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She Came, She Saw, She Kinda, Almost, Conquered
March 30, 2018
What up fam! Hope your week has been lit! Oh, who am I
kidding……. I’m 35. All of that just sounds weird LOL. So, how are you? What’s
new? Nothing to crazy over here. I’m totally dragging because I started my week
off all wrong. I didn’t go to bed until almost 10:00pm Sunday night. I know, I
know, I’m such a rebel. I stayed up an extra 45 minutes past my bed time.
WWWWHHHHHOOOOOAAAAA! Can you even handle me right now? And I waited until
Monday morning to pack my food for the day..UGH. I mean, it’s already time
consuming but then to be under time constraints and trying to do that…oh..no.
Oh well, what are you gonna do.
This past weekend was a pretty eye opening and a fun couple
of days. Saturday morning, I hit the gym bright and early because I had an
interview an hour across town for a personal training internship. No, I’m not leaving my full-time job, this
would be part time and would help me gain more experience and learn the
business. On my way to the interview I
was going over questions that may be asked and how I might answer them. Yes, I
did this out loud to myself. No shame in my game. Being that I do not have tint
on my truck, I’m sure the neighboring vehicles were concerned. So, one of the
questions I anticipated was, “What was
the reason for your delay in pursuing a career as a personal trainer?” As I answered this to myself I had this weird
moment of clarity. It was never really that I didn’t want to be a personal
trainer, or I wanted to pursue a career in insurance, it was mostly that I
didn’t feel I looked the part. Even at my thinnest, not even eating 1,000
calories a day, I felt fat. I felt like I didn’t look fit enough to be a
personal trainer. I often thought “Who
would take fitness advice from me when I don’t even look fit?” Man, that
made me feel so sad for my former self. I wasted so much time being so caught
up in feeling less than. But, having those conversations with myself on the way
really helped me open up and present my true self during my interview, so it
was a win. Did I get the internship? Not sure yet, they had others to interview
and said they would contact me. So, that could go either way. We’ll see.
After that I went home and put on some workout clothes. The
hubs and I were going to Vertical Ventures, an indoor rock climbing gym! I had
been there years ago with my nephew, but my husband had never been and wanted
to try it. When we got there, they ran us through a brief class on how to use
the equipment and climb safely. Let me tell you, if that is not a relationship
building experience I don’t know what is! You have to fall from near the top of
the wall which is like 100 ft high….ok maybe not that high, but it was really
high, and your partner at the bottom has to stop your fall and gently lower you
to the ground. Scary! But, we both passed! They then gave us free rein on the
gym. We climbed a couple sections. My husband is just a beast. He was like
freakin’ spider-man. He has great grip strength and upper body strength, so
this was like child’s play for him.
Me, I did pretty good. I definitely have a lot more grip and
upper body strength since the last time I went. Plus, having my husband there,
I wasn’t scared to fall. Then we gave the treadwall a try. It’s like a
treadmill but upright with rocks to climb. That took a second to get used to,
but it ended up being my favorite part! I can’t wait to get back in there and
do it again!
OH! and I almost did a pull up! If you have read any of my
earlier blog posts I was on a kick for awhile to do one pull up…just one! Well,
for some reason my arms don’t bend, and I got tired of not progressing, so I
gave up on that dream. Yes! I know! I GAVE UP! UGHHHHHHH so depressing! Well,
they had these hanging cones, so you can work on your grip. I hung on them and
was playing around and tried to pull myself up. Well, my elbows bent! I went
about ¼ of the way. Hey, for me that’s progress. Then I had my husband hold my
feet and I got 2 full pull ups! WHAT WHAT! So stoked! Now all I want to do Is practice
pull ups.
After Vertical Ventures……P.S. Your first visit, they give you
two weeks free to use the climbing gym. Ok, so, after that we had planned on
going to the beach. Well, when we got down to the beach it was all of sudden
like the artic north, so we just walked up and down the beach. It was nice and
peaceful. The beach we went to allows dogs, so it was fun to see all the dogs
running around and having a great time. I certainly needed and welcomed the
fresh air, even though it was chilly. All in all it was nice afternoon. I
wanted to kick myself later for it though because when I got home it was like full on
stress mode trying to get everything cooked/baked for the next days festivities,
but I survived.
So, the next day I celebrated my birthday with the amazing
women in my life. My Mom, sisters, nieces and I went to Painting with a Twist.
We brought brunchy foods and had mimosas while we painted the most adorable
flower pots with daisies. We all had a great time, even my mom! And she did
great by the way. So glad we could all get together. Unfortunately, I did not
take pictures of any of the food!!!!! But I did get these cute pictures.
