Where's the Beach?

My friend and running buddy had been really sick Friday with a stomach flu going around. I know she's sick when she told me she wouldn't be getting in her long Saturday run. Somehow we ended up chatting about pumpkin, pumpkin bread, muffins...that sort of thing. I think she was hungry, what do you think? I started looking around on Pinterest and shared several recipes with her. Then I found one I had pinned a while back and decided I would make that for her. You know, a get well gift. Plus all the recipe searching had gotten me in the mood to bake. So, Saturday morning I made this High Protein Pumpkin Bread by The Iron You . I did make a few substitutions and additions. Coconut Oil: The recipe called for vegetable oil, which I did not have. So I used coconut oil instead.  Baking Stevia + Molasses: It also called for brown sugar, again, out of. So I tried making my own using the NuNatural Stevia Baking Blend along with a drizzle of organic molasses.  Vanilla Stevi...

Blown Away Gosh, you guys sure know how to make a girl teary-eyed. I want to thank everyone for your incredible words of kindness, support, and positivity after Friday's post . And the support went above and beyond with so many of you dedicating your miles or workouts to me. Seriously, you have no idea how much that means to me. Thank you ladies for running and lifting for me! Jen from Running with the Girls Kierston at Candy Fit Christine from Love Life Surf Angela from Happy Fit Mama Jolene at Determined to Be I also appreciate all of your emails, direct messages, Facebook and twitter messages. Seriously blown away by the support of so many people who've never even met me. It's just amazing. Simply amazing. The Weekend This weekend was actually pretty good. My sister was in town on Friday for a follow-up appointment for my nephew. So, she stopped by the house and also took me to Hobby Lobby so I could pick up some picture frames. Unfortunately she didn...

Baking I don't often post baking recipes. Actually, I don't really bake that often. But when the kind people from NuNaturals contacted me about trying out two new flavors (orange and lemon), I knew I needed to get into the kitchen. The basis for this recipe came from Kristina at SpaBettie.  You should check out her variety of iterations of this recipe too. But, the base? It's a quick, easy, vegan and gluten-free cookie base. When I thought of the orange flavoring, I thought about Ghiradelli Dark & Orange squares . I am not really a chocolate person, but will admit those are pretty darn good. Orange Chocolate Cookie Balls Ingredients: 1 can chickpeas - rinsed, drained, peeled 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I used chunky) 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 dropper NuNaturals Stevia 1 1/2 - 2 droppers NuNaturals Orange Stevia (depending on taste preference) Zest of 1 orange 2 tsp fresh squeezed orange juice 2 tbsp brown rice flour 1/4 to 1/3 cup vegan carob chips or ...

Supersets & Drop Sets Today I ended up going to our company's gym. Thankfully it was actually open. I don't use that gym often as it's really small and usually crowded. There isn't tons of equipment, but it's definitely something nice to have for employees. Sunday was pretty dead so I was able to get on the elliptical for a bit as a warmup. It's the same type of elliptical that I used yesterday. It's not quite like the traditional elliptical machine and I really don't know how to describe it exactly. But I like it so much better actually. After a short stint on the elliptical while watching Food Network (a huge perk being able to actually watch what I wanted), I went to the weight room. Again, it's really small and I can't imagine working out with more than 2 others in that space, but they have a full rack of dumbbells, an EZ Bar, a regular bar, and several benches. They do have a Smith machine that I might have to figure out how to use ...

Cardio Woes This was one of those mornings when I felt like I could have easily slept another two hours. Maybe it's because most of the week I've been waking up at 5 am and not being able to go back to sleep. I am really starting to miss being able to run at lunch. I love summer, and I don't mind it being hot. But, it's just too hot to run at noon now. So I'm starting to feel like I'm flailing with cardio. I can only do so much kickboxing (I only have 3 kickboxing and 1 boxing DVD). Step aggravates my plantar fasciitis problem, so I've been trying to avoid step now. I love doing boot camp/HIIT/interval style workouts, but those are typically short. So what's a girl to do on a cardio-only day? Oh, that was a real question by the way. I have no answer. I don't have any cardio equipment at home. I have gotten to where I simply dread the mere thought of running on the treadmills at the gym. I will say that when we were on vacation and I ran at the co...

Thank You  First off, I definitely want to thank everyone for their kind words regarding yesterday's post about including more personal pictures. It really did feel kind of nice to receive compliments from you guys (not that I was fishing mind you). I'll try to be better about adding in a few here and there, but you will never see my face plastered on your screen days in a row! LOL. With that being said, some of those who admitted that they also could be posting a few more self-pics better not back out (ahem Jessica). Rest Day I decided to make today my rest day. My back is a little sore from kickboxing yesterday and my legs are still a bit sore from weights on Wednesday. I had thought Jason and I might run at lunch, but it's pretty windy out today and I just wasn't in the mood for a tough run. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, warmer, and less windy. So, tomorrow sounds more like a day meant for a lunchtime run. Good Things on Thursday I feel so far behind wit...