Ringing in the New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope you all had a safe and great New Year!

Michael and I spent the night relaxing in our hotel room since I'm still recovering from the flu. We went out to dinner with Michael's parents and I got some pretty delicious food.

Instead of doing a full recap of 2013 cause let's face it, I have the flu and I just don't have the energy to go through it all, let's just summarize it as eventful and a pretty good year.

And I've decided that instead of doing a list of resolutions for the new year (since I never end up following them) I'd come up with a few goals to accomplish throughout the year.

1. Get my NASM certification

2. Move out

3. Graduate college

And that's it.

Hope you all have a wonderful year!

Fit Friday #19

Happy Friday everyone!

This weeks marks some pretty important things around here. #1. I finally started running again #2. If you've been following my Facebook page you'll see I started a Fitness Advent Challenge I found on Pinterest, which I'll be talking about tomorrow in it's own special post. #3. December started finally! It's almost Christmas time which also means it's been busy, busy, busy. 

I talked about it on Wednesday, but this has been my life as of late

If breathing wasn't so automatic I honestly don't know if I'd remember to do so unless it was written down. That's how crazy it's been around here.

Even though it's been super busy, I've still found time to exercise so

Even made a new picture

Sunday:

I went for my first run since I found out I have plantar fasciitis back in August

I went right as the sun was coming up and ran a 60 sec jog/90 sec walk for 20 minutes.

Monday:

Upper body day at the gym

Tuesday:

I was going to go for a run, but I had registration early in the morning for my last semester.

I had my fitness classes, and I'm not gonna lie, I didn't write them down so I don't remember what we did.

Wednesday:

I spent all day on my butt doing homework, minus the planks I would get up and do for the Advent Fitness Challenge

Thursday:

Despite it being freezing cold...

...I still went for my morning run of 60 sec job/90 sec walk for 20 minutes.

I've been easing back into running and am really mindful of how my feet feel. I don't want to overdo it and cause an injury...again.

I had my two fitness classes, one of which we watched a documentary. The other was a crazy 21-15-9 workout of jump ropes, wall ball tosses, weighted step ups, jogging, mountain climbers, and body rows. My hand was cramping super bad so I had to modify most of the exercises.

Friday:

I have an interview today so I'm going to try and squeeze in a run in the afternoon!

How are you staying active during the cold weather?

WIAW: Gimme the Juice

Holy Batman where has the week gone?!

It has been crazycakes busy around here. I don't mean like normal busy but like...

That's my planner. Every. Freaking. Week.

It's coming up on finals around here so things have kicked into hyperspeed on top of my NASM studying, and oh yeah, it's Christmas season.

Ah!

So in order for me to get through everything without exploding or passing out in class (I've been tempted) I had to resort to coffee. Lemme preface this with the fact that I HATED coffee. Not just a "this doesn't taste wonderful" but like spit-out-gag-icky-face reaction. I had to suck it up and start drinking coffee and found the right combo and viola, been drinking it every day

Michael totally appreciates this picture

Since I'm writing this Tuesday night and should be faceplanting in bed to wake up on the go, let's keep this short and sweet (of course now that I've written you a freakin novel already)

 Thanks to Jenn for throwing this awesome party every week!

Breakfast:

2 slices of Ezekial toast with honey roasted peanut butter

Juice #1:

Chocolate & peppermint flavored coffees with milk and stevia

Juice #2:

Dark chocolate mocha from Whole Foods

Lunch:

Leftover crockpot chili (recipe coming after I tweak it) and saltines

Snack #1:

Cinnamon toasted almonds from the Dickens Fair

 Snack #2:

Discovered this at Whole Foods..aaaaamazing

Dinner:

Egg salad on Ezekial

(this picture is at home, I actually ate it in my car between classes)

Dessert:

Apple pie with whipped cream

It's a miracle I've even eaten anything other than chugging coffee.

Now I'm off to faceplant it in my bed to wake up running through the to-do list. Anyone got an IV drip of coffee?

Any other reformed coffee drinkers?

Let's Talk About the Thigh Gap

I wanted to bring up something that's been rounding the fitness Pinterest boards and all over motivational pictures.

It's the thigh gap

I want to talk about the obsession women seem to have with the thigh gap now. From what I've gathered women who want to lose weight/look better/feel better/what have you are striving for this gap between the thighs. It's almost become the measure of a healthy/skinny woman's body. If she has a gap between her thighs she must be healthy.

I'm here to say, that's just not true. I saw a photo of two women's tushes, one with a thigh gap and one who was still clearly in shape, but her thighs touched. I happened to look down to check for myself with my own legs

No thigh gap

I'm pretty fit and pretty tiny, but I have leg muscles and that makes my legs touch and I'm damn proud of it.

Then I was outraged to hear that Lululemon's founder basically accused women who's thighs touched to be ruining his yoga pants

(source)

Does that mean I don't get to wear their yoga pants? Does that mean the only way girls will look good in their pants are if their thighs don't touch?

