Yet Another Faboosh Morning

Morning! It's going to be another Spring-like day. WOOHOO!



Looks like there are chances of rain and will be windy this weekend but I'll take it! It's almost tornado season so we are used to wind in OK.

This is totally a tangent but is anyone else digging Timbaland and Justin Timberlake's "Carry Out?" I'm loving it! It's dir-tay so I change the station if the boys are in the car but if not, I'm dancing in my seat.

A little mini-vent . . . I was dropping the boys off at school and when I pulled up, a car blocked the entire driveway instead of pulling into it. I don't understand that. All these parents are in a hurry, trying to drop off their kids and no one can get to the front of the school because another parent was inconsiderate. Most of the parents are super nice and courteous but that kind of rubbed me the wrong way this morning.

Moving on to breakfast! I was craving chocolate so I went with Amazing Grass' Amazing Meal Chocolate Infusion. I used the entire packet for rib-sticking power.

I added it into my Green Monster. It tured it a tad brown but goodness, it's good!

My GM contained:

• Amazing Meal packet
• 2 huge handfuls of spinach
• 1 banana
• 1.25 cups rice milk
• 2T shredded coconut
• 3 handfuls of ice

Seriously? Chocolate + coconut? YUM. I'm sad I don't have any more of the Chocolate Infusion packets but I am so going to buy some.

I really want to run today but it's a strength day. Core work, here I come!!

Have you ever run into rude parents at school or daycare? If so, what do you do?

So Energized!

Though it's been busy, I was determined to get out for a run today. I was still a bit bummed by my run on Monday and skipping yesterday's strength sesh. Pre-run, I had a banana and some Barney butter. That stuff is delish!

Once Donna and I stepped foot outside, I knew it was going to be a great run. It's absolutely beautiful! It didn't take long to get a good sweat going. Tackling the hills didn't seem quite as hard like it did on Monday. Yay! I dropped her off at Mile 3 and kept going. I only planned on doing 5 but went ahead and did 6. Whoop! Don't you just love when you feel like you could keep going?

Once I got back to the office, cooled down and guzzled a ton of water, it was lunch time. It is very simple but one of my faves.

I had an apple and white cheddar sandwich with the rest of the apple and sliced tomato on the side. I wish we had a toaster oven at work but a microwave did the trick to melt the cheese.

BOMB! And so satisfying! I'm jamming to Carrie Underwood's (aka, The Lover's girlfriend) "Cowboy Cassanova." What's up fellow Okie!

What's your favorite thing to eat for lunch?

Spring Fever Has Infected Me

Whoop, whoop! It's Wednesday and it's going to be nice and sunny out. I see an outdoor run in my very near future! Hope you're doing well and ready to tackle the day. Thanks to my three cups of coffee, I'm ready to tackle it and wrestle it to the ground! OK . . . I need to calm down. Seriously. I'm just so excited by the Spring-like weather!

Both boys decided to sleep in so I had to wake them both up. I'm really trying to streamline my morning but somehow, I always end up rushing and stressing. Hmmm . . . I wonder if it's because I was watching Undercover Boss while I was putting on my face this morning? That show is great!

I am currently sipping on a delish Green Monster:

Instead of flax, I used one of my Amazing Grass goodies.

My GM contained:

• half of the Amazing Meal packet
• 2.5 cups of spinach
• 1 banana
• 1.25 cup rice milk
• 2T shredded coconut
• lots of ice

Rock my face off! Time to get busy. Also, do you think it's time I cleaned out my wallet?

Have a fantastic day!

5:00 PM Already?

Evening, folks! I looked up from my work and it was time for my pre-work out snack! Can't complain about that! I had a pear and a cutie.

About an hour after my snack, I realized I was way too swamped to get in my planned strength sesh. I had to quickly get over the guilt and get back to business. I know I will make up for it later this week and honestly, if I don't make it up, skipping one session is not going to kill me!

A couple hours later, hunger hit me hardcore.

It consisted of mainly leftovers:

• Flat Out wrap (last one! Boohoo!)
• roasted tofu from Sunday night
• spinach
• hummus
• carrots
• black beans

Wraps are so easy and fun. You can get so creative with them!

I worked my way through my afternoon snack and before I knew it, it was time to go get my little dudes.

I thought I'd share a pic of my leftovers! I know, it sounds weird and gross but with fruits and veggies (and tea leaves!), I save the stuff I don't eat during the day for our compost. We have been doing our own compost for our veggie/fruit garden but recently got a real compost bin. Before that, we've used one that The Lover built. He is very handy and has a green thumb!

We feel better about making our own fertilizer rather than buying it. Plus, it makes our veggies organic! He doesn't use pesticides or anything. We are pumped getting the garden started.

