Making time for exercise

Happy Tuesday!

Hope everybody’s week has gotten off to a good start. Mine has been great, seeing as I have Thursday and Friday off from school. LOVE short weeks! We are half way through the first trimester and are off for PT conferences. I still have to go to work of of course, but hey, I get to sleep in. I’m a happy camper. :)

This morning, I had a great breakfast to start my day off on the right foot. It featured a new almond butter that I am now officially OBSESSED with:

After seeing this on Jenna’s blog, I decided to pick it up last weekend at Green Acres Market. 5 dollar almond butter? I’m down.

When I got home, I immediately tried it out. I have to say…I was impressed! It has a wonderful, distinctive taste. I couldn’t figure out what it tasted like at first, but after giving it some thought, I decided that it tastes like cinnamon rolls. Um yeah, I am in love with it. End of story.

I made some overnight oats last night:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• cinnamon

And this morning I added:

• 1/2 sliced banana
• 3 big scoops of Oikos Greek Yogurt, plain
• 1 tbsp Blue Diamond honey almond butter

And for lunch, I quickly put together this plate:

• Joseph’s whole wheat pita
• grilled chicken
• mozzarella cheese
• laughing cow light
• spinach

With some veggies on the side to munch.

And my first Honey Crisp of the season!

I was starving by the time I got home from school, so I devoured this all within 5 minutes.

The lovely April from Foods of April brought up a great question that I wanted to address. She asked:

“What does your exercise

schedule look like? School

is making me kind of lazy.”

I have to admit that I definitely have NOT been working out as much as I had been in the Summer. During Summer it was easy to exercise…I had most of my days free to do whatever I wanted to do with them. Now, I am not really “free” until around 6 p.m., and that is assuming I don’t have any homework that night. And like I have mentioned before, a lot of times I am just plain tired and ready to relax when I get home.

So lately I have discovered the greatness of Mini Workouts. On a regular weekday, I have been doing 10-20 minutes of some type of exercise in the morning, first thing when I wake up. Lately I have been enjoying starting my morning off with yoga, in honor of National Yoga Month. 

Then in the evening, right when I get home from work, I will do another form of exercise, such as walking my dog, 30 Day Shred, or just some simple strength training moves on my own.

While it doesn’t feel like I’m getting much exercise in, these mini workouts have actually really added up. Plus, I get those endorphins flowin’ TWICE a day instead of just one!

I save my runs for the weekends, which I take full advantage of. This has actually worked out nicely, because since I am not running every day, I have “fresh legs” for my weekend runs. This also helps to prevent burn out with running.

The important thing is to find what works for YOU and your schedule. I believe that fitting exercise into your days is very important, but stressing out about exactly how much you are working out is unnecessary. Do things that you like. I adore fall weather and it has been beautiful outside lately, so I have been looking forward to my walks with my dog Jaci in the evenings. Make it fun! You don’t have to run 5 miles a day to get a good workout in. 

And with that, I need to get to work! Have a great day!

Kristi

Race for the Cure

Whats up bloggies?

Geeze, are we seriously another week down? I am still adjusting to my new (read: busy to the max) schedule and I obviously didn’t do very well with my blogging this week. I will bounce back though, don’t you worry!

Yesterday was the Komen Race for the Cure 5k. I admit that due to my exhaustion as of lately, I wasn’t able to properly train as much as I would have liked. I wasn’t feeling my best about doing this race. But I knew that no matter what, I wanted to participate in it, because it is such a great cause and I have been looking forward to it for a while now. So I set my alarm clock for a bright and early time, laid out my running gear, and hit the sack early.

I made an awesome new breakfast to eat in the car during the 1 hour drive to the race site:

I toasted two pieces of Ezekiel bread and topped it with a mixture of chia gel mixed with a tablespoon of naturally more, 1/2 banana, and cinnamon. It was great pre-race fuel, but I thought that the peanut butter flavor and creaminess got lost in the chia gel, so next time I will top my toast with the tbsp of plain peanut butter, then top that with a chia gel/smashed naner mixture. Mmmm.

Upon arriving, we saw TONS of people there:

And many sponsors handing out freebies (score!)

I hit up the Starbucks station:

Next up was the Fuze counter!

 

That morning I walked up to the race site feeling pretty nervous about the idea of running and knew that I didn’t feel good enough to race.

  At first, I started to feel disappointed in myself, but then I decided to silence that negativity. This race was NOT about me. It was about thousands of people coming out to support an awesome cause and just have a good time together. I was not going to let any negative thinking ruin this.

