Ooh La La Frenchie!

Good evening friends and lovers. It was quite a day today. I was wiped when I got home, but still managed to fit in my lower body workout. Here's the rundown:

Standing Calf Raises:
No weight 12 reps
5lbs (each hand) 10 reps
8lbs 8 reps
12lbs 6reps
8lbs 12 reps
Calf Raises with toes pointed out: 12 reps 12lbs

Squats:
15 reps no weight
12 reps 12lbs
10 reps 15lbs
8 reps 20lbs
6 reps 25lbs
12 reps 20lbs
Plie squats: 12 reps 5lbs

Backward lunges:
15 reps no weight
12 reps 5lbs (each hand)
10 reps 8lbs
8 reps 12lbs
6 reps 15lbs
12 reps 12lbs
Good mornings: 12 reps 12lbs

My legs are SORE! I'm nervous for my run tomorrow morning. I'm sure it'll be fine though.

Dinner was delicious. I was lusting after pasta, so I let it seduce me.



I sauteed black olives, broccoli, and garlic in olive oil and served it over whole wheat pasta with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt. Sinful!

Check out the April issue of French Elle. Ooh la la! Frenchie's do it better! When is Anna Wintour going to wake up and get with the program?

Alternative Medicine - A Double-Edged Sword?

Good morning! I'm glad you enjoyed my Nashville pics. There are a lot more, but I didn't want to bore you guys :)

This morning I began the day with a 25 minute interval run. I alternated walking for 1 minute with running for 3 minutes at various intervals. It was fun and I really worked up a sweat! I have the BFL leg workout planned for this evening. I'll recap that for you tonight.

After my run, I tried a new twist on my regular oatmeal. I still had one of the Cinnamon Roll Yoplait Yogurts in my fridge. I didn't like it when I tried it, but I didn't want to throw it out. I HATE wasting food. I thought mixing it in my oats would be a good idea though...and it was!



1/2 cup oats, 1/4 cup cottage cheese, half the container of the Yoplait yogurt, strawberries, and a tsp of White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter. I really liked the taste of the yogurt in the oats. It didn't taste as fake and added a lot of sweetness. I wouldn't buy the yogurt again, but I'm glad I found a way to use the one I had left.

As you may know, I'm a big fan of alternative medicine. I currently treat my fibromyalgia with a few different alternative medicines and treatments. The idea of putting a bunch of pills into my body that cause side effects worse than my ailment frightens me (sudden death or suicidal thoughts anyone?). However, when it comes to treating eating disorders,
this Examiner article warns that alternative medicines may be a double edged sword. Some people suffering from eating disorders use herbal weight loss products and metabolism boosters. These can be extremely dangerous to someone who is already cutting calories and may be abusing laxatives. However, yoga is considered an alternative medicine and can be very helpful to those suffering from eating disorders. Helping them become "aware of their body and it's purpose." Personally, I think weight loss supplements are dangerous for anyone, not just those suffering form eating disorders. I can see how it would be more harmful, but I wonder just how much. Anything that makes your heart rate speed up like a hummingbird is bad for you. What are your thoughts?

Nashville Recap Day 2

Day 2 of Nashville was one of the most relaxing and fun days I've had in a while. It all started with an early afternoon massage in the hotel spa. You know me and my massages! I loved it. After the massage, I spent a few hours outside reading and drinking coffee. The high temperature of the day was 75 degrees and it was beautiful just sitting there relaxing in the sun.

Later on, it was time to tour the Grand Ole Opry!


The Opry is both a museum and an events center. It's also located in the mall! What a fitting tribute to country music legends (sarcasm).

I cut a rug in front of the fake audience on an old timey stage.



Jersey Shore fist pumps and kicks! The museum was really cool and full of country music history. It was small, but it took us a few hours to get through because there were quite a few exhibits with a lot of detail...and I read slow.



Some of Minnie Pearl's fashions. Howdee!


I love their faces in this movie poster.


