Life Becoming a Blurr

At the beginning of this school semester I thought that there was no way I would ever feel busier and more bogged down with assignments and things on my agenda than I did, I stand corrected. This present time has literally been non-stop, pedal to the medal, and any other cliche term that refers to fast times with no rest, that I have ever experienced. Trying to prepare for graduation, dealing with my job, schoolwork, Monkey, my boyfriend, a whole house to clean, plus getting exercise in six days a week has worn me down. 

With that being said, these last couple weeks have been far from my best eating ones. However, these things used to make me resent myself for the indulgences and/or just plain necessities I needed at that moment, I don't beat myself up over them anymore. Sometimes, stress just gets the best of us and instead of breaking down and crumbling, a lemon bar or two here, a margarita there, are easy remedies that keep me from pulling my hair out. One thing I am proud of myself for, is sticking with my workouts everyday. Even if it has to come in the evening after a six hour shift and my feet are aching, I know my mood will drastically be improved if I just do an hour of heart pumping exercise. I just tell my self "Make it through your 5 minute warm-up, and stretch, and if you still don't have any want or motivation to continue, we will call it a day and just go home." Most of the time, after I do my warmup, something kicks in that helps me make it through the hour. I use mantras all the time though. Simple sayings like "Don't think, just do," or one that I read recently, "You're one workout away from a great mood," inspire me to continue on.

I did manage to make my way to Chipotle the other night for my favorite Burrito Bowl to quell some anxiety though. 

I couldn't wait to dig in!

Mike and I had both had a long work week and after a 'no meat' Friday, due to Lent, I needed some MEAT!!! Barbacoa to be exact. I thinks it's cute how, when Mike and I go there together, they write 'his' and 'hers' on our bowls. :)

My awesome dinner with a side of homemade guacamole.

Before heading home, we recently got a "Yogurt Mountain" right next to our Chipotle. I have been hearing great things about this Fro-Yo chain, so I had to try it. I was thinking it would be mainly like all the rest of the shops around town but not at all. They had some amazing, unique flavors like German Chocolate, and Blue Cotton Candy just to name a few. Mike and I grabbed a cup and began filling up. I do wish they gave out smaller cups though, with all that room, it is so easy to get carried away in your creation, like I do. So many choices of delicious sounding yogurt, left me to make a combo of flavors and onto their delicious toppings.

The old me would have dove right into the crushed up Pop-Tarts they displayed next to the other numerous crazy concoctions in the bins. I now since have vowed off this caloric bomb in every possible way, even if I am not creating the most nutritious dessert. I added some chocolate waffle cone, marshmallow, and cookie dough, looking like something out of a five year old's fantasy dream...I couldn't wait to have mine after dinner. I was able to make it through half of my Chipotle, and a little more than half of my Yogurt Mountain till my stomach hit the breaks. After watching a movie with Mike, we both fell into a food coma and dozed off. 

Sunday

Nothing mind-boggleing happened Sunday except the dinner I made, not tooting my own horn or anything but...toot toot (just kidding!) While flying home from North Carolina a couple of weeks ago I ran across this awesome looking pork loin recipe in an issue of Cosmopolitan. It had a tomato-sage Gin sauce that was so yummy I wish the recipe would have made more.

Before the sauce...

Along with the pork I roasted some potatoes and cauliflower in the over. I had never had cauliflower before but it was nice.

With the sauce!

After dinner, Mike and I finished our Yogurt Mountain, and were able to relax to another movie. Monday would be a new week, and with a new week, new chances to start over.

Monday

I decided to plan out everything I would be eating this week on a menu that I could stick to even with my busy schedule. Hopefully, this will come in handy when all I want to do is reach for an extra snack or an unhealthy addition to my already healthy meals. Also, I won't have to think about what I need to fix, it will already be planned and prepared. I did a ramp workout that kicked mine and Mike's butt today and plan to have a night to myself (and Monkey) getting the house back in order. Hopefully, I will make it to my blog more often this week than last. I don't like when I don't write about what I am going through because then I have all this pent up stuff I need to release into the universe. Tomorrow I get to go to Melissa's Kickboxing class for the first time in two weeks! I can't wait, so until then...goodnight and good eats!

