Sleepy Sunday

Hi Everyone! I hope you’re all having a fabulous weekend! Mine has been lots of fun so far! Friday night I went to On the Border with my best friend and a SoCo. on the Rocks w/lime and chicken fajitas. I wanted a margarita w.out the margarita mix (tequila, lime, triple sec, club soda), but for some reason the bar couldn’t make this. So soco it was, I almost never order hard alcohol, but man, I’m not going to lie, a drink after this long week of hw and work felt good : ) I LOVE chicken fajitas, as long as they’re not oily. These were perfect. : ) Saturday was a long training run for the the Rock and Roll Marathon, I was scheduled to do twenty miles, but am behind on mileage due to an injury a few weeks ago, I thought it would be better to pick up my training where I left off than push myself too hard too fast now and injure myself again. You shouldn’t increase your mileage by more than ten percent a week. I ended up doing 17 miles and walking for ten minutes afterwards. The run went pretty well, although I definitely got some pretty funny looks from people. I looped past the same people about 3 times within the space of a couple hours in Hillcrest, they were cheering me on with “You Go Girls!” by the third loop. Lol. Afterwards I met up with my best friend for a girls day and we went to power yoga at my yoga studio. Normally I would never have done this after a long run but she wanted to try it and it actually felt amazing after the long run! I think it really stretched my tight muscles out and today I’m barely sore. If you’re a distance runner, I fully recommend trying a yoga class after your long runs. Anyways, after that we spent the day just hanging out. We met up with another one of my friends for lunch at Firehouse in Pb. I really like this restaurant. The restaurant has the traditional flip flops, pacific beach, laid back feeling to it but with a touch of class. They have tables on the roof, which is fun.

We sat inside yesterday though because it was chilly. I had a chicken sandwich w.out the bread, w/goat cheese, fresh avocado, and a side of fruit. It was heavenly! I always create my own meal off the menu, haha. (forgot to take a pic., sorry)

Later on that day, my friend and I went to Babycakes, which is essentially heaven on earth. I LOVE FROSTING, I’m not that into cake, unless it’s a really well made special one, but I love me some good frosting. And 17 miles deserves a frosting award wouldn’t you say? It’s a cupcake shop in Hillcrest with a cozy, hidden cottage feel to it and serves a vide variety of different cupcakes, espresso drinks, wine, and beer.

I’m sad to say however, I got the pomegranate green tea cupcake, took one bite of it and proceeded to drop the cupcake. :  ( Bummer. I’ll have to go back and take a picture of my cupcake next time (And actually eat the cupcake!!) This shop is dangerously close to where I live so I’m sure I’ll be back. After that I just hung out w/the boy. Mario Kart Wii (Which is the bomb!) and Two and Half Men may have been involved : )

Today, I’m just chilling at home and doing homework, I did a very light workout at the gym earlier, went grocery shopping and got my haircut. Later I plan on making dinner here for the boy and I. My parents moved to St. Louis for my father’s job a year and a half ago, so sadly I don’t get to see my Mom today. I sent her flowers though, of course. I plan on doing a grocery shopping post later today or tomorrow.

Off I go to do homework, I’m so sad it’s sunday! It’s my least favorite day of the week, at least on Monday you are already four days away from the weekend. I live for my weekends, it that sad? : )

Did you do anything fun this weekend? And what’s your favorite dessert splurge?

Re-Evaluation and Revolution

After a shaky start and a brief hiatus from the blog world, I’m back. I stopped blogging because I felt it was too stressful to blog. Between school, my legal assistant job, my social life, and my training, I began to feel that my blog as a heavy weight on my shoulders. So many bloggers posted 3 times a day and here I only had time for every other day, definitely not time to take pictures of every meal and relate everything in my day. However, recently I’ve seen quite a few of my favorite bloggers speak out about how they’ve decided they may not post daily or talk about how while they often feel the pressure to post several times a day, that may not work for them and it’s their blog, which they maintain for their intention.

It began to dawn on me and I had a revolution of thought. I don’t have to post three times a day, every morsel that goes into my mouth or according to a certain schedule. I started this blog because I have a passion for running, fitness, healthy eating and love the ideas, support, and friendship that stems from the blog world. The writer in me also finds the blog world appealing a way to document my thoughts and life.

