Humbling

If one word could sum up my entire year it would be this: humbling.

Time and time again I was humbled by how little power I actually possess. My life is completely orchestrated by an omnipotent God, and for that I am very grateful.

2012 has been the hardest year in my life, bar none. In January, my little brother was abruptly taken from the world and it left me feeling confused about the purpose of life. If life can be so easily ended then what is the point of working towards a goal?

I pushed on through the entire spring semester and then continued pushing through the summer in efforts to continue my plan of graduating college a semester early. Once fall rolled around I wasn't ready to start school again. Reluctantly, I struggled through the semester finally finishing up my general education requirements (forcing me to sit in classes I had no interest in... aka China150). All that time I  wondered about my passion for health and fitness. Why do I spend so much time interested in healthy foods? Why do I beat myself up over eating 3 pieces of dark chocolate cheesecake? Why do I put down my computer and go run 8 miles on a freezing cold morning when I could have just stayed in bed watching Netflix?

It all seemed so pointless to me.

My little brother Blake was in incredible shape. He had just finished training for 3 weeks at a tennis academy and he had a 6 pack to show for it! (I'm serious). But none of that mattered on the afternoon of January 28th.

Thinking about all this would make me want to spend a week binging on cookies because "none of my hard work really matters anyways." As 2012 comes to a close I realize that it does matter. Eating healthy and exercising helps me feel so much better in my day to day life. By putting my health first, I am able to be a sweeter daughter, a better sister, a kinder friend, and most of all, I am able to love myself and stop being so critical of my flaws.

So beginning today, December 31st, I started a 3 day veggie "cleanse." It's not really a cleanse, but I am eating only vegetables and 3 fruits per day. The 3 fruits are all consumed in the form of a Glowing Green Smoothie. So basically I am drinking 64 oz of a vegetable/fruit smoothie throughout the day and then the occasional brussel sprouts, okra, etc.



I am excited for 2013 to begin and I am ready to take it on full force with healthy eating, running, weight lifting, crossfitting, yoga, pilates, you name it!

I do these things so I can be my best self for others. As I read this morning in 2 Corinthians 3, as a Christian I am a letter of recommendation for Christ, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God. I think a healthy lifestyle is just another way for me to accomplish this task.

Bring it, 2013!

To read more about my brother and his life click here. (this is a blog post written by my cousin Jenni)
Also, check out his website at www.blakesstory.com

Lillie & Lola

The other day I went to my Aunt Heidi's house where I got to spend some time with my two cousins, Jamie and Jenni, and Jenni's daughter's Lillie and Lola. They are the most precious little girls. I just love them to death!!

Miss Lola is growing up so fast!! I love her sweet little pig tails!

Lillie has made it her goal to not pose for any more pictures so this is her ignoring the camera :)

Oh wait, we got a smile out of Lillie!! Yay :) Thanks Lil!

I love my family so very much!!!! 

I was able to make it on a 3 mile run yesterday and finally averaging a time below a 9 minute mile. Thank goodness... after taking a month off from running I have become incredibly slow, but I guess that's all part of the challenge.

Well my trip in New Hampshire has officially ended, but I still have a some more pictures from my last day, as well as a delicious raw, vegan dish that my cousin and I made last night. I'll try to post that tomorrow!

Lunch At Seasons 52

Wow! It's like I have totally forgotten about my blog. I finished summer school! Thank goodness!! Now I am in Tampa visiting my brother and his girlfriend.

My brother passed the test to receive his pilot's license so in order to celebrate we went to a Tampa restaurant called Seasons 52. The idea is that the chef changes the specials every week (52 times per year) in order to match what is currently in season. All the items on the menu are organic, healthy, and a maximum of 475 calories. Cool huh?

Aww Robert and Maggie are precious.

 Wow, Robert and I look so weird. I think it's the sun making our eyes squinty. Oh, and Robert's stupid facial expression.

Maggie got the vegetarian sampler. Starting at the sautéed tofu and then going clockwise: stuffed pepper, stuffed tomato, grilled broccoli with homemade caesar, quinoa and bean mixture, crispy taco, and tomatillo salsa.

Our waiter explained to us how the quinoa, brown rice, and bean mixture was apparently what provided the Incas with enough sustenance to survive. He was saying how you could eat this for every meal and your body would be in peak health... I am not sure how much I believe him. What about moderation? and some veggies? Not to mention the fact that I would be bored out of my mind just eating that for the rest of my life. 

Here is my ahi tuna salad. So good.

