Monday, February 28, 2011

Case of the Mondays: Jeans

Workout: None :(

Calories: 2000

Howdy Bloggies!

I feel like I got some street-cred for being mentioned on runningoffthereeses.com. Woo-hoo! Thanks Cely!

FYI, I’m a little dorky, always sleep deprived and nowhere near as funny as Cely so do me a favor and keep your expectations low, very very low if you decide to read this post!

Don’t you hate it when you start the week off without a good run? Boo! I had every intention to get up and do some yoga, but the hubby woke us up at 4 to catch a 7 am fight and things just went down from there. It didn’t help that my bebe woke up sometime around 2 and I didn’t put her back in her crib until 3:45 – 15 minutes before the alarm bell. Argghh!

Oh well, I’m planning a treadmill run tomorrow morning and I can’t wait to get back on track.

On to my jeans - today’s SkinnyRunner blog on vanity sizing was great and confirmed that the jean company has got my number, literally.

Did I just make a pun? No? Oh well, I tried.

After 6 months of trying to be healthy as I dropped the pregnancy weight, I finally fit into my goal jeans. Those would be the ones on the left – Guess size 29. It’s been over 1.5 years that I could fit in these babies that have been with me since ‘04.

I was on a jean-high this weekend! I was also able to wear my Gap size 6 jeans (circa 2004) , it felt like I have access to a whole new side of my closet that’s been oh so off-limits to me!

I was riding so high that we went to Dillard’s and found these Big Star jeans (also size 29) and I fell in love with them. They fit great and I just had to have them.

Later on that day, I had to go buy a birthday gift at Kohls and found the Angel one’s on the right. I loved the fit and the style, but what tipped the scale was the fact that they were a size 7. That’s right folks, I bought the jeans cause they were a size 7 and they fit great.

I’m so vain, I probably think this blog is about me.

Oh so vain…

Call it what you will, fitting into my old jeans is the best indicator that I’m on the right track with my fitness and my nutrition. I just wish the sizing was more standardized cause I can probably range anywhere from a 4 to a 10 just depending on the brand.

Do the jean companies have your number too? I try not to be focused on a number but it’s so hard not to, how do you all deal with it?

Off to chillax!

Many Blessings :)

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Snapshot Saturday

Workout: 6.59 mile run in 1 hour 11 minutes

Calories:2000

Today started out with an inspiring group run, 6:30 am sharp. There were about 20 people ready to head out on an 11 mile course. I’m always intimidated around “real” hard-core runners so I stayed behind the pack and was ok with just running behind them. I was planning on turning back after 3 miles, so it’d be fine.

Little did I know I was going to have a GREAT run next a 70+ year-old man who had started the group many years ago. He’s run 100 marathons in his lifetime and he’s still out there hitting the pavement. Amazing!

We talked the whole way about our mutual love of doggies, his wife and their new horse, his favorite marathons, all the planning that went into next week’s marathon & half and he also gave me a few tips along the way.

He recommends taking a walking break after every 2 or 3 miles as well as sipping on water every 1/2 to 1 mile. I’m going to try it and see how it goes. I asked him his thoughts on foam-rolling, he never heard of such a thing – his expression was hilarious.

You know I had to give Circle K some love!

I got home, made breakfast for the whole fam and had some reheated coffee with a yummy biscotti while catching up on email & blogs.

Then came the oh so glamorous chores: clean fridge, polish kitchen cabinets, laundry, clean coffee filter. Fun times!

Then we headed to the El Paso Westside Women's Republican Group monthly meeting. As always, it’s very informative and they’re planning on setting up workshops that sound pretty interesting.

The ones that peaked my interest is a course on the Constitution, the other is a workshop on how to store food in case of an emergency. They actually asked some women from the Mormon Church to give the presentation because they are very well-versed on the topic. They’re even going to teach us how to make a solar stove top. Pretty nifty!

Do you guys have a store for emergencies?

Afterwards we ran some more errands and then headed home for some quality time with the doggies.

