Today was a rest day for me.  I didn’t plan it, but I just felt off all day and was nagged by a constant headache that made me think sleeping in and going to bed early was more important than working out.  My body spoke and I listened.

In a totally 180 change of topics, I saw this on Instagram today and instantly fell in love with it. I think it really encompasses a “healthy mentality”. It’s not about running 6 miles a day or lifting the heaviest weights to have the lowest body fat percentage…it’s about living a life of movement.  That movement includes yoga, stretching, hiking, walking, playing baseball with friends, playing duck duck goose like you’re 10 years old again.  I love living a life of movement and activity…including taking care of myself with rest days like today where the most exercise I got was walking out of the car to get my eyebrows waxed. It all balances out.

🙂

Breakfast today was so much fun. It felt like a classy McDonald’s breakfast.

Egg McMuffin! Whole wheat english muffin, 2 scrambled eggs, and a veggie sausage patty.

It was so simple and so good!  I was surprised an egg-filled breakfast without cheese in it tasted so good.

I spent the late morning and early afternoon hard at work…

Getting that second coat of polish on without ruining it two minutes later was a challenge.  Monica and Chandler helped me pass the time.

I then ran out to get my eyebrows waxed. I’ve been blessed with a cute little gene from my Dad that makes the edge of my right eyebrow stick up.  When I was younger I thought it was cool because it made me look inquisitive. Now it’s just a pain in the butt. So I said au revoir.

Home for lunch.  PB&J sounded good, so PB&J it was.  Balanced out with some fruit and broccoli.

I figured I should do something productive today since I took the whole week off from work so I cleaned the three bathrooms in my house. I have this weird trait that makes me actually enjoy cleaning bathrooms…and kitchens.  I think I just enjoy making counters sparkle.

After Cloroxing and Windexing it up, I was surprisingly hungry again. I snacked on some salted almonds and plain greek yogurt with truvia and grapes.

I spent a lot of time on the couch afterwards…this headache is no joke.  I decided I would eat a simple dinner and go to bed early.  It’s going to be a looong next few days.  My boyfriend from college is finally moving to Chicago!  He’s from Dallas originally but we met at school and (thank goodness) he found a job downtown.  We’re spending the next two days downtown moving him into his new place! Then it’s Fourth of July party time! Should be a fun/exhausting next few days.

My saint of a mom picked me up one of my favorite salads:

Asian tuna salad

I dabbed off the peanut sauce on top of the tuna and dug in.  I didn’t get rid of the sauce because “sauce is inherently bad” or any silly rule like that, it’s just that the peanut sauce doesn’t “do” anything for me.  I think it’s a perfect salad with just the dressing and tuna.  If the peanut sauce blew me away and added to my satisfaction of the dish, I’d leave it in. But why eat something that doesn’t satisfy me?  Plus that’s extra room for chocolate chips later!

I spent the rest of the night watching the Bachelorette with my parents. They weren’t too pleased but hey life without cable TV limits your channel choices quite a bit.

Just for the sake of being a cute picture, here’s my dad watching the sunset with my cat outside on the deck. Enjoying the nice, summer weather that finally seems here to stay 🙂

Alright time for sleep! It’s a big week ahead and I want to put my all into it.

Today was a great day. I got up earlier than normal for a Sunday morning to go to church by myself. Sometimes church alone is nice because I tend to focus more when I’m alone. I’m glad I put the effort in to going.

After mass I quickly drove to my friend Jordan’s house. We picked up a few other friends and drove to the beach!

This is the kind of day that makes me want to find a “yoga on the beach” session. Can you imagine anything more beautiful than doing yoga early in the morning, surrounded by nature, and the waves hitting the sand? I have to get on that.

It was such a beautiful day spent with my friends.  Since we graduated it’s been tough to get everyone together so finding four of us that were free this afternoon was such a blessing.

 

Even though it was in the 70s and sunny, it was sooooo windy! It was so nice to lie in the sand, but eventually the wind was too much so we brushed off as much sand as we possibly could and decided to grab something to eat.

Our hunger brought us to Homer’s a cute burger place in Wilmette.