 

Life Lessons from my Kitty...

A lot of other bloggers I read, have recently been doing these posts about how their pets teach them lessons about life that truly should stick with you. I thought this was an adorable idea and never need an excuse to show off picture of my fluff monster, monkey, so I decided to do one as well. Here's to Monkey and all the things he does on a regular basis that I should be trying to stick to more often...

Snore, snore, fishy, snore, snore...treats...

First of all, sleep is very important to make priority in your life. Without ample sleep in your life, things are harder to do, concentrate on, and not as enjoyable to experience. Monkey sleeps later that Mike and I almost every day of the week with the exception of the days we get to sleep in, then he becomes an early riser of course. He also only likes sleeping on my side of the bed so I have to conform my legs around his body as not to disturb the angle, haha.

Squeaky Clean!

Next, personal hygiene is a must! Let's face it, I don't like smelly people, they don't like smelly people, so personal upkeep is important to you and your peers around you. Monkey gets a bath whenever his fur is looking greasy and he hates it! But I would rather deal with his struggles and have him smell like baby shampoo than litter, ewwww. I always feel terrible on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I normally squeeze in an hour workout between my two classes and don't have time to run home and shower, so I bring a change of clothes and just try and sit by myself. Good looking out.

Do you like my Poncho?

Always dress to impress! I have to admit, I am an offender of never doing this. I mostly live in gym clothes and my work uniform, but when I  have the time, I love getting dolled up. When my hair is nice, makeup is done, and I have a sweet new outfit to debut, nothing puts me in a better mood. However, I do enjoy a great pair of elastic waist 'boy' pants and a football jersey too! Don't worry, I never dress my cat up, but this was right after monkey had surgery and had to have this little poncho on. He looked so cute.

Streeeeeetch....

Before and after workouts, stretching is essential to prevent injuries. I have terrible shin splints and can tell if I have been slacking on the stretching when they hurt more than normal. Recently, my trainer introduced me to PVC pipe rollers. They are kind of like the foam ones, but that's not 'hard core' enough for Chris so the hard, unforgiving plastic it is! My mom also bought me this thing called "The Stick" that has a bunch of tiny rollers on a stick you roll over sore muscles and it feels great! Lactic Acid build-up is the worst enemy of workout-a-holics. Monkey just does it because he knows he looks cute and might score some tuna treats.

(**I hope this video works, I've never added a video before. It it doesn't, its monkey running around in a circle trying to catch his tale.)

Running around in circles, never gets you anywhere. My cat does this everyday, at the same time in the afternoon, and I crack up watching him. But seriously, when I feel like I am spinning my wheels faster than where they are taking me, I have to relax a little bit, regroup, and think about the priorities in my life, and what truly needs accomplishing. I stress out easily, so if I feel it starting to creep up, I try and go for a run, or talk to someone close to me, to iron things out. I love exercising because it clears my head space and is my "ME TIME." I rarely take my cell phone to the gym, because distractions can wait for an hour at least. I'll get to them after I have a good outlook on the day. 

Where did the Mouse Go??

Go after what you want! Monkey has this little toy with a mouse that goes around and around and he will roll around with it for hours. Me, on the other hand, asks myself, "Does this make me happy?" If the answer is "no," then I take a different path. Recently, I decided to take another direction in my career path than what I am majoring in, Business Hospitality. There is nothing wrong with the hospitality business, I just need a break from some aspects that are not making me happy right now. I do have a wonderful business venture that I will hopefully put in motion one day, but for now, fitness and wellness are what works for me and makes me happy every day.

Mine mine mine mine...

Lastly, make the best out of any situation. Monkey jumped right in this box when we got it home from Costco one day, and ever since, he has made it his permanent kitty cave. I can't say I am always able to see the silver lining in everything, but living with a very positive boyfriend and weird cat helps me to look on the bright side more often than not. I also am very lucky to have a wonderful family who gives great advice and comfort as well. I know no matter what my future hold, something good will happen, I am CONFIDENT! :)

I hope you enjoyed my post revolving around my cat. Two years ago, when Mike surprised me on Christmas with him it was one of the happiest days of my life, and still to this day he brightens even the worst days. Even my crazy treadmill day on Tuesday. The rest of this week is looking busy, but hopefully Mike and I can squeeze in some good food and fun so Monkey won't be lonely at home.

