Why am I going to college?

Yesterday was my Dad's birthday. He is definitely a hero of mine so I just had to say Happy Birthday on the blog too!



Happy Birthday Dad! I love that he is wearing a Padre's hat here. My dad is such a loyal Dodger's fan. He was just trying to win Andy's family over during his speech at our wedding.

Which by the way....I miss all the time. I wish we could get married again.

Anyway, you may have noticed that I have not been regularly posting. This is because I have finals. I have a 60 page unit plan (10 days of lesson planning and reflections) due on Wednesday. It's made me a mad woman. I literally spend all day and night thinking about school. I have 2 weeks left! I can do this, I will do this.

Sometimes I wonder why I decided to get my teaching credential. I still want to get my MA too. I have a love/hate relationship with education.



Last night my younger sister Kerry made dinner for Dad. She made us creamy chicken, rice, carrots and green beans. The sauce on the chicken looked like it wouldn't be that tasty but holy crap!!! It was delicious. She told me it was made with half & half. That's why. YUM. Moderation was difficult.



And my other sister Sarah contributed a razzleberry pie. Raspberry & blueberry. I topped mine with tons of vanilla ice cream because I am a glutton for punishment. (Dairy really bothers me if I eat too much!)

Having a big family sucks sometimes. Too many birthday celebrations and eating! The berry pie with ice cream was worth it.

We had to leave right after dinner because I wanted to watch Parenthood get some of my lesson planning done. I really wish someone would have told me that I would be writing 60 pages on lesson planning before I decided to get my teaching credential. My entire weekend will be spent writing, typing, tweeting and complaining.

I keep reminding myself that I will have my life back in 2 weeks. I have the entire summer off!



I plan on lots more pb greek yogurt bowls. (1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tbsps pb, 1 cup plain greek yogurt.)



Eating tons of fresh veggies.



And telling you how awesome Kashi is. Once I'm done with school that is!

Did you/are you going to school? I can't believe that I'm 26 years old and still in school.

Favorite etsy sellers

This post has nothing to do food FYI!

I just wanted to give a little shout-out to my favorite etsy sellers! I think buying handmade is important and way more fun than spending tons of money at the mall.

1. AJ Sweet Soap I bought soaps from her for my bridal party. They were so adorable. She even threw in a soap just for me.

2. Beach Chik She made some adorable bags for my nieces (they were flower girls in my wedding.)

Flower girl totes

3. Cliposaurus insanely cute hair clips for babies. My friend Coral owns this shop. I need a baby in my life to shop for!

4. Knots by Ashley Ashley creates some amazing knit scarves, hats, necklaces and baby clothes! Too cute!

5. Underduck! Do you need a Happy Birthday or Welcome baby banner? Maybe a banner for a wedding? These handmade banners are adorable.





I love the fabric on these and the different designs! Beautiful. You can reuse these again and again!

6. Paloma's Nest these ring bowls are perfect for a ring bearer to hold!

7. Handmade Books ala Rose I own one and it's fabulous!



I have lots more but either the stores haven't updated recently or I forgot. Let me know if you have a favorite etsy store!

I'll be back later!

I'm not perfect.

I may not be fast but I can finish a 5k. At 30 pounds overweight, I never thought I'd be able to actually run at all. I have a bodacious body that I love for taking me across the finish line. My last 5k was 4 weeks ago. I worked hard to get over the finish line at 37:23. Why did I beat myself up over walking a 5k and finishing in 40 minutes? Clearly I've gained some speed. I feel like I have been comparing myself to others and it needs to stop now.



I've had people cutting me down for years. I never felt thin enough, smart enough, pretty enough or good enough to be happy. I was always trying some new diet trick or makeup or self-help book to "improve" myself. I gained 50 lbs after high school. It came on quickly. My boyfriend at the time was fairly supportive at first but eventually called me "fat" all the time. Don't worry that relationship didn't last long after that!