This place had everything! Ice cream, waffle fries, burgers, hot dogs, and chicken…all the good things in life 🙂

I decided on a grilled chicken panini with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and dijon sauce.  It was gooood.

Clearly I didn’t enjoy it at all.

Pet peeve: when places only have ketchup “pouches”. Give me a break that’s so much work for a girl who eats one cup of the stuff in a sitting. Rude.

Driving the sunny streets of Wilmette. I love that area because the towns all run along Lake Michigan and the homes are absolutely gorgeous.  Each one is so unique. It’s fun just to drive along the streets and take it all in.

After I got home, I snacked on some more guacamole for pre-workout fuel and headed to the gym. It was a strength kinda day! 

35 minutes on the stairmaster + an upper body workout (less sets this time but heavier weights–it was a tough one)

Building those muscles, baby!

 

Question: what’s your favorite “summer” food?

I hope you had a great Sunday!

 

 

 

My afternoon yesterday was spent mostly like this:

I just had to enjoy the sunny day! It was preparation for going to the beach in Michigan this weekend with my family. Just a tease but it felt so good to lay out in the sun.

This morning I knew I wanted to get my run out of the way early, since I have to be at work earlier than usual tonight.  I woke up and ate the best pre-run breakfast that I’ve found to date:

Sidenote: why does anyone pick creamy peanut butter over crunchy? Fools.

I did a quick 5 miles on the treadmill at my gym.  It was the first time in a few weeks that I completed the whole 5 miles without stopping to stretch my hips or grab water (aka catch my breath). I was really happy that I pushed through it because I just signed up to run the Big Ten 10K in Chicago in late July and I really want to do my best in that race.  I’m running with a few friends and there’s a post-race party so I can’t wait!

After my run I forced myself to foam roll.

Foam rolling is one of those things that you dread but know it’ll be good for you after it’s all over. It’s the best kind of pain (but pain nonetheless)

I’m still getting used to the whole “selfies while working out” which I know is a standard of healthy living bloggers. I still hate the looks I get when people see me taking pictures in the mirror haha I’m sure I’ll get used to it though.  It’s worth it to capture priceless uncomfortable moments like the one above 😉

I arrived home to make some lunch before work.

I decided to try out a new product that I found in my freezer.

It was delicious! I paired it with some brown rice that I had on hand from the stir fry a few nights ago and cooked up some peppers that needed to be used. I topped the rice and veggies with sweet chili sauce and it was perfect!

Now I’m sitting at the kitchen table icing my knees and watching Friends. It’s a nice, relaxing afternoon before work tonight.

Also, my official graduation ceremony picture came in the mail today and I just had to share. I was such a cute munchkin when I was little! It’s cool to see side-by-side pictures of how I’ve grown up and accomplished so much academically.  It’s even crazier to think that school is over, but I guess it had to end some time 🙂

Questions of the day:

Crunchy or creamy peanut butter?

Do you think it’s weird when you take pictures of yourself while working out, or when others do it?

Today I woke up ready to go pick up some more Michigan strawberries from our local farmers market. They did not disappoint 🙂 I definitely have to think up a fun red white and blue dish for the 4th of July that uses those babies because they are gooood.

When I got home I made a big bowl of cereal. I wasn’t in the mood to cook anything on the stove because it was so hot outside when I was walking around so this cold cereal bowl was perfect.

Bear naked cereal, 1/2 a banana, and a cup of almond milk.  (Also some watermelon on the side)

Today I’m going to work on my upper body again–and I figured it would be a good to actually explain how to do the exercises, if you’re not totally sure what to do.  So without further ado, a little tutorial 🙂

Upper Body Workout

12 reps each, 3x through

• Basic curl with 10 lb weights
• Hammer curl with 10 lb weights
• “C” curl with 10 lb weights
• Overhead tricep extension with a 15 lb weight
• Front-side-front shoulder raises with 7.5 lb weights

Here’s what each curl looks like:

Basic Curl

 

 

Hammer Curl

 

“C” Curl

 

 

 

And then make the “C” motion in reverse (this equals 1 curl)

Here’s how to do front-side-front shoulder raises (these are killer!)