So I’m back. I don’t know what format this will take. This blog will be about my thoughts, my training, healthy living, and who knows. I plan to just roll with the punches because this is my blog and it should be about who I am. I hope that you will read and enjoy my adventures, discoveries, tips, and journey with me.

Also, on a different note, I completed the La Jolla Half Marathon! I finished with an average of a 9 min. 53 second pace, which is actually 7 seconds faster than my goal (My goal was to average a 10 min. mile). Pictures are below of me crossing the finish line and of La Jolla. It was a BEAUTIFUL race, but hard, we ran through a mountain and it was at least 80% uphill. CRAAZZZY! I remember seeing the first mountain and thinking, “are you ****ing kidding me?” Lol. But so worth it in the end. : ) It was an amazing day, I promise next race I will do a full recap. I plan on updating the La Jolla Half Training Schedule to reflect my current workouts.

I love this picture, I think I look like I’ll run someone over if they get in front of me : )

 

I had a very dorky finish with both of my arms in the air crossing the finish line, but for some reason they didn’t photograph it. I’m the one in orange behind the lady crossing the finish.

We ran along the entire coastline, it was gorgeous!

Assuming all goes well, I believe next up is the RNR Marathon!

TGIF Baby!

(Sorry about the small writing for the first half of the post, I can’t figure out how to make it bigger?)

Happy Friday lovies! Woo-hoo, I just love Friday, I mean fabulous, fun and Friday all start with F, coincidence? I think not! (yes, I’ve definitely already had my coffee as I’m sure you can tell, lol) I think it’s going to be a fun weekend! I have a stand up comedy show planned for tonight(!!), a long run tomorrow, trips to the bookstore and the grocery store and lots more! Yay for the weekend : ) Now if only it was 5:30, do Fridays drag on for you at work too? Anywayzers, as promised here is an example of my daily meals, this is from Wednesday, sorry it took so long to post, crazy week at work and school

 I started off with half an English muffin w/pb before hitting up the gym and then going to my 7:00 A.M. Power Yoga class. Nothing says motivation like peanut butter. I always have to have a snack before I work out in the morning as I ALWAYS wake up hungry, without fail. Also, studies have shown that it’s best to eat within 30 minutes to an hour of waking up as it boosts your metabolism for the day.

 

In exciting news I joined my local yoga studio! They have multiple locations too, which I love, three are all within 10 minutes of me, (Pacific Beach, HillCrest, Point Loma) I think I’ve officially fallen in love with Power Yoga, who’d have thought this running addict would love yoga?  After a fabulous workout of 40 Min. of Hill and Speedwork (Incline 9.5 and then lower w.varying speeds, switching up every 400 meters, you can also find my workouts on the LJ Half Training schedule page) and a 60 minute Power Yoga class I jammed on over to work and had my typical workday breakie. 1 Fage 0%, 1 Banana, strawberries, 1/3 c. Oat Bran, 1/3 C. Pumpkin, 1 Tbsp. Trader Joes All Natural PB and a whole heck of a lotta cinnamon (I left the yogurt prettified and mussied it up w.cinnamon after the pic) I love this breakfast combo, the healthy fats, protein and carbs keep me going until lunch every time!

 

I worked for a few hours and then had a great lunch of Cottage Cheese, ½ of a huge red bell pepper, a couple leftover pear slices, an apple, more strawberries, and a salad with cucumbers and a chicken sausage. This lunch took me FOREVER to eat and was amazing, loved all the crunch! I love lunches with lots of components, they’re always really fun to eat.

 

For a snack I tried a new yogurt from Trader Joes, It’s a European Mocha style yogurt. I was a little leery trying this yogurt as I’m 1) addicted to greek yogurt and 2) while I like coffee, I often don’t like coffee or mocha flavored foods. Verdict? It was SO GOOD! Seriously, this yogurt was creamy, rich, chocolaty and just DECADENT. It was amazing, I would definitely buy it again. I stirred in ½ C. TJ High Fiber cereal (love these little twigs!) with it. 

I came home and did some ever so fun homework (hah, yeah…), for dinner I had one of my favorites, roasted veggies and an egg white scramble. My roasted veggies were a mix of sweet potato, brussel sprouts and broccoli. I sprayed them with Olive Oil and topped them with chili powder, sea salt, and cinnamon, then roasted them for 20 minutes at about 400 degrees, turning once halfway. Here’s a pic of them before they went in:

Seriously, roasting veggies is so easy and delish!