I knew that there was a non-competitive 5k run/walk that followed the competitive run. Sooo…I made the quick decision to WALK the 5k with my mom. And you know what? It was great. It was a beautiful day, there were tons of great people to talk to, and lots of festivities. I enjoyed every second of it and did not feel one bit guilty about not running.

I am proud of myself for listening to my body and making the right decision. I know that I would not have felt good pushing myself and doing more than I could handle. I needed a break and that is exactly what I gave myself.

After we crossed the finish line, we walked around some more, listening to the live music and hitting up some more freebie stations. There wasn’t even an opportunity for me to feel bad about walking the race…I was too busy taking pictures with guys in weird costumes…;)

 

(Can somebody please tell me what these guys are supposed to be?!?!)

The day got even better when we went for lunch at a place that I have been wanting to check out for a while now…it is called Green Acres Market. Oh my goodness, it’s like a mini Whole Foods…only with cheaper prices! I was in pure foodie bliss. You all know how I complain about living in a small town with no good foodie options such as Whole Foods or Trader Joes. Well, you can imagine my excitement when I found this place! It even had a hot bar!!! I gladly devoured a box full of deliciousness.

So even though the day didn’t go exactly as I had planned, I completely enjoyed myself. I love running, but I don’t like doing it when I feel completely exhausted. So I will run when I feel good enough to, and on days that I don’t feel like doing it…I won’t. Lately I have realized the importance of listening to your body and giving it what it wants. Exercise should be fun, right?

Now I am going to take a complete recovery day. I am going to be lazy, relax, and watch trash t.v. :D Hope you all enjoy your day!

xoxo kristi

Hi, I’m Kristi

Hey everyone! Remember me?

Gosh I don’t know where the time has gone this week…I have been so busy! And I have DEFINITELY missed all of you!

First of all, to pick up where I left off on my last post, I did in fact get the job I applied for. You are now looking at a brand new bank teller!

Me:

I scored a job at one of our local banks, and the best part is the location. It is literally a few stores down from my job at the salon AND only about 3 minutes from my house! Ummm, perfect?!? I really love it there…I have already become great friends with everybody there! Thing is, being a bank teller is not easy, folks! I have a TON to learn and it has been a rather stressful week for me, trying to get every thing down. I won’t give up though…I’ll get the hang of it!

So I told ya’ll about my work/intern program that I’m in through my highschool…well this is my job for the afternoons! And yes, I will still be working at the salon, too. So needless to say, with juggling school, homework, bank telling, the salon, and training for my race that is next week, I have my hands FULL!

This week has been kind of overwhelming, which is why I have been mostly absent from the blogging world. All I felt like doing when I got home at night was eating and then collapsing. But I do think that my schedule will actually work out very well…I am just in a transition period right now and still have some adjusting to do.

***

And don’t worry…I have still been partaking in some awesome eating…

My very first bowl of green oats!

(sorry for the horrible pic)

My opinion? Love at first taste.

I combined 1/2 banana, 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk, buttload of spinach, 2 tbsp vanilla protein powder, and cinnamon into my magic bullet blender and whirled it around. Then I combined this with 1/3 cup oatbran. Mixed together. Cooked in the microwave for 2 minutes, as usual. 

Toppings: Oikos plain and Naturally More

This is going to be PERFECT for winter! I was seriously beginning to worry what I would do once the weather started getting colder and wouldn’t be able to start my day out with my beloved GMs…but have no fear, green oats are here! (hehe)

***

Last night, I decided to try Heather’s(www.heathereatsalmondbutter.com) recipe for Marinutta sauce!

First, I cut up some veggies to get to roasting:

1/2 butternut squash, 1/2 a red onion, baby bella mushrooms, and some tomaters. I drizzled on some coconut oil and sprinkled some sea salt. Then I roasted them at 425 degrees for about an hour.

For the sauce, I combined 1/2 cup marinara sauce with 1 scoop of TJ’s raw almond butter and 1 scoop of flax meal. I mixed it together and popped it in the microwave for about 45 seconds.

I also steamed some broccoli to throw in.

After all was said and done, here was my delicious bowl of goodness, topped with feta:

Okay…new favorite dinner? Ever? Quite possibly. Go try this now!!

The sauce was a real winner, but next time I’m just going to steam up a ton of broccoli to mix with it. I think the sauce “worked” the best with the broccoli and I found myself wishing I had used more. This is actually a plus, because all I have to do is pop some broccoli in the microwave for a few minutes and I’m ready to go! Awesome.

***

I received a lovely package in the mail towards the beginning of the week…my RACE package!!