And Robert being weird again. He got ahi tuna and avocado sushi rolls. I had one and they were pretty delicious.


Alright that's it.

Mother's Day Meal

Happy Mother's Day!! My mom is my absolute best friend in the whole world. I don't know what I would do without her in my life.

Today my mom and I travelled to visit my grandmother. She fixed us a delicious meal and we spent a relaxing afternoon at my grandparent's house.

Aren't my grandmother and mom the most adorable people?!

When we got home, I got together with my best friend Meagan and we went to Whole Foods to pick up all the ingredients we needed to make dinner for our moms. (Oh, and we stopped by another store to get pink balloons and pink poster board!) 

Our moms had such a wonderful time, but most importantly the food was DELICIOUS. Seriously, everyone and their mother needs to make this chicken recipe. I really want to make it like once a week now. It's that good.

I got both the recipe's from my favorite clean eating blog: The Gracious Pantry. The chicken was her Grilled Chicken Souvlaki recipe and the pasta was from her Penne in Lemon Basil Sauce recipe. The only changes I made was using 100% whole wheat spaghetti instead of penne, and then we didn't add the chicken from the lemon basil recipe since we were using the chicken souvlaki instead.

The chicken was so tender and marinated perfectly... I want more now.

Mother's Day flowers in the background, courtesy of my father :)

Dinner is served.

Tomorrow I officially begin clean eating (aka: The Death of my Sugar Addiction). I have been eating clean for the past couple days and it has been going really well. Hopefully as I get better I can start creating recipes of my own and stop taking every single one from The Gracious Pantry!!

Oh yeah, and we also made these Clean Eating Peanut Butter Cookies for dessert. Best meal ever. Although I must admit, we added regular chocolate chips, not grain-sweetened, so they technically weren't 100% clean... but oh well :)

3 Bars of Death

I realize many of you are visiting my blog via my cousin Jenni's blog, Dear Lillie. She posted a picture of Lillie and I that I wanted to share. Lillie seems to be going through that phase where smiling doesn't come too naturally, but then again I can't say anything because mine isn't much better... haha!

Ahh I love her!! When I look at her sweet face I just melt inside :)


Anyways, I wanted to recognize my favorite lunch that I have all the time, and to continue showing my love for avocados. So here is one of my all-time favorite lunches: avocado slices on whole wheat toast with a slice of rice cheese (or regular cheese).

Maybe I love avocados because I just love the color green so much! It is so bright and happy. But really I love this lunch because it keeps me full for so long. (I usually have double the amount shown, which ends up being half of a regular-sized avocado.)

For today's workout I completed a circuit that I did in high school and it basically put me out of commission for two days. I wanted to re-create that feeling of total exhaustion, so I did it today! The name says it all...

Three Bars of Death (with added ab exercise):
Squat
Bench Press
Hang Cleans
Ab Leg Let Downs

Go through the entire circuit doing 10 reps of each exercise, then 9 reps of each, then 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! I timed myself so I can do this again and try to beat my time. I did it in 24:55. Not too bad. I challenge you to beat my time!!!! Go do it now.

Have a wonderful, sweaty evening!!

Stretch for Seven

I had the best weekend visiting my cousin and her family. She has the two most adorable girls in the world :) I love them both so very much!

Lillian Annabel

Lorelei Wren

Sadly, the weekend is over. But, it is time to start the Stretch for Seven Challenge!! This stretching will be much needed as I gear up for another race on Saturday.

Below are my favorite foam rolling stretches to do after I run. (Look closely at my face so you can see the awkward expressions I am making, as well as the weird state my hair is in... I think I was running on very little sleep here...)

I would have to say the IT Band and Quad tie for the most painful stretch. The Inner Thigh easily takes the prize for awkwardest stretch. Not recommended for the overly self-conscious...

Basically I just position the foam role underneath a knotted muscle and try to let the weight of my body press onto the role and release the knot. I usually tend to just hold it on particularly painful areas, but you can also role it up and down the leg.

Hope this doesn't bring too many people to tears.

Full Body Death:
Bulgarian Squats 3x10/leg
Front Loaded Squat to Shoulder Press 3x10
Hamstring Dead Lift 3x10
Bench Press 3x8
Lat Pull Down with Cables 3x10
Barbell Row 3x10
6-inches Holding MedBall 3x20 seconds
Plank with Elbows on Stability Ball 3x20 roll outs

Breakfast at Nosh

Somehow whenever I am with my amazing cousin Sarah we tend to plan our trips around food. Since yesterday afternoon I had been planning to take her to Nosh before her flight back home. As promised, we woke up bright and early and headed over there. We split a blueberry orange scone, savory egg pancakes, and the In Training smoothie that I always rave about. Yes, we split all three of those things... sad, I know, but hey... at least we were splitting them.