And my scramble has L.Cow Swiss and GOAT MILK BRIE cheese (i.e. heaven on earth)

I can eat an impressive amount of veggies, : ) And I admit to LOVING mustard and ketchup on eggs. I’m sure lots of people find that simultaneously gross and wierd. Lol. Do you have anything you put on food or a wierd food combo that others would find strange? 7 more hours until the weekend! Not that I’m counting or anything : )

Oh, and there may or may not have been a frozen yogurt topped with whip cream and granola, apparently it was so delicious my camera ate the pic, sorry!

The day(s) Ashmeister went MIA and to a Karaoke bar…

Hey everyone! Just wanted to apologize for being MIA the last few days, My Mom was visiting from out of state over the weekend (my Parents moved to St. Louis for my Dad’s job last year) and Spring Break is next week for me and I’m convinced my Professors have a secret pact to throw as much HW at us before Spring Break as they can : ( Don’t worry though, my weekend was still filled with fun things like dinner at a fab. Cajun restaurant and sushi restaurant, and there may or may not have been some karaoke…and someone may or may not have sang “I will survive” w/all her friends sometime around 12:30 a.m. Saturday night. uh…yeah….lol. What can I say? Classic karaoke song, Good times : ) I tried to get the guys to go up with us and sing Love Shack but I’m afraid it was a no go: ( maybe next time. It was a fun night, the fifty year old bartender was singing karaoke to Eminem songs  all night w/out looking at the words and while mixing drinks, impressive! Next time I promise to remember my camera!

Anywayzers, I’m at ze office right now (shhh…) So I’m going to keep this post short. Later tonight I plan on doing something different w/my posts today and actually posting all my meals for the day in case you’re interested to see how this crazy Cali Girl, fitness and running enthusiast keeps herself fueled. Maybe I’ll keep up the meal posting depending on the response, or at least one meal a day, idk we shall see.

Topic/Tip of the day:

Calories Schmalories in My Cocktail Schmocktail 

 

Other than the occasional glass of wine, I don’t drink very often. But some occasions call for a fun cocktail. In order to keep the calories and hangovers down on those nights when you want to let your hair down a bit or are just hankering for a cocktail, here are some tips:

• Avoid Soda, Sugary Mixers, and Juice in your cocktails - These not only lead to high calorie cocktails, the extra sugar in your drink is a one way ticket to hangover city.
• If you need to have a mixer, stick with low calories mixers, such as diet soda, tonic, sugar free syrups, lemon or lime juice, etc.
• Stay away from Mr. Blender – unless you are mixing it yourself, try and avoid blended drinks, they often include heavy calorie additions such as sugary mixes (think flavored Margaritas, etc) or cream (Pina Colada, Mudslide, etc.)
• Use small glasses - Most alchohol glasses are double or triple the serving size. Aim for 1.5 oz of hard liquors such as vodka (about 100 calories) or 5 oz for drinks such as wine (about 100-120 calories)
• 
• If it’s going to be a long night, alternate every drink with a mocktail. I like to order club soda with a twist of lime, not only does it rehydrate my body in between drinks, but it looks like a cocktail so no one pressures you to order a drink.
• Do not order a double or triple, if you have a second drink you will regret that first macho drink
• Ask for double the amount of ice – not only does it add hydrating water to your drink (Again, trying to avoid a visit from Mr. Hangover) but it also cuts down on the amount of alcohol in your drink
• Order a flavored liquor with club soda – This is one of my favorite things to do, it elimates any extra calories from mixers, still has flavor, and has water for hydration!

And I leave you with my Saturday night invention and new fave Cocktail to order:

Pour the following over ice: Pear Vodka, Club Soda, Splash of Apple Pucker, and a Twist of lime. So good! I’m thinking of naming it the Prickly Apple or maybe the Pearnapple, what do you think, any suggestions?

What are your tips for going out and favorite drinks to order?

Loving Yourself and Saying “Me First”

 

Topic of the week: Loving yourself through taking care of yourself.

 

 

 

Something that is so important that women often overlook is taking care of themselves first. Once I was in an unhealthy relationship where I didn’t take care of myself or self love at all. I put him first when it came to everything, including my own happiness, convincing myself that he was worth putting myself last, that this was what love was.  I was no longer sure of what my place was in this world, or even of who I was in my own inner world. For so long I had been a part of a relationship that was emotionally abusive that I fell deeper and deeper into it and lost who I was. When that relationship was over, I spent a few weeks floating through my life, I was a ghost of a person that had been gone for so long, I didn’t know how to start looking for her again. But I did and I found the strong, resilient woman I had been all along that I am proud to be. Ever since then I have always vowed to put loving myself and taking care of myself first.

