Spinning

Life has been so crazy lately! Between finals, training for my next 5k, work and studying I've had no time to just relax!

I dream when I'm stressed out and last night was no different. My dream had me tossing and turning. I woke up with that "falling feeling." In my dream, I was thrown off a tall building. As soon as my body hit the pavement with a loud THUD I woke up.

Nothing like being jolted out of bed!

The 5k is on Sunday bright and early. I'm pretty stoked to be running in Santa Monica this time! It's not the prettiest beach town (I prefer Northern California) but it'll do. I'm hoping to give myself enough of a pep talk to run most of it. I want to limit my walking breaks to 30 seconds and only 1 walking break per mile.

I'm going to have my last run today. I'm planning on getting 3 more miles under my belt but I'm gonna go easy. (Meaning a slooooow comfortable pace of 12-14 minutes per mile. I don't need to aggravate my knee right before the race!)

I'm going to run in the evening, so I started my morning with Jillian. (No More Trouble Zones.) I was pretty pumped because I could use 8lb dumbbells for most of the moves.



Afterwards I made overnight yoats. Well, not overnight. I put 1/4 cup of dry oats in a bowl with 1/4 cup Wheaties Fuel and 1 container of plain greek yogurt for 5 minutes while I chopped up some fruit.



I mixed in some pineapple and raspberries to make it super delicious. It was! I'm starting to really enjoy plain greek yogurt. Having less sugar means I get to eat more real fruit. Can't hate that.

Time to finish my LAST take home final and prepare for an awesome weekend. I'm thrilled with life right now!

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.

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.

Last Chance Workout with Jillian Michaels

I bought this DVD at Target the other day and decided to try it out! The DVD has a built in six-week program and I tried Monday of Week One-Two.

It starts with a warm-up which is way different than The 30 Day Shred warm-up or the No More Trouble Zones warm-up. Then you do a 25 minute circuit training "Last Chance Workout" before doing a quick cooldown.

I felt like the DVD was fairly easy and enjoyed the modifications for those of us who cannot jump without destroying their knees. I usually don't need to modify but sometimes plyometrics really bother me. I also loved seeing old contestants from The Biggest Loser. We worked out together. Added bonus? There is a girl named Amanda. Jillian yells, "Get with the program Amanda!" and I feel like she is talking to me. Love it.



Have you tried this burrito? It's the best $3 frozen burrito ever. I have it once in a blue moon and savor it everytime. The hunks of corn masa do it for me.



I had a little less than half this container of greek yogurt left so I decided to use it as a bowl. I hate doing dishes anyway.



Inside: 2 chopped strawberries, vanilla greek yogurt, Nature's Path pumpkin seed granola and 1/2 chopped banana. I love this yogurt. It's got a whopping 18 grams of protein in it. I bought a tub of plain as well which has even more protein!

I burned almost 400 calories doing the Last Chance Workout if you're wondering. Which is insane because it didn't feel particularily difficult.

Do you have a favorite workout video? I own about 6 that I alternate on days when I need to workout inside.

Remodeling and a giveaway sneak peek!

ugh. My knee is hurting REALLY bad today. It's so frustrating!



I tried some of Yoplait's plain greek yogurt today. It was delicious! I was shocked that I actually enjoyed plain yogurt. Not to say that I didn't add a ton of fruit & granola to it...



Cause I did. Andy bought this granola the other day. It's good but it's no Nature's Path Pumpkin Seed Granola.



I had my yogurt with granola, a banana and some blueberries. It was delicious. I didn't miss the added sugar in my usual fruit-flavored greek yogurt. I might have to try eating plain more often.

I had half of a Naked Juice Green Machine on the side. Drinking green stuff is awesome.



The people at Aurorae Yoga sent me a yoga mat to review. I was sooo excited when I opened up the package and discovered that they sent me a violet mat. Purple is my absolute favorite color! Are they psychic? I was thrilled! I've been needing a nice, thick yoga mat for my stupid knees.





I love how long it is! I've never had a mat that was this long. They are 72 inches long if you are curious. It was fantastic for a 20 minute session with Jillian Michaels.



And the padding is so sturdy. It's nice for push-ups and planks. I no longer feel like my wrist is going to crack against my hard floors. I am pretty much in love.

I couldn't do a full workout today because my knee was being a big baby, but I hope to try something out tomorrow. Stay tuned...I might just have a giveaway in store! ;)

I'm off to make a hugeeeeeeeeeeeeee salad and go to 6 hours of school. Have I mentioned how much I dislike Wednesdays? Thank you Aurorae for brightening up my day a little bit! Can't wait to use it more! Hopefully tomorrow!

Edited: I forgot to talk about remodeling! Duh!

I have been wanting to remodel our bedroom. Right now it's just a mess. We bought a new bed in August and none of our other furniture matches. It's driving me insane. I plan on doing a full remodel over Spring Break. Do you guys have any tips for making my bedroom beautiful? Pictures or links are welcomed!

a healthy balance

(source)

I'm a libra. We libras are all about balance. Without a healthy balance in our lives, we start to fall apart emotionally. It explains why I do so well with daily routines but love sponetanity over the weekend!



On Thursday, I had my first caramel Oikos greek yogurt before working out. I loved this flavor! It's just the right balance of sweet and tangy. Plus it's high in protein for such a small snack!



