Beast Mode! 12/14/11

Hello there! I’m pretty pumped up today. A friend of mine posted a video on Facebook that I suggest everyone watch… it’s about being successful and it kind of kicked my ass back into gear! Watch it Here if you’d like.

Anyway, after watching that last night I decided that I was going back full motion this morning! SO I woke up early, went to the gym and actually did 2 of my workouts!

Here’s what I did:

Workout #1:

5 Rounds for time:
Seated Cable Rows	20 @ 30#
Back Extensions	15
Lying BB Skull Crushers	20 @ 20#
Bike	1 mile
TIME:		24:25:00

My time for this workout last time was almost 29 minutes! Happy with the improvement!

Workout #2:

10 Rounds (10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1)
Jump squats	65#
Pushups
TIME:	9:25

My time for this workout last time was over 11 minutes so again, happy with the progress!

Man, after doing all of this I was pretty wiped out but it felt AMAZING! I had almost forgotten how great it felt to get a really good workout in! I’ve been focusing almost completely on running and I need to balance that focus so I can still work the rest of my body enough as well. When I was on the bike in Workout #1, I kept my pace at an average of about 103RPM… I was just amped!

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday- it was a crazy day. I went running yesterday morning and did 2.07 miles in 23:47 which is about 15 seconds faster than last time. I’ll take it! My chest was hurting a bit afterward, I’m assuming due to the cold air, but that passed as the day progressed. Food was pretty typical: Protein shake, granola and juice for breakfast; apple for snack; leftover Veggie Korma for lunch; roasted veggies for snack; Veggie Pasta primavera for dinner.

Tomorrow is running day again. I’m really excited because it’s getting back to warm weather here! I’m sure it’s only temporary but hell, I’ll take it! I’m going to try really hard to do the long 5 mile run tomorrow because I’m spending Thursday and Friday night in Louisville and I can pretty much guarantee that I’m not going to wake up Saturday morning and go running lol.

Food Today:

Breakfast:

Protein shake immediately following workout

½ c granola w/ ¼ c soy milk

Freshly juiced spinach, carrots, apples, raspberries, cranberries and oranges

Snack:

Red Apple

Baby Carrots w/ homemade hummus

Lunch:

Leftover veggie chili

Snack:

4 stuffed grape leaves

A few WW pita chips w/ more hummus (I’m hungry today!)

Dinner:

New recipe – Pad Thai Salad

I know I owe you guys a few recipes but I’ve been getting them out of my vegan cookbook and keep forgetting to bring it with me to copy the recipe! I promise I’ll remember to do it soon! J

Well, I decided to join the 30 day weightloss challenge, after-all. They have re-structured the rules so you are no longer required to track calorie intake or calorie burned, which helps a lot! So I had my first weigh-in this morning and I will ‘journal’ about what I ate today later this evening. I’m not expecting to win this challenge by any means, the weight typically comes off much faster in the beginning so I’m expecting these ladies to fly by me as far as their total pounds lost, but I’m still excited to participate!

Alrighty well I suppose that’s all I have for today. Thanks for stopping by!

12/12/11

And the funk returns… I don’t know what’s going on with me lately but I am not diggin this. I am really tired today and I just don’t feel like myself. I had absolutely no motivation to get out of bed this morning and go workout so, I didn’t. I’m having a hard time getting excited about my workouts, I don’t think I’m making the best food choices and guess what? I gained last week. Less than a pound, but still – wrong direction, tonto. I just read a weight loss success story and the lady was emphasizing how important it is to battle your emotional demons before you attempt to tackle your physical weight loss issues and I don’t think I’ve quite defeated mine, or I’ve developed new ones. I’m just really unhappy with a lot of things right now and I’m trying to just ignore it and push past it, but it’s totally dragging me down. Unfortunately, nothing is an easy fix and I’m having some trouble deciding which way to turn… But, again, I suppose I’m the only one that can fix it so I just need to handle my business.

