Getting Our Fit On

Murphy and I have been fairly active over the past couple of weeks. Winter Break makes it very difficult to use the standard excuses. "I'm tired" or "I can't find the time" don't really cut it when you have two weeks off.

The boys and I did a little under five miles at Mission Trails on New Years Day. 

Murph and I took a water and snack break at the halfway point. It was a gorgeous San Diego day. I'd go so far as to say it was a bit on the hot side, but I don't want any death glares from the East Coast, so I'll just say it was lovely. But, seriously, look at that view!

We also went for a quick walk around Lindo Lake (and a stop by the post office!) yesterday. 

It's not easy to get a selfie with a puppy. Not going for duck face in the second pic, btw. I was doing the ol' kissy noise please pay attention to me dog. 

Another beautiful day and another great walk with my best buddy. 

In addition to walks and hikes, I've been using a few fitness apps, which I'll review once I've spent enough time with them. 

How are your goals for the new year progressing? What's one accomplishment over the past few days that you're proud of?

2 Days Before New Years Resolutions

Original post was from another blog I was trying out, so please forgive the timing confusion. Obviously, it is not two days before the new year, but I'm copying all of my posts from there to my main blog, which I'd abandoned for far too long.

New Year's Resolutions tend to get dropped, right? So, my plan is to start a health & fitness plan two days before everyone else.

Inspired by Gracie's Lean '14, I've decided to use my new juicer (thanks, Santa!) at least every morning to get a nutrient-packed start to the day and to complete the New York Times 7-minute workout daily.

I don't have any concrete goals in mind, which may turn out to be a problem. I do know that I'd like my skin to clear up and I'd like to have more energy. It would also be super great if my pants fit a bit better.

Today was day one and I had a juice for breakfast and a juice with lunch. I won't be able to have juice in the middle of the day once I go back to work, but I'll take advantage of having the rest of this week off. I recently watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, which has fueled my juicing fire. I got both recipes for today's juices from the official website for the movie, one of which was delicious and one of which I had to gag down. I despise the flavor of ginger and the recipe called for it, so I tried, but ew. From now on, I'll put a mixture of fruits and veggies together that sound good and hope for the best. I will no longer put in ingredients that I know I don't like.

I also completed the NYT 7-minute workout after dinner using this app. I love the app because it allows me to listen to my own workout mix while using the app. The app also alerts you with audio when it's time for a transition. If you're unfamiliar with the NYT 7M workout, it's a series of twelve body weight exercises that you do for 30 seconds each, followed by a ten second rest. The number of cycles is up to you. I'm only completing one cycle right now as I am absolutely physically inactive, but I'm confident I'll be completing multiple cycles by month end.

What I need now is a buddy for accountability and I'm set!

Elfin Forest

My manfriend and I, on a recommendation from a coworker, hiked Elfin Forest in Escondido yesterday. I think we agree that it's now our favorite hike in San Diego County. There are so many different paths to take that it could be different every time you go. It's challenging, but not so difficult as to be discouraging. There are plenty of shaded areas mixed in with the sunshine-y bits. There are also some pretty incredible views along the way.

Dylan checks out the land we've conquered at the beginning of the hike. I dig his conquering pose.

I'm sort of adorable. This is my pre-red-face-sweaty-body look.

Overlooking Lake Hodges.

We ended up hiking nearly 5.5 miles in a little over 2 hours.

We kicked up a lot of dust. As evidenced here:

I can't wait to get back and try another path.

Bonus pic from Friday night! We did a quick sunset hike up Cowles Mountain and used the new hats that Mama Barr gave us to help us along the way.

That's me at the peak. Always a lovely view of San Diego up top.

While I couldn't force myself to the gym three times this week as planned, two hikes in two days alleviates the guilt.

Happy Sunday all!

BragFest 2k11

Want to know how busy my weekend was? I'll tell ya! This is my Saturday afternoon post. But, wait. It's Monday at noon, you say?

Exactly.

And now we begin the BragFest. Guess what I did Saturday morning! All before 11:30 am! I ran walked mostly ran a 5K. My very first! Exclamation!

That there's my sexy race shirt. Did I actually raise any money for Habitat for Humanity? No. I signed up for the race to try to motivate myself to train. Did I train? No. This isn't the first time I've tried this type of coercion on my laziness , but this is the first I've actually gone through with the race and the end of the failed training attempt.

First 5K: 38:13. Not tooooo shabby with no training, right? Right?

Guess what else I got in my race goody bag?

 A blood blister. Hot.