This got me so excited and motivated to just run, run, run. In fact, that is exactly what I did this morning! I started off with a piece of Ezekiel bread and raw almond butter, then I was out the door.

I ended up running about 3 miles and taking a nice easy walk for another 1 mile. It was glorious. :)

Oh, and shout out to Jenny, because before I left for my run, I did my 10 minutes of yoga for National Yoga Month. Woo Hoo!

Now I am showered and clean, and just devoured a lovely Sunday lunchie:

A hummus, turkey, spinach, and sprouts sandwich on a whole wheat bun. Leftover roasted veggies w/ketchup, carrots, and sugar snap peas on the side. Plus an un-pictured white peach.

My plan for the rest of today is to relax as much as possible. I definitely need some recovery time so I can take on a new week!

I hope you all enjoy your Sunday and have a wonderful week!

people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." - Leonardo Da Vinci

Mucho Kombucho

Hey guys! TGITW (thank God its the weekend) ;)

I hope your mornings are all of to a good start. Mine was spent sleeping in until the glorious hour of 9 o’clock. It felt amazing, and was much needed. I just polished off a new breakfast cookie creation…it’s legit, i promise.

Did anyone else have a weird and twisted love for dipping Oreos in peanut butter when they were young?!? Ever since I first got the idea from one of my favorite movies, Parent Trap, (shout-out to all my Disney movie lovin’ gals!) I was hooked. 

So this morning, my creativity was flowing and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. So here you have it…

Nut Butter and Oreo Breakfast Cookie

(yes, I could not wait to capture a picture before I started chowing down, ya’ll understand how that goes)

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 mashed banana
• dash of almond milk
• 1-3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• cinnamon
• protein powder (optional)

combine and form into a heavenly b-fast cookie. Let set in fridge overnight. The next morning, take out of fridge and top with some greek or regular yogurt and your choice of nut butter.

For mine, I used Oikos plain yogurt and Trader Joes raw crunchy almond butter. It was divine.

And now I get to the info regarding my clever title of this post. The wonderful makers of GT’s Synergy Kombucha drinks sent me some awesome coupons to try out all of their Kombucha products!

I had my first Kombucha when I was in Boston this Summer and I fell in love. It love the taste of it, I love the nutritional stats, I love everything about it. And now I am beyond excited that I get the opportunity to try out all the others! Thank you so much GT!

And I also received a lovely care package from the amazing people at Pom Wonderful! A big shout-out to Molly..thank you!!!

Those would be Pom’s new Super Teas. As you can see, I have tried a few sips out of two of them so far…and so far so good!

There are two regular kinds and two light kinds. The regular ones have around 70 cals each while the light have 35 per serving and are half sweetened with Erythritol (a natural sweetener).

Here are the four flavors:

• Pomegranate Lychee Green Tea
• Pomegranate Hibiscus Green Tea (light)
• Pomegranate Wildberry White Tea (light
• Pomegranate Blackberry Tea

I’ve got to say that these are SO refreshing! I am a big tea lover, so I couldn’t wait to try these out. They did NOT disappoint! They were nice and light and not overly sweet. I think I prefer the light to the regular because I am used to drinking un-sweet tea, and like that the light versions have less sugar. 

 

And now I am about to get my yoga and running on. I have been staying faithful to Jenny’s awesome yoga challenge, in honor of September, National Yoga Month. And I have about 2 weeks until Race For the Cure, so I need to get my booty in gear!

Today I also for-see some shopping in my future. I need to stock up on some cute business-like clothes, because, oh yeah, I got the job. ;) Ahhh, a cliff-hanger…I will be back with more info about my new jobby job soon…but just know that your girl Sweet Cheeks, is going to be brining in some Sweet Bills. :D

Which brings me to this question:

What is your favorite place to shop for business/dressy clothes?

I can see the finish line now…

I am officially signed up for my next race!

I am very excited for this one…it a race for the curing of breast cancer.

they have an awesome site if anyone wants to check it out:

Komen Race for the Cure 

I will be participating in the 5k run. I am crossing my fingers for a pink shirt! ;)

I love doing races that are for a good cause. It just gives me that much more motivation to run, and to run my best. It also puts a lot of things in perspective. You never what tomorrow may bring…I am very thankful for each step that I take with running and with life in general, but it is very easy to forget to truly appreciate all that you have in life. Races like these are a very good reminder. :)

Yesterday I accompanied my mom to Sams to stock up on some produce goods. I LOVE this place…free samples anyone?!?

Yay!