Anyway, weekend recap:

Friday – I was scheduled to do a bunch of weighted jump squats but my knee was still sore from the minor twisting incident on Thursday so I decided to skip the squats and I just did a superset of pushups and crunches (10 rounds of reps, increasing from 1 to 10) Food was typical during the day and we went to a Mediterranean restaurant for dinner where I had a ‘sandwich’ of stuffed grape leaves and hummus wrapped in a pita, and also a couple pieces of falafel on the side.

Saturday – knee was still bothering me when I woke up so I decided to not do my long run. Not happy about it but still confident in my decision as I think it will benefit me more in the long run. Granola breakfast, leftover hummus and veggies for lunch and more hummus, stuffed grape leaves and baba ghannoush for dinner. I went out with some friends Saturday night and drank vodka tonics all night..

Sunday – did pretty much nothing! Basically the only thing I ate all day was MORE hummus and some chips and salsa and then I ordered Chinese for dinner and had mixed veggies with steamed rice.

And now it’s Monday!

Food Today

Breakfast

Granola w/ soy milk

Snack

Green Apple

Lunch

Leftover Chinese veggies and rice

Snack

Protein Tofu

Dinner

Veggie Korma – new recipe!

I made some homemade hummus yesterday! It was the first time I’ve ever made it and it needs some tweaking but I’m still excited about it! And it will be way less expensive to just make my own than it is to buy it pre-made so Branden should be happy about that lol. I’m kind of on a Mediterranean kick right now and I really want to make some stuffed grape leaves.  I actually bought a jar of leaves a long time ago but I’ve never attempted to make them… hopefully soon!

That’s about all I have for today. I’d appreciate any positive vibes/thoughts/prayers that you may have to spare! Hopefully I’ll be back to myself again VERY soon.

Scianara.

Thursday 12/8/11

Hello there! Well we’ll get right to it…

I went running this morning in the 25 degree heat that was Florence, KY at 6am… it was blistery and hilly and kind of difficult 3.25 miles but I felt great for completing it! I’m liking this new running regime that I have going on… granted, I’m saying this before my big 5 mile run on Saturday lol. In addition to the run, I did 50 crunches before and 50 crunches and stretching after. I couldn’t feel my legs when I got home but I can definitely feel them now! Lol I twisted my knee a little bit getting out of my car this morning when I went to scrape my damn windshield... I swear, I always get hurt doing the most stupid things. Nothing too damaging though, it’s happened a million times before and will be fine tomorrow.

Food Today

Breakfast:

Protein shake immediately after run

½ c granola w/ ¼ c soy milk

Fresh fruit/veggie juice

Snack:

Banana

Lunch:

Leftover curry w/ 5 whole grain crackers

Snack:

Protein Tofu

Dinner:

WW spaghetti w/ mushrooms and grape tomatoes… and some other stuff, I’m sure – I’ll update tomorrow J

I ended up making pizza for dinner last night, it was less than delicious. I bought a new pre-made pizza crust b/c the WW one that I typically use contains cheese so I tried a vegan one and it sucked, to be frank. From now on I definitely need to just make my own crust!

Oh BTW – I found the recipe that I used for Nora’s Vegan Birthday Cake! Check it out here. J

Well, there’s not much to report today… so I suppose I’ll end it here!

Stay warm and keep it classy!

Until tomorrow… J

Wednesday, 12/7/11

Howdy! So apparently it’s Wednesday… but I swear it feels  a lot more like Friday! Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking? Either way, here we are!

Well I didn’t quite make it to the gym this morning… Nora woke up at like 5 or 5:30 (gym time) and was crying her eyes out because she just HAD to go downstairs… so I took her downstairs where she almost immediately fell back asleep, and so did mommy. By the time I woke back up it was almost 8am and far too late for a trip to the gym. I did bust out 50 pushups and 100 crunches and did some stretching… so at least I did something, right?

For dinner last night I made an Enchilada Casserole of sorts and I was pretty happy with the way that it turned out! Lord knows I love me some mexi-food! Recipe is below…

Food Today:

Breakfast:

½ c homemade granola w/ ¼ c light unsweetened soy milk

Snack:

Oatmeal w/ raisins and cinnamon

Lunch:

Leftover veggie chili

Snack:

Protein tofu

Dinner:

Pizza is on the menu but it may be leftovers… they’re taking over my fridge! Lol

So I think I’ve decided to pass on the 30 day weightloss challenge… I just really don’t have the time in my days to calculate caloric intake or calories burned and all of that good stuff… so I’ll just play along on the side. J However if any of you lovely readers would like to participate, feel free to shoot me a message on FB and I’d be happy to forward the details to you!

