rush rush

"hurry, hurry lover come to me?" haha. I feel so rushed today! I am trying desperately to finish my 60 page unit plan that's due tomorrow. After that, it's smooth sailing. I have a 6 page issue and policy paper due Monday, a take home final due Thursday and some odds and ends to finish up.

Come Friday May 14th and I'll be done with my first semester of the teaching credential program. I took six classes this semester because I want a lighter load when I start student teaching in August. I only have 2 classes and 2 semesters of full-time student teaching left!

I still have delayed muscle onset soreness (DOMS) from my HIIT workouts. I did 40 minutes with 8lb dumbbells on Sunday and Monday. I really want to tone my triceps. I am one of those people who gain weight in their arms first. It really sucks.



On days when I do a HIIT weight training workout, I usually do it early before eating. After my workout, I grabbed a sample sized box of Wheaties Fuel to try. (I got this at the 5k in my loot bag.)

I had 3 oz of peanut butter greek yogurt left. I added in some bananas.



Half the box of Wheaties Fuel.



And strawberries.

The Wheaties Fuel was so cinnamon-y and crunchy. It was exactly what I needed in my yogurt. I can't seem to eat plain greek yogurt by itself. But add in some fruit, granola or cereal and peanut butter and I'm good.



Lunch was huge. 2 slices of pizza and 2 small pieces of pork loin. I used a salad plate and a food scale to measure it all. Having leftovers in the house is awesome but sometimes I over do it. Especially when I'm mindlessly typing all day. Next time I make this pizza, I'm adding way more spinach. It wilted down a ton.

I cannot wait until May 14th! I want my life back!

Wish me luck as I attempt to run 3 miles, finish 3 lesson plans and catch up on blogs. Today is my day off from work and school. I'm not hating it.

BAM!!!

Sometimes cutting back on portions and making better choices is boring. To me, food needs a little bit of BAM! Something that leaves me satisfied yet wanting more.



Take these chipotle sweet fries from Alexia. 170 calories per serving. Decent, but not enough for a meal.



BAM! Turkey chili, sharp cheddar cheese and light sour cream to the rescue. These additions only add 300 calories, protein and more deliciousness. Perfect lunch.



Take this boring lump of pizza dough. (Ok it's not boring at all. I bought this premade at Trader Joe's since the whole wheat dough was out.)



Throw on some pesto, spinach, artichokes and buffalo chicken meatballs. ANNNNDDDDDD BA (wait for it....)M!!



Topped with a combo of sharp cheddar and pepper jack. I had a tough time portioning out 2 slices.

I seriously kept telling myself, "Leftovers tomorrow, leftovers tomorrow."

How do you add some bam to your food?
How do you keep your portion sizes down?

Wake up in the morning feeling like...

I am feeling extremely stressed out today. I know exactly why! Spring Break ended today and I have to go back to work and school. I work as a substitute (instructional aide, preschool teacher or behaviorist) so now I'm back to waiting by the phone for a job offer. I get 2-3 a week which is perfect for my busy schedule. I'm currently enrolled in 5 classes. I had six classes but one of them was only an 8 week course. Thank goodness.

Routines work for me. No doubt about it. Of course I miss working full-time and taking four classes in the evenings because my life was on a perfect schedule. I woke up in the morning, ate breakfast, worked, ate lunch in my car, went to school, ate dinner on campus and came home at the same time every night. It was hard for me to break out of the cycle.

Now my schedule is thrown off because I never know when or where I'm going to work. I have to fit my workouts in whenever I can. I prefer to work out in the mornings around 8-9am. If I'm being honest, I know that I can work out every morning at 5:30am-6:30am and take a quick shower and be ready to work at 7:30am. But I am not used to getting up at 5:30am. My mindset is..."if I have to work today, I'll just work out before I go to school." Half of the time that doesn't happen. If I work from 8am-2:30pm, I get home just in time to grab my books and drive to school for my class at 4pm. Then I'm in school till 10pm! I'm not working out at 11pm at night. No way.

So what I'm trying to say is...I need to wake up earlier. I convince myself not to because "what if I don't have to work?" but it's ridiculous. Waking earlier would be beneficial for working out, tidying up the apartment, getting homework and lesson plans done and reading blogs!

I need your help! How do I start waking up earlier? Andy gets up around 5:30-6am to go to work (he's a high school teacher) but that never seems to motivate me. I just get excited about having the bed to myself for a couple of hours. I normally wake up around 7-8am.

Moving on...

Yesterday I was still feeling extremely sore from the HIIT workout with the weights. My legs are in so much pain!

My sister Sarah, Andy and I went to the park and walked 6k, did sprints across basketball courts, tricep dips on a bench, crunches, bicycle crunches, lunges across the court and squats. I wanted to run but my legs weren't having it.



Last night I made my sister Sarah, her boyfriend Chris, Andy and myself a buffalo chicken pizza using these buffalo chicken and blue cheese meatballs I found at Trader Joes. It was pretty good but the crust was too doughy. HATE THAT!



Then we went out to frozen yogurt where I managed to eat all of the toppings but barely made a dent in the yogurt. I'm an idiot for overfilling the thing!

So any advice on my waking up earlier thing?

(Also my BFL book has not come yet. I will start BFL once I get it and read through it. I want to do it right!!)