We did pretty good huh?!
After the painting, we went back to my mom’s for cake. My
cake turned out ok. It looked NOTHING like the picture. In my freaked-out
moment the night before I fought with that cake and the cake won. It tasted
good though. I was slightly disappointed because I thought I had covered all of
the bases. The food I prepared was grain free, low/no sugar, vegetarian and
seed free. But that cake……I didn’t even think about it. The frosting had
strawberry preserve in it……my one sister can’t eat seeds. Whomp whomp! FAIL!
::sigh:: I tried. But, at least one of the snicker doodle muffins I made was
left so she had that in lieu of cake and those muffins are delish….the
bomb…amaze balls! Shout out to Against All Grains for that recipe. It’s a
winner, winner chicken dinner if you couldn’t tell.
It was a good weekend.
So that leaves us where this whole post started. Sunday night I
was up until 10:00pm. Monday morning I was running around like a mad person and
then Monday night. Oh Monday night. Monday is my Yoga night. One hour and 20
minutes to focus on nothing but breathing, my body and just being in the
moment. Well that was ruined by a shit ton of traffic. I had to miss my yoga
class!!!!!! Errrgggg Traffic. Darn you people who can’t drive. So I signed up
to take a class tonight. It will be a nice way to kick off this Easter weekend.
Do you have any Easter plans? Do you even celebrate Easter? Easter day is going
to be full of craziness going from one house to the next but I’m looking
forward to it. And of course I’ll be cooking and baking. Don’t worry, I won’t back
myself into a corner this weekend. I’ve already made sure I’ll have plenty of
time to make everything. It should be smooth sailing. I’ll take pictures of the
food I make this time so I can share the links to the recipes with you.
All right! I think you read enough from me today. Have a
great weekend peoples!
Follow me on the socials. I’ve been pinning more recipes and
posting more workout snippets to help give you some ideas for your routine.
B-SMART: Strategies to eat healthy and save money
March 23, 2018
Food intolerances and dietary preferences are for the birds!
I just needed to say that. Shout it out loud! UGH! Let me tell you, so I have
been planning a little girls day this coming weekend to celebrate my birthday.
So, this Sunday My Mom, myself, my sisters and their daughters……the 6 of us,
are getting together in the morning to do Painting with a Twist, have some
brunchy finger foods while we are there and then go back to my Mom’s place for birthday cake. Well, I’m totally grain free, my one sister is gluten free and
then my other sister and her daughter are vegetarians! Plus, neither of my
sisters like cooked fruit. And, for my mom, we have been trying limit her foods that have excess sugar and processed carbohydrates. Needless to say, coming up with
a menu has been a chore, simply for the fact there is so much to consider when
choosing what to make. Making a couple things turns into making an entire
spread because you want everyone to enjoy the food and be happy. I put it on
myself really. I know they certainly don’t expect me to cater to each one of
them, but I will. Food makes people happy and it makes me happy when my food
makes people happy. Ok?! My menu so far, may change in the next five minutes,
is an veggie loaded egg breakfast casserole, Paleo Orange Cranberry and Pecan
muffins (my mom loves orange and cranberry,) and I will also be making Paleo
snickerdoodle muffins. I’m hoping I included everyone. All of the above foods are
vegetarian, grain and gluten free and one of the muffins does not have cooked
fruit. Oh shoot……my oldest sister can’t eat anything with seeds….I’ll have to
double check the veggies in the casserole. ::Sigh:: My sister is doing a mimosa
station…yum! And my oldest sister is bringing fruit. I was going to make fruit skewers,
but you know what, I’m just glad she is taking that off my hands, she can bring
the fruit in a bucket for all I care. Oh, and coffee….I'm bringing coffee.
Sheesh…..I think I went a little overboard. Now that I’m typing it out it
sounds like a lot. Oh well, I over cook/bake for every occasion. Better too
much than too little!
It should be fun though. My mom has never done Painting with a Twist. I had a bowling birthday party last year and she had so much fun doing
that I thought I would do something this year she might enjoy.
Geez…..then next weekend is Easter…what the heck am I going
to make for that?! I can’t think about that right now.
So, this week I wanted to offer some insight into how you
can eat healthy and not break the bank. I thought it would be helpful and I have had to find ways to navigate the grocery waters myself so I wanted to share! I had been eating a pretty healthy diet
through out my late teens and twenties but once I started having reactions to
grains I was pretty much thrust in to health food overload. So, trust and
believe, I know how overwhelming it can be. I mean, they make it so easy and
inexpensive to eat crap food. When you decide or have to start eating a more
whole food diet you feel awestruck at the cost an effort it takes. So, I wanted
to provide some ways you can B-SMART and create shopping strategies to help you
eat healthy and save money!