After the race, I drove my butt home to make some breakfast. I was craving some breakfast sausage, but had none, so I made the most aesthetically displeasing lumps of meat I've ever seen.

Know what? They also didn't taste so good. I need a little more spice in my sausage. (That's what she said) Ah well. allrecipes can't always be right.

You know when they are right? When I need some meat-a-balls and they lead me to heaven, or as the case may be, Meatball Nirvana.

These bad boys...oh lord, you guys...these are delicious. The flavor is spot-on and the texture is light. I made some of Papa Russ's World Famous Marinara Sauce to accompany them, but then realized I had no pasta nor did I even have a roll to throw everything on.

Woe is me. Such is the life of an ill-prepared cook.

I took a nap to cope.

Hope you all had as fulfilling a Saturday as I.

Garbage

Not really, though. I just couldn't come up with a clever name for this delicious dish.

I originally named it Swiss Cheese Mashed Potato Brisket Egg, but Dylan gave me his "you're a crazyface" look at that title, so...

Suggestions?

It was damn delicious and kept me full on the drive to Palomar Mountain, through a 4 mile hike, and on the drive back.

Miraculous!

Garlic parmesan mashed potatoes, caramelized onions with chopped slow-cooked brisket, shredded swiss, topped with an over-medium egg. Whole wheat toast on the side.

Ok, Universe. I get it.

I'm meant to be unhealthy and lumpy.

The Universe commands it.

See, I'm on a fitness kick thanks to Candice and fitocracy. I've been, for the first time EVER, working out regularly and actually pushing myself.

The Universe gave me a gentle hint last week when two girls walked into the dinky gym in my complex ahead of me. They proceeded to plop themselves unceremoniously on the last two machines. One of those was supposed to be mine! Do you know what they did then? I'll tell you. They sat there and talked, their legs barely moving. Who are these people? I did some weights in the meantime, realized no one was giving up a machine any time soon, and began a quick walk back home. I consider that quarter mile my cardio for the day.

I brazenly ignored that subtle hint, though, and hiked on both Wednesday and Saturday last week. I do what I want, Universe! I've been a bit sore, but was ready to get back into the game today until the Universe decided to BREAK ME!

I was nesting last night. Like vacuum under the bed, rearrange the furniture, put unwanted clothes in a bag for the thrift store levels of nesting. When I was done, I thought I'd attack the kitchen while I was at it. I opened the dishwasher to throw some dirties in and then, being the multi-tasker that I am decided to start the baked oatmeal I had planned for breakfast. I went to my room to grab the ol' laptop and, as I walked back to the kitchen, I began to search for the recipe. Multi-tasking! Woot!

Let me recap for you.

Holding a laptop.

Searching for a recipe.

Eyes on the screen.

Walking into the kitchen.

Now I'm going to need you to picture this last part in slow motion.

I walk full speed into the open dishwasher door. I manage to hit it with both shins simultaneously. I begin to fly (no joke) over the door. In that instant, my laptop was worth more than my life because I hold it up in the air as I come crashing down to the ground. In that last moment before the collision, I managed to turn so I wouldn't land on my face.

Good news: laptop & face are fine!

Bad news: my ass is broken.

I caught a lot of air as I sailed over the dishwasher door and all that weight came down on my right cheek. I could not sleep on that side last night. I can not sit on it today. It's such a deep injury that there's not even a bruise yet (but, lord, there are some nasties on my shins).

In any case, it didn't work. I'm still doing Miramar Lake's five miles today.

I'm not sure I'm ready for what the Universe has in store for me next. Wish me luck!

Lake Poway Loop

It doesn't matter how close to defeat (death, more accurately. Let's be honest.) I am after the Lake Poway Loop hike. When I come around that last corner to see this

and the cool breeze that comes through begins to ease the heat stroke I've nearly suffered, it all seems worth it.

It is worth it.

Yes, I have sausage fingers from the pooling blood.

Yes, I have released nearly a gallon of sweat, all of which the back of my shirt has collected.

Yes, I have muttered a string of words that would make my mother cringe throughout the loop.

Yes, I am covered in a fine layer of dust.

Yes, my face is bright red & I'm wearing a LoJack hat because that's all my stepdad had & this new haircut has my hair all up in my face otherwise.

Helllooo! (Creepy shadow hand attacking me. Who's got photography skills? I do! I do!)

But, you know what? I accomplished something. I decided to go on this hike, I went alone (thanks a lot, lazy-ass friends!), and I finished.

And I feel damn good.

