Catching up and a little I scream, you scream

Oops, I did it again.

Truth is, I moved. And things have been slightly hectic. But, I'm getting back into the swing of things.

What I am no so much getting back into the swing of: taking pictures of my eats. Just getting up a little earlier to workout is a challenge these days. But I'm getting there, so bear with me. Bare with me? No, bear. Bare is like naked...weird. Just stick with me and my blog is what I'm saying, okay?

I do, though, have a few rando pics to share, so here goes...

         

To the left is an example of a day where I had time to cook: sauteed chicken breast, roasted cauliflower with a bit of cheese, and half a sweet tater. To the right is an example of the other side of the spectrum: gluten free bread, turkey, spinach, and cheese. 

It's been a relatively consistent seesaw between these two trends...

Planning: strawberry protein baked oatmeal...with a schmearance of almond butter...yum.

Improvising: hard boiled eggs on gluten free toast...yum? No, but it gets the job done.

When I haven't been fluctuating between extremely delish well-planned/-thought out meals and last minute throw togethers, I've been domesticating myself....

Yes, we have his n' hers mugs. Except the mister does not drink anything that goes in a mug (aside from the occasional hot chocolate...he's weird...who doesn't like coffee?!), so I use the his mugs to regulate my ice cream consumption.

Yes, I eat mug-sized ice cream portions. Otherwise, I'd eat it til it was gone. 

Do you remember my purple ice cream maker? Well, let me tell you, I have been making some kick ass ice creams in there: mint chocolate chip, vanilla, chocolate, dark chocolate peanut butter, vanilla peanut butter. As I've said, my life essentially revolves around peanut butter, so you can guarantee that almost every flavor I make will have it integrated somehow. 

My basic vanilla recipe: 1/2 can full fat coconut milk, 1/2 light coconut milk, a little less than 1/2 cup of honey (or maple syrup or agave or sugar or whatever), and a tbsp vanilla. Blend in a blender and put in my magical happiness creation machine for 15 minutes.

You can really add a lot to this recipe. Decrease the vanilla and add about 1/3 cup cocoa powder and BAM...chocolate ice creams. Add a little peppermint extract and BAM...chocolate mint ice creams. The possibilities are endless.

Bottom line: buy an I scream maker. Eat I screams. Be happy.

Til next time, have fun being baaaad,

-t

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I'm baaaack

Friends, I'm the worst. I have been crazy busy since the holidays, but I promise to get back on some sort of schedule.

I always have a resolution or goal that I'm working towards, so New Years generally isn't anything special. But, I will share with you a few of my resolutions for 2013:

1. Lose 10 pounds. Yes, I know I'm not fat. No one said anything about that. Just want to get lean and eat less chocolate.
2. Save money. 
3. Double unders. I hate them. Must dominate them. And then be able to string them together.
4. Strict pullup. That's right. I just want to get ONE.
5. Cut out desserts and chocolate. I just can't control myself. If there is chocolate around. I'm eating ALL OF IT. I don't know how long of a hiatus this will be. But, I'm going for as long as I can. Hopefully until Nike Women's Marathon in April.

 So, them's my goals and I'm hoping that posting them here will help me stick to them.

My good friend and kick ass running coach, Heidi Jones, has initiated a sugar detox. She and I did this same thing a few months ago and it really is amazing. Once you're aware that sugar is in everything, you'll see that it is LITERALLY. IN. EVERYTHING.

The thing that's bad about sugar is that it causes a number of reactions in your body that do not help to make you stronger, faster, smarter, or happier. I won't go into the science of it, because I'm sure to mess it up. So, below are some links to the sciencey stuff, for those who care.

MDA -- Definitive Guide to Sugar
MDA -- Sugar Suppresses the Immune System
NYT -- Is Sugar Toxic?
YouTube -- Sugar: The Bitter Truth

Heidi and I are working together to spread knowledge of the evils of sugar. So, please feel free to ask questions here or in person. If I don't know the answer, I will direct you towards someone who does!

Have a great weekend and, as always, have fun being bad.

-t

Attack of the killer kettle bell

Friends, I had a thought as I read this blog. I should begin recording my workouts here. Writing about them will keep a good record of my achievements and areas of improvement since I literally write NOTHING down.

Today's WOD (Workout Of the Day):

Black Box WOD/Beginner WOD:  
A1: Push Press 4×3
A2: 30-second goblet squat hold x4 sets
B: 4 rounds: 3-minute AMRAP of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 situps; rest 1 minute between rounds


A1: My group started our first working set at a comfortable weight and tried to increase the weight each time: 53#, 63#, 73#, 73#

• 73# felt really heavy and I'm not sure I could safely add any more weight, so I kept it there for our last set.

