Guest post: One Healthy Apple!

Hi Everyone! Andy and I will be leaving for Kauai tomorrow afternoon so I have a few guest posts lined up. Today's comes from Yelena at One Healthy Apple! Enjoy and check out her blog if you haven't already. She is super cute and lives in one of my favorite cities. We briefly met at the Foodbuzz Festival and I'm hoping to actually hang out next time!



Hi All! I’m Yelena from One Healthy Apple and I’m honored to be guest posting at Amanda’s blog while she is off in Kauai celebrating her wedding anniversary. We once shared an elevator ride at the Foodbuzz Food Festival in San Francisco, but of course I was too busy being awkward to have a conversation - but that’s another story for another post.

When Amanda put up a message requesting guest posts, I raised my kid like the annoying kid who sits in front of the class but had no idea what to write about. After a prompt suggesting I write about my summer vacation, I was more than happy to talk about myself!

Although I am not going on vacation until December, I have decided to spend the month of July taking yoga classes as my primary form of exercise, so this is somewhat of a vacation for my body. For a little background, I am not a yoga person. I don’t know what a yoga person is, but it’s not me. Ever since I got my first gym membership at the age of 12, my primary purpose was to burn as many calories as possible and to finally lose the weight I carried as an overweight kid. Fourteen years later, I admittedly found myself in the same cycle of working out hard, eating a little more, and doing it again the next day to keep up. My body was getting tired of all the cardio, and while I was lifting as well, my primary focus has always been high intensity, high impact activity. When I had to have emergency surgery on my toe leaving me unable to place any weight on my foot, it forced me to completely stop and evaluate things, whether I wanted to or not. I felt like a fraud in the healthy blog community since I wasn’t working out at all with the exception of a pilates DVD a couple of times a week while everyone else was running what seemed like marathons.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and sign up for a yoga studio membership for the month of July. I figure while I still can’t wear shoes, I can do yoga. I know yoga has tons of benefits and I am determined to find them. Although it has only been two days into my challenge, I am already enjoying it and loving the classes. I am also learning new dimensions in what health and fitness means while recovering from an injury and I would love to share them with you.

**Of course I have to leave the disclaimer that I am not an exercise or nutrition professional, nor am I a doctor. Please see a professional for your own health concerns.**

Here is what worked for me:

Working out hard makes us hungry. I don’t know about you, but a run used to make me raid the fridge. I’m not saying to stop working out, but I know many of us, including myself, fall into the workout hard, eat hard mentality. I promise that if you have to ease up on your workouts, you won’t gain all your weight back. You might even become more conscious of what goes in your mouth. Don’t be too hard on yourself and listen to the body- it’s pretty smart!

Focus on what you CAN do physically, not on what you can’t. Um…I can’t do much, but I can work on my core and flexibility while my body recovers. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t lift 15 pounds, lift 10. I promise you will get there as long as your listen to your body.
Control what you can. Make a commitment to yourself to get enough sleep, eat fresh produce, take your vitamins, and try to reduce stress in other ways. For me, that included calming my mind with yoga or reading a book. Other times, it’s waking up on time and making sure I get a good, satisfying breakfast. Little things count.

Channel your energy into other things. I have spent a lot of time otherwise spent at the gym working on my grad school homework, spending time with my family, and distracting myself. I know we love to blog and share workout ideas, but sometimes it’s good to get our minds to focus on other things. There is a giant, fabulous world outside of health blogs! Enjoy!

Take time to rest. Losing sleep messes with our hunger hormones. Depriving one’s body of the rest it needs to recover from an injury can harm you in the long-run. Listen to your body and give it a rest. I know guilt can get in the way, but remember a little rest now is a lifetime of fabulous exercise later.

I hope these points help you on your journey, whether you are working your way through an injury, or trying to refocus your current exercise program. I’m really looking forward to getting my zen on and learning even more! Thanks again to Amanda for letting me post!

Questions for you: What do you do to relieve stress? Are you a yoga person?

Philadelphia History Teacher Vacation Without The History

This is Andy. I don't post enough. Amanda tells me to, and then she does it before I get a chance. So now I am posting. I should be more active. Ok, enough of that.

I'm a teacher. I teach high school. U.S. History. One of the districts near me was awarded this amazing grant that basically allows the district to bring in college professors and authors to the district to give us lectures and other professional development opportunities. And I get paid to go. It is amazing. Every summer, we go on a group trip somewhere. I didn't go last year, but they went to New Mexico. This year we all went to Philadelphia and surrounding areas. I took a bunch of pictures of historical stuff which I won't bore you with...or maybe just a little. But we went to some pretty cool places in both New Jersey and Philadelphia as far as food( and drink!) go. So here we go!

This is meant to be ironic. Or hilarious. But you'd have to know about Ben Franklin and his religious views to get it.

In any event, history is whack.

In Philly we went to a place called Monk's Cafe which is a Belgian Beer Bar. I had Braised Veal Cheeks. And an amazing Double IPA from Stoudts, which I think is Pennslyvania based. Both were fantastic!

We were in the land of the Fresh Prince as well.