Not a whole lot to report today… I mentioned something yesterday about debating on how much I wanted to share on here but I think I’m going to keep quiet about certain things for the time being… I think I just need a vacation. J

Enchilada Casserole

1 jar Red Enchilada Sauce of choice

12 Corn tortillas

1can Black beans, drained and rinsed

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 small red onion, diced

1 ½ c corn kernels, thawed if frozen

1tbs minced garlic

Vegan Cheddar cheese (I like Daiya brand)

Shredded/chopped lettuce

2 green onions, diced

½ c diced cilantro

¼ c diced tomato

S&P to taste

-          Preheat oven to 375

-          Combine beans, bell pepper, red onion, corn and garlic in a bowl. Season w/ S&P

-          In a square baking dish, ladel/pour a bit of the enchilada sauce on the bottom, tear 3 corn tortillas in half and layer them in the bottom with the flat edges against the sides of the dish. Put the 4^th tortilla in the center to cover the gap.

-          On top of the tortilla layer, spoon ½ of the veggie mix and spread evenly. Top with some more enchilada sauce and a sprinkling of cheese

-          Make another layer of tortillas, veggies, sauce and cheese

-          Top with another layer of tortillas, then the remainder of the sauce and some additional cheese.

-          Cover with foil and bake for approx 30 minutes

-          At the end of the 30 minutes, carefully remove foil and continue to bake for 5-10 minutes until edges of tortilla crisp a bit, but be sure not to burn cheese

-          Mix lettuce, green onion, cilantro and tomato in a bowl

-          Remove casserole from oven and top with lettuce blend and serve! Yum J

So last night, my mom brought some of my high school stuff over that I had left at her house… in the box was my 8^th grade cheerleading uniform! I put it on and it was too big for me! I had mixed feelings about it; it felt great to know that I’ve come as far as I have to be smaller than my 8^th grade self… but at the same time, it made me kind of sad remembering that I was that large as an 8^th grader. I can’t help but be sad about the life that I missed out on because I struggled so much with my weight. A lot of times, when I think back on my childhood I remember how hard things were and how mean the other kids were to me… I know I missed out on a big portion of my life due to my weight and the self-confidence issues that came along with it, and I hate that. I can only make my life the best it can be from this point out and provide the best life for my little girl…. So that’s what I plan to do. J

Anyway, that’s about all I have for the day! Thanks for stopping by J

Until tomorrow…

Recipes-a-Plenty! :) 12/6/11

Hello there! Well, I’m sore. I’m not mad about it – as my husband says, “That’s how you know it’s working!” No, but seriously…

I got up this morning and ran about 2.15 miles. Since the distance was lower, I ran it a lot faster than I normally would and it felt great! I’m feeling it now but it felt good when I was going lol! In addition to the run, I did 50 crunches before and 50 crunches after and I stretched after. I realized that I’m not stretching enough so I’m going to make time for stretching a lot more often… I’ve decided to put a bit of structure on my runs from now on.. I’m going to do 2.15 miles on Tuesdays, 3ish on Thursdays and 5ish on Saturdays… When I did the 5 miles on Tuesday last time, I was still sore on Thursday and wasn’t able to do more than 2 ½ miles so I’m just trying to plan a bit better. I’m slightly concerned with the weather as it’s only getting cold… considering, again, switching gyms. Urban Active at least has an indoor track… although I don’t really like the thought of running in circles for an hour lol… we’ll just see how bad it really is this winter, I guess? It was about 30ish degrees this morning and I was plenty warm..

Food Today:

Breakfast:

Protein shake immediately following workout

Fresh juice of beets, apples and carrots….. um, note to self: Beet juice is not delicious.

Snack:

Oatmeal w/ raisins and cinnamon

Lunch:

Leftover curry from last night (FANTASTIC, by the way! I’ll share the recipe!)

