Where’s My Phone?

I woke up this morning at 4:45.  This was a “little” early for me seeing as I went to bed after 10 p.m. last night.  I don’t do so well when I go to bed past 9:30 p.m.  Ideally, when getting up so early to workout, it’d be best to be in bed by 9 p.m. but ya know…that’s probably never gonna happen!  Especially in the summer, with the long days and sunlight shinning in your windows! J

We went to the fitness center and first did Ab Ripper X.  That was good to get us started.  Killer, but doable!  After that, we both hopped onto a machine, her on the bike, me on the elliptical. We did about 33 minutes of hard-core cardio. It was great.

I went home and went to text and realized I didn’t have my phone.  Eek!  I hate that feeling don’t you?  I looked all over my place, nothing.  I dug through the bag that I brought to the gym, nothing.  So I figured I had to have left it in the elliptical cup holder where I stow it while working out. I got in my car and drove up to the fitness center, and ran to check that cup holder.  Nope – not there.  Oh boy, now I was really panicking.  It’s one thing to lose your cell phone, it’s another thing to lose your iPhone which costs about $600 to replace!

I drove back home, looked all over again, searched everywhere and still could not find it.  And you know what stinks about loosing your phone, how do you even call or text someone to call you to see if you can hear it ringing?  You can’t!

I thought I must have lost it on the walk back from the fitness center (we had walked).  I started to head out and got half way there when I realized I didn’t have my key to let me in!  GRRRRR!!!  I went back home, grabbed the key and set off on foot again.  By this time I was really freaking out. I hadn’t showered, hadn’t eaten, was running late for work and couldn’t call to tell anyone, and didn’t want to go to work without finding this $600 piece of metal I had lost!!

This time I ran to the fitness center. I was scanning the ground, and could see nothing.  I kept praying, “Lord PLEASE help me find this thing!”

I got into the fitness center and just started scanning all over the room.  BAM! There it was, sitting on a weight machine I had never used right next to my empty water bottle!  DUH!  I remembered, I took it out of the cup holder and set it there when I went to clean off the elliptical.

Whew, I was so relieved.  I tell ya though…WHAT A MORNING!  My neighbors have to think I’m crazy for seeing me run back and forth, back and forth like a lunatic this morning!

I think I am considering this morning “two workouts for the price of one!” J

Lunch

For lunch today I tried something new.  Now it may sound a little crazy, but trust me…it’s good.

I took about approximately a cup of Trader Joe’s Healthy 8 chopped veggie mix with a couple of Tbsps of Trader Joes organic humus and a can of Starkist low sodium albacore tuna!

Mmmm!  High protein, low carb, and very satisfying!

Evening of Pie…or Not!

Now, I’m sitting at Grand Traverse Pie Company waiting for some ladies from church.  It’s our Women’s Ministry’s “event” tonight…meeting here for dinner, coffee, PIE. 😦  I will have to pass on the pie.  How is that possible when they look like this…

cherry pie

blueberry pie

 

coconut pie

I am thinking I’m in trouble!  Good thing I brought a protein bar (yeah right!!!)

Have a great Friday night all!!

 

 

Chocolate Protein Bars (CAKE)

Good morning!

Saturday mornings are great aren’t they?!  I decided to be a rebel and skip boot camp today.  I think I need to ease my way back into working out since that vacation.  I”m telling you, I can’t believe how four days of being off throws you.  My body feels like it weighs a million pounds. LOL.

I did get up and do the elliptical for 33 mins instead.  That even kicked my butt.  Oh well.

I came home and ate one delicious protein bar (which taste more like cake) with my recovery shake. 🙂

Jamie Eason Chocolate Protein Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Oat Flour
• 4 Egg Whites
• 2 scoops Vanilla Whey Protein Powder
• ½ cup Stevia
• ½ tsp Baking Soda
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 8oz Berry flavored Baby Food
• 3 tbsp Baking Cocoa
• 4oz Water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients (oat flower, vanilla whey protein, baking soda, salt, baking cocoa) together in a large bowl.
3. Mix wet ingredients (egg whites, Splenda, Truvia, or Ideal, Berry flavored Baby Food,Water) together in a medium sized bowl.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together.
5. Spray cooking dish with a non stick butter spray and add batter to dish.
6. Bake 20-30 minutes in oven.

