Where's the Beach?

How about a Food Friday post today? Kind of switch things up a bit. I'm feeling sassy like that - or really it's just a lack of creativity if I'm honest. And I'm honest like that. Last night I felt completely and totally wiped out. I don't know if it was from the amount of blood they had drawn or just the day itself dealing with the hematology appointment overload. Either way, I was pooped. I really could have gone to bed at 7 and skipped dinner all together. And I am not one to skip any meal at all, ever! Jason did me a big favor and made dinner. We had picked up some Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage "Sausage" Links from Whole Foods recently, and he had been wanting to use those for several days. Since he was cooking, I told him to go for it. He ended up putting together a really amazing, richly flavorful soup. I thought I'd share one of his recipes for a change. He really is a good cook I must say. Of course, he did spend five years in the ki...

Holiday Balance As a FitFluential Ambassador , I am finding myself inspired by some amazing people. I also see "fitfluential" as an adjective. I want to be more fitfluential for others and inspire others. Recently, ambassadors were given a writing prompt to talk about our five tips for maintaining balance throughout the holidays based on four key aspects of balance: Eat, Sleep, Move, and Enjoy . You guys know how my posts normally work. I just blab about my day - typically either raving or ranting about my workout and then a recipe. But, sometimes it can be fun, inspiring to have a goal for a post, a theme or topic to discuss. Especially when it's something you are passionate about - like being fitfluential. While I love the holiday seasons, they can be stressful. On top of your normal day-to-day affairs, you have invites to holiday parties, cookie exchanges, family events, then there's the decorating, shopping, baking, cooking. It also doesn't help that t...

Sunday Dinner Other than my workout and errands yesterday, I was pretty lazy. I managed to wash one load of laundry and paint my nails at least. We watched a silly movie ( Gulliver's Travels with Jack Black) mid-afternoon, and flipped around through mindless tv shows. So when it came time to discuss dinner, I was fairly lazy on that one too. Jason had one idea, but the main ingredient was frozen. Then he mentioned a dish I haven't made in ages. Basically it's pasta with spinach as the base and a Creamy Lemon Sauce . Typically I add in another veggie like asparagus or artichokes. Last night I made the dish with spinach, artichokes and chickpeas.   It's really simple and really filling. Silken tofu makes such a fantastic "cream" sauce. Monday Run Today I packed my bag for either spin or running. I really wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do. My half marathon training plan called for an easy 4 miles. The temps were supposed to hit close to 90 toda...

Spin & Triceps Today I went with spin during lunch. In all honesty, I was feeling very sluggish. Just not wanting to do anything. Of course, sinus headache and constant sneezing can do that to you. I don't feel bad or sick, just slightly drained. I'm glad I forced myself to class though. Once I got moving, I felt much better. Well, except for quads on freaking fire from spin of course ;-) I guess it's all about one's perspective of "fun" when it comes to working out. Before spin, I did get in triceps. Wasn't sure if that was going to happen actually. I ended up doing 3x10 as giant sets because someone was using (hogging MY weights) the dumbbell I needed for the double-arm overhead extensions. I had to go lighter so I increased the reps: GS Double-arm overhead triceps extension Double-arm kickbacks Triceps dips Since it wasn't really a struggle to add the extra reps to the kickbacks using the weight I've been using, I know it's t...

Sunday, Gym Day Why do vacations and min-vacations go by so quickly? Just doesn't seem quite right. Anyway, we left Branson around 9:30 am to head back home. It was a pretty uneventful drive back, which is usually a good thing. We got home and unpacked, then I headed up to the gym. I started with a 10-minute treadmill run to warm up before hitting the weights for back and light legs then abs. I went with a giant set for back then supersets for legs. GS - 4x8 Underhand barbell rows Pullovers Double-arm rows SS#1 Rear-leg elevated lunges (Bulgarian Split Squats) - 3x8 Calf raises - 3x20 SS#2 - 2x8 Walking lunges Plie squats with low-end pulse Single-leg deadlifts - 2x8 I did some ab exercises, stretched, and called it quits. Lazy = Crazy Dinner I may have made it to the gym and washed a few loads of laundry, but I never made it to the grocery store - lounging in the pool trumped grocery shopping. This meant getting creative with dinner. We had another package...

"Sausage" on Sunday Last night we ended up just chilling on the couch watching a movie - Winter's Bone . We also decided to try a new product we picked up at Whole Foods the other day - Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage "Sausages."   We have tried one of their roast loaves, but I have never seen the "sausages" until recently. Kristina @ Spabettie had done a post about them, highly recommending them. So I was excited to see Whole Foods finally carrying them. Since the weather turned out to be fairly nice, we decided to grill the "sausages" with some veggies (onions, zucchini, squash). I made some quinoa that I flavored with thyme, salt, pepper, parsley, fresh garlic, and nutritional yeast flakes. When the quinoa was done, I tossed in some halved cherry tomatoes then I added the grilled veggies and "sausages" over the top. This was a really great, light summery dinner. The "sausages" would be perfect for a vegan stuffi...