We became obsessed with "The Dixie Dewdrop" he looked like such a friendly, old hillbilly (I'm not calling him a hillbilly, he was a self-described hillbilly and quite awesome--so no hatemail about using the word hillbilly please).

I had to pose with Patsy Cline.


I adore her as you can probably tell. There was no joking around when we reached Patsy's area. Isn't that purple dress adorable? I need to make one for myself.

I also adore Steve Martin


He's my old man crush. Seriously, I would go bonezone all over him if given the opportunity. His bluegrass band played the Opry a few years ago and his picture was in the room with pictures of more recent performers. I also flipped Taylor Swift's picture the bird because she was near my Steve. Back off Swift!

Dolly only had a few things in her exhibit. The rest is all in Dollywood.


I still felt her up though.

After touring the Opry, it was dinnah time! I was really looking forward to dinner because we were getting a bucket o' crab! We headed out to a fun place called South Street. I loved this place from the moment we walked in. It was a little cheesy because it was trying to look like dive bar when it clearly wasn't (line out the door, call ahead seating, pagers when your table was ready, glasses you could keep if you ordered a certain drink), but it was super fun. It had wooden tables, fun music, and huge open windows on one side. Like I said, we ordered a bucket of crab.


There was absolutely no talking during this meal. Cracking crab and stuffing your face is serious business.

I had to pose with the only remaining piece of food before we left.



I was very happy with my meal.

I had so much fun in Nashville, but I think it was to do with the company and the opportunity to relax. If given the chance to go there again, I doubt I would. I hated the whole cheesy, commercialized feel of the city. It actually felt uncomfortable sometimes. I think it ruins the true history of what the city is and disrespects the music legends that came out of it. That's just my personality though. A lot of people love Nashville and that's fine, I'm just not into that sort of thing is all. I'm the same way with Vegas. I have no desire to go there because the whole idea of the place makes me sick. I prefer old timey cities with streetlamps, not flashing billboards. Don't get me wrong, I definitely had a good time on my mini-vacation and I'm happy to have seen what Nashville is all about. It was fun Nashville!

Nashville Recap Day 1

Hi everyone! I'm back from Nashville and ready to give you the rundown on Music City.

I woke up bright and early ready to the hit the road. The airport was super easy. The whole check-in and security process took about 10 minutes. I flew Southwest and they're amazing. I have nothing but good things to say about that airline. 5 Jersey Shore Fist Pumps! Here's a shot of me after going through security.


I was happy they didn't take my oatmeal out of my carry-on. I was also really tired!

After a quick flight and checking in to the hotel, it was time for a trolley tour of the city.



Sweet ride.

We toured through downtown, the Vanderbilt area, Bicentennial Park, Centennial Park, and music row.



This is a shot of Bicentennial Park. It was beautiful and we were able to get out of the trolley and walk around a bit. This was the best shot I have for you. You can really see just how big it is. There are towers all along the sides that list major events in Nashville's history. There was also a really cool fountain with a globe thing that spun around. I have a picture of that, but it wouldn't upload for some reason. Your loss :P



This is the Ryman Theatre. The original Opry. It's in the downtown area and is now a little concert hall. The Grand Ole Opry is on another side of town next door to a Dave & Buster's and across the street from a mega mall! More on that in my next post.



This is the famous Legends Bar where a lot of big, country acts were discovered and many legends like Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton have played. It looks like a dive bar right? Well, all the bars and restaurants look like this then you go inside and it's more like an Applebee's. There are gift shops attached to most of the bars as well. This is something I really hated about Nashville. It was VERY commercialized and cheesy. It's not really a walking city either. Downtown is right off the highway and the main street IS a highway. You have to take a taxi EVERYWHERE. It just wasn't the type of city I thought it was. It felt like Las Vegas of country music. Anyway, on with the tour...


This is another bar.


One of a hundred gift shops for the Opry.

After the trolley tour, we explored the downtown a bit more.


Oh my god! Elvis!!!!!!!!!!