BIG BOX STORES!
We all know them; some people hate them. Me, I LOVE them! You’ve got your SAMS
Club, COSTCO, BJ’s. Options people, you’ve got options. These big box stores
offer a wide variety of food options and ways to save. The truth of the matter
is buying in bulk truly does save you some cash. If there are foods you eat
regularly or feel like you are constantly running to the store for, I highly
recommend checking one of these stores out. I go there……let me be honest, my
husband does most of the grocery shopping at SAMS Club or COSTCO ‘cuz he’s the
best 😊 Soooooo he goes there to buy our meat,
bottled water, apples, eggs and some veggies. I also have him pick up my almond
milk and coconut oil there. And yes, they sell organic, gluten free,
non-GMO…all the things! It’s great! And you can pick up your household items,
some wine and knives you never knew you needed all in one trip. Score!
Shopping local, depending
on your area, may be easier for some than others but look around you. Is there
a farmer’s market you pass on the way to work every day? Does your community
have art festivals, craft fairs etc. on the weekends where local farmers sell
their crops? If so, make an effort to stop by and purchase your veggies there.
You will be supporting your local economy and their produce is usually way
cheaper than the store. Plus, it’s fresher and tends to last a little longer
than the store-bought produce.
Meal prep/Meal
plan- I have said this one before and I am repeating myself because I truly
find it to be one of the most time and money saving practices I have
incorporated. Take a few moments one day a week and decide what you want to
have for your meals that week. It can seem like a daunting task but after the
first 2-3 times you’ll start to see the benefits, PROMISE! No more back
and forth about what you’re going to have for dinner, no more giving in and
going out to eat because you don’t feel like cooking or have nothing in the
house to eat. No more wrecking your diet eating fast food on your lunch break
at work because you’ll have fresh homemade food at your fingertips. The easiest
way is to pull up a blank calendar worksheet in Microsoft word, put your meals
in for each day, make a grocery list and off to the store you go! What ever you
can make in advance and will keep, do so in the same day. My husband and I make
almost all of our food on Sunday. Typically, the only meal we freshly prepare is our dinner each night. The nice thing, is if one of us is getting home
late (typically me) we have food ready to go in the fridge. We can just pop it
in the microwave and we have dinner in a few minutes as opposed to 30-60
minutes or more. I pack my meals with the prepared food each evening to take
with me to work the next day and it keeps me from eating food that is brought
into work or going out to eat on my lunch break. I can use my lunch break to go
for a walk now and get outside in the fresh air. A much-needed mental break.
Another good rule of thumb when trying not to blow your
entire life savings on healthier options is to Avoid catch phrases. By this I mean, try to avoid foods labelled,
Keto, Paleo, Gluten free, when you can. Often times, you can find the same item
with the same ingredients with out all of the hype for cheaper. When you
gravitate toward the hype words sometimes you end up paying more for the flair.
You’ll see this on some canned foods, packaged items such as chips or trail
mix, you’ll even see it on frozen veggies from time to time. Which brings me to,
Read your labels. Even on brands you
think you know, read the label. It can help you avoid unwanted additives,
ingredients and the catch phrase trap. Compare the labels of the store brand
with the fancy, bright labelled brand. The store brand may be undercover gluten
free, organic, non-GMO etc by having the small stamp near the nutrition facts.
You’ll also want to read the tags. Each item in the store has a price tag on
the shelf so you know the price but keep your eyes open for 2/$5.00, Buy One
Get Ones etc. I also suggest looking in your local grocery stores circular
which highlights the sales happening though out the store. This can help you
save a few bucks on fresh fruits and veggies, fresh cut meats and pantry
staples.
And last but not least, Try
online! Online shopping makes eating more nutrient dense, natural foods more
convenient and less expensive. You can read labels and shop bargains right from
your computer or smart phone. Great
companies like Amazon and Thrive market offer an abundance of choices you can
stock up on with deep discounts and free shipping. I purchase many of my pantry
staples from these sites. Here are some of my favorite finds through Thrive
market.
Hopefully you find these B-SMART strategies helpful in
navigating your healthy lifestyle without breaking the bank! If you have any
other tips or tricks you use to save a little dough on nutritious food items I
would love to hear them! Please comment below so we can give them a try.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Peace out girl/boy scouts!
Fruit is Fabulous!