A2: I used a 12kg kettle bell for our goblet squat holds

B: I did pullups with a green band (higher resistance = more assistance = easier) since my hands are getting crazy calloused from all the pullups I've been doing. I'm glad I did, because I learned that I have to kip (ie, swing or use momentum) quite a bit while using the blue bands (lower resistance = less assistance=harder) and I didn't really have the room for that today. I started the first round doing unassisted pushups, but I couldn't keep that up the whole time, so most were done on my knees. Damn, that minute of rest went fast.

• Round 1: Two rounds + 5 pullups
• Round 2: Two rounds + 5 pullups
• Round 3: Two rounds + 4 pullups
• Round 4: Two rounds + 5 pullups

Each round of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 situps equaled 30, so score was determined by how many reps were completed in each round. My score: 65, 65, 64, 65.

How'd I feel? Good, not great. My legs are still sore from Sunday's killer kettle bell workout.

Today, Coach Will gave us a worksheet for us to write down our personal, health, and career goals for the next one, three, and six months. This workout definitely served to highlight some things I need to work on.

Things to improve:

1. Sleep more -- right now, I average about 5-6 hours/night. This is a recurring problem for me.
2. Pullups -- I just want one by this time next year.
3. Double unders -- I get one or two at random now, but I want to possess the skill of being able to string together double unders at will.
4. Handstand pushups -- still lacking the shoulder strength to do these properly.
5. Speed -- I'm a slow mo' f*cka. Gotta catch up.

This actually took a lot of time, so I'm not sure I'll remain consistent. But, I'm sure gonna try!

Here's to being bad,

-t


 

Who's counting?

Ask me about my weekend. 

It was awesome, thanks. I spent half the day on Saturday wandering around Brooklyn, trying to figure out which way was up and the rest of the day trying to get out of there.

We did come across this gem.

The World's Largest Menorah. So they claim. 

My first Hanukkah was greeted with screams and bounces of jubilee as I opened my first gift.

A gloriously purple ice cream maker.

 

Who has some cool recipes? Everything I look at is inspiration for ice cream now.

Cinnamon roll ice cream

Eggnog Ice cream

Pancakes n' Syrup ice cream

Peppermint Bark ice cream

Peanut butter n Jelly ice cream

It's all happening. Just wait.

In other news, did you know that I love the Lady of Pop? 

Well, I do.

I think she's cool and that we should be friends. I also love these pictures by Terri Richardson. I love that he captures her doing such normal things. Like putting milk in her coffee, getting her hair dyed, eating, and brushing her teeth. 

It reminds me that she and I are not all that different. She just has way more fans and wears fake eyelashes. There are more differences (like the Grammy awards and international fame), but who's counting.

Anyway, to remind myself that I can achieve just about anything (even a pullup), I made the Lady my cover photo on my iPhone.

Inspiring, no?

Today, I snacked on a Larabar (pbj flavor, duh) at 6am while packing my clothes for work and watching Season 4 of True Blood on the iPad.

As it was someone's birthday at work, a coworker brought in some delicious doughnuts to celebrate (and test my self control...it failed, as usual). I had a lot of little pieces that probably added up to a whole, but who knows.

I haven't eaten lunch yet, but I won't even bother taking a picture of it because it looks like poo. Indian lentils with grilled chicken and rice is yummy, but not pretty. I'll take a picture of the next pretty thing I eat. Worry not.

Until next time, have fun being bad.

-t

Happy Christmukkah

I have very exciting news.

Are you ready?

It's my first Christmukkah.

My first Christmas tree as an adult, coupled with my first Menorah EVER. Side note: the boy made that Menorah in grade school.

Yesterday, I had a very fun snack. 

 Lactose free yogurt with almonds & honey.

 

With some kiwi dipped in.

Drizzle drizzle.

Lunch yesterday was a Bad Girl Classic: my tuna salad with a brown rice tortilla. Delish, but boring.

Today, I ordered from Dig Inn. Since no one was hungry when I was, I had to beef up my order to match the minimum delivery amount. I got a build my own plate with braised beef, cauliflower salad with raisins, roasted veggies, and a broccoli quinoa salad.

And a pineapple/coconut smoothie (hold the added sugar/agave nectar)...

Verdict?

The smoothie was much better than I anticipated. It was super yum. I actually wasn't crazy about my red pepper dressing and the broccoli quinoa salad, so I didn't finish that, but everything else was awesome!