Trying on a hat in a Willie Nelson gift shop. It was huge....and my head is small.


I liked this guy. He was on the side of the Hard Rock. He looks friendly no?


I also liked this ice cream sundae. Enough to hump it apparently.

After walking around and resting back at the hotel. It was time for dinner! We headed out to Aquarium.


It was a chain restaurant, but I was really looking forward to checking it out. The entire place is one big aquarium and sharks, dolphins, and fish swim around you while you eat! It was really cool.


This is me waiting for our reservation to be called. I didn't order seafood here though because it all seemed kind of standard chain restaurant fare and I wanted to save my seafood experience for a non-chain restaurant. I ordered Thai chicken wraps.



These were surprisingly amazing! Better than PF Changs if you believe it. I was very happy with my meal and the restaurant overall. I love marine life and eating with the fishies made for a very relaxing atmosphere.

After dinner, we just headed back to the hotel because we were exhausted. However, sleep was not easy to come by because the people in the room next to us were having, crazy, violent, screaming sex! It was funny at first, but I ended up calling the front desk around 3 AM because it was getting insane. They informed me several other people had just called and they were sending someone up. It was quiet after that! See you guys later for a recap of Day 2!

Music City Here I Come!

Happy Friday! As you're reading this, I'm flying to Nashville, TN...Music City! I'm not a country music fan, but I'm a big fan of music history. I'm looking forward to touring the Opry and seeing the other sights and sounds of this fabulous city. I hope I have time for a trolley tour!

Last night's dinner was VERY good.


I made broccoli slaw alfredo using two cups of steamed broccoli slaw, grilled chicken, a sprinkle of garlic powder, a wedge of Garlic & Herb Laughing Cow, and parmesan cheese on top. I never thought to add garlic powder before. It made a big difference. Very flavorful!

I also had a vanilla Chobani with chocolate Cheerios for dessert, but forgot to snap a pic. It was late...sorry!

The hotel I'm staying at has an indoor pool, jacuzzi, and fitness center. I'm looking forward to the jacuzzi, but not sure what my workout plans will be...if any. I have to say that at the end of week 1 of going back to Body For Life, I feel a drastic change in my energy levels and overall mood. I'm not as tired during the day and have felt fabulous all week. I attribute this to paying better attention to the carb, protein, and fat ratio of my meals, timing of my meals, and not overdoing it in cardio. I think going back to BFL style of training is going to give me the results I'm after. I'll do a better recap on week 4 though to really measure results. Anyway, I'll probably just pick up where I left off with workouts when I get back....if I'm coming back ;)

Have a fabulous weekend!

Three Things Thursday

Hey there! Is everyone's day going well so far? I hope so. I started the day off with a 5 mile run outside. It was tough! Not so much physically, but mentally. I spoiled myself with running intervals most of this week and when I returned to just a steady run, I was bored out of my mind. I just wanted it to be over. Intervals are much more fun and go by in the blink of an eye. I always forget what a difference there is between the two styles of training.

My lunch today is the same thing I had yesterday so I don't have a picture. I'll share my afternoon snackie with you instead.


Yummmmm....I love this flavor. The marshmallow taste really comes through strong.

I picked the winner of my Nada Pasta giveaway this morning and the winner chosen by random.org was #5 Lisa, who said "spaghetti baby!" Congratulations Lisa! Email me your mailing info and I'll get those noodles right out to you baby!

Today's Thursday and we know what that means....Three Things Thursday. If you're new to the blog, this is a post where I list three things that are annoying me this week. You get your chance in the comments. Here we go...

1. People Who Don't Follow Through. There are many reasons people don't follow through on promises they make or work tasks they say they're going to do. It could be procrastination (usually the reason for putting off work responsibilities), fear, disorganization, resistance. Whatever the reason, people who have no follow through also have major disrespect for the person they're making promises to. If you have no intention of doing something, don't string someone along with promises. You only succeed in making that person think you can't be counted on. If it's procrastination, start managing your time better or setting aside time for specific tasks. If it's fear, confront it. Your fear is an emotion and emotions can either fuel your follow through or hold you back. You decide which. Disorganization is easy, get organized! Ask someone to help you if you're overwhelmed. Finally, resistance. If you're resisting, ask yourself not why you should do it, but why you shouldn't....then decide what action to take and stop making empty promises, messing with people's emotions and time.