March 16, 2018
Good mornin’ boys and girls! It’s
a mighty fine day today. LOL OMG! I have to share with you. So, when I was
working Hurricane Irma the company I work for hired a bunch of temps to come in
and help out with the exorbitant claim volume. There was this one guy that came
in from Texas. Everyone called him cowboy. Not only did he dress like a cowboy,
hat, boots and belt buckle, but he sounded just like Woody from Toy Story.
Every morning as we all rolled in half asleep to greet another 12 hour day he
would loudly say “Good mornin’ boys and girls! It’s a mighty fine day today.”
It always put a smile on my face and I couldn’t help but secretly want him to
follow that with “There’s a snake in my boots!” Good times. I don’t know what
made me think of that. It’s the little things.
Speaking of diet, this week I wanna talk about fruit. All
the fruit. Poor fruit. I feel bad for fruit. People demonize it
for its sugar and carbohydrates, but fruit is important for our
diet. So, let’s put fruit in the spot light, shall we?
Who doesn’t love fruit! It’s delicious, refreshing, sweet, sometimes
sour if that’s what you’re into. It adds flavor to your meals and your life! It just pops on the palette. But besides
just the deliciousness that is fruit, there are several benefits for our
bodies as well. For instance, several fruits have an abundance of
potassium. Potassium can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Stroke runs in my family so any preventative measures I can
take, especially as easy as eating a piece of fruit during the
day, Sign me up! Some good sources of potassium include the
obvious fan favorite, bananas but also cantaloupe, kiwi and
apricots as well as citrus fruits.
You may have also heard in passing that fruit is a good source
of folic acid. Folic acid helps the body form red blood cells. And
for our moms to be out there, It is also touted for preventing tube
birth defects and spina bifida. Fruit sources containing folic acid
include peaches, citrus fruits, strawberries and raspberries.
Many fruits are also rich in fiber. Fiber is important in
our diet to help regulate our bowels……yes, I went there. I’m sorry! You
need a good poo at least once a day. Don’t act like you don’t. What
does the Charmin commercial say? Enjoy the go? Isn’t that it. Fiber
also helps lower cholesterol, regulate blood sugar and aid in weight
loss. See…..abs ARE made in the kitchen. It’s true. Fruits that are
high in fiber include raspberries, pears, apples (I eat an apple a
day…go me keepin’ that doctor away what what!) strawberries and figs. Make
sure to eat these with the skin to get the full fiber experience. LOL
Berries; blueberries, blackberries, raspberries etc. are full
of antioxidants. Antioxidants give us more energy, build up our resistance to colds and flu, make our skin look younger
and help alleviate allergies. I know with all of the pollen in the
air lately it probably would hurt to grab an extra handful of blueberries
during the day.
And yes, it’s true, fruit tends to be high in
carbohydrates and sugar. But guess what, it’s natural sugar! Not
that processed, bleached shit that is found in a package of Oreos.
And carbohydrates, they’re kind of a big deal and they are good for
you, especially your brain. Carbohydrates give you energy, help your
body process protein and can aid in weight loss. Yup, they aid in
long term weight loss. #knowledgebomb
So see, fruit is great! It provides our bodies with
essential vitamins and minerals. Fruits gives us energy and flavor. Maybe
try having some fruit in the morning instead of your coffee or tea. You
may be surprised….who am I kidding…..fruit is great but give up
coffee? No Way! Sorry
not sorry.
Here is an awesome little chart I found on Pinterest if
you want to find out more about your favorite fruits and their benefits.
If
you go to my Pinterest board “smoothies” I have pinned a bunch of
smoothie recipes, so you can enjoy your fruit on the go.
Alright
kids….gotta run. Work is calling…UGH, I need a vacation. Just keep swimming. At
least until I can bring my PTO out of the gutter.
Jennifer Tries....Cycle Bar!
March 9, 2018
Hey there with your bad self! It’s Fri-Yay! Whoop Whoop! I
am so ready for this weekend. I’m going to spend some quality fiasco time with
my sister and niece. It’s been a hot minute since we’ve had a real fiasco day.
What’s a fiasco day you ask?! I think I may have explained this before but
there is always room for a recap. So, I am the youngest of three girls. The middle sister of the three and I….well…..we’re the fiascos. At least according to my mom, anything
we do turns into a fiasco. Hence, fiasco sisters were born. And then there’s my
niece, the future fiasco. Every so often we get together and go on an adventure.
We have had some fun adventures, gotten lost, seen some interesting things,
stolen a lemonade stand. You know, typical. Oh, if only I had started this blog
a few years ago. Crazy times.
