Where's the Beach?

I don't know what's going on with our weather this summer, but we're possibly hitting more record lows and record low highs again this week. After the crazy Polar Vortex , we quickly warmed up with heat indices around 105-109 over the weekend. See, that's the summer we're used to and enjoy complaining about. The upside was that the pool warmed back up, the downside was that it made for some tough weekend running. But apparently we've got another cool blast moving in and moving the humidity out. This morning the humidity was only about 70% and temps at 66 degrees. Hello amazing! I will admit that I was dragging a bit at the start of the run, but then I saw the sun starting to come up and the sky was spectacular. Sometimes you just need something beautiful to help get you motivated. The picture really does not do the sunrise the justice it deserves. But I didn't hesitate to stop and enjoy the views for a minute. Just simply breathe and soak it all in. T...

If you follow me on Instagram , you might notice that I have been posting protein waffle pictures on the weekends. It's kind of funny because up until about a month ago, I had never actually made waffles. The only reason we have a waffle iron is because I bought it for Jason several years ago because he was always talking about wanting to make waffles for breakfast. I'm actually not a big breakfast foods kind of person. I never wanted toast and eggs, pancakes or waffles. Bacon and sausage never appealed to me, especially not now as a vegetarian. The only time I really wanted waffles was when my dad took my sister and I to this diner as children. It was called Mrs. T's. The waffles were as big as the plate, and my sister and I could easily inhale 2 waffles! Of course every crevice had to be perfectly filled with the correct blend of melty butter and oozing syrup. Maybe it was seeing so many waffles on Instagram or recipes on Pinterest, but I suddenly decided I wanted s...

Happy Friday! I've been a bit MIA this week where it comes to blogging. I guess I'm experiencing a bit of writer's block. I am also feeling a bit out of sorts as to where to take my blog these days. I began the blog on a whim with no real knowledge of blogging - I didn't really even read many blogs at that time. I wrote about what I ate and my workouts each day. After two years of basically recording every.single.dinner I realized I had put silly pressure on myself to A) 365 days a year, B) record every dinner with a photo and often recipe, C) record every single workout, D) respond to every comment. Slowly I started to allow myself to not post on the weekends (crazy talk right?). I stopped posting every dinner and every workout. Guess what? I still had my amazing friends showing up to read and comment. Phew. Last year I passed my certifications to become a Personal Trainer and Running Coach . Since that time, I have tried to get a new business off the ground -...

What's something you've gone out and gotten recently?

Happy Friday! My friend Angela at Happy Fit Mama does a High 5 Friday post each week. I thought I'd do a version of that for my Fun for Friday post. Here are the 5 things I'm High Fiving this week: 1. More Sunrises    I am so glad I chose to head straight down towards the river Thursday Morning. The sun was still low in the sky, but you can see it peeking through the Clinton Bridge and casting a pink and purple glow. How can you not stop and take a picture of something like that? 2. Polar Vortex Seriously, a Polar Vortex in July? First off, I had never heard of such a thing until this winter. But it's most definitely in full effect here right now. We are breaking records right and left this year with our unusually cooler weather with lowest lows and lowest highs. Normally we would be in the upper 90s with heat indices in the 100s (like last week). Yesterday we barely hit 71 degrees, today it's forecast for 73. Um, that's the high not the low. That...

A couple of weeks ago I came home to a fabulous treat on my porch. The wonderful people at Food Should Taste Good had sent me a box of goodies to try out. I mean, who doesn't love to come home to a tasty surprise like that? In the box, I found boxes of their new Brown Rice Crackers . Flavors included are: Peppercorn Blend, Roasted Red Bell Pepper, Sea Salt and Tomato & Basil. I am admittedly a chip addict. I guess I tend to crave that satisfying crunch you get from a chip. Now, we all know chips aren't typically a healthy snack. So when you can find a brand like Food Should Taste Good that makes a more wholesome chip, you get pretty excited. But now they're upping the ante a bit with their new gluten-free crackers . They are similar to their line of chips in that they're full of flavor, and fun flavor combos, and they're nice and crispy. While the chips make for awesome dipping, these crackers are great vessels for topping. Think wheat thin style...