2. Vegetarian's Who Wear Leather Shoes And Belts. I'll go easy on this one because it really depends on their reasons for being a vegetarian. If they choose not to ingest meat for health reasons, OK. But if they are all for animal rights, not eating meat because it's gross to kill an animal...yeah...you better stick to pleather honey cause your leather purse is made of cow just like that burger you scrunch your nose up at.

3. Moist. I hate that word...yuck. *shivers*

What's bugging you?

Grrrr....

Grrrr...I'm mad! Remember this post from yesterday? We all agreed that the fashion industry needs to stop talking and start acting. Well, it seems like Australian designer, Rosemary Masic, of label Nevenka, will NOT be acting. In this article, she says, ""I am very passionate about life and serious about health. It is the most important thing we have and we should respect and look after our bodies. Size 16 and size 18 is not a healthy size to be.""I am very passionate about life and serious about health. It is the most important thing we have and we should respect and look after our bodies. Size 16 and size 18 is not a healthy size to be." I'd like to know what makes her an expert. Just because someone is thin, doesn't mean they're healthy. In the article, size 16 model, Sarah Collins says, ''Just because you're bigger, doesn't mean you don't want to wear the same clothes as everyone else. I'm healthy. I exercise. I eat well. I never touch junk food … It's frustrating that a lot of Australian designer labels don't make bigger sizes." and ''They would look good on us, they just need to be made to fit us.'' I completely agree. What is it going to take for the fashion industry to finally listen? How many young models have to die from anorexia before they care? In this bad economy, you would think that designers would start listening to consumers and designing clothes for the everyday woman that wants to spend the money on nice clothes, not just for women they think are the "healthy" size. It makes me so angry and frustrated to read articles like this.

Now that that's off my chest, on to other topics. After work, I completed my strength training. I rested for about an hour beforehand though just to make sure my back would be okay. After working out and a relaxing bubble bath, I got started on dinner.

I was craving pasta like you wouldn't believe and had been thinking of what to make all day. I had canned artichokes in the pantry, and a roma tomato and garlic in the crisper, so that's what went in the pan.


I mixed it all up with some olive oil, threw it over some whole wheat pasta and dinner was served!


Of course I added Greek yogurt on top...don't be silly!

Off to do a little packing and tv watching! Good night friends!
*It's not too late to enter my Notta Pasta giveaway. I'll be picking a winner tomorrow!

Ole! To The Extreme!

Happy Wednesday! Today is my Thursday since I have Friday off. So, happy Thirsty Thursday to me? If only I were drunk right now...

I was happy to see that a lot of you were as excited as I was about the cinnamon bun yogurt!


Unfortunately, I didn't like it. Blech! I loved the texture though. It was similar to a custard and I hate watery, runny yogurt so the texture was perfect for me. However, the taste left a lot to be desired. It tasted VERY fake and I felt like I was just shoveling high fructose corn syrup into my mouth. You know it's bad when it actually tastes like syrup. I give the Yoplait Thick & Creamy Cinnamon Bun Yogurt 1 out of 5 Jersey Shore Fist Pumps.

My workout this morning was an interval run on the treadmill. It went a little suttin' like this:

Min 1-2 warmup at 4.0
Min 2-4 6.8
Min 4-5 7.3
Min 5-6 4.5
Min 6-8 7.0
Min 8-10 7.5
Min 10-11 4.5
Min 11-13 7.0
Min 13-14 7.5
Min 14-15 7.0
Min 15-16 4.5
Min 16-18 7.0
Min 18-19 7.5
Min 19-20 4.5
Min 20-21 7.0
Min 21-22 8.0
Min 22-25 cooldown at 3.8

I was a sweat ball after that! I have plans to lift after work today. My back is hurting though so I might put it off...we'll see!