Oh yeah, last point, "Mama knows best!!"

Rare Occurrence...

This normally doesn't happen to me too often but on those not so appropriate occasions I have a 'Bad Day.' We all get them from time to time, but I hate when they rear their ugly heads on a Monday, the start of the week, because it always leaves me wondering what the rest of the week hold.

It all started off this morning. On Mondays, and Wednesdays I have an early class at 9, and usually wake up about 8 to get ready, make myself a shake, and find a parking spot on campus that isn't located a marathon walk away. My alarm must have been set for a different day because it didn't go off at the right time, which in turn, made us about 15 minutes late out the door. Mike and I made it to class just in time, however, we had the most boring speaker talk to us today about nothing...he even seemed bored talking to us. On top of being boring, my stomach felt like it had daggers in it from the not-so-healthy nachos and margarita I ate the night before (hey, don't judge, it was a skinnygirl Margarita, aaand FSU dominated Notre Dame last night in basketball, celebration? I think so!) but I was regretting it during the two hour long lecture on...um, I couldn't tell you honestly, that's how boring it was. 

After class I was a little happier though because my next class got cancelled and Mike and I could go to the gym together today! I don't know why I love when we go together so much more, we don't even use the same machines or workout together, I just love knowing he is there. Also, I was going to try out this treadmill set I printed out today and listen to some awesome new GLEE songs I had downloaded...or so I thought. We got to the gym and I made my way over to the treadmills, of course everyone was taken and the rest were broken and had "out of order" signs on them. Finally, a guy got off of one, 10 minutes later and wouldn't you know, it stops working as I get on it, just completely shuts down. So I waited another 10 minutes until someone else got off of the next treadmill, that one breaks as well, the second I get on it. I couldn't believe my luck, what am I? CURSED? 

So one guy finally gets off the treadmill I always use and I am ready to start this sucker and burn some nachos off when I go to turn on my IPOD and....IT'S DEEEEAD!!!

Great, so no music to run to is about as exciting as good old "What's his face" earlier lecturing. However, I had a magazine that I was going to skim over, so desperate times call for desperate measures. I began my set and was really starting to get into it. I was almost at the last three intervals (8 minutes left) when my screen went blank. At this point I asked, "Is this a joke??" What bad fitness karma have I put out into the universe lately? Maybe poking fun of those barbies who wear their makeup to the gym a couple posts ago? I don't know but I almost lost it on the repair guy who accidentally pulled the chord to my machine out of the wall instead of the treadmill next to me. I finished up and just had to get out of there. 

Mike and I came home, showered up and then I got to deal with our messed up Comcast DVR box in our room. I think this is the 9th time I've had to switch it out. They should give me free movie channels or something, haha. But I finished all of that nonsense and now hopefully work later will not follow suit to the previous part of my day. Time to eat a chicken sandwich and watch some Real Housewives of OC talk about each other behind their friends backs, ahhh relaxing.

Another round of suicide (workout) Saturdays

I was so happy to be back this week for my favorite workout of the week, Suicide Saturdays! I was a little groggy rolling out of bed, but got going quickly by making myself my green smoothie and slurping that down with my morning vitamins. I laced up my sneaks and headed to the local high school, because we were going to have a fun track workout like some of the previous weeks. Since I had missed last week when they were at Dead Game gym I felt like running outside and stretching my legs a little. It was such a beautiful day too, maybe I could lose some of the farmer’s tans I am beginning to develop.

When I got there, my trainer Chris, had us warm up with some easy laps and then explained to us our doom. We would start with a jog around the track to the middle where this concrete slab lay in the grass. After completing 10 pushups, run around the curve to the bleachers and do the 6 sets of zig zagged stairs till you reached the other side of the bleachers. Once that’s done we hopped back down to the track and did five wind sprints back and forth (about 25 yards each) and made our way to the BIG stairs. The BIG stairs are three sets of stairs that are just laid up this massive hill on the side of the track. We had to run them five times, but each time you made it to the top you did 10 squats with a jump. Once you finished that you ran around the track back to the concrete slab to repeat four times.