My camera ate my lunch picture on Thursday, but I can assure you that I ate a balanced meal of a black bean burger, muenster cheese, hummus, broccoli and a kiwi.

Dinner was a bowl of corn chowder and a chicken pesto panini from Corner Bakery. It was delicious despite the fact that they gave us potato chips instead of carrots. (oh sodium, how I love you!)



Andy got tomato basil soup with a poblano chicken sandwich.



Breakfast on Friday was the one thing I was really craving. A piece of toast with my favorite golden roasted flaxseed pb from Trader Joe's.



And for my sweet tooth, some vanilla greek yogurt with a tangy kiwi.



I went out to lunch with friends and ordered a bowl of butternut squash soup. It was terrific! I need to recreate.



Dinner was mashed potatoes, broccoli slaw and burgers. I used 90/10 burgers from Trader Joe's. The burgers have decent stats and manage to curb my craving for red meat. (Something I'm trying to cut out of my diet.)



And while this plate looks huge, I promise you it was on a salad plate.



And since the burger was so low in fat, I added some guacamole on top for my daily dose of MUFAs For balance purposes.



And because I had 200 calories left for my day, I decided to add in a raspberry hard cider. (140 empty but delicious calories.)

Now let's talk about Saturday.

Strike 1- Forgetting my camera
Strike 2- Eating a bacon chili cheese dog at Pinks
Strike 3- Sharing a medium milkshake with Andy at Millions of Milkshakes

Our milkshake had vanilla frozen yogurt, banana, nutella and a chocolate syrup swirl. Neither of us felt super guilty afterwards since we shared, which was nice.

But this morning, my body craved balance! I ran 2.5 miles on the treadmill, stretched and did yoga poses until I burned 583 calories! Week 4 Day 1 of Couch to 5k was HARD!

Now it's time for a HUGE veggie-filled salad at Souplantation and gallons of water.

How do you find your perfect balance?

Two Boos Who Drink Their Greens

I am reviewing several products in this post. As a rule, I never give a product a positive review unless I fully enjoy it!



Monday morning, I had a craving for Chobani. And low and behold we had 1 Chobani left in the fridge. Strawberry! (This was leftover from the time when Chobani sent me some samples.) Chobani Greek Yogurt is thick, creamy and packed with protein. It's great for me in the morning because it actually fills me up.



And I had a sample of Bear Naked Cereal. I signed up for the sample on Facebook actually.



Pom Arils. (Bought these at Costco pre-challenge) Speaking of the Challenge Andy and I haave spent $23.45 so far this month on groceries.



And Super Dark Chocolate. Newman's Own Organics Now this is a brand I can believe in! The chocolate is organic and

"The Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal guarantees that the cocoa in our Signature Series was grown on farms that meet comprehensive standards for sustainable farming, protecting soil, waterways and wildlife habitat as well as the rights and welfare of workers, their families and communities." *from the Newman's Own Organics website.



I chopped up one square of the super dark chocolate.



Added 2 tbsp of the Bear Naked cereal, 2 tbsp pom arils and the chocolate to my Chobani. It was delicious!

That evening, I decided to make dinner in a crockpot. Something I haven't done in ages.







Set it.



And forget it for 3-4 hours. Love that! I made a Turkey Tamale Pie. It was great! And we have tons of leftovers, which is fantastic.



This morning, I decided to try out one of the Amazing Meal Packets that the folks at Amazing Grass sent over.



They even sent over a cute cup!



I mixed the amazing meal with one banana, half a bottle of POM Wonderful Kiwi, 12 frozen strawberries and a drop of honey. It doesn't taste like grass at all. I was really worried about that!



And it made 2 big smoothies. One for me and one for Andy! Ignore my messy kitchen, we are about to clean. And yes my blender is full of dish soap. I clean it that way. Just add water, a dap of dish soap and blend.



Please know that Amazing Grass, Pom Wonderful,
Newman's Own Organics, and Chobani are amazing companies who stand behind their products. All of these samples were free to me. I loved each and every one. Please feel free to ask me if you have questions about any of these products! I am more than happy to share. :)

I missed my Weight Watchers weigh-in last night because my WW partner is out of town but I'll be back next week! I'm pretty sure I've hit my 1st goal of ten pounds lost! We'll see!!

Too much time on my hands!

I graduate College today! I worked for 3 measly hours this am and now I am relaxing and eating lunch while waiting to go over to CSUN for the graduation ceremony.

I have a lot to post about so bear with me please! :)

Today I found some Oroweat Sandwich Thins! Finally! I had been searching forever. Note...in some states the brand is Arnold. California is weird. Our ice cream is Dreyer's and in other states it's Edy's. Whatever!





I was starving after work today so I paired my sandwich thin with a little broccoli cole slaw, garlic mustard and a morningstar chicken patty. I found some baked fire hot cheetos too! I am addicted to fire hot cheetos for some unknown reason.

I figured I should round my meal out with some veggies, so I threw in a serving of broccoli and cauliflower with some white bean hummus. I really hope this satisfies me!

.....

A week ago, I discovered Organic Greek Yogurt at Trader Joe's! I thought Oikos was the only one?







I love the little specks of vanilla bean in it!



100% bombtastic! I love greek yogurt because 1. it has 12-19 grams of protein per serving. 2. it always fills me up 3. It's richer tasting than regular yogurt! Try some!

Now I'm off to comment to blogs, graduate college and finish wedding planning. See you later!