Lunch today featured a new product.


Ole Extreme Wellness High Fiber Wraps. They're EXTREME!!! Should I drink a Mountain Dew with them? I found these tortillas in Target (doesn't everyone grocery shop at Target?). I chose them because of their great nutrition stats. One tortilla is 71 calories, 8g of protein, 5g of carbs, and get this...12g of fiber! That's 48% of your recommended daily value. I couldn't believe they fit such amazing nutrition stats into 71 calories. I like buying low calorie tortillas because I'd rather get my calories from what I fill the wrap with, not the wrap itself. Did you know some wraps can have up to 300 calories just in the wrap alone?! I never order wraps from restaurants because you can end up eating almost 1,000 calories depending on what type of wrap they use and after they fill it. I've made that mistake a few times and didn't realize until I checked out the restaurant's nutrition info online. Anyway, back to the extreme wraps. I used an Ole wrap to make my lunch today. I spread a Garlic & Herb Laughing Cow cheese wedge on the wrap and filled it with turkey, pickles, and romaine.


The Ole wrap was very good! The texture was soft and wrapped around my fillings easily. I was afraid it might have a gummy texture or be flavorless, but I could definitely taste the nutty flavor of the whole wheat. I'll definitely be buying more of these in the future! When I was done with my wrap, I had a berry good dessert.


Yummy strawberries. Strawberries are my favorite fruit! Don't forget, it's not too late to enter my Notta Pasta giveaway. I'll be picking a winner tomorrow!

Do you order wraps from restaurants? Is there something you don't order from restaurants?

Faker

Hey guys! Wow, this day draaaagged. I think the weather is to blame. Rainy days always seem extra long don't they?

So, I bought more fake food...yup, I'm a faker!


I saw this in the grocery store today and my mouth started watering almost immediately. Cinnamon Roll? Are they serious?! I used to love getting a Cinnabon at the mall when I was in high school and I love the smell of the place when I walk by it. Confession time...I even have Cinnabon lip gloss! hahaha! Needless to say, this yogurt went straight in the cart. It says that it's thick and creamy too. Yum yum gimme some! I'm going to have it as my bedtime snack mixed with some Kashi GoLean Crunch. Can't wait!!

Don't worry, I had a natural, healthy dinner. Uh oh...there are fakes in this dinner!


Fake fries! Carrot fries aren't real fries?! Oh well. They're super tasty and super healthy. I'll stick with the fake fries ;) I made honey bbq veggie burger wraps to go with my fries.

I simply cut up a Boca Burger and mixed it with honey mustard bbq sauce, then threw it on the wraps with some pickles, tomato, and Greek yogurt. Tasty tasty!

Do you think Vice President Biden would like my dinner? I bet he'd think it was a big f*cking deal!



Oh Joe...I love you so!

It's In Fashion To Be Healthy

Hi everyone! It's quite the rainy day here in Boston. We're supposed to get 3-4 inches of rain. We had this same type of storm last week and there was a lot of flooding and road damage. I'm praying the storm today isn't as bad as they're predicting. It would be horrible if the flood and road damage got even worse. I hope you're having good weather where you are!

This morning I had cardio on the workout agenda and it was a doozy! For the first 20 minutes, I did the BFL high intesity interval cardio workout as follows:

Min 1-2 warmup at 4.0
Min 2-3 4.5
Min 3-4 6.8
Min 4-5 7.2
Min 5-6 7.6
Min 6-7 4.5
Min 7-8 6.8
Min 8-9 7.2
Min 9-10 7.6
Min 10-11 4.5
Min 11-12 6.8
Min 12-13 7.2
Min 13-14 7.6
Min 14-15 4.5
Min 15-16 6.8
Min 16-17 7.2
Min 17-18 7.6
Min 18-19 8.0
Min 19-20 4.0

Totally kicked my butt. I jumped off to run to the ladies, then jumped back on for 20 minutes alternating running and walking. I just kind of went with the flow and then cooled down for 5 minutes at a very slow pace. The total workout was 45 minutes. It went by fast and I was a sweaty mess. What more can you ask for?