Don't get me wrong, some women naturally have a gap between their thighs and that is just fine. I have no qualms with that. What I'm concerned about is this idea that people seem to be having now is that the only way you will be skinny and happy is by having a thigh gap. It can lead to unhealthy habits that become unsafe.

Can we all just strive for a healthier body that we can feel good in? Can we measure our bodies by the awesome accomplishments they make instead of a gap that we may never get?

What do you think of the thigh gap?

And a little self-promoting plug, don't forget to find me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. All links are over on the right side. Show a girl some support and gimme a like/follow :)

Thanksgiving & The Start of Christmas

Happy Monday everyone!

It has been a marathon of a weekend over here. It started with Thanksgiving and then zoomed through Christmas decorating, visiting the Dickens Fair, and seeing The Nutcracker with my mom.

I'll try and keep it photo heavy rather than word heavy!

Thursday was Thanksgiving (duh) and I spent a quiet one at home with my parents

Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade

Turkey prep

Forced family photo op! I promise my stepdad likes us, he just doesn't smile much

Friday we got all our Christmas decorations and our tree

 Christmas trees!

There, told ya he likes us

Christmas chaos

Post-Christmas decorating madness

and of course, the forced reindeer antlers

Saturday my parents and I went to the Dickens Fair up in San Francisco and got to experience A Christmas Carol in real life

 They had characters walking around like Father Christmas and Marley's ghost. They had Scrooge and Bob Crachit as well

I found this metal mustache on a stick, just had to get a photo with it

and of course they had Santa

Sunday my mom and I went to see a showing of The Nutcracker at my school

 It was a pretty good showing of it and the second time I've ever seen it. I always wanted to be a ballerina when I was younger, but never got to dance so I love watching ballets.

And finally, Michael has been out of state for work for the past month so we Skype everyday and talk as much as we can, which has included Skype coffee dates

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Who else has gotten their Christmas tree? Anyone decorated yet?

 

Being Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I hope you're all surrounded by family and delicious foods, just remember to eat your veggies first and pace yourself mmk? 

I wanted to take this time to talk about what I'm thankful for this year because as much as I like to try and take time everyday to reflect on what I'm thankful for, it doesn't happen often.

So...

I am thankful for my family

 My nephew hadn't been born when we took that picture, hence he gets his own

They're all amazing people and I love them to death, even if half the time I want to strangle some of them, lovingly of course.

I am thankful for my amazing best friend and boyfriend

 I seriously don't know what I'd do without him. He's my rock and makes me smile all the time

I am thankful for this fuzzy face every morning

 He's such a sweetheart and I am so glad I made him family last year. He exasperates me but always redeems himself when he licks my nose and cuddles into my neck.

I am thankful to live here

I am thankful for this guy

 He's kind of a brat a lot, but he's a cuddle bug and he always looks like he wants to love you and make you happy.

I am thankful for my best friend/sister-from-another-mister

  We've been best friends for ages and even though we've lived in different states other the years, we've always been there for each other. I am thankful she lives here with my adorable niece!

I am thankful I am almost done with college

I'm over school and I'm just glad I'm almost done finally and I can get my degree and start working.

Finally, I am thankful I am alive

I've had many rough times in my past and I've always pulled through. I'm thankful I can be here everyday to enjoy life with everyone I love.

I hope you're all enjoying your Thanksgiving!

Fit Friday #18

It's been over a month since I last posted a Fit Friday post....wow.

I've been dealing with some dental things like getting a wisdom tooth taken out and fillings and such and that just makes you feel like crap so you don't actually want to work out.

Look at this

I had my wisdom tooth pulled and I look like a freaking chipmunk, there was no way I was going to the gym.

But! This week I actually got some workouts in that I can finally share!

Sunday:

I had planned to go to Zumba at my gym, but they had cancelled class for an instructor training for R.I.P.P.E.D. so I grabbed my mom and we went for a mile walk along the ocean

 It was such a gorgeous day and I'm pretty sure I saw a whale at some point.

 

Monday:

 My arms were so tired after this. I really tried to push myself to improve and considering I couldn't move my arms much after this, I think I succeeded

Tuesday:

I had intended to go to the gym for some cardio, but my body thought differently. I apparently woke up and turned off my alarm and kept sleeping. Whoops! At least I have my fitness classes to get something in

Class #1:

4 rounds of:

7 medicine ball cleans 8#

7 pushups

7 lunge jumps

7 shoulder presses

7 Russian Twists

Class #2:

5 rounds of:

7 med ball cleans

7 pushups

7 lunge jumps

7 shoulder presses

7 Russian Twists

I did some yoga before bed and my little munchkin decided to join me

 In his brain, lying cat pose is the best one

 

Wednesday:

 I'm not going to lie, my legs are still sore from this workout. Ouch!

Thursday:

I didn't do any cardio because my legs were aching like crazy so I spent my morning before class stretching and foam rolling.

Of course right before class I got this insane migraine so I had to sit out in both classes and just watch

Hope you all have an active weekend!

How have you kept active in the colder weather?