And, for honesty's sake...I had two mini Christmas candies (york patty and reese's) and a dark chocolate salted caramel...

I'm such a bad, bad girl.

-t

Garb n Getup

WHADDUP, bad boys & girls?!

How's your Wednesday panning out? Mine is pretty fantastic.

Remember when I told you my eats haven't been all that exciting because I'm trying to save money? I brought proof.

Exhibit A. Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich on Gluten Free Bread

Exhibit B. Choco-Date Bites

Exhibit C. Yes, I ate this shit. All of it. Then I licked my fingers.

I also found my fashion sense buried under the pile of dull winter clothing taking up half of my couch and popped on some tights. They got mad compliments.

That's a lot o' leg.

Let me tell you about my debaucherous romp through NOLA.

If you know me at all, you know the previous statement is dripping with sarcasm. I'm a middle-aged woman when it comes to going out and having a good time. Two glasses of wine and I'm sleeping on my boyfriend's shoulder at the bar. You can laugh like that's a joke, but it happened.

To fuel myself through the annoying security line at LaGuardia Airport (yes, people, you have to take off your shoes, coats, and scarves...this was implemented over ten years ago...get with the program), I made myself pb&j pancakes.

Covered with blueberry fruit spread with pb sandwiched in there.

I cut Tina's recipe in half and ate them all. Judge me.

Luckily, the boy and his friends and family like food as much as I do, so we ate our way through NOLA. Evidence below.

Italian sodas: peach (left) and cherry limeade (right)

Coffee and beignets from the famous Cafe Du Monde!

Beignets bathing in powdered sugar. Yum.

My favorite treat of the weekend: Chocolate Pecan Pie. Swoon.

 

Side note: the place where we got the pecan pie had this mysterious yellow liquid in a syrup container. We tried to guess what it was, but we were way off.

Melted butter. 

I don't know if I should clap or vomit.

I am not woman enough for a hand grenade.

But he is.

My favorite street in New Orleans.

 

My rehearsal dinner getup.

 Our wedding garb.

As always, have fun being bad. See ya next time.

-t

Wish Fulfillment

Friends!

We have so much to catch up on. Let's go in chronological order, shall we?

First, Philly Half Marathon.

I had a blast spending the weekend, with some of my favorite people (including my CrossFit coach, the Fit Gent).

I am very new to running and still working on speed, so my time was unimpressive: 2:16

I plan on running another half in April and I would like to focus on speed, I'd like to finish in 2:10.

My girl, Sam (pictured) finished in 2:05 and Will, my Fit Gent, finished in 1:44! So proud of these two!

Yes, I'm too cheap to buy the actual photos. I'd rather spend my money on new shoes. Or food. Say something.

Sam's boyfriend, Ryan, hardly trained and, mid-race, decided to run the Full Marathon. So, we all finished, showered, relaxed, went out to eat, ordered drinks, and then Ryan joined us -- 2 hours later.

Yes, his bib says his name is Rachel.

Running, relaxing, and eating my weight in carbs is very tiring, so we all took naps on the way home.

So proud.

Secondly, how was your Thanksgiving? I hope it was as splendid as mine. I spent time with family and shopped a little bit. But mostly, I relaxed.

It. Was. Perfection.

After the race on Sunday, I didn't feel the need to jump right back into running or CrossFit, so I took a couple of days off and jumped right back in by Wednesday. It hurt.

I did not get a picture of our Turkey Day festivities. I did, however, snap a shot of the most painful WOD I've performed to date.

 Courtesy of my favorite CF coach, this WOD was performed 12 Days of Christmas style. Starting with 2, then 3, 2, then 4, 3, 2, then 5, 4, 3, 2...etc. The big spin was that these exercises took place on alternating floors of the building, so we had to climb up and down stairs between each set. It took me over an hour. I took the next two days off to recover from the mental and physical exhaustion. I'm such a wuss.

Thankfully, during those next two days I devoured some delicious things. I snapped photos of two of my fav meals:

  

Lamb chop carcasses and apple crumble. I realize the crumble looks like piles of poo, but it isn't. It's delicious.

Lastly, it's about that time when wishlists begin making their way around my family. And, while I love knowing what my family really wants, I value the element of surprise way too much to ask them. My parents always give me one or two things and I HATE that they know what they're going to get! So, I don't even ask for lists. Selfish? Maybe.

I did, however, fulfill some of my own wishes from my list this weekend. One of which being...

Leopard heels. Hot ones.

Bam. So exciting. The boy and I are going out of town this weekend for a wedding in New Orleans, so I will definitely be breaking these out. Pictures forthcoming.

Until then, have fun being bad.

-t