Where's the Beach?

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...

Happy Friday friends. I feel very lucky that my company gives us Good Friday off. My day will be spent getting my hair done then lunch with my dad, shopping with my mom then topped off with happy hour with my husband and close friends. I've had one of those weeks where I've  been up and down with my mood. I'm focusing on the ups though and making it a point to end on an up note. So, I thought the most appropriate thing for Fun For Friday would be to share my happies for the week: Sunshine: Even though our temps have been way below normal (um 32 degrees for a morning run?) at least it's been sunny. Interacting with Clients: I love chatting with my clients, especially when they are excited about workouts and accomplishments. Running with Amy Wednesday: We enjoyed some interesting sites like one man tugging on a chain fence as if he was wake boarding and one interesting fellow twerking down the sidewalk. You never know what you might see on a run. Food Should T...

Just a quick follow up regarding my fall yesterday, I ended up going to the doctor today because my knee is swollen. I just wanted to be sure nothing was torn or broken. Luckily, no broken or chipped bones. He thinks it's just a really bad bruise causing the swelling plus the cuts/scrapes. If it doesn't start to improve in about a week or so, then he'll order an MRI to make sure that the meniscus isn't torn. So, for now, ice ice baby ... and ibuprophen ... and bandages. Now let's talk about something that's cause worthy. The other day I came home to a box on my porch. I opened it up and this is what I found inside. YUM! Chocolate doesn't tempt me, cakes and pies? Meh. But chips? Oh I love chips. And I love chips that are for a good cause. Food Should Taste Good has a non-GMO commitment, chips are also gluten-free and all natural. Just check out their ingredient labels - you can actually read and identify the ingredients. How's that for a nic...

Productive Procrastination Yesterday morning I woke up for all of two seconds when Jason got up to go swim at 5 am and then totally crashed back out until the alarm clock made me nearly jump out of bed. It's not normal for me to fall back asleep quite so soundly after waking up in the morning. Apparently I was really tired. I had thought I might get in my workout (weights & kickboxing) at lunch, but by 11 I was thinking of calling it a rest day. My plan changed to going to the grocery store after work. But then by about 3:30 I had decided working out sounded way better than battling the grocery store and after work crowd. Let's just say that was the most productive procrastination I had ever done. I did legs, shoulders, back, biceps and abs from Cathe's High Reps DVD and then did the MMA Kickboxing DVD for an hour workout. Luckily I had enough items to throw together a soup for dinner. I had a kabocha squash and some kale on its last leg. No white onion, but I di...

Leg Day While the time change sure made it hard to get up this morning, it was a gorgeous, sunny day. This means you can really appreciate the time change in the evening. Yesterday it was dark and rainy so you really didn't get the full effect. While I would have loved to have gotten out for a run, I knew I needed to stick to the gym. I ended up working through lunch and just going to the gym at 3 today. I thought the gym would be totally deserted, but oddly enough, it wasn't. I thought I was going to have to throw down with some guys to keep my space and a bar ;-) I went with legs. I figured I'd been putting off my leg workout long enough. I really wasn't super excited about it, but once I got going, it was all good. I did increase weights for 3 exercises as well. After a 20-minute warmup on the elliptical, I went with supersets of 3x8 unless noted. Barbell squats - warmup set of 10 reps SS#1 Barbell squats - increased weights Barbell plie squats - increased...

Re-Thinking My Running Yesterday ended up being one of those days that turned out to be a good one, but totally not planned. It was a sunny, warmish day. I really couldn't stand the thought of the gym to be honest. So this leads to the first unplanned activity - a run with Jason. We started off slow and steady. He had a route that he wanted to go. And his routes are very very different than mine. I wanted a simple out and back. I actually would have chosen to drive to the river trails. He, on the other hand, meanders, starting from the house. So, while I'm just trying to get my running legs back in action, he's meandering around for the run. Sudden left turns, now a quick right turn. It might be planned out in his mind, but he wasn't sharing his plan with me. Let's just say I was a little annoyed at that, but was trying to be a good sport and just enjoy being outside running. It was definitely windier than we had expected. Hello running in place feeling. But,...

Yesterday I came home to these awesome goodies waiting on me. The wonderful people at Food Should Taste Good sent me a few bags of their awesome chips to try out. I love their chips and almost always have a bag of the Sweet Potato flavor on hand. The ingredients list is simple, straight forward, and gluten-free. Not only are they made with ingredients you can recognize and pronounce, they taste amazing. They have several new flavors now like the Lime, Kettle Corn, and even new Kettle Cooked flavors. The flavors are subtle, but very much there. You won't be blown out of the water and feel like you're eating olives out of the jar with the Olive flavor (as an example), but you get the subtleness of a nice kalamata olive. It's perfect. Here's what the company has to say: In case you aren’t familiar with our product our all natural chips are made from real, simple ingredients. All of our chip varieties are free of cholesterol, preservatives and trans fat, and do ...

Running & Lifting I just couldn't peel myself out of bed for a morning run. And the fact that the heat index was already 85 degrees by 6:30 am definitely made me feel less guilty for not getting out there and sweating into a puddle. So, I went with my backup plan and hit the gym. Yep, the dreaded treadmill. But I used it to my advantage for some intervals. It's really the only way I can deal with the treadmill because it breaks up the focus. I ran 1 mile then did 2 x 2:00 minute intervals, 2 x1:30 minute intervals, 2 x 1:00 minute intervals for a total of 3.1 miles. (note intervals were run at tempo recover still running, just slower, so no walking as recover, good for endurance). I know I have said that you shouldn't do weights after cardio, but sometimes you have to break the rule when you have no other choice. I guess I could have skipped the run, that's a fair statement. But I really wanted to do some intervals. My speed has taken a nose dive. Anyway, as I...