Happy Thanksgiving

It's been a while since I have posted on here, and it has been even longer since there has been any sort of consistency in my posting.  But I thought what better time to post than to share some things that have happened to me over the past few months that I am thankful for!

I am thankful for my family and friends (pretty much a given)

I am thankful for having had the ability to finish my first marathon

I am thankful for my cousin asking me to be in her wedding

I am thankful for being blessed with another year of life

And last, but not least I am thankful for my job!

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

September Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

September Foodie Pen Pal reveal time!  This month, Jeremy whipped up a package for me.  He really loaded it up and sent lots of goodies I could take to my office! Here's the loot...

A little more up close...

Hot Chicken Salad

Coffee Creamer

Biscotti Babies

Double Shot Expresso drink 

Sparkling wine 

Kind Bar 

Bean & Rice Chips (delicious, the aftertaste is a little weird though)

Yoohoo (J's really excited about this!)

Werthers Original- Caramel Coffee

Acai Berry drink mix

Chiclets gum

Expresso Candy (both hard candies are a hit at the office!)

Sugar In The Raw packets

Thanks for the loot Jeremy!  I've been nibbling on things since the package came and there's still plenty to spare!  

Be sure to stop over at Bake No Prisoners and check out what she received!  For more information on the program go to The Lean Green Bean.

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In exactly one week I will have completed my first marathon!  Sounds like a great way to kick off my 26th year of life right?!  Wish me luck!

August Foodie Penpal Reveal

It's time for me to reveal yet another great FPP box!

The loot!

Cranberry couscous

I haven't made this yet, but I'm really excited to!  

Dried bananas

My family and I used to always make our own banana chips, so I'll be interested to try these out...currently they are sitting in my office, makes for a great work snack!

Oatmeal square 

Delish! I only wish I would have warmed it up.

Fiber bar

Pretty good, it definitely tasted like a natural bar.

Chocolate-strawberry granola

I have no idea why haven't opened this yet! It's my mission to do so tomorrow. 

Queen City coffee

I cannot tell you how great this was!  Yes was, I have down all four bags of coffee grounds already!  It did not disappoint Ellen :)

Popcorn

Haven't found a chance to relax and pop some popcorn up recently

Thank you so much Ellen!  I have really enjoyed my box so far, and can't wait to finish it up!

This month was a weird one for me, my Foodie Pen Pal and my match did not have blogs...so crazy that happened.

If you're interested in becoming a part of the Foodie Pen Pal program, head over to Lindsay's blog and check out all the details!

Spending Spree

I have apparently been on a spending spree...

Purchase #1

ViewSport Tank Top #1 

ViewSport Tank Top #2

Purchase #2

Bulu Box 

I found a promotion where you could try one month/box free from @BuluBox, so I thought I would try it out and see what it was like, here's what I got this month...

*@drinkclick (Mocha) not too shabby, I ordered the vanilla latte before knowing this same would be in the box

*Ps Protein shot

*Vplenish Vitamin Boost 

*Probiotic tablets
*Defend Energy
*Athletic body wipe

Purchase #3

I apologize for the terrible pictures, we went to this wedding...

And what do you know J broke camera #2 of the year (I broke it once too, yes that is three breaks in one year)! It technically still works,  but the display screen is shattered so you can't aim or review pictures, hence why most of my pictures have a lot of excess background in them.  We are hoping this is covered under warranty.  J is no longer allowed to touch the camera.  

In other news, my new job is going well!  I am finally starting to feel like I have a handle on things a little bit.  Give it another week and I think I'll feel very comfortable, plus my first event will be done with! 

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Fitness Plan

Monday: 3 miles + Cleans and Overhead Squats (yes random)

Tuesday: 3 miles + 50:00 walk

Wednesday: 3 miles + Lift

Thursday: 40:00 cardio + CrossFit

Friday: 3 miles + CrossFit

Saturday: 3 mile obstacle course (haven't decided if I want to do it yet) or 10 miles

Sunday: Rest or 10 miles 

Something To Celebrate

I celebrated this morning with some buckwheat banana pancakes!

Whoa wait back up!  What am I celebrating you ask?  My new job!  Not just a job, but a career job! Yesterday I was offered the position of Health and Fitness Coordinator at a local university!  I am beyond excited to begin my new journey, but am saddened to leave my clients/members/friends at the gym where I currently work.




I haven't made any mention of this new position for a number of reason...