 

PS does your elbow look like that or is it just me? Creepy.

 

Now obviously this exercise will be done without an iPhone in your hand, so do these motions (1 rep: lift front, side, front, lower) with the weights in both hands. Go through the rep 12 times, and repeat the set 3 times.  It burns so good.

 

Make sure to take a selfie in the mirror at the gym so you a) look like an idiot and b) make everyone around you uncomfortable

Side note: I used to be a cardio queen, running and going on the eliptical all the time with one goal in mind–to lose weight.  Ever since I started adding weights into my regimen, the scale has NOT gone down, but I feel 10x more confident in myself and my body.  It feels so good to be a strong woman!

 

Fill in the blank. Call it “first world problems” but good lord there’s nothing worse than a computer that won’t run correctly. Anyhow…..

Today was the weirdest day. It stormed like crazy all throughout the night (I thought that my bed was actually going to be struck by lightning, it was that close) so I didn’t sleep well.  That translated into sleeping in and being a sloth most of the morning until my coffee kicked in.

Since it was stormy I was in a “cozy” mood.  Cozy usually means oatmeal. So oatmeal it was.

1/2 cup of oats, 1 cup almond milk, 1/2 a banana, 1 tbsp flax seeds, 2 tsp chia seeds, 1/8 cup crushed walnuts, and some truvia to taste.  Cooked on the stove until it was fluffy and perfect.

This is the oatmeal once it all came together.  It stuck to my ribs for awhile so job well done, oats!

After taking care of some blog work I found myself at the gym.  Nothing special today, I just ran 5 miles on the treadmill while once again watching HLN. The George Zimmerman trial is nuts.  I don’t understand how some people watch Law&Order when they could be watching real cases and trials unfold before their eyes.  It’s very compelling stuff.

I got a call from my mom as soon as I was leaving the gym–she needed help grocery shopping.  Obviously I was excited and sped over to Mariano’s where we spent a blissful half hour striding through the aisles of paradise.  Too much?  Sorry!

I was tempted to get this:

But I played nice and got this instead:

You’re welcome, thighs. Healthy food won today (but don’t worry, I have plenty of fun coming for you this weekend and on the 4th of July).

I had less than an hour to get dressed and ready for work so I put together a quick bbq chicken sandwich (made with the jalepeno bbq sauce I just got….yum!) along with some zucchini that was on its last leg in the fridge.  For being thrown together last minute, this was one of my favorite meals that I’ve eaten in awhile.

It. Was. Amazing.  Grilled onions just make everything better.

Work was one of those days when I remember why waitressing, while good money, is not something I can do my whole life.  Without getting into too much detail, just remember: always be nice to your server 🙂

I was home after a busy night at the restaurant starving and ready for the first thing I could grab. Luckily my family had prepared dinner tonight so I got lucky and had a delicious meal waiting for me.  

Chicken stir fry!

My mom makes this delicious sauce for her stir fry: it’s a mix of soy sauce, sherry, ginger, red pepper flakes, and a little salt/sugar. Tossed in a pan with some chicken, toasted walnuts, and green pepper and served over brown rice.

I’m now blogging with my newest chocolate Chobani obsession in hand and some watermelon nearby. Something tells me that I might graze a bit more before bed because those 5 miles along with my busy shift really got my appetite up!  I’m just happy it’s hump day and I’m one day closer to my family vacation this weekend.  I can’t wait for some sun!

 

 

 

 

I couldn’t start this post any other way.  So proud to be from the great city of Chicago on this Monday night.

I woke up this morning wanting to go out to breakfast.  This isn’t unusual for me, seeing as breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and even though I can mimic diner food pretty well, there’s nothing better than a big plate of piping hot hashbrowns covered in ketchup.

But I digress…

I did the next best thing–I made myself a Denver Omelette!

I started off by chopping yellow onion, green peppers, Boar’s Head ham (the best), and some cheddar cheese.

I added these ingredients to a skillet full of eggs, topped the omelette with red pepper flakes, onion powder, salt&pepper, and it was nearly perfect.  Not the prettiest omelette in the world, but I successfully flipped it in the pan so I’d call that a HUGE success!