 Here is the delicious blueberry orange scone that was still hot from the oven. The orange glaze is to die for, and we spent our whole meal scheming about how to concoct our own version.

Here is the savory egg pancakes. Very unique. Basically it was a large fried egg mixed with veggies and bacon. HUGE portion.

And of course, I had to make my cousin try the PB banana smoothie that I love so much!! 

We were STUFFED.

Okay, Easter break is officially over for me now. Time to clean up my diet!! I am going to visit my cousin Jenni this weekend and she better not tempt me with all her delicious desserts...

Community Event

Today I frantically woke up and ran to school to take a Portuguese exam... miserable. After it was over I came back home in order to see all my friends for a community 5k, tennis tournament, and golf tournament in celebration of my little brother's 15th birthday. It's a beautiful day, perfect for visiting with old friends!

My Mom and I at the Event

I had a delicious green smoothie today: banana, apple, lemon juice, strawberries, and spinach. So refreshing! They never get old...

And for lunch I was able to have leftover honey baked ham from Easter! That makes a tasty sandwich!

Yesterday's lift:

Full Body:

Incline Chest Press 3x10

Squats on Smith Machine 2x10

Bulgarian Squats 2x10 per leg

Lat Pull Down 3x8

Triceps Rope Extension 3x10

Reverse Pushup 3x10

Dumbbell Hamstring Dead Lift 3x10

Bicep Curl with EZ Bar 3x10

Ab Plank with Knee Tucks 3x20 per side

Happy 15th Birthday Blake! I love you! :) Learn About Blake's Story Here

Painful Blisters

Let me begin by telling you about yesterday. I woke up and hung out with my cousin Jenni and her two adorable children Lillie and Lola. I thought it would be a good idea to make these cookie dough bites that Jenni posted on her blog a couple days ago. The thing is, it was like 10:30am when we made them. I tried to wait till after lunch, but as Lillie would say, I kept "sneaking" them...

After completely filling my stomach with cookie dough bites, I headed out for a 7 mile run. I made it, but cookie dough is definitely not good running fuel. I wish I had enough will power to say I will never do that again, but I never learn from these kinds of mistakes.

The link to Jenni's blog and those delicious balls of joy can be found here.

Today I was walking to class and I realized a weird poking pain on my foot. Around lunch time I took off my shoe to investigate. Not only did I find huge blisters on the ends of my toes, but I had them between my toes and in a crease underneath my toe. Rachael said that it was her first time ever seeing a "crease blister." I must admit, it was mine too. Regardless, we went and had a great workout today at the Rec Center.

Upper Body:
Chest Press 3x10
Body Weight Dips 3x6
Hammer Curls 3x5/side then Regular Bicep Curls 3x5/side
Arnold Press 3x8
Dumbbell Row 3x8/side
Sit-ups holding 10lbs on Decline Bench 3x10
Plank on Stability Ball (Roll ball in and back out with feet) 3x10
Russian Twists 3x20/side

Happy Friday!! :)

Cruisin' 2012

Just because I took a break from blogging to go on a cruise does not mean that I took a (total) break from exercising.

My cardio for the trip consisted of a spinning class, a 10 mile run, a 3 mile run, and a 5 mile run. The ten miles were pretty awful. I was full from delicious cruise food and I was alternating between using the treadmill and the mini track on the ship. (they were equally awful).

I would post my lifts, but I can't even remember them... I only lifted three times total.

And now for pictures.

Check out the size of this chocolate cherry cake. The frosting was so good. I wish I had a picture of it before everyone got to it.

Our adorable waitresses for the week. So sweet.

The Coast of Cozumel, Mexico

Our cruise ship.

View from our floor down into the lobby of the ship.

Out to dinner in Sarasota, Florida after our cruise.

Okay that is the end of the pictures. But anyways, the weather on the cruise wasn't that nice, but we had fun spending some quality family time. Much needed. We spent the last couple of days in Sarasota at some of our friends' house and had such a nice time. The weather was perfect and I loved nerding out on healthy foods with Diana. So fun. I learned that hemp is another great alternative for milk. I also learned that golden berries taste like organic, all-natural Sour Patch Kids. Could it get any better? I think not. Thank you Diana! 

Okay now I must go lift after a long day of classes. Workout to come later tonight.

Hello!

Happy Sunday!