Dulci will not eat her food unless Abacus is looking at her, she likes his audience. My doggies have issues!

Then it was all about tummy time. My friend Amber made this for my little girl, isn’t she talented? Luv it!

Now it’s all about Saturday Night Live!

How was your Saturday?

Many Blessings!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Foodie Friday: Nerds Rule!

Workout: 3 mile run in 31 minutes
Calories: 2050
 
Hi friends :)
 
Today was a gorgeous day, hope yours was too! Best part was starting off with a nice 3 mile run. I went a little slow at first because I was afraid I wasn’t going to be up to it, but I was pleasantly surprised and I kept increasing the speed. Yay!
 
After the run was this yummy & wholesome egg sammie!
 
 
Now, for some Friday NERD fashion courtesy of the UTEP Miners and a crafty friend who knows his photo-shop:
 

After someone said it looked like it said Nerd, I dared him to see if he could photoshop it. He gets an A+. C’mon, I know you want a NERD shirt!

Lunch was a spinach salad with tuna, half a bag of chips and some papaya. Roasted eggplant was included, enough said :)

After work, the Hubby picked us up and we headed to run some errands on the other side of town. Looking for some grub on the East side of town, we settled on an EP tradition: Chico’s Tacos.

It truly is an institution, my bebe is only 6 months old and she’s already reaching for some secret sauce goodness. Makes Mama pround :)

 

You know your big, when you’ve made onto the Food Network’s Best Thing I Ever Ate show.

Afterwards, we headed over to Sam’s to buy a hose. Spring is in the air and Richard’s determined to get his grass growing. Works for me cause we got to split one of these babies:

Brielle was too busy just looking around, look at those cheeks!

Then we headed home, but we had to fill up and I was forced to grab some iced coffee. Forced! All the DDs on our side of town have somehow closed. It’s made me oh so sad but we have to indulge anytime the opportunity presents itself.
 

Dunnkin’

I’m planning on going to the running group tomorrow morning. Then we have a coffee gathering and a friend’s 1st birthday party to look forward to this weekend, should be fun :)

What are your weekend plans?

Many Blessings!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

A Little Less Natter

Workout: 40 min Vinyasa Yoga

Calories: 2000

Me: Doesn’t this recipe look good.

Hubby: Not really, I guess.

Me: It’s a Rachel Ray recipe.

Hubby: Oh then, it must be good.

In my Hubby’s eyes, Rachel Ray can do no wrong. All I have to do to take an ok recipe from meh to YUM, is say her name.

He even told me about her FHM spread and let me just tell ya that it totally shocked me. She’s so wholesome, I can barely believe she’d sign up for this type of spread.

Would you guys ever do something like this? I think I’d be mortified, seriously!

After 4 awful days battling this stomach virus, I’m finally back to healthy living. Yay :)

I actually had to get an IV drip on Tuesday and some Imodium for the “fun stuff”, which meant no breastfeeding for 24 hours. Misery on top of misery ‘twas. My poor bebe was NOT having it, let me tell ya! She cried, then cried some more, then cried a little bit more. Somehow, we made it through :)

I’ve been living on one can a day of this:

Why is it that when I’m sick all I want to eat is Campbell’s Chicken with Rice soup and crackers? I wonder how it could possibly be good for you? If I’m sick, however, it is the only thing that I can make myself eat. Do you guys try to eat healthy when your sick?

Today was the first day I felt like exercising and it was my last day of the 14-day trial period at Yogaglo.com. I have to tell ya, I’m hooked and I’m going to renew the subscription this month!

I wanna be a Yogi :)

I’m also looking forward to tomorrow morning’s run, I can’t wait. It’s funny how being out of commission will have you wishing you were out there already.

On that note, off to get my AI fix.

Many Blessings!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Case of the Mondays: Uninspired/Slick

Workout: None since Thursday, but a 2 mile SLOW walk today.

Calories: sick and living on toast and soup.

I know, I’ve been MIA. Blame on feeling uninspired and then getting sick. Double whammy!