Calories: 96 Fat: 1.4 grams Carbs: 12 grams Protein: 10 grams

Clean Carpets

After the elliptical and eating my my delicious protein breakfast I steam cleaned my carpets.  Ahh… so nice to have fresh, clean carpet. 🙂  Love that “fresh feeling.”

Bagel Friday

Yesterday I was so excited…it was “Bagel Friday” at work again.  Well this week, the guy whose turn it was to bring bagels (which I can never eat) actually brought a bunch of healthy almonds.  We had strawberries, blueberries, almonds, orange juice.  The “table of doom” never looked so great and I could actually partake!!

So yummy!  And felt soo good after a week of eating crap!!

Well, I’m off to run some errands.   Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

The Fact of the Matter

Forget everything I said in my last post about “staying on track” during vacation.  That was NOT the case.  The fact of the matter is – I Ate!  And I ate a LOT!!!

I did pretty well in the mornings.  My breakfast was greek yogurt with protein powder mixed in and a little trail mix on top.

 BUT…I also ate things like pizza (HUGE pizza)…

Desserts…

 BBQ pulled pork…

And chocolate…

 That’s what you’re supposed to do on vacation though right? Eat? 😉

Let’s just say tonight my first time back at boot camp since the trip was absolutely BRUTAL!!!  I cannot believe what taking a week off, and eating whatever the crap ya want (literally) will do to ya!  I definitely paid for it.

Oh well.

It was a wonderful vacation and I miss it already!

Now…back to reality.  Eating good.  Exercise.  Oh and work.  We mustn’t forget work!!!  😦

Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day holiday and that you were able to enjoy the freedoms we’ve been incredibly blessed with in this country!!

Physical Therapy to the Rescue!

Chiropractors and Physical Therapists

I have this bad habit of sleeping on my stomach with my right leg out.  My chiropractor has told me for years – don’t do this!  I also used to have a REALLY BAD habit of sitting on my left leg.  You know… folding it up on your chair, underneath you.  Again, my chiropractor “called it” and knew I did that just by the issues with my hip.

I had stopped the habit, and was sleeping really good.  I was doing really well with all the workin’ out … and lately, I think I just got lazy with my sleeping and sitting.  I’ve caught myself, in the last couple weeks, sleeping on my stomach with my leg out, AND sitting on my left leg.  :O  Seriously, what is wrong with me???

Sure enough, my hip got off.  I didn’t really feel it in my hip as much as I felt it in my knee.  The last few days my right knee was really giving me some serious pain. I had a knee injury a few years back, and now I wonder if it was due to my hip being off… the knee was misaligned, and got injured (it happened riding a bike).

Yesterday I went to the chiropractor, and he said my hip was seriously jacked.  He does funky lil moves to check your range of motion.  My left leg/foot could turn in, my leg couldn’t.   If you are familiar with chiropractors, you probably also know the infamous “strength test.” This is where you hold up your leg or arm, or whatever they are testing, and they push down while you try to hold it up.  He did this to me yesterday.  My left leg did great, held it up, he pushed down, it didn’t drop.  My right leg however, wasn’t so strong.  He pushed it, and BAM… went right down.  The good part is, he knew exactly what/where to adjust.

He fixed me up… did a lil “cracking” here and there… and I was outta there feeling like a million bucks! 🙂

Then… I went to sleep. : (

Gosh darn, I screwed it up in my sleep again.  I was trying so hard to sleep “correctly” and follow all of the rules I was given. No sleeping on the stomach, pillow between the legs…  Apparently I didn’t do something right. Woke up again with knee pain and my knee hurt all day walking around.

Thankfully, I remembered how well physical therapy helped me last time I had this problem.

Last fall I went through the same issues.  My chiropractor referred me to an excellent physical therapist.  This guy is great.  He does manipulation and needle therapy. That’s right… NEEDLE THERAPY!!   Ouch.  Yes, it’s a little painful… but I’m telling you, it works.

What he does is checks the spine, hip, etc.  He makes sure you are in the correct alignment. If not, he will adjust you.  Then comes the needles.  The theory of the needles is that if you jam a needle into the tight muscle spasm, the muscle will relax.  They discovered this back when people were getting cortisone shots.  Basically, they discovered that the muscle spasm would respond to the “shot” even without the cortisone injection.  Just having the needle puncture the muscle knot was enough to cause the muscle to relax.

