Retail Therapy, Healthy Habits, & Something Shocking

Hello!  Happy gloomsday Tuesday!  It was a cold and rainy one here, but nothing a little retail therapy couldn't fix!  I stopped at Old Navy on my way home because I knew they were having a sale on all of their activewear.  I never really understood the importance of special running clothes, but now that I'm running three times a week I've really started to notice how much my shorts are riding up my crotch while I'm on the treadmill (tmi?)... like running itself wasn't enough to endure!

So I picked up 3 pairs of compression tights one pair was $15, the other two were each $19.50.  One of the pairs was originally sold for 45 bucks!  I win.

I also got a pair of capri yoga pants for $12.50 and a super comfy sweatshirt for $6.64.  Six dollars people!

And this shirt was $3.84, I couldn't resist!

And after my shopping trip, I headed to good old Globo Gym (aka Planet Fitness) to get in my run.

Today's workout:
1.5 mi on the treadmill, 14:15 min
5.40 mi on the bike, 15 min

I felt so great during my run!  I really pushed the pace because the run was short and I definitely had to be my own cheerleader in my head to keep up, but I realized that my legs felt good and I didn't get a side stitch or anything, so it was really just a mental game with myself.  I've read blogs saying long distance running is definitely mental, so hopefully I can keep the positive vibes going in my head!

This week has been a pretty healthy one.  I played some volleyball last night at Dave's church, yay for cross training.  I also made enough Green Monster to have some as a post volleyball treat and for bfast today and tomorrow.  This one contained some fresh strawberries, a banana, some orange/strawberry/banana juice, some ice, and some spinach of course.

I know, I know... it looks gross, but yum!

I even had a salad for dinner after the gym!  And guess what I did...

I tried tofu and LIKED IT.  I ordered a veggie saute at an Asian restaurant not realizing it included tofu.  So when the dish came and the little chunks of tofu were staring back at me, I decided I would at least try it.  I was shocked!  I never thought I'd like tofu, I thought it was something only those crazy vegetarians ate, I thought it would be gross.  But it was good, it was creamy and took on the taste of the sauce, and I liked it.  Who am I?????

What's something you thought "wasn't for you" until you tried it?

How To Make a Green Monster!

 

Unsure of how sore my mouth was going to be after my surgery, we stopped at the grocery store on the way home and rounded up all the ingredients for a green monster smoothie.  Despite my mouth feeling fine, I opted for one on Sunday afternoon for post gym fueling.  That's right, I hit the gym on Sunday morning to do a 5K on the treadmill, which involved quite a bit of walking, but I wanted to take it easy and felt accomplished just getting to the gym (that's 1 down, 1 more to go for my weekly goal).

The Pretend You're On Vacation Green Monster

Ingredients:
- 1 whopping handful of spinach
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 peach
- 2-3 spoonfuls of crushed pineapple with the juice
- A splash of OJ
- 4 ice cubes

Directions:

1.  Put the spinach in first since it's the lightest ingredient.

2.  Layer the fruit.

 The crushed pineapple looks kinda gross, but yum!

3.  Pour the juice.
4.  Add the ice.
5.  Blend until smooth.

 

6.  Taste and add things to adjust if necessary.  (Mine was perfect though :D)

This was delicious!  It tasted like a drink I would've gotten by the pool in Jamaica, hence the name.  As always, despite the bright green color, the spinach was completely disguised, I couldn't taste it at all.

I love these smoothies because I feel like you can throw in whatever you want without really measuring anything and it always comes out so yummy and good for you.  Some recipes I've come across on different blogs include extras like protein powder, flax, wheatgrass, chia seeds, milk... some include peanut butter, or use kale instead of spinach.  I actually bought some Chobani to add some protein, but I totally forgot to use it.  Sometimes they come out looking a little iffy (my mom can't get over the green color at all) but they are always so delicious!

Side note: did my push-ups today!  I did 12, 10, 8, 7, 15 and none on my knees, all real push-ups!  Aw yeah.

What's your favorite fruit combo?  Have you made a green monster yet?

Feeling Inspired!

I always try to eat pretty healthy, but I really tried to clean things up when I was sick.  I loaded up on veggies and fruit, chugged OJ like it was my job, and even took a multivitamin.  And had one of these bad boys:

This green monster was composed of two frozen bananas, a little bit of berry smoothie mix, a nice handful of spinach, some OJ, ice, and amazing grass.  My sister had the grass and I thought, hey if I can't ever taste the spinach then why not just throw some of this in there.  It didn't ruin the smoothie or anything but it was definitely not as sneaky as the spinach!  And PS the pattern of the glass makes this one look extra gross, oops.