It all started last Friday, I had planned on a run but my bebe got the crud (booooo) and she was having a rough time that night.  I moved my run to Saturday and went along my merry way.

Saturday morning, decided to move my run to Sunday morning. See, I was still tired and just wasn’t feeling it. Figured it was a recovery sleep night and went along my merry way.

We ended up going to Mass with my MIL at the Church she goes too. Father Joe was really pretty neat and he’s increased attendance since he’s been there.

He had an inspiring sermon about how your body is a temple and you should treat it as such. It struck a chord with me and I was really looking forward to my run the next morning.

The Chicken Quesadilla Explosion Salad had another thought, though. Yuck, the stomach flu hit me hard. The chills, the entire body ache, the restless stomach. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

I slept the majority of all Sunday and barely remember snippets of it. I’m barely recovering now, but can’t say I’m out of the woods yet.

Wish us look, now that my Hubby is in the same boat as I am. Whatever I got Sunday morning, he got this morning – boo. I can’t decide if it’s a stomach flu or salmonella poisoning.

Whatever it is, it sucks!

If tomorrow doesn’t get any better, I’m heading to the doctor’s office – stat!

In other workout-related news, I signed us up for the El Paso Half-Marathon in 2 weeks. Call me crazy and I will answer “that’s a me!”

Off to battle this “thing!”

Many Blessings!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Natter Thursdays: Ouch!

Workout: None


Calories: 2100

Me: Look friend, I decided not to dress like a college student today!

Friend: LOL, that's hilarious. I know, we should have recommended you for that show on how to dress your age. ([Something, something something.)..dressed...middle school...

Me: Ouch

I mean, I love me my Nike sneaks at work, but middle school? Really? I'm that bad to be nominated for "What Not to Wear"? Ouch!

In all honesty, I really thought this was more funny than not - but it still stung a little.

I asked one of my friends if I was that bad and she said not to worry - she would have told me if I was.

Oh well, I guess I'm going to try to look more professional. Middle school, really?

I didn't work out today cause my Bebe has the crud :( She kept waking up last night and I took her in to her Pediatrician today. Apparently, it required a shot, medicine every 6 hours and a humidifier to help her breathe better. She's also sleeping in her bouncy chair cause my friend told me sleeping at an incline helps. Who knew?

The saddest thing is watching her cry her little heart out and not being able to do anything to calm her down. I feel helpless.

I was almost not going to write, but I have to work for maintenance night and I'm waiting on a script to finish. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Back to work :(

Many Blessings,
Cynthia

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Workout Wednesdays

Workout: 45 min Vinyasa Yoga Flow

Calories: 2300 (boo me)

Today’s workout was AWESOME. I’m really loving this online yoga thing, it really feels like I’m in a studio. The only thing that’s missing is the instructor walking by and correcting me, but I just pretend my Dulci baby is doing the same thing but giving me kisses instead. Love it.

Here’s part of the description:

Abdominal core work kicks off our strengthening practice followed by a simple warm up of backbends to Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar). Forward bends (Uttanasana), Crane/Crow (Bakhasana), Plank Variations (Vasistasana) and Warrior 2 Flow sequence (Virabhadrasana) bring suppleness to the spine and strength to the arms and core. Our peek posture is Half Moon Sugar Cane (Ardha Chandra Chapasana). With the body nicely heated we move into backbends Locust (Salabhasana), Bow (Dhanurasana), Bridge (Setu Bandhasana) and Upward Bow (Urdhva Dhanurasana). Marinate with the heart energy in a finishing hip opener of your choice!

Sometimes I feel like I need a translator, or a pocket dictionary might do. I hope eventually these pose names will make sense to me instead of just sounding like gibberish.

The day started off great, but I quickly racked up the miles and couldn’t stop. Not couldn’t, I guess, I chose not to. Girl scout cookies and tiny muffins were just too much to overcome today. Fist pump!

I have to shake it off and start anew tomorrow, I’m not waiting until next week to start. Double fist pump!

Quote of the day:

“The background harmonies were [wait for it] delicious!”