Do you have a veggie/fruit garden? What do you typically plant?

Bulgur Wheat & Strength Workout Question

Morning! It's back to reality for me and may I just say it's going to be a doozy? I knew today will be and already has been crazy so I made a hearty breakfast. I've been wanting to try different grains besides barley, oatmeal, cous cous . . . you get the picture :0). Yesterday, I picked up a box of bulgur wheat with soy for extra oomph.

The bulgur takes 15 minutes to cook so I could let it simmer and get other things done at the same time.

In my bowl of grain-y delicousness was:

• 1/2 cup bulgur wheat
• 1 1/8 cup water
• 1.5T pumpkin butter
• dash of pumpkin pie spice
• dash of cinnamon
• 3t brown sugar
• dash of rice milk
• sprinkle of chocolate chips

It is wonderful! And a very nice change from oatmeal. I ate almost all of it but it's a lot so I'll use 1/4 cup of bulgur next time. Try it, you'll like it! You can also make tabouli with it so I'll be trying that in the near future!

Last week, Kerry asked: "How did you start adding weights and other workout into your running schedule? Right now I just run but I really need to firm up my belly. Two pregnancies have really taken a toll on it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!"

When I first started running, that was all I did. If I did do any type of strength, I was lucky to get one workout a week, if that. Over time, I realized I would be a stronger runner if I added strength to my routine. Plus, like you said Kerry, after two kids, the belly needed firming!

I run four days a week so I had the ability to add strength to the other days I wasn't running or crosstraining. I highly recommend Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred for mamas that are pressed for time. The workouts are 20 minutes and it's no joke! It's a combination of cardio and strength. She has killer core stregnthing moves like planks. I'll admit, it was tough to do the workouts at home, even for 20 minutes sometimes. If I was on the floor, the boys would climb all over me like a jungle gym. I'm all for added weight for more of a challenge but that was a bit over the top. So The Lover would watch them so I could do it. Sometimes I woke up early in the morning but I did not like that quite so much. :0)

I now do my strength routines at work on my lunch break but I know you are a stay-at-home-mama. If you can get it in while the girls are sleeping, do it! Or have your hubby watch them. You'll really see a difference in your running once you start incorporating strength into your routine. Also, when I run, I try to remember to keep my core tight (but not too tight) instead of letting it hang loose.

I hope that helps!

Good Day With The Lover

Ahhh . . . such a relaxing day! After a trip, no matter how long or short, I always feel like I need a day to recuperate from the actual trip. Anyone else?

I didn't really have a lunch. Around lunch time, I had a half cup of Oikos vanilla yogurt with 1/4 cup of pumpkin flaxseed granola. I love Greek yogurt but they are a bit expensive. Thanks to Stonyfield for hooking me up with some coupons! We decided to hit Academy, the grocery store and Sam's for essentials. At Sam's, I had a huge soft pretzel with no salt or butter. I am a sucker for soft pretzels. I didn't take a pic but trust me, it was large and in charge. I had a hunk of amazing, multi-grain baguette we got from the stizore.

I know, I 'll quit doing the "iz" thing. I'm only like, 5 years late on that.

Dinner was incredible!

Side view:

Nom, nom, nom! I had a Boca burger on the multi-grain bagueete with spinach, white cheddah cheese and apple slices. The cheese was all melty and so good! The rest of the apple and grapes were on the side. Big Boy snatched my grapes when I left my plate unattended. Oops.

Time to get things ready for tomorrow and also get fresh sheets on the bed. Nothing like crawling into a freshly made bed! Night and I'll see ya tomorrow when I return to reality!

Relaxing Monday

Morning! Geez, I didn't realize it's almost 1100 AM. We got to sleep in until 700 AM and it was so darn nice! Both boys woke up then and I prepared them for school. The Lover took them while I got ready for my run. My pre-run snack was freaking awesome. OK, it was so awesome because I cracked into the pumpkin butter. The smears of heaven were on a WW mini bagel.

Pumpkin butter, where have you been all my life? It has high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in it but who cares? This stuff is soooo good!

I set off for my run and felt pretty optimistic. Once I got going, ugh! I could tell the weekend of fried foods (fries are evil lol) and beer (I had some high dollar Miller Lite for $8.50/bottle! Robbery!) affected me. I took more walking breaks and about 5.5 miles into it, I threw in the towel. Just wasn't feeling it so I called The Lover to pick me up. Yep, I sure did! Also, I knew The Lover was home and I just wanted to be home with him. Cheesy, I know.

After cleaning up, The Lover made breakfast for us.

Scrambled eggs, two Cuties, toasted sammie thin with more punkin buttah! Off to spend some time with The Lover and hopefully do some grocery shopping for the week! Time to get back on track and get my booty back in gear.