Also went to an amazing ice cream joint that a colleague of mine wanted to go to called The Franklin Fountain. I just had a simple ice cream cone, but he had a giant sundae called The Franklin Mint. The pictures didn't come out well, but I wanted to give the place its due, because it was amazing.

When in Philly, you get cheesesteaks. We went to:

And I'm not going to lie, it wasn't amazing. Maybe that isn't the right thing to say, but it is greasy meat with greasy onions covered in cheese whiz. It kind of sucks, but I'm happy to say I did the deed.

I'm sure I would feel different if I was drunk at 2 in the morning, but I was hot with a bunch of teachers trying to catch a tour bus. The exciting thing was that Food Network was filming there and at Geno's. A new show with Michael Symon and Marc Summer. They asked us to stay for the taping but we had to catch the aforementioned bus so yet again I miss my opportunity to ask if I can get slimed or tell him that I will take the physical challenge. Curse my luck.

Lastly we went to Princeton, New Jersey. Our bus broke down outside the university, so we did what good students do and went to a bar. This is noteworthy because they had Dogfish Head IPA on tap( I don't recall if it was the 60 min or 90 min).

I love Dogfish Head.

Great IPA if you like it.

And that was that. I want more time to explore the amazing food of Philly, but alas this was on tax payer money so we had to stick with history hotspots which are decidedly not food oriented.

Home again, home again!

I'm back from my trip to Lake Havasu! I had a great time visiting family with my mom and little brother Daniel. It was hot out but I somehow managed to run a total of 4.5 miles over the 3 days we were there.

I didn't take many pictures because I was too busy catching up, nagging my mom (all in love!) and hugging my brother. I hope you understand.

I'll post again soon. We leave for Kauai in 5 days. Let me know if you are interesting in doing a guest post.

My email is twobooswhoeat@gmail.com

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my dad! I'm so lucky to have a great relationship with my dad. We had a family bbq last night and it was fun to sit and chat with the family.



What other dad would put up with 4 daughters and one son? Seriously that's a lot of estrogen. My dad has 5 sisters. He must be used to it.



Haha the early 80's was a scary time.

Hope you have a great day Dad! :)

There's no place like home

After a few days of indulging and dining out in Vegas, we were ready for a nice home cooked meal. I always get that way after road trips. I have another trip planned for this Tuesday but luckily this time I'll be with family. Meaning more food from a home will be consumed!



This hummus is addicting. I went to Trader Joe's to buy another container and it was GONE! Sold out!



In a pinch, this will suffice.



Both hummus and salsa accompanied by addictive corn chips of course. Organic means they are healthy right? I have a
hard time portioning these out.



Do you have a Great Harvest in your area? We don't--really. I drove 15 miles in the morning to grab one of these strawberry and cream scones. It's delicious but huge. I shared with Andy. I love that it's made with whole wheat flour and isn't super dry like most scones. (I realize they are supposed to be this way.)



Finally after all my snacking, it was time for a home cooked meal. Foodbuzz sent me 3 varieties of buns to try out (FOR FREE as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program) and we went with the whole wheat first.



Dinner was bbq pulled pork, baked beans and watermelon. The most delicious watermelon I have EVER tasted.



Droolworthy. After this blog post, I have a date with this watermelon. So luscious.



Andy had some Full Sail Pale Ale with his. I stole a few sips. This is my favorite pale ale.



And while the baked beans are from a can, I wouldn't discount them. They are delicious and smoky. Trader Joe's can do no wrong in my eyes. I do intend on trying my hand at some homemade baked beans though.



We went out looking for running shoes after dinner and ended up with Pinkberry. Typical. I ordered a mini mango with strawberries, dark chocolate crunch balls and captain crunch.



Andy always gets original with strawberries and kiwi. Always. He is a loyal man. I'm a flirt when it comes to frozen yogurt. Always trying new things.

Kauai in 12 days! I have a ton planned before then so Kauai will feel like a vacation from my vacation. I'm going to Arizona with my mom and brother to visit family. It's over 100 degrees there too. I still intend on running and strength training and I'm slightly nervous about the heat. I think getting up before the sun will be key.

Do you workout in high temperatures? Any advice for me?

Thanks to everyone who commented and gave me their blog addresses. I am slowly building my reader back up. Blog reader update

Do me a favor!

If you read this blog, leave me a comment with your name and a link to your blog (if you have one!) I recently screwed up my google reader and a bunch of you are missing! I miss my friends.

Thank you! I promise you'll see some comments from me soon!

By the way, I love food blogs, wedding blogs, newlywed blogs, fashion blogs, interior design blogs and mommy blogs. If you know of a good one, send it my way!

Rumjungle at Mandalay Bay

13 days until Andy and I head to Kauai for our one year anniversary! Which is July 5th. Sorry if I made that confusing before.

Last year, we had a joint bachelor/bachelorette party in Las Vegas. It was an amazing time. We had one night with a separate dinner for girls and boys. Dinner for the girls was at Rumjungle in Mandalay Bay. We decided it was time to show the boys what it was all about.



Rumjungle features a rodizio fire pit and huge skewers of meat. You have been warned.