Gotta love me some Steven Tyler.

I wish they had a Steven cam at all times so we could see more of his infamous expressions. They’re so entertaining!

Are you watching American Idol? How are you liking the new judges?

Off to finish watching, and I guess “I’m more Atari”. AI can be educational too, who knew?

Many Blessings!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

It’s the little things: pecans.

Workout: 30 minute interval run on threadmill

Calories: 2000

I do believe pecans are my favorite nut, what’s yours? I lucked out today and found a bag with some leftover pecans from a while back. Yay me!

I don’t think I’ve ever tried pecan butter, though. Do they make that? Doesn’t that sound good, I gotta look into that.

Today’s workout was good, I did an interval session which was more like a tempo run because I kept alternating between a 6 and 7mph pace every quarter mile.

The run felt really good and my back was ok for the most part, I think (I hope) it’s getting better.

I have to say, the online yoga class I tried on Monday has me feeling all sorts of sore in my core area. It’s so different than the regular soreness when you do abdominal exercises. I’m sore in places I didn’t know could get sore, but it feels good :)

I’m going to try the Core Heart Opener Vinyasa Flow tomorrow and I’m really looking forward to it.

Have a good night ya’ll – Glee is awaiting :)

Many Blessings!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Manic Monday

Workout: Hatha Yoga 1 hr

Calories: 2100. My goal was 1800, forgot it was Valentine’s. I was a fool!

Happy Valentine’s Day!!! Hope you all had a great one :)

Manic can only begin to describe it, but I won’t bore you with the details. Specially because you’ve heard the following story before: somebody lost her wallet. More like somebody took it after I left it on top of my car.

I am completely loosing my mind :(

I need an app to help me not forget my things. Know of any?

The day brightened a little because of my Hubby’s surprise!

image

Gotta love him, I’m one lucky lucky girl!

On to the workout review, I really liked it. I got through it and it really felt like I was in a studio. The instructor was really knowledgeable and described each pose very well.

It made me feel like I was doing something for my back and now my abs are a hurtin when I laugh.

It was a great workout and I’m looking forward to the other workouts I have set up for this week.

Off to relax :)

Many Blessings!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Scoreboard Sunday

Workout: 2.64 mile run with a non-cooperative lab!

Calories: 2100

I think I must have the one Labrador who isn’t drooling at the mouth to go for a nice run. I should get extra workout points just for getting my Abacus out the door.

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Look at that face! He’s 4 years old but acts like a 1-year old lab. Gotta love him :)

I probably should have waited some more to run, I just wanted to see how my back felt. The verdict, so so. I think it’s been the two road-trips that have really hurt my back.

I’m going to keep trying to take it easy and hopefully the yoga will help, so I’m adding it 3 times this week. I’m going to do the yogaglo.com and I’ll write more about my experience with the whole online yoga thing.

This will be short and sweet cause I need to go sleepies! I’m tired and prepping for the upcoming week always gets me tired!

Here are my goals for this week:

Day Goal Calories Workout
Monday 1800 Yoga
Tuesday 2000 Intervals Run & Weights
Wednesday 1800 Yoga
Thursday 2000 Hills Run & Weights
Friday 1800 Yoga
Saturday 2000 Long run?
Sunday 2000 Rest

 

Let’s see if I can reach my goals this week :) What are your goals!

Hope you don’t get a case of the Mondays tomorrow. My case is probably a given ;)

Many Blessings!

Cynthia

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Snapshot Saturday(s)

Workout: none :(Wimped out on a run cause of my back)

Calories: Is it legal to count them on Saturdays? I say no :)

Today was a fun, beautiful day in the old Southwest, USA!

Here’s some “snapshots” of how it went.

 

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First taste of sweet peas for my sweet pea :)

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The doggies, snooping around or waiting to pounce on any flying scraps – you decide.

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The sweet pea aftermath :)

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Snoopin’ for some kisses!

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Picked up a magazine for a short road trip to Silver City, NM.

