cuddling with my husband. I do not like raw onions, rush hour traffic, and mean people.

Ok for real, I've been lurking in the blog world now for about a month. I've jumped on the Green Monster bandwagon. I'm klassy enough that I like to drink mine out of a Coors Light glass. Nothing screams nutrition like a frosty Green Monster in a football shaped beer glass. Puh-lease!



So I tried to come up with a cute name for this blog but all that came to mind was my love of running. Growing up, and in high school I despised running. I never thought I could do it. In 2002 I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, which honestly didn't come as a shock since everyone on my mother's side of the family has it. But I was carrying about 50 extra pounds at that point. I started walking every day, and eventually decided to try running. I was hooked... but I couldn't seem to shed more than 15lbs.

One day in 2006 I was lunching with a friend, I was working at a Seattle area fitness company at the time (a company that 'coined' the elliptical trainer so popular in gyms). It finally really hit home that my weight loss obstacles weren't fitness related but food related. My portions were too big mostly. I cut my food back and started really watching what I ate. My boyfriend of six years also proposed to me late that year so I had extra incentive to lose the lbs. I reached my goal weight in mid-2007.

We were married in November of 2007 on the island of Maui. Wow, it was amazing. I wouldn't have done it any other way. Here is a pic of me with my true loves! My husband, Tim, and the cake. Let me tell you, the Vanilla Macadamia Nut mousse filling was OUT OF THIS WORLD!


Over the last few years my fitness level has grown so far, I adore running and average around 25 miles a week. I also lift weights like it is my religion.

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to the other players!

Here is me, with my husband Tim, in January of 2009. He was the Best Man in his bff's wedding!








My most handsome boy kitty, Cooper (aka Cooper Pooper, Coop, Coop A Loop).


And last, but never least is Miss Jada.


So let's kick this off in style...I hope someone will actually read the 'ish I write! So let me know if you are out there (*crickets*)...

Question of the day (comments plz): Do you have any pets? What kind? Any fun facts about them?