I’m hoping it stays pretty sunny and warm Saturday. The
weather has been crazy lately. Just when I thought Spring was making its
appearance it was 40 something Monday morning. Um…no. It was certainly weird
since this past Sunday was so nice out. Cool enough not to sweat but you didn’t
need a jacket. So nice. Speaking of this past Sunday, let me tell you about
what I tried! So last week, I received an e-mail from Cycle Bar, a spin studio,
offering me a free class for my birthday. Who knows how they got my e-mail. I
have never been to their studio or their website but I was curious, so I hopped
on the world wide web to check them out. Come to find out, everyone gets their
first ride for free.
Oh wait, I guess I should explain what spin is in case you
aren’t familiar. Basically, spin is riding a stationary bike in a group setting
on steroids. Did that paint a picture in your mind? I think you get the gist.
OK, back to my Cycle Bar experience. So, your first class is free. Great! I
looked at the schedule online, which is very detailed by the way. You can see
who your instructor will be and get their bio, they give a brief description of
the type of class and music they will play. Very informative. We were doing
family things on Saturday, so I thought Sunday morning was the best option.
I texted the hubs to see if he would want to join me. I
totally thought he was going to say no. If you know my husband, he doesn’t
share the same enthusiasm about exercising as I do. Once he’s in the workout, he kills the
game, he can't be beat, but he’s not usually the one to seek it out. To my surprise and joy he said yes! Sweet! We
decided to go to the Sunday 9:30am class. We would get to sleep in a bit but still
get a good workout in and have the remainder of the day.
Saturday evening a friend of ours came into town so Sunday
morning we dragged him to class too. We’re great hosts. LOL. Cycle Bar is
located on Dale Maybry just South of Kennedy boulevard. Not close to where we live but centrally located and easy to get to. When we arrived, we
were greeted by the front desk staff. They were each welcoming and helpful. We
each received a free water bottle. And it is a nice water bottle ok! Quality!
We checked in on iPads and were given cycle shoes. Yes, cycle shoes. The last
time I took a spin class I just wore my regular tennis shoes. This was hard
core.
They directed us to the locker area. The studio where the
bikes are located is a cell phone free zone. We had to leave all of our stuff
in the lockers. While we waited to enter
the studio, we filled up our bottles from their filtered water they have on tap.
I noticed they had body wipes you could help yourself to after class to freshen
up after your ride.
Once the prior class let out we were able to enter the studio. I noticed the prior class looked like they all could use a body wipe or two. What were we getting ourselves into? The studio was dimly lit and each bike was labelled with the number you chose on line
when you signed up. We were guided to our bikes and given the run down on how
to adjust the bike and “click in” our shoes. Once you’re on this bike you are
locked in. No losing your pedals here.
Each Bike was adorned with a sweat towel and a small
weighted bar. Oh yes, there is more to this spin class than just spin. The
class was almost full. I was in shock. Who wants to get up on a Sunday?
OK…..me….but still. We all know by now that I’m a different animal.
When the class started all of a sudden it was Club CycleBar. The music was loud, the instructor had a headset and she was loud. It was
very loud. Almost too loud at points, like I’m too old to listen to anything
this loud and should have brought ear plugs…loud. There were times I couldn’t
understand what she was saying so I just had to watch what to do next. The
music was good though. I caught myself singing along from time to time. I just
think they need a little better balance between the music and the headset
volume…..or I just need to stop being old…I dunno.
During the class we were in control of how difficult it was
to pedal. She would give us different ranges we should be in and we would
adjust the resistance accordingly. We were down on our seat, up out of our seat, we did core
work, we did sprints, we did a lot! Towards the end of the class we used the weighted bar to do
some shoulder, arm and chest work…..all while still pedaling. Crazy! I felt
like such a weiny in that moment because who knew a 4lb bar could cause such
fatigue?! My poor shoulders. Do I even
lift bro?
We finished the workout with a cool down and then got off
the bikes to stretch. We were drenched in sweat. Body wipe please! I have taken a few spin
classes before, many moons ago, and I NEVER sweat like that. I felt so
energized after that class. It was a great way to start a Sunday morning and a
great change in my workout routine. And to top it all off you get an e-mail
following the class with your stats. I came in 8th out of a bunch of
people…..like maybe 20. I was impressed since it was my first class. Go me,
it’s my birthday, not really but go anyway!
I would definitely
recommend giving Cycle Bar a try. If even to add some variety to your workout
regimen it’s totally worth it. Luckily it’s not far from where I work so if I
want to get a class in before or after work I have that option. Maybe I’ll see
you there! If you're old like me, don't forget your ear plugs!
Don’t forget, if you wanna try it out your first ride is
free! So go sign up online and go Rock Your Ride!
If you go, leave me a comment and tell me how you liked it!
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