Let's face it, we all lead busy lives. Sometimes being "too busy" can be an excuse for many things like not fitting in exercise or making it a point to eat healthier meals. In an age where there tends to be a glorification of busy - you know, almost bragging about how busy someone is - I think we are overlooking the bigger issues of being "too busy" especially when it comes to our health and well-being. I think that there is often a misconception that when someone is getting in daily workouts, that they must somehow have extra time. My answer to that is that no one just  has  the time, they make the time. Somehow, some way, they figure out a way. And sometimes that means being creative. Even when we have a jam packed day, there are  ways in which we can still add in extra movement throughout day. You might not have time to do a 30-minute workout, but you probably have 5 and 10 minutes of time here and there. And that time, those little bits of movement,...

Happy Friday Eve (aka Thursday). I wanted to do a round-up of some of the things I've been enjoying lately. I used to share a good deal more about my daily life - meals, workouts, even books I read. So, today I thought I'd go back to that and share a little insider info. Eats We've been enjoying lots of salads lately. I guess salads tend to go hand-in-hand with summer.  1. Grilled veggie salad - pretty much any grilled veggie with either tempeh or tofu. 2. "Steak" summer salad - used Gardein Beefless Strips and mixed with corn, black beans, jalapenos, tomatoes, bell peppers, lime juice, apple cider vinegar and spices. Also great in wraps. 3. Green Bean, Potato, Tofu Salad with Dijon Dressing - I plan on posting this recipe next week. It was inspired by a friend who makes a similar salad for us. Reads I'm a big reader and love spending lazy Saturday and Sunday afternoons sitting outside reading. I typically read for an hour or so mos...

Marcia at Marcia's Healthy Slice periodically does Runfessions. As much as I do enjoy informative blog posts, sometimes I really enjoy something light-hearted too. Especially when it's a post that lets me learn more about the blogger behind the blog, behind the words. I live in the south. It's hot. It's humid. It can make for some miserable running conditions. But I'm a trooper (aka stubborn), so I keep plugging away through the tortures of the summer heat. There are mornings when the "low" is 80 degrees and the air so thick it's hard to breathe. However, this summer, we're sort of having a mild one (knocking on wood right now). We've had some typical summer conditions (77 degrees, 90% humidity, dew point at 73 all at 5:30 am), but then we've also had some very unusually cool days where it's been in the low 60s WITH low humidity to boot. That's fantastic and I've taken full advantage of those rare mornings. However, it ...

I almost didn't post today. But have you ever been so inspired, so moved that you have to post? You have to share? That's what happened today. I apologize if it's a bit rambly - the biggest take aways are to watch the video and then check out my friend's blog post. By now, most of you have probably seen the Always #LikeAGirl video. I have seen many bloggers write about it, I've even commented on some of those posts. If you haven't seen it, please take 3 minutes to watch it. Growing up as a girl (obviously), I was lucky that I was never told that I couldn't do something because I was a girl. My dad taught us to pitch and hit baseballs, we played basketball with my cousins (all boys mind you), however, I never felt like I was supposed to do those things. Girls were and are called Tom Boys if they get out there and rough and tumble, play in the dirt, chase said cousins with a snake (yes, I did that). For me, I thought that I could do things like gymnast...

Lately I've been breaking my weight lifting down to short splits - maybe even only working one muscle group a day. This allows me time to get it done during lunch and also to really focus on that particular muscle group. My cardio has typically been very much steady state aerobic with running and cycling. Since my weight workouts have been short, I thought it might be fun to add in some good old anaerobic or metabolic circuit training - often thought of as HIIT (high intensity interval training). HIIT workouts are bouts of high intensity work followed by short rests. The benefit is that they can be "fun," they're short, and they offer a longer EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption), which is translated into continued calorie burn. During EPOC, oxygen is used to restore the body back to its resting state, replenish fuel stores, oxidize lactic acid and fuel the body's increased metabolism. During this period, there is an elevated consumption of fuel. F...

As a FitFluential Ambassador , I was lucky enough to have an opportunity to receive a sample of ProCakes to review. I'm not always a big pancake eater. However, lately, I have been making more protein pancakes on the weekends, especially after a long run. So, I was very eager to try out ProCakes , even more eager when I realized how easy they were to throw together and how simple the ingredients list is. Here's just a bit of background information from their site : ProCakes was founded in 2014 by Caren Magill, a fitness enthusiast, bikini competitor and soon-to-be fitness trainer. She left a corporate career in social change marketing to pursue her love of healthy comfort food with zero compromise on taste and enjoyment. ProCakes is a high protein pancake mix, designed to satisfy cravings for comfort food while providing a healthy dose of protein to help maintain a lean and strong body. It’s one part nutritional supplement, one part awesome baking mix. Made wit...