Skip to main content

I Heart Sunshine & Caramels

Shot O' Happiness
This morning I woke up to gorgeous sunshine. This weather is really making me happy! I told Jason yesterday that it's so close to patio weather that I can almost taste it. He asked if I meant strawberry daiquiris! Yep, looking forward to those too, outside on the patio. Winter weather just always gets me so down. So the warmer temps and sunshine are like a shot of happiness right now. I'm fairly giddy.


Weights and a Run
I still don't  have a weight rotation down yet, but I opted for Pyramid Upper Body (did without the DVD). This one is one that sneaks up on you too. My arms were shaking so bad that I could barely text my sister back! Here's the layout: each muscle group is worked using 2 (or 3 for shoulders) exercises done in a superset and as a pyramid up then down. You start with your lightest weight at 12 reps, increase weight and decrease reps to 10, increase weight, decrease reps to 8, then move back up by decreasing weight and increasing reps to 10, decrease weight and increase reps to 12.

Chest - Flyes into Press
Back - Pullovers into Double Arm Rows
Shoulders - Rear delt flyes into Lateral Raises into Front Raises
Triceps - Double Arm Kickbacks into Overhead Extensions
Biceps - Hammer Curls into Bicep Curls

After the weights, I re-fueled with a protein shake before Jason and I took off on a short, easy run. It's been a while (since Branson) since I've run, so I didn't want to overdo it. Just had to get outside and enjoy the sunshine though. We decided to take our run to the river trails and begin at The Big Dam Bridge (yes, that's the name, picture to prove).

 The run got start uphill! It was a great run (for me at least). We did just over 30 minutes, which was about 3.5 miles. While I don't consider myself a runner by any means and don't love to run, this felt great and felt pretty easy. There was a time in my life when "easy" and "run" would never have gone together. Now I can easily do 3 miles without feeling like I'm going to have to hit the ER. It's a great feeling actually.
Me Post-run at the start of the first hill. 
Jason insisted on this pic b/c he thought the arrow pointing down, seemingly at me was funny.

Sweet Treats
We weren't nearly as productive around the house as we had intended to be. But that's ok, there's always tomorrow. We did make a trip to Whole Foods so I could pick up a key ingredient to make Averie's (of Love Veggies and Yoga) Raw Vegan Caramels. Ever since I read that post, I had been dying to try these. The recipe is stupid simple and the results are sweet and divine! 


Averie's Raw Vegan Caramels
Ingredients:1/2 c Pine Nuts
1/2 c Medjool Dates (pitted & loosely packed, about 8)
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:
In blender or food processor, grind the nuts, then add the dates and vanilla. Grind, but do not over grind (Averie warns that the oil content from nuts can cause it to separate)

Spread mixture on parchment paper, saran wrap, or silpat. Place in refrigerator for a "few" hours.
Sorry I don't have any photos of the finished product. I can tell you they were tasty. They're really sweet, so 1 square will do you just fine! These would make fantastic gifts and would probably be really tasty dipped in chocolate or carob as well. At this point, dinner is still TBD. Very uninspired to be honest. 


Hope everyone has had a great Saturday!

Comments

  1. Ooh awesome! I am a sucker for caramels. I especially like the idea of dipping it in chocolate.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sarah @ The Ordinary Vegetarian I think these are a pretty good sub for caramels! They aren't as sticky and gooey, but yummy and sweet!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I totally made Averie's caramels yesterday too! But I made mine with Pumpkin Seeds. They didn't stick together as well as either of yours, but they sure do taste good! And I agree, I think summer patio weather tastes just like a Strawberry Daquari or Margarita.. or a glass of white sangria.. yum :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alyson @ Nourished Fitness too funny we both made those caramels. They just looked too tempting! I wondered about using another seed or nut. Oh, I could handle some sangria too! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. There is NOTHING better than a sunny, warm-ish day to get you motivated huh? So glad you had a great run, and that it felt "easy" in comparison to before. Quite an accomplishment, huh? And PS. I'm SO ready for patio weather too!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jessica @ EatDrinkBreatheSweat I just love patio weather! We grill out often during the summer and eat lunch outside too (we live very close to our offices). So rejuvenating!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh I am sooo glad that you made them, they look great! Can't wait to hear how the finished product tastes....I dont think you'll have any leftovers :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga they were really good. I thought they might set up just a bit more. I may have used too many dates and not a good enough vanilla, but there are no complaints in the household!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Love in Photos

In honor of Valentine's Day - Love in Photos Husband Family and Furbabies Friends Even if you're not a fan of Valentine's Day - I hope you have a wonderful day and remember the loves in your life.

I Run to Feel Alive

Today is National Running Day . Guess what I did this morning? Cycling? Nope. Lifting? Nope. I bet you thought kickboxing right? Nope. Running? But of course! I actually sort of planned my running days this week just so I could participate this year. I didn't get to run last year and didn't even know about it the year before. But running has become such an integral part of my life and who I am, that I couldn't miss this year. Basically, I run to feel alive . It calms me, it helps me work through life, it's often a reason to get out of bed. No matter how tough a run is, it makes you feel ... period. My plan was to get in 5 miles (got in 5.5 actually). It was about 10 degrees warmer this morning and definitely more humid. That always makes for a tougher run. We decided to take a different route today. Well, it was really only a few streets over different, but still. The point is we took a different street. Sometimes that's good, sometimes not. I did realize th

Vacation Day 2 - Running, Reading, Relaxing

Running This morning I woke up a bit before 7 am. Of course, we had gone to sleep by 9....on vacation no less. I had thought I might try for an outdoor run, but the temps were already a humid 83 degrees by 8 am. So, I took my run to the treadmill. I had the Food Network to keep me occupied for a pretty decent 5 mile run. Running and watching tv isn't so bad ;-) I did 3 miles, then 4 1:00 athletic intervals then finished up another mile to round it out to and even 5. After stretching and rolling (yep, brought my TriggerPoint kit ), we packed up the cooler with lunch and headed down to the beach. Not a bad way to start the day if you ask me. Beach Time & Stair Cardio We set up our little umbrella camp and proceeded to just relax. I was excited to start one of the books I brought along with me: Alice Sebold's The Almost Moon . I've read her memoir, Lucky , and her first work of fiction, The Lovely Bones . . We were out for a few hours before taking a break.