 

 One of the most important, meaningful things you can say to yourself, is I love me. Our culture is all about life in the fast lane. Women that take on everything and anything and often put others interests before their own are often praised for their selflessness. As women, we are naturally nurturers, so we want to take care of other’s needs and often put them before our own. The problem with putting others needs before our own is that it leads to resentment and a feeling of dissatisfaction with out lives. Another thing women often do, (I am guilty of this), is try to be the ultimate multi-tasker. We want to take on anything and everything, it’s been instilled in our minds that saying no is a weakness. This is especially true for us type A personalities out there. We are ingrained with an “all or nothing” attitude. It’s an attitude that I know I myself have to fight daily. Putting others needs before our own and having an all or nothing attitude leads to feelings of overwhelment, emotional and physical exhuastion, and unhappiness. Putting self-care has to be first. You can’t truly love someone else or succeed without making sure you love yourself and are taking care of yourself first.

 

Self-care is empowering. Doing something just for you will renew and revitalize your spirit, giving you the energy to succeed and provide for yourself and others.

 

Self care is:

 

• Knowing when to say no
• Listening to your body, this might mean saying to a workout when you are exhausted, or going to bed earlier because you need sleep
• Taking some time for you doing something you love every day. For me this is running, for you it might be reading, cooking, etc.
• Taking care of your body through proper nutrition and exercise. Just a 2% dip in body hydration can cause fatigue, headaches, depression and a 20% loss in energy
• Taking stock of the people in your life that make you happy and getting rid of the negative influences in your life. This may mean getting out of a bad relationship, friendship, job, etc.

 

I challenge myself, and you to make sure you do something every day that is just for you. To make sure you appreciate yourself for who you are daily and show that appreciation to yourself by taking care of yourself.

 

I do this by cooking healthy, yummy meals for myself and participating in activities that I love, such as yoga or running.

 

Is there an activity in your life that you consider your “me” time? Or what do you do or tips do you have to make sure you are taking care of yourself?

 

 

 

I Like To Move It, Move It : )

Hi everyone! I hope your Tuesday has been fabulous, the week is almost half over! Is it bad I’m already counting down to the weekend? : ) Yesterday, sticking with the program I did a very slow, strangely tortuous feeling five miles. Maybe my long run after less than five hours of sleep on Saturday had more of an effect on me that I thought? Oh well, the important thing is I got through it, whenever I’m just not feeling a run, I start pep-talking to myself halfway through it. Stuff like “You can DOOOO it!” (I say this to myself like the guy in Waterboy haha) and I try to lose myself in the songs I’m listening to, much to the horror  I’m sure of anyone I’m passing by that has to listen to me sing, lol.  Do you sing out loud when you run or workout too?

I mentioned yesterday that I have a week of free membership to the CorePower Yoga studios. I decided I have every intention of taking as much advantage as possible of this free week and so I’m going to try to go to a Power Yoga class every day this week. Therefore, I woke up at the scary , ever so fun hour of 5 a.m. this morning to get my speedwork/hillwork in before a Hot Yoga class ay 6:30.

Now, I love exercise, to me there is nothing that beats that feeling of sweaty euphoria at the end of a good workout. But sometimes doing the same exercise can get repetive and will also yield less results because your muscles get used to it. A great way to add a jumpstart to your routine is to do a hill or speedwork instead of your normal run on the treadmill, an example would be my treadmill workout this morning:

Bump It Up Treadmill Workout

• 400 Meters @ 6.0, 1,0 incline
• 400 Meters @ 7.5 mph, 1.0 incline
• 400 meters @ 4.2 mph, 9.5 incline
• 400 Meters @ 6.0, 3,0 incline
• 400 Meters @ 7.5 mph, 1.0 incline
• 400 meters @ 4.2 mph, 9.5 incline
• 400 Meters @ 6.0, 4,0 incline
• 400 Meters @ 7.5 mph, 1.0 incline
• 400 meters @ 4.2 mph, 9.5 incline
• 400 Meters @ 6.0, 5,0 incline
• 400 Meters @ 7.5 mph, 1.0 incline
• 400 meters @ 4.2 mph, 9.5 incline

Total time: About 35-40 Minutes, you can add repititions for as long as a workout you want.