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Also grabbed some hazelnut coffee from Pilot, they claim to have the best convenience store coffee in town

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Smoke can fly, 29 ft is his record. Holy Smokes (get it, bad pun) He credits it to his daily yoga practice. What? Yoga for doggies? Sign me up!

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Chocolate Fantasia :) Turns out you needed to preorder tickets :(

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Our consolation price was a pic with the Umpa Lumpas and some regular dark chocolate bars.

Apparently, Walgreens carries green hairspray all year round. Who knew?

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Historic Downtown Silver City, NM.

Elevation ~6000 ft.

Population: ~10000.

Thanks Wikipedia for all the information you provide.

Another random piece of information: What is the point of wearing a tie?

Straight from reddit: Because the French say it's classy dammit!

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A doggie-friendly city :)

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Shut up and train! Luv it :)

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These people think of everything, doggie wine bags?

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The Sarge, trying not to smile :)

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Waiting for someone to acknowledge us, we were hungry and they were packed!

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This pizza was worth the wait :)

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The meat and cheese platter was delish! We asked a local for a recommendation and he knew his stuff, Diane’s was great!

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A puppet parade for the kiddos. Austin is not the only weird city in the South!

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A doggie who is by far more stylish than moi!

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This was GOOD!!! A choco-cheese cupcake at Diane’s bakery.

The Diane’s in Silver City know their stuff!

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Free chocolate samples. Score!!!

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Momnesia is driving me a coocoo. I spent more than 30 minutes searching for this little goody bag when we got home. Finally found it hidden in the car seat. Argghh!!

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Richard picked out the little sea shell earrings from the ladies who knew how to accessorize their doggie :) They kind of remind me of ice cream cones. One track mind, I tell ya.

A fun V-day celebration, but next time I will pre-order those tickets!

What was your Saturday like?

Many Blessings!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Foodie Friday

Workout: 20 minutes online yoga

Calories: 2050

I signed up for the Yogaglow.com free trial last night (memorizing your credit card number could be a bad bad thing).

I set it up to go this morning and I tried the Hatha Core Strengthening Practice. What caught my eye in the description was the following line:

you'll examine how your feet, legs and abdominals work together to create greater strength, integration and depth in all of your poses.

I was so looking forward to it, but Brielle had other plans. She wanted to hang out from 4-5:15 and that’s what we did. I did manage to get 25 minutes in and I was really impressed. I got the studio feeling and more importantly, I realized just how much of a connection there is between my severely flat feet and my lower back.

I am definitely looking forward to trying the full classes!

On the nutrition front, I decided making Friday’s a Foodie version of sorts. I figure my bad eating happens to start on Friday’s and I want to break that cycle.

I figure if I post my eats for the day, then maybe I’ll be encouraged to eat a little better. It is most important this week because we’re going to a Chocolate Festival in Silver City, NM. I may be in Heaven tomorrow!!!

Let’s see if Foodie Fridays encourage me any? Any thoughts on curving those weekend cravings?

This morning was going to start with an egg & cheese sandwich on whole-wheat tortilla.

That was scrapped because it tore through the napkin and fell to the grimy floor at work and had to be tossed out. I did consider the 10 second rule, until I saw a dead cockroach a mere 2 feet away. Yuck!

Luckily I was able to score a replacement one, sans the whole-wheat tortilla from the cafeteria upstairs.

I was halfway through my salad before I remembered to take a pic. I tried the Smoked Salmon packets and was pleasantly surprised :)

For dinner, we headed to the Tote – the Taco Tote.

I may be addicted to potatoes, and the Taco Tote gets me a great fix.

We were both craving a little something sweet for dessert and managed to swing by McDonalds for some ice cream cone action. Yum yum.

I’m still trying to decide whether to run tomorrow or not. The back’s been getting better, but still hurts from time to time. My feet are really hurting too.

Ahhhh, I wanna go run so much. Booo!

I’m off to be a baby and sulk for the rest of the night trying to decide what to do.

Many Blessings ad have a great weekend!!!