Snack:

Protein Tofu

Dinner:

Mexican Casserole – another new recipe! Branden was complaining that I cook the same thing all the time (rice&veggies or noodles&veggies) so I’m trying some new stuff this week!

The curry that I made last night was absolutely delicious! I don’t have my cookbook with me but I’m pretty sure I can remember it:

Roasted Vegetable Curry

2tbs Red Curry Paste

1tsp fresh minced ginger

2tbs minced garlic

1 small/med red onion, sliced thinly in half-moons

1c baby carrots, sliced diagonally medium thick

1 smallish sweet potato, small dice

3c veggie stock

¾ c light coconut milk

1tbs Agave nectar

1tbs Soy sauce

Juice from 1 med/large lime (about 2tbs)

1/3c chopped cilantro

1lb brussel sprouts, sliced in half lengthwise

Med/lg Daikon root, quartered lengthwise and sliced

Med/lg Parsnip, quartered and sliced

1tsp EVOO

Salt & Pepper

1c dry brown basmati rice, cooked

-          Pre-heat oven to 400

-          Combine brussel sprouts, daikon and parsnip into bowl, toss in EVOO and S&P

-          Spread evenly in 1 layer on baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, stirring once or twice, spraying w/ non-stick spray as needed (I always line my baking sheets w/ foil for easy clean-upJ)

-          Saute red onion in curry paste on medium for about 3 minutes (I chopped my ginger at this time), add ginger and garlic, stir… add a touch of water if it is sticking a bunch

-          Satue for another 3 minutes or so (I chopped carrots and sweet potato at this time), then add carrots and sweet potato to the mix, stir

-          Add veggie stock and coconut milk, bring to a low boil, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or so, until the sweet potato is tender when you mash w/ a fork

-          Using a potato masher or fork, mash as much of the sweet potato as you can to thicken the mix

-          Stir in agave, lime juice and soy sauce

-          Add roasted veggies, cooked rice and cilantro; stir to combine

That’s it! I was SO happy with the way it turned out! From my experience w/ curry, I’ve decided that curry paste trumps curry powder. But that’s just my opinion. J

As I promised yesterday, I’ll share the recipes from Nora’s party now!

Cowboy Caviar

1 can cooked Black Eyed Peas, drained and rinsed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 red Bell pepper, diced

1 small red onion, diced

2 c corn kernels, thawed if frozen

¾ c diced tomato

½ c chopped cilantro

½ - ¾ c Italian dressing – try ½ c first and add more if necessary, shouldn’t be soup!

Serve w/ Red Hot Blue Corn Tortilla Chips… yum!

5 Layer Mexi Dip

Layer 1:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1tsp EVOO

½ red onion, diced

½ tsp Cumin

½ tsp Adobo sauce (from canned chipotle peppers)

1tsp minced garlic

-          Saute onions in EVOO, cumin, adobo and garlic for about 3 minutes

-          Add beans and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes

-          Mash it all together with a fork/wooden spoon/potato masher

Layer 2:

Guacamole (I used Wholly classic guacamole – feel free to make your own!)

Layer 3:

½ - ¾ tub Toffuti vegan Sour Cream

1 small can diced green chiles

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp chile powder

½ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp paprika

-          Combine it all in a bowl and layer on top of guacamole

Layer 4: (can use pre-made salsa here)

1 can diced tomatoes w/ jalapenos

¼ c diced green onion

¼ c chopped cilantro

Juice from ½  to 1 lime (taste)

1tsp minced garlic

Salt to taste

Layer 5:

Chopped lettuce (I used a spring mix)

Sprinkling of vegan cheddar cheese (I like Daiya brand)

                Serve w/ tortilla chips! This was a BIG hit!

Roasted Tomato Bruschetta

2 Pints Grape Tomatoes

1tbs EVOO

S&P

French loaf, sliced medium thin (feel free to sub a different bread)

2 whole garlic cloves

2tbs finely chopped fresh basil

1tbs minced garlic

4 Green onions, finely chopped

¼ c balsamic vinegar

1tsp light brown sugar

-          Preheat oven to 400

-          Coat tomatoes in EVOO and season w/ S&P, roast for about 20 minutes until tomatoes burst

-          Meanwhile, slice your bread and put in single layer on a baking sheet

-          After tomatoes are finished roasting, put in bowl (including juices on pan) and mash lightly with a fork. Add basil, minced garlic and green onions

-          Switch oven to broiler and toast bread on both sides (keep an eye on it – will burn quickly!)