We also stopped by a local grocery store, where I picked up a few new (to me) things to try:

BROWNIES!!!!!

I have never had the opportunity to try one of these babies and tonight shall be my first time. Get in my belly!!!

I also experimented with the nutritional yeast by putting it on some delicious homemade pizza for dinner!

I used Jenna’s recipe for the dough, except that I used all whole wheat flour. This was my second time making this recipe and it was just as delicious as I remembered.

I topped it with organic tomato sauce, nutritional yeast “cheese”, black beans, ‘shrooms, and chopped onions.

You just can’t beat homemade pizza. :)

Now that I have a nice full pizza belly, I’m going to chill with the family.

Tomorrow I have my interview!!! Eeeek, wish me luck!

Go, Fight, Roarrrrr!

Happy Happy Friday!

I hope you all are enjoying your days…who’s ready for a glorious three day weekend?  *raises hand*

Today, In honor of National Yoga Month, I started off my day with 20 fabulous minutes on my mat. I decided that instead of following along with a video like I usually do, I would just wing it and do whatever poses I felt like doing. It was a great, relaxing way to start my day and I definitely plan on continuing with my yoga practice. If any of you are up for a challenge, hit up my girl, Jenny, for some yoga-liciousness. I have vowed to devote at least 10 minutes a day to yoga every day this September. So come on, join in on the fun!

After my yoga shenanigans, I hit up the kitch for some seriously yummy oat action:

Oatbran (aka oatcrack)…you never fail me.

I tried the “add 2 cups of liquid” technique instead of 1 and it was a major success. Twice the amount of oatcrack for the same amount of calories?!? Count me in! I need to start using a bigger bowl for all this deliciousness!

This bowl contained:

• 1/2 cup oatbran
• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 1/2 cups water
• hugh jass amount of cinnamon
• 1 scoop barney butter
• 1 scoop plain Oikos
• raspberries
• blueberries

Then I went off to school to promptly cheat off my desk-mate ace my trigonometry test. ;)

I came home for lunch to have a salad beastie:

Thanks to this little gem:

Totally awesome hummus that rocked my lunch. 

And this:

HFCS spicy peanut sauce…So good, yet so bad. Somebody please help me out with a replacement for this! Recipes?

 

This afternoon was devoted to continuing on with the job hunt and I am pleased to say that I will have 2 interviews next week! Woot woot! More on that to come!

Now I am about to have some din din and then will be heading out to watch a little high school football action. We have a big rivalry game tonight, so it is going to be CRAZINESS!

And of course I gotta show some love for my team, so I am contemplating on what to wear…here’s what I was thinking:

Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Opinions??? hahaha

Have a fantastic Friday everyone!

xoxo

Bad Blogger

Hi guys!!!

So first off, I wanted to apologize for being such a bad blogger lately! Things have been rather crazy lately with school having started back up and everything. A lot of times, I come home tired, and don’t really feel like having my brain work to read when it’s been going all day. Ya know?? But I definitely don’t want to leave all my favorite bloggie friends out of my life! From here on out, I will be doing my best to keep up with all you lovely ladies…bare with me! :)

School has gotten off to a great start so far. I really like my classes and am actually enjoying giving my brain a challenge after spending a few too many summer afternoons watching trash t.v. ;) Wait…who am I kidding…you can never watch TOO much trash t.v.!!

A while ago, I mentioned I would doing a business program through my school this year. Basically, it allows me to get out of school for the afternoon and work a job for my “elective” credits. I really loved this idea because after being at school all day, I was never really fond of the idea of going to work ON TOP of school. So this makes it much easier to fit in work AND a job! But right now, I’m in the horrid job searching progress and obviously with the economy the way it is right now, there ain’t too many people willing to help a sista out. I am frantically searching…so keep your fingers crossed for me that I find something!

 

Ok, you guys want to talk about food now, right?! Well I’ve got something that you all need to try stat!

Enter: Chia Pudding

Pure heaven, bliss, deliciousness…whatever you want to call it.

I have been a tad bit obsessed with chia seeds ever since I ordered 3 pounds of it online. ;)

Here’s the loot:

1 cup Almond millk

1/4 cup chia seeds

lots of cinnamon

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 banana, mashed

I combined everything and stirred it up really good. Then I let it set and thicken for about 10 minutes, stirred it again, then put it in the fridge overnight. Let the flavors mingle overnight and get ready to have your mouth rocked. :)

  Try this! Try this! Try this! Ahhh, it is so good!

Now it’s time for me to get ready for bed…it’s another early morning tomorrow!

Night folks! :D