I started off with a pineapple caipirinha which is a Brazil's national cocktail. Similar to a mojito, it's compromised of rum/cachaca, sugarcane, lime and pineapple all muddled together. This was particularily strong for me and I sipped it and then passed it off to Gary.



Andy ordered a fruity rum drink. He said it was way too sweet for him. We probably should have just swapped drinks! (Let's all LOL at my sister Sarah's sweet facial expression in the background.)



Next up came rolls with chimichurri sauce. I love cilantro so this dipping sauce was DELISH.



Then came tons of appetizers for the six of us to split. I had cheese wedges, ham, a fresh salad with mint, potato salad, and some roasted veggies. The salad was so fresh. I usually dislike mint but this was good.



Seasoned black beans, coconut rice and corn with cojita cheese.



Then skewers of meat. I was pretty full at this point so I was a little nervous.



They piled the meat on a plate for us to share. I have videos from Andy's flip to share soon.

We rolled out of there and walked around to decrease the fullness.



And took a picture with Spongebob to impress my 8 year old brother.



And hailed a monorail!



And posed by Border Grill.

I am waiting for some more pictures from my sister and Tiffany and will post more soon!

I have eaten an entire watermelon in the past 15 hours. Watermelon is so good in the summer, go get one!

Viva Las Vegas: First stop Baker, Ca

Hello! I'm back from my mini-vacation to Las Vegas. We go to Vegas almost three times a year because it's fairly inexpensive (if you don't gamble a ton!), has tons of fun food places, tons of people-watching and fun pools. This trip wasn't much different. We scored a deal for a cheap room at Mandalay Bay and decided to check it out. This was my first stay there.

(And my camera battery died halfway through the trip so I had my friend Tiffany and my sister Sarah take a lot of pictures for me.)



We live about 4 hours away from Las Vegas. We stopped in Baker, Ca for lunch. Mad Greek was a big hit.







The lines were long! Tons of people lined up, in the drive-thru and sitting down to eat. I was kind of surprised. Baker has tons of fast food options yet other people wanted to avoid that route. Love it! Fast food is the worst part about road trips in my opinion.



My sisters Emily and Sarah with my best friend Tiffany waiting for their food.



The gyro. It's full of cucumbers, gyro meat (beef/lamb blend), tomatoes, tzatziki sauce and minced onions. The pita bread is soft and fresh, the meat is warm and flavorful and the tzatziki is so garlicy!

The rice pilaf that comes on the side has tons of flavor too. Usually I find rice to be boring.



I'm telling you this sauce is garlicky with huge chucks of fresh cucumber. It's delicious but bring some gum with you just in case.



We left the Mad Greek and headed to VEGAS.



Clearly I am practicing my squats. Jillian and Jackie would be proud.

Breakfast on the patio

This morning I slept in (yay for my first night with no coughing!) and decided to have breakfast on the patio.



I bought this little coffee table months ago on sale at Target but we never seem to eat outside. It's a nice patio and the table is nicer than our dining table (which we never use BTW!)



I want to love Kashi Go Lean crunch but it hurts my teeth. I usually pair it with creamy yogurt to soften it up a bit. It's much more enjoyable this way. I measured out my serving and it's a little less than 1/2 cup. I can't each more than that. This is the only cereal I don't binge on.



Fresh raspberries. There is nothing better. I remember growing up and playing in my Nana's backyard with my cousins. We discovered a raspberry and blackberry bush and ate them until our faces were covered in juice. Then we played vampires. This is another story entirely.



I found a $2 off coupon for this new flavor of Naked Juice and decided to drink half of it with breakfast this morning. I figured I could use all the superfood I could get with this illness lingering.



I won't lie to you...the addition of chickpeas and 91! corn kernals kind of bugged me out. I smelled it first. Kind of smelled like beets.



Then I poured myself a glass. (1/4 of the bottle)



It looks like beets. It tasted like chalky tomatoes and sweet berries. I couldn't stomach it. It wasn't necessarily bad but the texture got me. I'm going to add this to my next smoothie and see if that goes over well. I'm too chicken to drink it straight up.



With the raspberries and kashi, I had this amazing vanilla bean greek yogurt. It's expensive at $1.69 a cup but so worth it. 12 grams of protein too! It's funny because normally I don't love vanilla flavored yogurts but this one I love. The little specks of vanilla bean make it.

Eating breakfast outside was such a nice change of pace for me. I actually managed to score a sub job tomorrow (the last day of school) so I figured I might as well take some time for myself. I'm taking it easy with the workouts, sleeping in and lazing around. I don't want to be sick tomorrow! Hopefully the 2 a day antibiotic/inhaler plan works out for me.

I finally got my eyebrows done and I can't wait to show you. I went to the spa at Coldwater Creek and can not gush enough about the experience. My eyebrows are a mess ever since I tweezed the hell out of them in high school and I'm slowly trying to get them to a more natural shape. Drives me nuts.

2 questions for today.

1. Do you fill your eyebrows in with a shadow or pencil? I might need to start. Fill me in!

2. Do you like fruit/veggie juices. Normally I do but today's juice was blech.