-          Remove bread and rub the hot bread w/ the whole garlic cloves

-          In a small pot, heat the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar, let it cook to reduce down for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently

-          Pile the tomato mixture on the bread and drizzle the balsamic over top. Voila!

I’m not going to post the Baba Ghannoush recipe b/c I made a lot of changes to it and honestly I don’t remember them all lol… The cake turned out well, too! My sister said it was good, “very vanilla-y but good”… I said well, it was a vanilla cake… J

Vegan Vanilla Cake

I used a recipe from a blog that I found, which I saved on my TouchPad, which had to be reset, which in turn erased all of my internet bookmarks L… I’m going to try to find the recipe again though! Here’s a picture of the cake I made : J

Well I’m feeling really great today! Still debating on this 30 day weightloss challenge… the only thing holding me back from participating is that part of the scoring requires you to count calories for each day and honestly I just don’t have the time to do that… so I’m not sure. As I mentioned yesterday, it feels so much better to be back in the ‘swing of things’ and in my regular workout routine. I’m having some mental/emotional battles with things in my personal life right now but getting back to bustin’ ass is helping. J I’m a little torn as far as how much I want to share here… I love the idea of being able to share openly and completely, but I’m just not sure I want to open the can of worms that I’ve got going on right now lol… I’ll think some more about that…

Alrighty, time for me to skidaddle… I hope everyone is having a great day!

Until tomorrow…

I'm Me Again! :) 12/5/11

Hello Monday! It’s raining and miserable outside, but oh well, the sun will shine again, Scarlet! I think that’s what my mom says?

ANYway… this weekend was a crazy one! Friday night I was running around like a mad person shopping for Nora’s birthday party. I ended up just eating an Amy’s Organic frozen meal (bean enchiladas) for dinner b/c I didn’t have time to cook anything. It was delicious, I will say.

The party was fantastic! I am very happy to report that I offered a fully vegan menu and I got more compliments on the food than I think I ever have! I was so happy with the way everything turned out – even the cake was vegan!

Here’s what I served:

Baba Ghannoush w/ Pita Chips

Cowboy Caviar w/ Red Hot Blue Corn Tortilla Chips

5 Layer Mexi Dip w/ Yellow Corn Tortilla Chips

Roasted Tomato Bruschetta w/ Balsamic Drizzle

Veggie Chili

Vanilla Cake w/ Vanilla Buttercream

I even made my own punch w/ freshly juiced fruits! It felt so great to offer delicious and relatively healthy foods. J I’ll post recipes of all of these foods tomorrow (hopefully), I don’t have time to do it right now L..

I FINALLY made it back to the gym this morning! I was feeling so terrible last week and I can only imagine that my lack of exercise was playing a big part. I decided yesterday that I am re-focusing and re-prioritizing myself and I was going to get my workouts in no matter what! So I went to the gym this morning and started back on week 3 of the Crossfit training where I left off. I was happy with how the workout went! I finished about 6 minutes faster than last month! Today was Mountain Climber Monday… I freakin hate those things! Anyway, here’s what I did:

5 Rounds for time:
Mountain Climbers	2 minutes
Clean & Squat	10 @ 65#
DB Push Press	15 @ 15#
Bench Dips	8
TIME:		22:34

Tomorrow I’m determined to get in a good run! It has been raining the past 2 days but I think (hope) it’s supposed to clear up by the morning! I bought a new dri-fit jacket to wear J. I LOVE getting new workout clothes! Speaking of, I believe I shared these Leopard weight lifting gloves that I found in a previous post? Regardless, I need these in my life! My hands were hurting pretty bad after my workout this morning and they’re starting to get calluses! We can’t have man hands up in here! Hopefully Santa will remember to order those for Christmas. J

Food Today:

Breakfast:

Protein shake immediately after workout (vegan unsweetened chocolate protein powder, light unsweetend soy milk – and yes it’s as delicious as it sounds L)

½ c granola w/ ¼ c soy milk

Fresh Juice

Snack:

Oatmeal w/ raisins and cinnamon

Lunch:

Leftover veggie chili (for the rest of my life, BTW.)