1. It happened extremely quickly!  They found out they needed a new coordinator last Monday, I sent my resume last Tuesday, given an interview this Tuesday and got the offer yesterday.  Yes, that is fast!  Since it was such a short timeline and the school year is starting up here soon, I am considered an emergency hire and will have to reapply next year.  Pressures on!

2. It is my first career job, not just an hourly paid job, so I plan to keep it off of the blog, except for maybe sharing a few highlights.

3. I have been actively looking for a number of months now, and I didn't want to officially announce it until I knew I had something secured for sure.

I will be starting up right away this up coming Monday....talk about being thrown in the fire!  Wish me luck :)

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My #FoodiePenPals package arrived, a little late, but better late than never right?!  Anyway, I hated the thought of not sharing what I got, so I had to share!

The total package

Amy sent me a number of things I have never been sent in a #FoodiePenPals package, so I was super happy about that!  Some of the things I have tried before, but most of those things were favorites of mine.



Check out the super cute card she sent in the package!  I don't think Amy knew, but macaroni and cheese is my favorite (stemming back from my childhood) food!  I try not to eat it often, because it's not the greatest thing, but it is my favorite and making it buffalo can only make it better! The Kodiak Cakes are supposed to be really good, so I can't wait to try those.



J was really excited to see the Hawaiian Punch Freezer Bars in the package.  Gnocchi is delish!  I know exactly how I'm going to use them to, I'll be sure to share when the time comes :)  I love Justin's line of nut butters and they'll be perfect for lunch packing with my new job.  Ahh, those fruit leathers you see... they're gone. That took all of one day!

Thank you so much for my package Amy!  Most of it has already been put to use and the rest of it I can't wait to get at!

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Fitness So Far

Monday: 5 miles in 47:23

Tuesday: Cross Fit workout

Wednesday: 6.3 miles in 1:04:24
4 x 800 (Yasso) w/equal rest time walking

Thursday: 3 miles in 26:19 + lift this afternoon

Friday: Lift + stretching/yoga

Saturday: Leinenkugel Pure Water Days Half Marathon + 2 miles = 15 mile long run
I won't be trying to PR, I'm just using it as part of my long run. This race was super cheap, only $30 and I just signed up last week!

Nutrition Periodization: Eating To Train

Since our refrigerator stopped working on us, I have stocked up on all sorts of healthy food, including spinach wraps.  These have become an every day occurrence in my food journal.  Not only at home am I on a wrap kick, but when we go out I've been getting wraps.  Nom, nom, nom!

Veggie-hummus wrap 

Recently I have started using My Fitness Pal to track my daily food intake, instead of the old fashioned pen and paper style, so I could see the true caloric extent of what I eat.  Let me tell you it has been a rude awakening for me!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I by no means need to lose weight, however, I know that my trashy eating habits will eventually catch up to me so I am always trying to instill the good eating habit (such a terrible cycle!).  I am not so much doing this to count calories as I am to see how my energy in and out matches up.  Which leads me to the topic of my post today... Eating to Train.  

This topic comes to you as part of my CSCS Series.  In case you missed the other posts, you can check them out here and here. 

EATING TO TRAIN

Nutrition and dieting is all a mental thing, it's all about discipline and control, qualities that many of us (myself included) struggle to consistently demonstrate.  Nutrition periodization is all about changing out old school focus of "how many calories should I eat" to the new school way of thinking, "eat to train, don't train to eat".  I will be the first to admit that I workout so I can enjoy an extra scoop of ice cream on some days.  But this is where I continually hop back on the train, each time I find myself straying from the tracks, I hop back on an refocus on food as fuel rather than a reward or treat.  Food should not be thought of as a reward or an enemy, rather an ally to achieve health, fitness and performance goals.  More and more I realize how my diet affects my marathon training, both in fueling and recovery.

Put more straight forward, our nutrition plans should support the body's energy needs associated with the different exercise volume and intensity variables throughout our training year to encourage positive physiological responses.  Sounds scientific huh?  For me when I think about it in these terms it makes complete sense to me, it's when I start thinking of food as just an object that I lose discipline and focus on what food is really for.  Although most of us don't, we should be spending as much time and energy in planning and preparing our nutrition plan as we do our exercise plan.

Nutrition plans can and should be used for any individual that is active.  The type of nutrition plan you should use may depend more on what type of athlete and how serious you are about your training.  In an upcoming post in this series I will share with you the quantitative and qualitative approaches to nutrition periodization.