Whew….it was a toughie but I needed it considering those Guinness Cupcakes I made the night before. They didn’t last long in a house with a lonely, cupcake crazy fiend, yes, that would be me. After this crazy workout I sadly had to go into work and work a volume shift, which basically meant they could keep me until they saw fit. They saw fit at 10pm last night and my legs were aching. Thankfully, nothing a little fro-yo can’t fix though. Really took the sting and burn off, and just made me happy J. Now. It’s Sunday and time to do laundry, clean the house, and maybe make some lemon bars! Mike gets home tonight from North Carolina and I am picking him up from the airport, can’t wait to see him!

A little Guinness anyone?

I can't believe how long it has been since I have written my last post. Since I have returned home from Spring Break, Mike and I have been moving a mile a minute. Waking up, working out, eating, work, and then bed has been my routine for the last couple of days. I haven't even had time to have an OCD cleaning day! You would think today being St. Patrick's Day, my schedule would unwind a little bit, not in the least.

I woke up this morning and was excited to rock out a new workout dvd I have been dying to try since it came out. It's a DVD by BeachBody called TurboFire and it feels just like it sounds, like your body is on fire. I opted for the 45 minute round today because I got a bit of a late start this morning, and wanted to take a shower, so I could jet off to class not smelling like a sweaty gym rat. From the first combo, it was love. I love high energy videos like these with silly moves that make me want to master them and look as cool as the people in the video. I can't wait to try it again later in the week. A nice 700 calorie burn, I'll take it! Plus I learned some cool new moves I can bust out if I need to embarrass Mike in public :)

On a less fun note, at the beginning of this week, I found out I had two exams schedules for tonight, on this oh so glorious green beer filled day. On top of the tests, I was scheduled to work tonight and tomorrow morning (get to serve the drunk crowd and the hungover ones, I wonder who would tip better...) so I had some dilemmas that needed solving. Luckily, I was able to get sympathy from my boss who even thought a teacher scheduling two exams tonight was a little messed up, and let me off so I could take my tests. I did well, thank goodness, and after a long day of turbo-firing, classes and quizzes, I thought I deserved a well earned "Kitchen Sink Salad" from Ruby Tuesdays. I love their salad bar more than any other place that even offers salad. So many choices of my kind of veggies (I am not a fan of peppers of mushrooms), and a few fun toppings. I call it the kitchen sink because I basically throw everything in there except a kitchen sink, obviously.

Don't be alarmed...there is a lot of Spinach!

I throw in Spinach, carrots, hard boiled egg, crasins, edamame, more carrots, zucchini, and a few (quite a few, because they have the best) croutons. Now, I know all the health magazines in the world advise against croutons, but listen, if I'm gonna have a salad for dinner, it's gonna have something that keeps it fun, but I do opt out of adding cheese to it, so tit for tat. Also, since Mike has work and doesn't get to celebrate St. Patty's Day either, I picked up some Guinness at the liquor store next door. I thought it would be a nice little surprise later. 

Okay back to my salad...once I got it home, I added some chicken I had, had in the refrigerator and plowed in. Don't judge me, I was hungry and ate the whole thing. My massive salad was so good though. This reminded me of when I was in a sorority my Freshman year and the older girls put on a sketch to impersonate another sorority, where one girl is appalled she ate an entire apple. I felt silly saying "I can't believe I ate that entire salad," but what the hey, I needed some comforting in green form, it just so happened it wasn't watered down green beer, which I can't complain about.

Yeh, that's what I call "WINNING"

So my plans are now to paint my nails, watch some Celebrity Apprentice, and maybe use one of those bottles of Guinness to try a "Guinness Cupcake" that I have been wanting to make for a while now. I'll send some with Mike on his trip to North Carolina tomorrow and push the rest off on my work buddies. Off to explore the unknown and untasted!

Date Night...the end to a wonderful Spring Break.