After showering, I refueled with my favorite breakfast.

It's an old photo. I forgot to take one this morning :)

Oh yeah, you know it. Pumpkin oats! 1/2 cup oats, 1/4 cup cottage cheese, 1/4 cup pumpkin, cinnamon, bananas, white chocolate chips.

According to fashion insiders, it's in fashion to be healthy. Vogue Editor-In-Chief Anna Wintour and fashion designer Michael Kors were among the prominent speakers from the fashion industry who spoke about eating disorder awareness at the 13th Annual Public Health Forum presented by the Harris Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. Wintour spoke about the progress that the fashion industry had made over the last few years, including setting minimum age requirements for models, banning alcohol and tobacco backstage at fashion shows, and limiting working hours for young models. She also urged her peers in the industry to “identify young women who could be suffering from eating disorders." Kors further pledged to not use any models under the age of 16 in his shows. Some other panel members were skeptical. Harper Dangler, a resident of Cambridge, said he thought “it would take a while” before action was taken, because “we don’t focus on prevention in this country and this is a disease that requires such action. This is not just a fashion issue.” I agree with Dangler's point. I think there needs to be more education on eating disorders in schools and that being healthy shouldn't suddenly be in fashion because Anna Wintour says it is. It should be the norm and encouraged. I'll believe Anna Wintour when she stops using emaciated models in her magazine. Actions speak louder than words. What are your thoughts on this?

***Have you entered my Nada Pasta giveaway yet? What are you waiting for?!

Getting Down To Business

Thank you so much for your support and encouraging comments on my BFL training plan! The support of the blog world is truly amazing.

I had an upper body strength training session on the agenda for the afternoon today. When I got home, I spread out my weights and got down to business.


You don't have to go to a gym to get your strength training in. All you need is a good set of dumbbells or a resistance band.

The upper body training portion of the Body For Life program is broken up into one exercise each for back, bi's, shoulders, chest, and tri's. Select one exercise and conduct five sets with it, starting with a set of 12 reps, then increasing the weight and doing 10 reps, adding more weight and doing 8 reps, adding more weight for 6 reps. Then reduce the weight and do 12 reps. Immediately perform another set of 12 reps for that muscle group using a second selected exercise. It sounds confusing, but once you get the hang of it, it's incredibly easy. Well, easy to master, not easy to do! My workout this afternoon was as follows:

Back:
Bent over rows
12 reps no weight
10 reps 3lbs
8 reps 5 lbs
6 reps 8lbs
12 reps 5lbs
Overhead Press 12 reps 3lbs

Bi's:
Dumbbell curls
12 reps 3 lbs
10 reps 5lbs
8 reps 8 lbs
6 reps 12 lbs
12 reps 8lbs
Hammer curls 12 reps 5lbs

Chest:
Chest press
12 reps 5lbs
10 reps 8lbs
8 reps 12 lbs
6 reps 15lbs
12 reps 12 lbs
Dumbbell flys 12 reps 5lbs

Tri's:
Skull crushers
12 reps 3lbs
10 reps 5lbs
8 reps 8lbs
6 reps 12 lbs
12 reps 8lbs
Kickbacks 12 reps 5lbs

Woo wee! I was sore after this! I was starving by the end of the workout. Monday night is sweet tater night and I was craving sweet potato all day.


With my tater, I had baked chicken stuffed with Garlic & Herb Laughing Cow and tomatoes and steamed brussels on the side. I love stuffing the leftover Laughing Cow in the potato skin. Don't knock it until you try it.

Time to watch The Wire. Yes, I'm still hooked on that show. Tomorrow is a cardio day. I'm not sure what I'll end up doing, but I know some HIIT (high intensity interval training) will be involved. What are your workout plans tomorrow?