So… after I got adjusted, he pulled out about 6-7 needles and jammed that in my butt! GASP!  If that is not  a humbling experience I don’t know what is.

I pretty much laid there for 10 minutes and let them just chill out in the muscle. ha.  After a bit, he came in and pulled ’em all out… did some message work, and then sent the tech in to ultrasound the area.  Again… I got up feeling like a million bucks! Okay, maybe two million bucks today! 😉

Seriously – it works!  I am hoping this adjustment holds better due to also relaxing the muscles around it. This is something that the chiropractor doesn’t do (well, unless you also see a massage therapist there).   All I know is last fall when I was having this issue, a few trips to the Physical Therapist and I was all better! 🙂

I have another check up on Friday after work… crossing my fingers.  All I gotta say is Thank God for Chiropractors and Physical Therapists!

Also, if you are experiencing knee pain… seriously consider getting the alignment of your hips checked out!  It’s worth it!

Dinner

I came home and made a delicious low-carb, high protein dinner.

Egg whites, chicken sausage, spinach and green pepper!

I love al fresco chicken sausage!  It makes dishes like these super yummy and healthy!  Al fresco sausages are all natural and MSG FREE!  Yay, I can eat it!

 

Mmmm!

Dessert was chocolate chia protein pudding!

It was so good, I practically licked the bowl!

I’m thinking I’m gonna have to make this pudding my recovery meal from now on!  It’s MUCH MORE satisfying then just a whey protein shake! 😉

Recipe…

Chocolate Chia Protein Pudding

Ingredients:

• 2 TBS chia seeds
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1 TBS cocoa powder

Directions:

Put the chia seeds in a bowl, and add almond milk.  Let it sit in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes or until the chia seeds turn gel-like. Then, pull it out and add the protein powder and cocoa powder.  Stir it up good and Whola!  There ya have it.   Simple.  Healthy.  And satisfies that chocolate craving! 😉

Flax Bar

I came across my new favorite snack!  I was visiting The Better Health Store on Saturday (they have coupons for 15% off on Saturdays).

They had some samples there for an amazing and healthy, snack bar.  It’s called Flax Bar, it’s by Live Smart.

The chocolate one is my favorite! 😉

This bar is full of the good stuff (all ingredients you can pronounce).   It’s made with organic flax & oats.  It is vegan and wheat free.  It has up to 100% of daily omega-3 fatty acids.   AND… very low in calories!

I also LOVE the fact that it’s made in the USA, and only about 20 miles from me! 😉

 Last night’s workout

Last night’s workout was quite the challenge.  It was a “free night” at our gym.  We had a full house.  It was fun, we were doing some photos and such for the website.

First I did the boot camp class, which seemed harder than normal (maybe because I ate a semi-big dinner beforehand), and then BodyBlade.

It was fun to see new people give it all a whirl.   Some of us “regulars” were actually doing a bit of whining because they kicked our butt extra hard (probably for the photos – ha)!  All I can say is, my photo better look good or it ain’t goin’ on no website! 😉

I hope you all are having a fabulous Tuesday!

Grossness!

Happy Friday!

I’ve been meaning to post all week, and I have been soo busy!  But… I wanted to tell warn you guys about a NASTY health drink.

I was talking with a lady at the health food store who thought I may be eating too much animal protein. So, I decide to try some vegetable protein. I was at a different health store talking to the owner, and she gave me some free samples.  I thought, “Great!”

Oh my gosh…. this drink was AWFUL!!!

I was at work, so I didn’t have any almond milk or anything to blend it with…

 It was so think and slimy seeming…. and it smelled like grass, and seaweed, and just YUCK!

I simply wanted to vomit.  However… I really wanted some protein prior to my boot camp workout, so I tried to make it work.

I went to the vending machine in search of juice or something I could add to it…. Thank goodness they had this!

 

Fuze to the RESCUE!!!

I poured that baby right into the sludge…

I gave it another whirl…

It was not great… but it was bareable… barely.   I suppose?!?!

It may be healthy, but it taste so bad it practically killed me! 😦

I’m sorry Garden of Life… I like you, but this Raw Meal is just GROSS!

Try at your own risk!