I served my omelette with half a grapefruit and some coffee.  It was oh so cheesy–I loved it.

I did some more job hunting before heading to the gym for a run.

I ran 5 miles while switching back and forth between When Harry Met Sally and the HLN coverage of the George Zimmerman trial. I think the variety kept me running fast 🙂

I stretched a little before running out to meet my mom for a lunch date.  I forgot to take a picture of my food (rookie mistake) but it was a delicious asian tuna salad that I’ve been craving for awhile now.  It was huge and I dominated it.

I had to work later than usual tonight because of the Hawks game but when I got home I walked through the door and was met with a kitchen table full of food! My family had barbequed while I was gone so there was so much grilled goodness! I enjoyed a delicious grilled veggie burger complete with cheddar cheese, grilled onions (my favorite), tomatoes, and lettuce.  I attacked a bowl of watermelon as well–it was the perfect summer meal.

Everything tastes better off the grill.

I ended the night with my newest dessert obsession.  Seriously, if you haven’t tried this, well, you probably never thought of it, but never fear! I dream of new food creations every day so I did all the brainpower for you 🙂

Mix 2% vanilla-chocolate chunk Chobani with truvia and cocoa powder (optional: add coconut or walnuts, or both if you’re feeling crazy)

It. Is. Heaven.

I’m excited for tomorrow because my Dad grilled a poblano pepper for me tonight–I plan on using that to recreate the corn salsa from Chipotle. Don’t worry, you’ll get a full recap of how that adventure goes.

PS Is anyone else incredibly excited for the Fourth of July this year? I can’t WAIT!

Happy Monday!

Yesterday was a rest day from working out (aka a day of naps and Mad Men) and a whole lot of grazing in the food department so not much to share.  I did, however, attend the graduation party of one of my closest friends, Martina.  This girl is the most creative person I know (she’s behind all the designs for this blog) and I’m so lucky to have her in my life! It was so good to see all my friends and celebrate graduation with all the people I love.

 

The food there was delicious (all homemade and sooo many veggies…I was in heaven)

My favorite things were the garlic and parmesean broccoli, a spinach/phyllo dough creation that was similar to spanakopita, and a Bulgarian dessert that was much like baklava.  I love trying new foods especially from other cultures so it was great to celebrate Martina’s culture with her via food 🙂

Sorry for such a poor-quality picture (it was dark at the venue) — but delicious food!

Today I was up bright and early for an 8am spin class. I love love love working out before I even get my day started.  Because I waitress nights sometimes it’s tough for me to wake up early to workout but on the weekends it’s a no-brainer.  I get an endorphin rush that lasts all day and motivates me to eat good fuel for my body.  I love it!

I came home and ate a quick breakfast before church.  It was a piece of Ezekiel toast with tonsss of chunky peanut butter and cinnamon, as well as a grapefruit.  I don’t normally love grapefruits but they’re so good for you and I’ve recently found a way to make them delicious: cut the fruit it half, sprinkle with Truvia, and place under the broiler until it bubbles.  Yum!

After church I did some errands (returns are the worst) and then came home for a quick smorgasbord of a lunch.

Half a roasted sweet potato, some broccoli that I took home from Martina’s party, string cheese, and a small bowl of pineapple and strawberries on the side. I hardly ever have a meal that doesn’t have some kind of bread/grain in it, but this was surprisingly filling! Plus the broccoli was even better today.

After lunch, my parents and I headed out to a strawberry festival that was being held in a town nearby.  It was scorching hot so we didn’t stay long, but we got to enjoy live music, men on stilts, good looking policemen directing traffic, and of course, FOOD!

 

 

After trying all the different kinds of bbq sauces and salsa (including a strawberry salsa that was surprisingly good!) I settled on buying this jalapeno honey bbq sauce. It had the best kick to it and I know my family will love grilling with it this summer! I’m already dreaming of jalapeno bbq chicken mmmm.

I’ll be back tonight to share a recipe for one of my favorite shrimp dishes.  It’s the perfect summer dinner!  Have a great Sunday!