I did 35 minutes of this and I was definitely sweating bullets by the end of this. After my 35 min. hill wkout I sped on over to a different CorePower Yoga Studio to take a 6:30 class. The studio was in Point Loma, and I have to say I liked the Hillcrest studio better. While the practice was great, the studio was having problems with their heating and therefore it never got higher than 85 degrees in the studio. I was definitely sweating my booty off anyway, but I really missed the heat because it helps my flexibility and ability to go deeply into the poses tremendously. The heated rooms in power yoga classes (95-105 degrees) make for a much harder workout that yields more cardiovascular, flexibility and detoxification benefits.  Tomorrow I plan on attending class at the Hillcrest studio, which is actually closer to me. After my yummy endorphin filled morning I spent the day doing fun stuff like going to class and work. I did however have a fabulous dinner of a goat cheese brie egg white omelette with roasted butternut squash, a roasted mini sweet potato, and broccoli. Love it when the cheese is just oozing out! A-MAZ-ing!

And uh, yeah that would be a Christmas plate that I’m still using, I’m not ashamed, lol.

I’m off to do some studying for my Ace Certification and do some homowork before hitting the hay at 9:00. Yes, 9:00 p.m. and yes, I am ninety ; )  Have a good night!

What’s your favorite exercise routine you never get tired of or favorite way to shake up your exercise routine?

I like it Hot! And Fast Living in America

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! Mine was definitely full of fabulousity! Saturday night the boy and I hit up Black Angus with a coupon we had and proceeded to stuff ourselves silly with a four course dinner. And yes there was dessert. It came in the form of a mountain of chocolately heaven, that looked like this:

Um Yeah, HOLY YUM, is right. So after a few bites of that chocolate montrosity of goodness, we headed out.

Sunday morning, I tried something new. POWER YOGA. I went to this studio in Hillcrest: http://www.corepoweryoga.com/. The studio was cute and had a very earthy feel to it. I felt relaxed just upon walking in. Incense was burning heavily in the air and the atmosphere was very welcoming. I can see myself becoming a regular at this studio.

 

 

Power Yoga

 

Power Yoga is a Vinyasa style yoga, which emphasizes the connection to breathing and your body. It’’s designed to generate internal heat through fast flows and takes place in a heated room, which is typically somewhere between 95-105 degrees. It’s supposed to detoxify the body, increase strength, core strength, balance and focus. I’ve been doing Bikram Yoga for the last couple weeks, but wanted to try something new. So I took their Power Yoga Intermediate class. And it KICKED MY BUTT. and IT WAS AWESOME. I feel a new obsession coming on. By the end of the class, I was pouring sweat out of my body, every limb felt stretched, painful, and rejuvenated. I highly recommend this style of yoga. The best part is, I have a whole week of free classes this week that I have every intention of taking advantage of! : )

FAST LIVING IN AMERICA

Caitlin over at one of my favorite blogs, www.healthytippingpoint.com, wrote about an article she read that discussed that although eating organically is important, that the average American’s diet is riddled with junk already that what we really need to focus on more is eating healthily. This made me think about the topic of fast food consumption in America, which is a topic we are exploring in one of my classes.

At least one quarter of American adults eat fast food everyday and one out of every eight adults has worked in a fast food restaurant at some time during his or her lives. The average American consumes three hamburgers and four orders of french fries a week. That’s 90 grams of fat and 2,520 calories. Most people only need about 2,000 calories daily and Americans are getting more than that in on meal. Fast food has become so prevalent in our daily culture that the average American doesn’t think twice about eating it daily and fast food is an integral part of our daily lives. I think people need to start putting more focus on creating their own healthy meals at home. Students discussing fast food in my class could not even comprehend the idea of taking the time to make their own meals. One specifically said it is not possible. I have a full time job, train for races, go to yoga, am studying for my personal trainer certification, and go to school. And I make the time to make my own meals. I wake up earlier to make breakfast, pre-cut vegetables on the weekend, pack my lunches the night before and make sure I have healthy on the go options to grab such as protein bars, yogurt, fresh fruit, cottage cheese containers (Single serve), carrots, string cheese, etc.

What do you think about fast food in America? Do you find yourself relying on it because of a busy schedule or what extra steps do you take to make sure you have the time to prepare your own meals?