It is my goal to focus a little more on nutrition planning and basing my day-to-day meals on the type of activity I will be doing that day.  

Who else is in?!

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Here's my fitness plan for this week and here's what I actually did...

Tuesday: 5 mile bike
1 mile run
5 mile bike
1 mile run
5 mile bike
1 mile run

Total time: 1:06:21

Wednesday: 12 miles w/RB

Thursday: 

+ 

2 Basketball Games (40:00 each)

Friday: 60:00 bike + Wedding Day Arms 

(I'm not sure the original source, but this is one of the sites I saw it on)

Saturday: 4 mile run + .75 mile walk 

Have a super Saturday everyone!

Do The Olympics Inspire Anyone Else To Workout?

Despite the challenge to pull myself away from the TV, watching the Olympics inspires me to get my butt out there and train!  These athletes are truly amazing and so motivational!

Awkward angle that makes my upper body look enormous

My niece and nephew were so excited about opening ceremonies, that I got a call from my niece inviting me over for an Olympic party...of course I was in!  

Red, white and blue star necklace

Eventually turned into a pajama party

 They had no clue who they were rooting for, but they were totally enthralled in the opening ceremonies and won't stop talking about all the events they have seen since!  I have taught them well!

My favorite part of the night was when a Chobani commercial came on and I said "Yum, Chobani" and my three year old nephew, Oliver, repeats me, and I go, "Oliver, do you even know what Chobani is?"  With that he proceeded to hop around like a bunny, apparently he thought I was saying "yo bunny" or something!  Love that little kiddo!

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Random fact of the day.... I got a new cookbook (on sale at B.A.M.) and can't wait to try out some of the recipes in it!

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Fitness Plan

Monday: 35:00 lift + going for a short run now

Tuesday: Lift + 45:00 Cardio

Wednesday: 13-14 miles w/RB

Thursday: Lift + 30:00 Cardio

Friday: 6-8 miles 

Saturday: 4-7 miles

Sunday: Active Rest 

No One Ever Wants To...

No one ever wants to have to do this...

Yes that is three bags of food. No, it is not going to be put away in my refrigerator.  It is all going into the trash can :(   When we came home Tuesday we found out that our refrigerator stopped working!  Luckily it is the apartment's and not outs, so we didn't have to pay out of pocket to get a new one, but we did have to pay out of pocket to restock the refrigerator.  Thankfully I tried to use as much of the food in there as possible before we left, so it wasn't totally full, but there was at least $150 worth of meat, veggies, fruit and condiments in there.  The worst part...the condiments....it took me about a year to build up a good solid arsenal of condiments.  Now I'm back to square one and will be making a lot of special trips to the store I'm sure, I guess I'll have to do a better job of planning!  On a positive note though, they were very quick about getting us a new refrigerator.  

Workout

As noted in my fitness plan I lifted and will be playing basketball tonight.  My lift consisted of the following: 

After my run yesterday, I decided it would be best to go all arms so I could run in my game tonight and do a long run this weekend.  

What was your workout today? 

Have you ever had refrigerator mayhem?

Gulf Coast Adventures

Things we saw...

Sun Studio where so much magic happened

Beale Street in Memphis

Cape Girardeau, MO

Southern Miss

Hancock High School
(where J taught for 2 years)

The Dock 

Institute for Marine Mammal Studies...swimming with Bo the dolphin!

Beau Rivage

<3

Biloxi Beach 

Jackson Square 

WWII Museum 

Graceland 

Food we ate...

Biscuits and gravy 

Oysters...ehhh

Eggplant, shrimp and crawfish...one of my top two fav meals!

SnoBall

Beignets

Tennessee you will forever be the BBQ King in  my heart...YUM!

Fitness Plan 

While on vacation, I hoped to get a little more exercise than I did, but due to a lack of hotel gyms and safe running areas I only got two 3 milers in.  I'm getting back at it this week though!

Monday: 12 hours on the road

Tuesday: Crossfit 

800m run

50 pushups

50 pullups

50 wall ball

50 KB swings

50 burpees

800 m run 

1 round for time

(26:04)

Wednesday: 10.5 miles (it felt rough after so much time off and time sitting in the car!)

Thursday: Lift + basketball game

Friday: 4-6 miles

Saturday: 4 miles w/running group

Sunday: 12-13 miles 

What do you have planned for your week? 

Did I miss anything in the blogging world while I was gone this past week?