Then I was diagnosed with PCOs...aka Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. It explained my lack of a monthly period, my weight gain and my hormonal issues. Being diagnosed sucked but I felt like I finally knew why I was still heavy despite my healthy habits. I definitely like to indulge too often but dude...it was never THAT bad. I felt like I could never eat in front of anyone because no matter what I ate, someone would make a comment. "Oh you're having oatmeal with bananas? Bananas make you fat..." If you've ever struggled with weight, you know the kind of comments. People think they are being helpful but really...they aren't.



(I'm on the left. This is the day after my high school graduation. 30 lbs lighter than today.)

Anyway, my point is I'm not perfect. I need to stop trying to be and just learn to love myself and my body for all of the things it can do. I'm trying out Body for Life because my doctor highly suggested a higher protein diet like this for my PCOS. I'm really hoping I can get to a healthy weight and start getting my body in a good place. But I'm not trying to lose weight to gain acceptance from others anymore. I have a wonderful family who loves me and supports me in all of my healthy living endeavors, a husband who would love no matter what and awesome friends like you guys.

This post just needed to be written because I was feeling so low about my 5k on Sunday and I started thinking negative, horrible thoughts again. I don't deserve that. I am a wonderful, loving person who can and will continue working on running and improving my health.

So tell me, have you ever felt defeated? What did you do to help yourself feel better?

Gator Run 2010 5k Recap

So last night, I made a terrible life decision and ate half a baked potato with alfredo sauce, cheese and red bell peppers for dinner. Dairy sometimes really bothers me but I figured I'd be fine before the 5k in the morning.

Wrong! I woke up with the worst stomach pains. I ran about 3/4 of a mile before feeling like I might toss my cookies. I tried alternating running and walking until I saw my dad. He came to take pictures of us and jogged alongside me. He was so supportive and encouraging. My HRM said my heart rate was at 192 for a lot of the time. And it FELT like it. I was in pain. I am wondering if I had food poisoning.

Mile 1: 12:38 min/mile (I am thrilled with this pace! Imagine if I had kept it up and tried negative splits!)
Mile 2: 13:00 min/mile
Mile 3: 13:52 min/mile
Last 0.1: 2 min

Total time: 40 minutes. I slowed down from my last time by about 3 minutes. I am so bummed. I can't stop thinking about it. I wish I would have pushed myself a bit more but I probably would have made a scene. No one wants to see my dinner.

So let's back track.



I had have this Better N Peanut Butter for awhile. It goes bad in 11/10 so I figured I better work my way through the jar. It's not terrible but not great.



I mixed it with this.



And plain nonfat greek yogurt. OMG. Try this ASAP. It's so decadent and desserty.



Topped with pumpkin seed granola. Delish. Nutrish!



And some sweet taters on the side. Dipped in ketchup. That was my lunch yesterday. I had to show it off.



Andy and I met the Gator. It was the "Gator Run" get it? By the way. Andy rocked the race. His time was 31:06. He beat his PR by 2 minutes. Champion!



My sister Sarah and her boyfriend Chris ran the 5k too! Sarah finished in 33:38 (4th in her age group!) and Chris finished in 25:10 (5th in his age group!) They are also champions. I am the biggest loser.



My little brother Daniel ran his first race too. He did the kid's 1 mile run.



We watched. It was so much fun to watch.



Daniel got in the front of the line. He HAD this race.



The kids were flyin!



Here's my dad and Daniel. They zoomed past us. Dan is in the spongebob hat.



My dad is totally dragging. Which is hilarious because my dad has been running for 30 years. He is super fast. But Dan surprised him with his speed.



Daniel finished in 8:30! DUDE! He cried afterwards because he was just so burnt out and tired. He really pushed himself.



We got some madri gras gator beads. No flashing required.



Daniel even won an award for being awesome and speedy. He looks thrilled.



Yay for healthy and active families.

So I am bummed about not beating my time. I really thought I had this. But I am glad that I managed to stay positive and finish the race. I am signing up for another 5k stat though. I need an ego boost.

Have you ever had a horrible racing incident? Please tell me about it. I need cheering up.

Bacon is good for me. Good for me. Ga ga good for me.

I have a confession. King Curtis makes my day everyday.