Snack:

Protein Tofu

Dinner:

Curried root veggies – new recipe, it sounds good!!

I think I’m going to start a 30day weightloss challenge that a girl I know is hosting via Facebook… I’m really competitive and I’m thinking this will keep me focused during the holidays lol… plus there’s a $50 visa gift card for the winner so why not, right? I’ll share details later, I need to read over them..

Well I’m feeling MUCH better! I’m feeling more like myself again and that is fantastic! Work is still crazy but I don’t anticipate any change there for a few months… I’ve gotten a lot of my Christmas shopping done, Nora’s birthday has passed so my head is a bit more clear. Still busy as all hell, but at least I feel a little more human. J

Speaking of busy, I have to run. Thanks to everyone for sticking by me through my pity parties and moments of seemingly temporary insanity! All of my followers and the support means more than I could ever begin to express… I woke up to a fantastic note from a fella that went to high school with me this morning… never spoke to him before but he had the nicest things to say… it’s the things like that that really keep me going! So again, thank you x’s 1 million! Me love you long time!!

Until tomorrow… J

I don't like this. 12/1/11

Well, this sucks. I totally don’t feel like myself and I don’t like what I see in the mirror. I have no idea how much I weigh right now, I haven’t been able to weigh-in in over 2 weeks (mom’s scale broke and I haven’t had time to go buy one). I still haven’t been to the gym since LAST WEDNESDAY(!) and I skipped my run again this morning due to a non-sleeping child. (I can’t leave if she’s awake, she’ll lose her mind) Looking in the mirror, I feel like my face looks puffy and I really don’t like it! My eating habits haven’t changed much, I certainly am sticking to veganism, but I just don’t feel good about things right now. As much as I love this season, I can’t wait to get back into my normal routine. I really am going to make an effort to get to the gym as soon as I can. I also need to go buy some cold weather running pants so I can go outside and not freeze to death when I run… but then there’s the fact that Christmas is around the corner and I should be spending available funds on presents and what-not so yeah.. Bleh. Sorry, if you were looking for a motivational ray of light, I apologize that I’m not that beacon today!

A friend did tell me yesterday that I motivated her to make some changes in her life and she had started going back to the gym… that makes me feel so wonderful to hear that but at the same time kind of hypocritical considering I haven’t been in over a week! I know this is just a small bump in the road (like I’ve had before), it’s just incredibly frustrating, especially when I was doing so well and progressing with my running and everything.

Beyond the lack of exercise, there are a lot of things stressing me out in my personal life right now that is really dragging me down. My old habits are creeping up and all I want to do is DRINK and drink a lot, but I’m keeping my mind straight and not doing anything stupid in that regard…

Oh well, tomorrow is another day, right?

Dinner last night was yummy! I made roasted veggies w/ brown Basmati rice… super simple and tasty. I roasted zucchini, daikon, red onion, red bell pepper, brussel sprouts and craisins that had been tossed in EVOO garlic and fine sea salt.  Yum!!

Food Today

Breakfast:

Fresh Juice (spinach, carrot, green apple, red apple, kiwi, orange, raspberries, blueberries)

Snack:

Oatmeal w/ raisins & cinnamon

Lunch:

Leftover rice & veggies from last night

Small apple

Snack:

Protein Tofu

Dinner:

TBD – today is my sweet Nora’s 2^nd birthday! I believe we’re taking her out to a movie and possibly dinner tonight so we’ll see where we end up J

Well that’s about all I have for today… I’m just feeling really self conscious and needy right now lol… how annoying is that? Hear that husband? I need attention! Lol Hopefully this funk leaves me soon and I can feel like myself again. I know exercise will help tremendously so I just need to fix this sleeping problem so I can get back to waking up early in the AM..

Alright… until tomorrow! (hopefully?)