I really believe my diet was the reason I didn't feel bad while I had my cold.  I definitely had all the symptoms of a cold, but I never got that super sluggish body ache.  Since then I've been inspired.  I went to the grocery store after work yesterday and left with some produce, some Chobani, and some healthy snacks to bring to work.  Before bed I cooked up some of the veggies for today's epic lunch.  I made a sandwich with peppers, onions, mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, avocado, a little cheddar, and some red hot.  It was amazing!  And I made enough veggies to eat it again later in the week.

And my clean eating quest continued today when I took my first trip to the one and only...

I was excited to check it out because I had wanted to go there for a while but it just never happened.  My excitement was confirmed when I saw this outside...

Trader Joe's was hopping.  I did some laps around the smallish store while checking everything out and trying to find everything I was looking for.  Two different employees stopped to help me out without me even asking and I got a free reusable grocery bag when I told the cashier it was my first time here.  Tonight's dinner was Trader Joe's heat and eat falafel's.

We stuffed ours in some wheat pitas with some feta, hummus, tzatziki sauce, cucumber, tomato, and lettuce.  I thought it was super delicious but Dave wasn't quite as excited about it.  I think he would've preferred some gyro meat, but I'm glad he's always down to try new things, and I don't think he completely hated it.  On a side note, I ate meatless today, yay.

My motivation continued with a trip to the gym last night after coaching.  My friend Tami just got a membership to good old Planet Fitness and wanted me to show her the machines in the circuit.

Monday's Workout:

1.75 mi walk/run on the treadmill - 22 minutes

Machines in the circuit plus step work in between - 35 minutes

Abductor and adductor machines - 5 minutes

Stretch - 5 minutes

I felt so great leaving the gym, I will definitely be going back tomorrow or Thursday night.  Or maybe even both!  Yeah we'll see about that one haha.  Tonight is movie night, watching Easy A with the boyfriend.  Goodnight!

Do you share my love for Trader Joe's?

Mission Decorate!

Since I suddenly have all this free time on my hands, I decided it would be a great time to finally decorate my bedroom.  Michelle (my sister) and I switched rooms a few weeks ago (well more than a few).  We switched since I had the bigger room but I'm only home two or three times a week, most of the time I'm at Dave's.  I had absolutely no desire to spend time decorating this room.  But it's been a while now, I have the time, and my wall decorations were hanging out on the floor waiting to get stepped on and ruined.  Please forgive the mess I call my bedroom.

Checking out what I have and trying to organize.

Before - those things were just stuck on random hooks still on the wall.

After

One of my faves.

From Arts Fest at Penn State last year (wahhh to not going this year).

Before

After - left of the window.

Before

After

The room looks so much better and actually feels like MY room now.  I still have a bit of organizing left to do (and I really should've painted), but the decorations have really made me like the room so much more.  Yay.

I made another green monster smoothie, this one way more green than the other two.  I put a lot more spinach in but it still tasted delicious!  I used a frozen banana, a peach (with the skin), some strawberries, a splash of coconut milk, some Stevia in the Raw, and some ice (no yogurt in this one).  If you haven't tried one of these yet, get on it!  They are fabulous.

Tomorrow we are leaving for another Cape May weekend.  The beach = love.  And the temperatures are supposed to be cooler down the shore then they are here.  Thank goodness.  Hope you have a great weekend.

Has decorating a space ever completely changed your feelings towards it?

Womp womp!

Well, I got laid off on Monday, womp womp.  It was definitely unexpected, but at the same time it makes sense.  I had been extremely low on work for the past week or so.  The unexpected part comes from the fact that they were talking about restoring some of our salary that had been cut a few months ago.  Who knows.  Twelve people got cut and five principals are voluntarily leaving.  It was pretty devastating but my mom keeps reminding me everytime this happened to my dad, it always ended up as a positive thing with him liking his new job better or getting a better salary.  My boss told me that it wasn't performance based, that I was such a nice girl, and he'd gladly give me a recommendation.  One door closes, another door opens, right?  At least it's summer...

Puddin' loves adventurin' and stomping around in creeks.

So now that my schedule is wide open I've been hitting the gym every day.  Running really makes me feel better.  Not waking up to an alarm is also a beautiful thing.  And so is having enough time to make my first green monster smoothie.  And yes, they look gross, but they are oh so tasty.

My creation contained a mango Chobani, a handful of strawberries, a banana, spinach, some milk, and ice.  Again, I don't really measure things, I don't think exact measurements are really that important in this recipe anyway.

It was a little less sweet than I cared for so I added a few Stevia in the Raw packets to up the dessert for breakfast factor.  Yum yum yum!  I definitely recommend making this.  You don't taste the spinach and it's such a good way to start the day.

I made a second one with a raspberry Chobani, strawberries, blueberries, spinach, coconut milk, ice, and some more Stevia in the Raw.  It was equally as delicious and equally as gross looking.  Maybe more actually.

I'm sorry for the hiatus I've taken from the blog, really I've been avoiding all computers.  An epic fail on a new recipe didn't help.  I will do better.

Have you ever had something bad turn out to be for the best?