This youtube video cracks me up EVERYTIME. "Joy, I have been nice to you but now I am coming to the EDGE!"



Like Curtis, I love bacon. I bought some nitrate-free bacon at Trader Joe's and I was excited to try it out. First up, a BLC. I wish I had tomatoes but cheese was a nice stand in. I used a sharp cheddar and some light mayo. I am a mayo-hater on everything else but it is needed on BLTs.



I made delicious chocolate cupcakes. I shaved a bar of chocolate into the batter using a microplaner. I would post the recipe but they dried out faster than I would have liked. Why does low fat baking always fail on me?

Curtis ate one of the cupcakes. I told him it had bacon in it.



This morning after an intense workout session with Jackie Warner (using 8lb weights instead of 5!), I thought of what Curtis would do...



These pancakes are so delicious. My family makes them all the time. I love potato pancakes in any form. My favorite is with real shredded potatoes, diced ham, bell peppers, onions and cheese but I didn't have the time.



I used my misto to spray them with olive oil instead of frying them. It worked perfectly.



I topped mine with real butter, light sour cream and had some BACON on the side. Curtis approved.

What's your favorite youtube video? Please send it to me. I gotta admit the GI Joe PSAs are pretty hilarious. "Mr. Body Massage Go!" Email me if you haven't seen it and need links.

Thanks for the comments on my BFL Practice Week you guys definitely cheered me up. I am excited for my first week! Also our 2nd 5k tomorrow!

BFL Practice Week

I just can't call this "Week One." I ate a lot of foods that are not BFL "approved." My workouts were not perfect. Overall a total fail.

Here are the deets.
BFL Day #1 4/16/2010

7:30am: workout with Jackie Warner DVD- 15 mins total workout, 15 mins upper body (before eating) Burned 373 cals
Breakfast @ 8:30am Chobani Pom Greek yogurt & pom granola
Lunch @ 12:45pm half almond butter and jelly sandwich on double fiber bread, 1 Luna protein bar (cherry almond)
Snack 1 @ 3:49pm ½ cup whipped cottage cheese, 1 frozen twice-baked potato.
4:30pm run/walk on the treadmill
Dinner at Café Santorini- kefta kabobs, rice, hummus…
Dessert at Melting Pot

Notes on Day one: 2 work outs in one day and celebrating my sister's birthday.

BFL Day #2 4/17/2010
9:30am- ½ banana, ½ Luna protein bar
9:45am- 2.85 mile walk/run- 485 calories burnt.
11:00am- scrambled eggs, cheese, asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes. 2 slices wheat toast.
1:00pm- ½ cup whipped cottage cheese
3:30pm- refried beans with pepper plant
5:45pm- low carb wheat tortilla, chicken breast, beans, sour cream, cheese, hot sauce.
7:30pm- salad and 2 slices chicken, tomato & bacon pizza at Topper’s.

BFL Day #3 4/18/2010
8:30am- Jackie Warner 40 minutes full body workout
10am- 1 biscuit, scrambled eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, coffee with creamer.
1:00pm- protein smoothie with banana, raspberries, brown rice protein powder, mango, pom juice and unsweetened vanilla almond breeze. (split with Andy)
2:30pm: 140 cals worth of baked ruffles
4:30pm- Grilled chicken sandwich, wedge salad
9pm- 3 buffalo wings, broccoli cheese soup

Um yeah? A biscuit. Seriously. Wasn't even worth it!

BFL Day #4 4/19/2010
Workout Jillian Michael’s Last Chance Workout 33 mins 252 cal burnt
Grilled chicken sandwich w/ avocado
Grilled chicken wrap with pinto beans, sour cream, cheese (3/4)
Sour patch kids
2 mile run (burnt 500 cals)
Skinny cow ice cream
Pineapple

Another day with 2 workouts. I felt guilty about the sugar intake.