Food as Fuel: Day 1

I had another one of my brilliant ideas last week. Some people say I get on these kicks & then give up on them after three days &, of course, those people are right. Something must be done, though. I haven't been very routine about meals and the past few weeks have been an excruciating cycle of skip breakfast, eat a huge, greasy lunch, feel sick, and eat a pretty healthy dinner. (Points for the semi-healthy dinner, right?)

So, the idea. Well, boredom at work births most of these plans and this time was no different. I spent a good amount of time creating a table in Word to plan out a general daily meal plan, which resulted in the following guidelines:

Morning pick-me-up

Smoothie (spinach, almond milk, frozen blueberries, flax meal, chia seeds)

Breakfast

Oatmeal with dried apricots & peanut butter

or

Egg sandwich on an everything bagel thin

Lunch

Salad with tons of veggies and a protein (I'm working with garbanzo beans and roasted chicken this week)

Afternoon snack

baby carrots with Laughing Cow light swiss
crackers

Dinner

whatever that may be

The idea is to eat every few hours so I don't get too hungry or cranky, both of which usually lead to questionable food decisions.

I'm also hoping that this plan will give me the energy to, you know, actually move around. Maybe squeeze some physical activity in?

For now, I have no idea how many trillions of calories or grams of fat I'll be consuming in these meals nor do I can. This is more a test to determine how I feel when eating regular, smallish meals.

I'm moving my thinking from food as obligation and into food as fuel.

Health Karma

Friday night, I drank myself stupid. No exaggeration. I had a major hissy fit in a public place.

Saturday night, I had a couple beers. And shots of tequila. And participated in five games of beer pong, so there's that.

I did no physical activity of any kind over the weekend. (Does a hissy fit count?)

Yesterday, to get back on track, I had a beef & green chili chimichanga for breakfast & spicy chicken noodle soup for lunch. It seems I wanted to make sure I didn't hit any important food groups.

Today, I went to the gym before work to meet with my personal trainer. Back on track for realsies this time.

But health karma wasn't having it. Health karma was all, "Your effort's commendable, but it looks like you forgot to pack a bra with your work outfit today. Have fun wearing a sports bra all day!"

Sports bra = zero nipple coverage

I'm sure the 40 guys I work with won't notice.

Right?

...

Right?

*cough*

This girl is sick:

She is not happy about it. Socktavius the Socktopus is so irritated by the whole thing that he can't even show his face.

This is her sick food:

Grilled cheese, Cheez-Its, and chicken noodle soup solve just about everything. The secret is that all the chicken must be picked out of the soup. If this step is ignored, the magic is gone.

This is her magic potion:

It is a life-saving (sleep-inducing) mixture of whiskey, lemon juice, and honey, made nice & toasty in the microwave.

Fingers crossed that the healing process is swift. I'm a whiny baby when sick (more so than usual) and I feel sorry to everyone around me.

baby steps

I did not want to write about my foray into health for multiple reasons.

Mostly because:

1. It's sort of boring.
1a. Nobody wants to read that.
2. I will start out strong, then quit and don't really want public record of my attempt.

It's really only #2, though, because, um...no one's reading this except me. So, I can write it and bore myself. As for the real excuse I've been avoiding this topic. I love to plan. I get no greater joy than having a goal and setting up short- & long-term steps to reach that goal. The part that's tricky for me is the execution. Sometimes, I finish the planning portion and never begin the journey. Yet more often, I plan the heck out of something, try it for a week, then pretend none of it ever happened.

Buuuuut. If I start talking about this stuff here (which I have, obvs), there will be a way to be held accountable for something. And I hate that!

For now, I have a little complaint. I had gone weeks without buying any sort of "good" food. I was eating lots of processed stuff, for lack of a better description of what I was ingesting. So, like a good, little health-conscious girl, I dragged my butt over to Henry's to at least get some produce to start me off. See, aside from the health benefits of eating well, there's also extra incentive for me to do so. I get pretty nasty headaches when I'm not eating well. So, then I'm fat, lazy, and in pain. In addition to produce (and spices! Lord, do I ever love their bulk spices!), I needed to pick up some Greek yogurt because it's delicious and good for you. Right?

WRONG!!

I bought this stuff here and was so proud of myself. (I'm making good food choices! And it's so delicious! Tra la la!!) But, guys...it's loaded with fat. And the sugar! THE SUGAR! What surprises me the most is that cream is a main ingredient. Is this normal? I thought yogurt was supposed to be, well...yogurt.

Anyhow. Mistakes are just a kick in the butt to do better next time, right?

I need to look at nutritional information before I buy something. Not after I've been gorging on it for several days.

Lesson learned.