Since Mike didn't get to have a 'Spring Break' this year, and only got to put in hard man hours at the restaurant he works at, we decided to have a big finale night and get creative with food. Mike has been having a hankering for some gourmet cuisine lately, so who to do it better than us?!? With this is mind we made our way to a new grocery store we recently got, "Earth Fare." I have been looking forward to going here for months now, Mike went last week without me and couldn't say enough good things about it. 

It's like my DisneyWorld...

Upon stepping into this place, I could tell it was going to be a special. All the produce looked so fresh and amazing! They had varieties of things I had never even heard of. We mainly came for the cheese and meat selection they had in the back, however, to get there we had to do some other shopping as well. It's what God would have wanted :) After loading up on some delicious eats, I heard a voice say something behind me and turned around to see my adorably bubbly kickboxing instructor, Melissa! She is so cute and was shopping with her husband and the newest little addition to her family. This makes me sad to write but I won't be able to attend any classes this week due to my lame work schedule, errr! After saying our goodbyes and good lucks, we made our way to the butcher counter and ordered some ground sirloin, ground buffalo, (I love combining the two, mixing in caramelized onions, and pre-shaping/freezing patties for me to eat throughout the week) and for dinner tonight, a leg of lamb! 

As satisfyingly exciting as that was, I love and was looking forward to the cheese section more than anything. We decided to go with a "truffle tremor," "Shropshire Yellow Blue," and a "Tomme du Sovil" along with some salami and crackers. Good thing there is plastic wrap on all the cheeses or else it might not have made it home it looked so good!

Once we got home, Mike got to work prepping the food, and I got to work putting the cheese plate together. Mine didn't take much skill or time so I poured my self a glass of my favorite wine (McMannis Petit Syrah) and plopped on the couch to have some bonding time with my kitty, Monkey.

Oh yeah...cheese please!

Ready for my close-up...

After having a good amount of cheese in my belly, Mike joined me and we watched our DVRed SNL episode which had us rolling in laughter. An hour later, dinner was ready and the house smelled wonderful. On the menu was Peppercorn and fennel encrusted lamb with a parsnip and potato puree, and a pomegranate reduction glaze. If your think that sounds good, it was ten times better! When we do date night, we go hard!

I ate all of this!

Needless to say, my bottomless pit of a stomach finally had a full feeling and Mike and I became lethargic blobs on the couch. 

I feel that even though I eat healthy and maintain the healthiest lifestyle I can, an indulgence is a necessity everyone in a while. It was nice to be able to let loose for a couple of days in New York and the two days I've been back in Tallahassee. Having days like these help me to keep on track every other day that is not vacation. I weighed myself this morning, just to see how much I had actually taken in from vacation and to my surprise I didn't gain any weight, however, I think I lost a little muscle and made up for it in fat. That is okay though because I have finally decided what I want to dedicate myself to for lent, loosing those five pounds I put on in place of muscle. This should be fun. I look at this as an adventure rather than a chore and the journey teaches your things rather than punishes you for what you wanted in the first place. Guilt never helps anything, but action does, so get ready polar watch, you're going to get a lot of use in these next couple of weeks!

I'm BACK baby!

I am already missing North Carolina, my parents, and the nice people that shop the isles of the local 'Harris Teeter' (that's the name of their grocery store, I know, kinda funny.) I got back to Tallahassee yesterday afternoon, where Mike picked me up from the airport, being the wonderful boyfriend he is, and got the great news he didn't have to go back to work!  I quickly took advantage of this by chatting his ear off about my trip and everything in between. I think his head was reeling a little bit.

I couldn't wait to get home and squeeze the love out of my fluffy, ginger kitty, monkey. He was waiting in the window and unsuspecting of the love I was about to bestow on him. After he wiggled his way free of my grasp, I unpacked, and Mike and I got ready to go grab some lunch and an FSU baseball game.

The game was great, but it got so cold out, we had to leave and warm ourselves up with a great glass of wine and some pretty good Italian food at Carraba's. After prying myself off of the rest of my baked ziti, we headed home for some catching up on our DVRed shows and some much needed sleep. It feels nice to be home with Mike and Monkey, I really missed them while I was away, but I definitely needed the vacation. Now back to the real life that is slowly inching it's way to graduation...did I mention slooowly?