BFL Day #5 4/20/2010
Chobani raspberry with granola
Chicken, avocado wrap, a few French fries
pineapple
786 cals burned avg heart rate 145, max heart rate 195 35 mins run/30 mins weights. I chest-pressed 40 lbs! Used 15 lb dumbbells for upper body training.
Chicken Caesar salad
Tall skinny vanilla latte
Mango mochi

BFL Day #6 4/21/2010
Banana, Luna protein bar (chocolate peanut butter)
2 tacos, quesadilla I have a mexican food "problem"
Baked ruffles
15 mins Jackie Warner Lower Body Workout (210 cals)
Protein shake: 1 packet Jay Robb Vanilla Brown Rice protein, mango, raspberries, 1 frozen banana, almond breeze, pom juice and ground flax seed.
Veggie burger.

BFL Day #7 4/22/2010
ham, English muffin & cheese sandwich
Baked lays- BBQ
Bacon, lettuce, sharp cheddar cheese on double fiber bread
6oz tri-tip, corn and mashed potatoes
1 homemade chocolate cupcake (no frosting)

In short:

7 workouts. I skipped Thursday and today but doubled up on workouts twice.

I love carbs.

I love sugar.

I have a lot to work out. I dropped 2 lbs this week which is semi-amazing to me. I feel huge.

I plan to have a more in-depth recap next week when I actually work on doing this right! I need to get 6 small meals a day, more protein, less sugar, less processed foods and more workouts. No more 2 a days!

Jay Robb Brown Rice Protein Smoothie

I've been feeling weird and totally not in the mood to eat the way I usually do. My schedule is also way nutty due to the end of the semester so I haven't been cooking nearly as much as I would like.

One easy thing though? Protein smoothies. I love them! I always make sure my fridge, pantry and freezer is packed with all my smoothie essentials.



Unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze. Almond milk is my favorite "alternative" milk. It's low in calories and sugar too!



Jay Robb Brown Rice Protein- Vanilla Flavor. I prefer Vanilla to Chocolate flavored protein powders as a base in my smoothies. I like chocolate it's too desserty for me to have in a smoothie most of the time. I find the brown rice protein to be a little chalkier than the whey protein. To combat this, I just blend the almond milk and protein powder together before adding anything else. Blending well is key!



1 cup of Trader Joe's Plain Greek yogurt has 22 grams of protein which is the highest I have seen. I like to throw in 1/4 cup to my smoothies to make them extra creamy. I don't always add it in but I love when I do!



I don't know if you can tell but this is an industrial-sized bottle of Pom Wonderful. We bought it at Costco for 8 bucks. I add it 1/4 cup to sweeten my smoothies with the natural sugars.



Then I add in ground flax seed, 1/2 cup mango, 1 frozen banana, 1/2 raspberries and sometimes 1/4 cup dry oats. You can't taste the oats...they just add some staying power. I love drinking these smoothies immediately after a workout and before I go to school. YUM!

What's your favorite smoothie? Or favorite protein powder? I'm always looking for new favorites.

I love you blog world

Thanks for all of your sweet comments on my blog post yesterday! Pushing through mental blocks is definitely an issue of mine that I want to work on. I know I can run a 12 minute mile without stopping, I just need to get over the mental block.

Yesterday I had an awesome 20 minute weight-lifting session while I waited for one of the treadmills at our apartment gym to be free. I used 15 lb dumbbells instead of the 5lbs I have at home. (Bad idea! I wish our apartment gym had 10's!)

Minute 20-18: tricep kickbacks with a lunge.
Minute 18-16: chest press with dumbbells.
Minute 16-14: tricep dips
Minute 14-12: bicycle crunches
Minute 12-10: Squats with bicep curls.
Minute 10: planks. (kill me now!)
Minute 9: side planks (30 secs on each side)
Minute 9-7: Lat pulldowns (weight machine at the gym)
Minute 7-5: Pec machine (no idea what this is called.)
Minute 5-4: Crunches while doing some tricep thing. (real specific right?)
Minute 4-2: Dead lifts
Minute 2-1: lunges with bicep curls

I did this from memory. I prefer to workout with videos. After the 20 minute weight-lifting sess, I ran 2.25 miles on the treadmill. I ran for 10 minutes straight. I was pretty impressed with myself. After ten minutes, I alternated running 2 mins and walking 1 min. Baby steps people.