Work With What Ya Got!

Happy Monday! I'm excited for this week because I'm headed to Nashville on Friday! I'm really looking forward to seeing The Grand Old Opry and experiencing all the charm the South has to offer. I hope they can put up with my Yankee attitude :)

As you know, I've been feeling down about my recent weight loss. I've been trying to put on muscle, but haven't been very successful. Well, I've complained about it long enough. Seriously, if that's the worst of my problems, I'm doing pretty well in life right? I'm done dwelling on it. I still want to add muscle, but my focus is going to be maintaining my current weight and just to WORK WITH WHAT I GOT! I still want to add muscle, but I'm going to go back to an old, faithful routine that's never let me down, makes me happy and is really fun...Body For Life! My body always responds to this method of training, so why not go back to what I know works? I'm excited to add this to the shape training program. I'll probably go back to the HIIT interval cardio training as well because I'm kind of bored with just running steady state. It's time to mix it up and have some fun! Obviously I'm not using BFL to lose weight so I won't be cutting calories or dieting. I pretty much follow the eating plan of a protein, carb, vegetable or fruit at each meal and eating mini-meals during the day. I find eating this way keeps my energy up and I'm never hungry. If you're interested in trying the BFL program, check out the website. You can download any info about the plan or email me if you have any questions.

My workout today is upper body lifting which I plan on doing after work. This morning I worked up a serious sweat on the elliptical. My sweaty session went like this:

Min 1-2 (warmup) Level 8
Min 3-4 Level 10
Min 4-5 Level 12
Min 5-6 Level 14
Min 6-7 Level 14 backward
Min 7-9 Level 10
Min 9-11 Level 12
Min 11-13 Level 14
Min 13-14 Level 10
Min 14-15 Level 12
Min 15-16 Level 14
Min 16-17 Level 14 backward
Min 17-18 Level 10
Min 18-19 Level 12
Min 19-20 Level 14
Min 20-22 Level 8 (cooldown)

I walked on the treadmill for five minutes after to get my heart rate down a little more. When I got home I showered and ate some pumpkin oatmeal. You've seen that a million times on here so I didn't take a pic. Here's a pic of my pretty lunch:


Heehee! That's not pretty at all! 1 1/2 cups of steamed broccoli with tomato sauce, parmesan, and 4oz of cut up buffalo turkey slices. My mouth was on fire after eating this! I wasn't expecting the buffalo turkey to be as hot as it was. I drank two bottles of water with this meal. That's how hot it was. I'm not a fan of hot or spicy foods so I definitely won't be eating that turkey again. The flavor combination of the broccoli, tomato and parm was delicious though. I brought a Luna bar to snack on a little later, but I think I might break into it early.

Well, that's all folks. See you tonight for a strength training recap :)

Some Things...

Hi friends! I hope you had a fun, relaxing weekend. The weather was amazing all weekend and I took advantage of both days. Saturday, I wasn't going to run, but it was beautiful outside and I couldn't resist getting out there. Sunday was my rest day (as the good Lord intended). I ate some good food, had talks with good friends and even went a little crazy and bought myself some things! Well, not too crazy (I think I spent about $10 haha!)



A pretty necklace to jazz up a plain ol' grey t-shirt



Julia & Julia! I haven't seen this movie yet and the book was $4 so I figured I'd pick it up to read on the plane down to Nashville on Friday.



Artificially flavored yogurt. After reading on Shannon's blog about how sweet this stuff was, I had to try it for myself. It was crazy delicious! I mixed it with chocolate Cheerio's and strawberries for a dessert and licked the cup clean! I couldn't care less if it's looked down on in the blog world. If it's sweet, it's good enough for me :)

I also bought romaine wraps to make a fun dinner with. I was inspired by the adorable Ms. Peanut Butter Fingers and her Friday lunch date. Her wrap looked so good to me. I didn't have roast beef on hand, so I used a veggie burger instead. I wrapped a cut up veggie burger, ketchup, mustard, and pickles in romaine and had carrot fries on the side. So good!





