Where's the Beach?

Today - well this week - I've had a lot on my mind. Too much really. Too many worries, frustrations, upsets. But I've also had things to be thankful for of course. I thought I'd do a little Things I'm Thinking and Thankful For post today. Just sort of random, bear with me. I'm thankful that I prepped the tofu for the Pho Jason made last night so that I could spend the needed time studying for my ISSA Personal Trainer Certification.   My head is going to explode from all the new information I'm having to learn with the personal trainer cert. I should have paid more attention during biology. I've passed the first 2 quizzes, but I'm not sure how well I'll do with more written and detailed questions - insert one of the worries that's crept in. I'm thankful that my boss is letting me work from home 2 days a week right now. It's helping me not feel so entirely fatigued - which is good since I've not been sleeping this week. It...

Work it Out Wednesday Ok, so I didn't do this particular work out today, but I thought I'd share today just the same. I actually opted for a yoga workout during lunch today for an active recovery day. Plus, the yoga helped to quieten my mind so a win-win for me. On Sunday, Jason and I ran 3.5 miles together. While he went on for another 4 miles, I went inside and hopped on my bike trainer. I didn't want anything really hard like the previous Quad Killer workout though. I decided to do a Chase and Race sequence to help me practice with my turnover pedaling. Just because it wasn't all about hills didn't make it any easier mind you. You do still need a certain amount of tension on your bike so that you're not just free spinning. For the Chase part (first half), I used slight inclines (tension increases) to add a level of difficulty so that you know you're working but you can still keep a pretty swift turnover, then you you plane out, ease off the tensio...

Yesterday I spent the majority of the day studying for the ISSA personal trainer exam as well as meal-prepping. I definitely don't do that enough. While it was time-consuming and messy, I know it'll be worth it throughout the week. I made spaghetti sauce for 2 dishes. Last night I used part of it for Eggplant Lasagna. Later in the week I'll use the rest with "meatballs" over spaghetti squash, which I already baked off and have waiting for me. For the eggplant lasagna, it was basically layers of thinly sliced eggplants, spinach, TVP and sauce. Topped the last layer off with Daiya and baked it low and slow to allow the eggplants to really soften up. I pressed 2 packages of tofu then baked one for Pho and started marinating the other block for stir fry. While the tofu was pressing, the sauce simmering, and the squash baking, I also made some homemade ciabatta bread that we had with the eggplant lasagna and will enjoy again with a vegetable soup. Do you take...

Cold Running Yesterday, my running partner and I had planned a rundate after work. Let me preface this story with the fact that it was sunny and 60 degrees on Wednesday, a day I did not run. Thursday was the opposite. It was overcast, gusting winds, and wind chills at 30 all day, dropping by the time we ran into the 20's. I know 20's aren't that cold for a lot of you, but in the South...brrrr I won't lie, I was dreading that initial sting of the cold. You know that one when you first step outside and think, "What the hell am I doing?" It's that moment where you fight with your brain about the temperature. You're cold at first and you instinctively feel the need to rush back in and put on more layers. Posted on Instagram: This is my what am I doing it's too cold to run outside look But your rational side sometimes prevails and forces you to just step away from the door and get moving. Thankfully I listened because I did almost end up hot, a...

Working it Out Yesterday I ended up going for a run after work. I wasn't feeling the best. Not sure how to explain it, almost nauseous but not quite, upper tummy area hurting. I was going to just play any workout by ear (or tummy as the case was). My plan was just to see what I could do. I thought the fresh air might help make me feel better. And it actually did. It was a little chilly at the start, my thumbs were frozen, but the air felt great on my face. I did right at 3 miles. I was feeling so much better after the run, endorphins I'm sure, so I decided to take a little spin on my bike (on the trainer mind you). I cranked up the music and got to it. I wasn't sure what my plan was going to be, just spin and play around with the gears or try out a trainer workout from Angela at Happy Fit Mama . I didn't write it down though, and ended up sort of making up my own workout. I think it was a pretty darn good one too and was happy to have her inspiration to make up my ...

After yesterday's way-to-deep-for-a-Monday post, I thought I'd make today's post much lighter and simpler, kind of light this recipe. I'm rather liking Tasty Tuesdays actually. Kind of keeps me inspired to be creative in the kitchen again. We haven't been to the grocery store in a little over a week now. That means fresh veggies are pretty low and the pantry is starting to get a little more bare than usual too. Jason has this thing for casseroles and baked dishes. I decided to just work with that as a starting point for dinner. I had rotini, frozen spinach, some tomato sauce and silken tofu. I thought I'd make a fast, creamy pasta sauce with the tofu. Love using silken tofu to make a "cream" style sauce. It works so well plus it's an added boost of protein. Now, if you can't do soy, you can always use a cashew cream, coconut or almond milk instead. It'll just make for a slightly looser sauce, but shouldn't affect flavors much. Fe...

Dismal Run but Wonderful Family Time This weekend ended up being far better than I had expected. Initially, Jason and I had no plans. I was supposed to have lunch with my mom and sister next weekend to celebrate my mom's birthday, which was the 18th. Things changed and mom and sis ended up coming up on Saturday. Saturday started off with one of those dig-deep-to-finish runs. I had set out to do 4 easy miles. I wanted it to be slower, easier, just enjoying being outside. I ended up over-dressing. It was 32 degrees when I started the run, but it warmed up faster than I expected. I also encountered far more creepers (aka vagrants and un-savory characters) than usual, so that meant I instinctively ran faster, faster than intended, and faster than my body needed. I never got my breathing on track so I felt like I struggled the entire run to breathe easily and to even hit a nice rhythm. I had to stop at mile 2 to take off my gloves then I had to stop each mile after to try to reco...