I still haven't been food blogging but I have been tracking my eats for my trial run of Body for Life. I'm actually kind of surprised that I haven't been taking pictures. I guess I've been busy. I will share my trial run tracking notes with you Friday morning! Along with a real post. Until then, thanks for being so awesome and helpful!

Pushing through mental blocks

Hi everyone! I need your help. I have a 5k planned for this Sunday. This one specifically if you're interested in stalking me.

Anyway, I am struggling with mental blocks. I can't seem to run a full 3.1 miles. I always have to give myself time for "walking breaks." I don't understand myself. I can run relatively quickly for a quarter mile but then have to start walking. I'd love to run an entire race at a 12 min pace but my body does not seem to agree. It wants to run an 8 min pace for 30 seconds, walk for 1 minute, run again, walk, rinse, repeat. It's totally a mental thing. I struggle to push through and just run!

I burn a decent amount of calories while running. I assume this has to do with my weight. I'm about 5'6 and 30 pounds over my "ideal" weight. It sucks. I work out 5-6 times a week, eat decently (but no where near perfect) and I sleep 8 hours a night. I know all of you new mothers want to slap me. I don't understand why I'm not losing weight. Running definitely hasn't helped me in that department. This is why I decided to try out Body for Life. I'm hoping the extra protein and HIIT workouts will help.

I'm just wondering if burning 500-800 calories during a fairly short run (3-5 miles) is normal at all. I'm beginning to wonder if my heart rate monitor is crazy. How many calories would I burn if I just ran the entire time without any walking breaks?

So I'm going to try to run today without stopping to walk. I have to go on the treadmill since it's rainy and wet out. Wish me luck!

And please give me some advice if you have struggled with this before!

Happy Birthday Kerry!

On Friday April 16th, my little sister Kerry turned 23. We decided to celebrate the best way we know how. With delicious food!

Kerry picked Cafe Santorini in Pasadena.



Cafe Santorini is hidden from the craziness that is Old Town Pasadena. It's close enough to walk to but far enough to be cozy and quiet.



We started with light, crusty house bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.



Then came the appetizer. Which we split. It came with dolmas, babaghanoush, cheese borek, halloumi cheese, some kind of sausage, olives and cucumbers.



Kerry ordered an extra side of cheese borek as her entree. It comes with crispy phyllo dough, salty feta cheese and roasted sesame seeds on top. It's almost as good as my beloved spanakopita.



My other little sister Sarah ordered pasta with a garlic cream sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, and mushrooms.



I ordered kefta kebobs with rice pilaf and roasted veggies. The meat was perfection with some hummus. YUM.



Andy ordered the lamb shank in true man fashion but barely ate any of it. It was a huge portion (and had a huge bone in the center...bones creep me out.)

The mashed potatoes were delish. I stole several bites.



The birthday girl on the left and my sister Sarah on the right.



After dinner we walked over to The Melting Pot for some fondue desserts. I was pretty full already but the walk over helped.



The five of us split an order of flaming turtle (chocolate, pecans, caramel and rum) fondue.

It was fabulous. I love that The Melting Pot gives you some fruit. Fruit dipped in chocolate = love.

Since my parents were not able to attend Kerry's birthday on Friday, they decided to take us out for pizza on Saturday. It was especially nice because my littlest sister Emily was home from college for the weekend. I have 4 siblings and it's so nice to have everyone together.



Daniel and the birthday Kerry.



Kerry and her boyfriend Yigit.



My lovely salad from the salad bar. I loaded that thing with broccoli and cucumbers. I needed veggies! (and cheese.)



And managed to restrict myself to only 2 slices of pizza. (with chicken, bacon and pepperoni) I usually eat way more pizza but I am trying to slowly adjust and change my diet to the Body for Life style of eating.



My dad, Sarah and Emily. (Sarah and I are brunette, Kerry and Emily are redheads and Daniel is dirty blonde. Our family is strange.)



And an ice cream cake for dessert. I struggled with resisting this! I had a thin slice. YUM!

I am keeping track of my eating and will share my first BFL (practice) week soon!