Kale Chips

The guy at Panera just gave me a free coffee!  How nice of him!  🙂

I don’t know why I torture myself by coming to Panera.  The aroma of fresh baked bread and cookies is killing me right now!

How was your weekend?

Trail Walk

Last night I enjoyed a nice trail walk with my dad.  I love living in a spot where I can walk right from home to a walking trail.  My dad came by, and we hoofed it. We “speed walked” for about 55 minutes at about 4.5 mph!  It was a lil’ windy and cool, but highly enjoyable.

My dad is a great walking partner.  I really love our deep conversations about the bible.  Last night we were talking a lot about the connections between the Old and the New Testament.  Amazing, just amazing.  And it just blows my mind how detailed God is – in everything!

For example, we talked about how Jesus was born and wrapped in swaddling clothes.  Well, swaddling clothes of course is what they would bury the dead in.  It’s what Jesus was wrapped in when buried in the tomb. SO, what a connection  showing all again, He was “born to die.”  He was wrapped in swaddling clothes (clothes for the dead) as a little newborn baby.

God is just so amazing how He connects all the details. Wow…

Along our journey, we marveled at God’s creation.  We kept running into bunnies.  They were so cute.  This lil’ guy was like the sixth one we saw!

Kale Chips

After our walk, I went home and jumped into my “comfys” and settled in the kitchen to make some kale chips.  My friend had given me some earlier in the day, and gosh they were delicious!  I cannot believe how simple to make either.  Perhaps you all have tried them and I am way behind the “kale craze,” however if you haven’t, give them a try!

Ingredients:

• Fresh organic kale
• Olive Oil (in spritzer)
• Seasoning salt
• Sea salt

Directions:

Rinse the kale and dry off.  Break apart from the stem.  Lay out the “leaves” on a cookie sheet.  Spray/spritz with some olive oil.  Sprinkle with sea salt and seasoning salt.

Ta Da!  Nice crispy kale chips! 🙂

So delicious!

I put them in a bowl with my 94% fat free microwave popcorn and had a yummy evening snack!

Totally satisfied my salt cravings! 🙂

Off to do some reading before boot camp.  Picked up a new book from the Library – Inbound Marketing (New Rules of Social Media Series).  Anyone read it?  I’ll let ya know how it is…

So You Want To Date My Daughter?

Lunch & Afternoon

I’m suddenly getting very sleepy.  Perhaps it’s the clouds that are moving in.  I got enough rest last night, I went to bed early and even slept through my cardio.  I figured my body needed a rest… with boot camp and BodyBlade Tuesday night and boot camp last night, and boot camp and BodyBlade tonight… LOL.   Yeah!  Rest was needed.

I had a tasty lunch today, one of my favorites actually.  Often I bring a lunch to work, but today I went to Baja Fresh for their side of grilled chicken.  I always sneak in my own low-carb tortilla’s (don’t tell) so between that and their fresh salsa, it makes a very healthy and filling lunch!

Of course, I had to go to the Barnes and Noble after, since it right near Baja Fresh.  My daily “after lunch decaf and dark chocolate” made it a wonderful hour out!

So You Want To Date My Daughter?

No, I do not have a daughter!  In fact, I don’t have any kids at the moment… but God willing, some day I will.

A friend posted this on his Facebook page today, and I thought it was GREAT!  If ever I am blessed with a daughter, I would hope her father would be as bold and thoughtful as this man is in regards to protecting her.

1. You must love Jesus. I don’t care if you’re a “good Christian boy.” I was one of those too. So I know the tricks. I’m going to ask you specific, heart-testing questions about your spiritual affections, your daily devotional life, your idols, your disciplines, and the like. I’ll cut you a little bit of slack because you’re young and hormonal and your pre-frontal lobe isn’t fully developed yet, but I’ll be watching you like a hawk. I know you. I was you. You will think you can fool me, and you likely have fooled many other dads who didn’t pay much attention to their daughters’ suitors, but I will be on you like Bourne on that guy whose neck he broke. Which guy was that? Every guy. So love Jesus more than my daughter or go home.

2. You will install X3Watch or Covenant Eyes on your computer and mobile devices and have your regular reports sent to me.

3. I will talk to your dad and tell him I will hold him responsible if you don’t treat my daughter like a lady. If he thinks I’m a crazy person, you fail the test and won’t get to date her. If he understands what I’m saying, that bodes well for you.