The only downside of my weekend was that I realized my bike was hit by a snowplow sometime over the winter :(


The picture doesn't do the damage justice, but the tire is completely flat on the ground. The fact that I'm just realizing this now goes to show how often I rode the bike. No big loss. It was under $100 at Target and I rode it about ten times. I got my money's worth I guess.

I still needed to cheer myself up over the loss of my purple bike so I bought myself a tube of lip gloss.


Yes, I'm 9 years old and wear Dr. Pepper lip gloss. Whatever.

I hope you had a great weekend as well. See you tomorrow for more normal health and fitness talk!

It's OK!

Happy Friday! Like R. Kelly says, "It's the freakin' weekend baby about to have me some fun!" The weather has been amazing the past few days. This morning was no exception. I ran five miles and it was the best run I've had in a long time. I think Melissa's got her groove back!

Dinner last night was delicious. I took a tip from Shannon and mixed a wedge of Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb with spaghetti squash. YUMMMMYYY!



I also grilled up a veggie burger and broccoli in tomato sauce with chopped garlic. Like I said, yummy :)

Being Friday and all, it's time for It's OK! Inspired by Glamour Magazine's "It's OK..." feature where they assure us that our weird little habits are completely normal, I'm dedicating this post to assuring you it's okay to do the following this weekend:

It's okay...

• to sing to your puppy when you're home alone with him. It's not like he's Simon Cowell.
• to cook too much and end up eating the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
• to insist that all of the books on the bookshelf be in order by color.
• to be walking along, break out into the Soulja Boy Superman dance, and then continue walking normally.
• to enter my giveaway!

I'm about to leave work and head to school to take a test. Let the weekend begin! Good luck to my friends running in NYC this weekend. You ladies (and gents) are going to rock it!

For The Birds

Hey y'all! I hope everyone had a great day. I did! I received some great news on the professional front earlier this week and every day has gotten better since then. I'm not comfortable talking about it on the blog yet because it's work related, but once things are sorted out, I'll let you in on the news. I'm sure you understand. I received a few emails today about why I would be upset if I lost weight because of my tooth problems. To make a long story short, I've lost a lot of weight over the past few months and am trying to gain it back and a few more pounds. I've increased my calories and have been strength training, but it hasn't been working out so great for me. I just want to feel comfortable in my own skin again (and fit in my clothes) and it's very frustrating. That's all. I'm not sick or anything...thanks for your concern though! Enough talking about weight...that's boring and I have a giveaway to talk about!

I've decided that going gluten free is for the birds. Every time I eat a gluten free product like bread, cereal or pasta, I have terrible diarrhea for days. I know it's from the products because the only time it happens is after I eat a sandwich using gluten free bread, after I mix gluten free cereal with Chobani, or make a gluten free pasta dish. Any other meal, I'm fine. I don't know what is in these products (xantham gum perhaps?) that my body is rejecting, but I'm not eating them anymore. Yes, I could stick to the gluten free challenge and not eat bread, pasta, or cereal, but I know myself and a month without some sort of bread or pasta will only lead to a binge. I fear that even attempting to go on with the gluten free challenge would be very triggering for me. I don't want to ever start the cycle of binging and purging again nor do I want to restrict anything from diet.

I know a lot of people benefit from a gluten free diet and some people just happen to like rice noodles over regular noodles. I have a few unopened gluten free products that I'm giving away to MelissaNibbles readers. My loss is your gain! My first giveaway is for Notta Pasta.



Notta Pasta are gluten free, straight cut rice noodles. The winner of this giveaway will win a box of spaghetti and a box of linguini! To enter: Leave a comment below saying how you would prepare the noodles, link back to the giveaway on your blog, or tweet "I want to win Notta Pasta from @MelissaNibbles." That's three chances to win! You don't need to be a blogger to enter. I'll pick a winner at random on Thursday, March 25th at 8am.