4. You will pay for everything. Oh, sure, every now and then my daughter can buy you a Coke or something and a gift on your birthday and at Christmas. But you pay for meals, movies, outings, whatever else. Don’t have a job? I’m sorry, why I am talking to you again?

5. You will accept my Facebook friend request.

6. If it looks like you need a belt to hold your pants up, I will assume you don’t have a job. See #4.

7. Young people dating are putting their best face forward, so if you appear impatient, ill-tempered, or ill-mannered, I know you will gradually become more so over time. I will have no jerks dating my daughters.

8. If I am not your pastor, I will talk to the man who is. If your pastor is a woman, why I am talking to you, again?

9. You don’t love my daughter. You have no idea what love is. You like her and you might love her someday. That’s an okay start with me, so put the seatbelt on the mushy gushy stuff. Don’t profess your undying love, quote stupid love song lyrics to her, tell her you’d die for her, or feed her any other boneheaded lines that are way out of your depth as a horny little idiot. A lady’s heart is a fragile thing. If you play with hers, I will show you yours.

10. If you ever find yourself alone with my daughter, don’t panic. Just correct the situation immediately. If I ever catch you trying to get alone with my daughter, that would be the time to panic.

11. It may sound like I’m joking in threatening you harm, and while I might not physically hurt you if you offend my daughter or violate her honor, when I am addressing the issue with you, you will not be laughing.

12. You may think all this sounds very legalistic. That’s fine. You can be one of the many antinomians not dating my daughter.

Good Stuff huh?! 😉  If you want to read more about the author/father check him out here.

Now… what about something like this for the 30-somethings men out there who STILL do not ‘get it’!

Off to boot camp… !  Have a great night!

Fitness Fuel

Today flew by! I’m happy to be out of work & enjoying some coffee shop time before boot camp.

I’ve been thinking about pre-workout fuel. I want to be sure I’m eating enough throughout the day & the right things just prior to some intense boot camping.

I already had my yummy mid-morning meal of cottage cheese & Kashi Go Lean Crunch.

If you stir it up a bit it makes the kashi “less crunchy”. I’m sure my co-workers appreciate me taking the time to stir! 😉
Although I still feel like you can hear me crunching a mile away..

Lunch today was my left over stir-fry! I even have a bit left for tomorrow’s lunch. Gosh, I guess I can really stretch that stuff out. Talk about getting your $10 worth!

After eating lunch at my desk, I went to my dentist appointment then ran to Starbucks. That was a nice, relaxing part of the day. As I mentioned before, I just love the remodel they did…

A nice tall cup of decaf… Ahh…

Now I’m at Panera (don’t hate) just chilling before boot camp and BodyBlade.

Guess if I’m taking up a table, and using their wifi, I better actually buy something. Hmm… Darn, guess I’ll just have to get another coffee. Oh well…. 😉

Here lies my baggie of “energy burst” to consume before class…

… a little bit of Bear Naked Fit granola & some dried cherries. Hope it does the trick!

Question of the day:

What do you eat as fuel before your intense workout?

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Cake, Food, Gum

Good Monday afternoon!

How was your weekend?

Mine was good, it was very busy as usual. Last night, we celebrated my dear sister’s birthday! I can’t believe my baby sister is 26! Her lil’  shin-dig was full of family, fun and FOOD. My favorite was the raspberry cake!

It was so pretty, I felt bad even cutting it let alone eating it!

Lunch

After last night’s evening of cake and ice cream, I wanted needed a healthy lunch.

I went to a quaint lil Mongolian BBQ style place and made up a healthy bowl of chicken, turkey, veggies, and brown rice. 🙂

It hit the spot and I have oodles of leftovers to last me through tomorrow’s (or maybe even Wednesday’s) lunch!

Wildberry Remix

I think I’m a sucker for Orbit’s new gum!
This stuff  is awesome! I can’t decide if it’s the gum flavor or the groovy packaging that has won my affections.

Wrapped up…

Package….

Neat huh?!? 😉

Good idea Orbit! Yummy fresh flavors with fun packaging to match!

Question of the day?

Do you get excited about little things like… Oh I dunno, gum packaging?  Or maybe you are not as lame as me! 😉