Beach Abs Timed Circuit

Before we left for our trip and after our race, we had one week of fun workouts without any real goal. So I asked Terry if there was anything he thought we should work on, and he suggested abs. An excellent idea before a beach vacation, don't you think?

Here's what we did:

This bad boy was killer! Terry and I were both sore the next day, and we felt that it worked all our core muscles. Even our obliques got in on the action with the planks!

If you don't have a stability ball, consider the following modifications:
SS1: Regular elbow plank + Inchworm
SS2: Regular crunches
SS3: Regular full plank + Inchworm
SS5: Two sets of supermans or get creative and lean over a couch or chair!

Some tips:
Ball Roll Outs
Ball Roll Ins
Leg Lifts - Lay down on your back with your feet straight up in the air. Push your feet toward the ceiling, lifting your tush off the floor. Lower back to neutral. Repeat.
Double crunches
Back extension on ball
Superman

It's more fun, though, if you have a little kitten climbing all over you during your workout.

Let me know what you think of the ab circuit!

That Was Weird

For a couple of weeks now, I've wanted to try Fitnessista's Lean Mean Leg Workout + HIIT Blitz. I love the idea of combining HIIT, strength, and steady state. But honestly, I expected the workout as a whole to feel pretty much like my usual. I mean, I usually combine strength and steady state or strength and HIIT, so I couldn't imagine this experience would be all that different.

Source: The Fitnessista

Boy, was I wrong! First of all, I don't think I've done a HIIT running workout in awhile, because I've been saving my running for long runs on the weekends. Now that our race is over, I gotta get back into it! This HIIT felt HARD. I tried to tackle 60 seconds at 6.0 mph and 60 seconds at 9.0 mph, but I ended up slowing down to 5.5 or 4.5 during the "easy" parts and between 8 and 9 for the hard parts. I was still sweating like crazy!

For the strength, I felt fine but just could not get my heart rate back down. After just a few reps of each move, I felt my heart pounding way too fast, so I took breaks, sat down, slowed my breathing. I got myself some water and made sure to monitor my breathing and pulse before I started the second round of the circuit. I also lightened up the weights on my second round to avoid the same problem. It was so weird though!

After that, I decided to skip the steady state. I did a 5-minute walk on the treadmill, but I hope next time I can tackle the entire thing. Overall I loved Gina's awesome workout and felt it all over my lower body! I know I'll be sore tomorrow.

After a much-needed shower, I made our dinner. I had done all the major work during the week: I made the pesto on Sunday, knowing I would need it for the minestrone on Tuesday and the pizza tonight. I also whipped up the dough yesterday after work and then let it rise in the fridge overnight. Today I just rolled out the dough, spread the pesto, shredded the mozzarella, and sliced the tomatoes. Cooking the pizza took about 15 minutes, so I'd say dinner was done tonight in about 25 minutes. I love those kinds of meals.

Terry and I are spending the evening packing, doing laundry, playing with the kitten, and writing a test (for me). Terry is presenting at a middle school career day tomorrow, so he's prepping his material. I'm so excited for him! He'll get to see what I do every day while the kiddos discover what he does every day!

Off to bed for one more day of work before nine glorious days to rest, relax, and--when we get back from our trip--grade like crazy.

What's the toughest workout you've done recently? Link up below!

Blood Donor WIAW

I donated blood for the first time at my high school, when I was 17. It wasn't a fantastic experience, but I pulled through without incident. In college, I donated through UCLA a few times, and after I met Terry we became regular donors at the UCLA Blood & Platelet Center.

Today, my school hosted a blood drive, and I gave for the first time in awhile.

I thought perhaps there are some folks out there interested in donating blood who haven't before and might be excellent candidates. Here's the breakdown:

DO...

• Call ahead for an appointment at a local donation center. 
• Drink plenty of water the day before and eat a healthy, hearty breakfast.
• Bring a book just in case you have time to kill.
• Answer all the questions honestly on the questionnaire, and ask for clarification if necessary.
• Munch on cookies and juice afterward.
• Celebrate yourself afterward--in a healthy way. You just saved some lives!

DON'T...

• Exercise or participate in strenuous activity after your donation (for the rest of the day). 
• Be afraid! Feel free to tell your technician/nurse if you get nervous, but my experiences have always been extremely positive. I do always look away when they stick the needle in, though!
• Feel bad if something goes wrong or you get turned away. It happens! Just be sure to follow up with a doctor if the tests suggest you might be anemic.

Giving blood always makes me feel fantastic, even on the days I get a little woozy after. I really hope you'll consider donating!

And because I gave blood today, I needed to eat plenty to keep my strength up!

Check out the other WIAWs!

Breakfast: a strawberry-banana-milk-peanut butter smoothie with a slice of banana bread, plus tea

After my donation, I ate two cookies, which weren't great but did a terrific job of keeping me on my feet!

Lunch: tuna on brown rice cakes

Afternoon snack: an apple

Happy hour with coworkers (and Terry joined, too!): a Stella, some calamari, and two slices of bruschetta

Dinner: a small serving of minestrone soup, plus a slice of bread

Dessert: 1/2 cupcake (I was full!)

Plus TONS of water! Hydration is key when donating blood, so I chugged the stuff throughout the day. 

That's all folks! Happy Thursday to you!

Have you ever donated blood? What was your experience?

All Over the Place

1. I am pretty sure tonight was my first attempt at cooking with fresh butternut squash. An odd choice, given that it's March 26th, but we wanted our favorite minestrone soup tonight, so I sprung for the effort of a real squash instead of my usual pre-cubed Trader Joe's option. Did you know that peeling a butternut squash is a pain in the ass?

2. Terry and I are exactly four days away from being able to eat meat again. I'll do a post soon about our Lent adventure as pescetarians (we chose to eat fish but not other meat), but I cannot wait to taste a cheeseburger!

3. Most days, I spend the majority of my time at work with teenagers. Today, I spent the entire day with adults. It felt refreshing and fun and was a nice change of pace, and I'm ready to head back to my kids tomorrow with renewed energy...for three days before spring break.

4. Jenn told me that Downton Abbey Season 3 is now on Netflix. I don't know how to describe my excitement.

5. Don't search "Downton Abbey ecards" if you don't want to see spoilers. I'm pretty sure I just found out something I wasn't supposed to find out. The same thing happened with Mad Men Season 4. I wasn't destined to watch shows behind the times.

6. I'm planning some exciting blog posts for next week while we're away, and it's (ironically) taking away from my ability to write tonight.

7. My school is hosting a blood drive tomorrow. I have donated blood and platelets dozens of times, but I'm nervous about the idea of donating between classes and then attempting to stand up in front of my students to teach. Please pray that I won't faint. My students would never let me live that down.

8. I miss HGTV's design shows. Now it's all about Love It or List It and similar shows. I miss Designed to Sell, which gave me lots of great ideas for designing my future home. Thank goodness for Pinterest.

9. Terry and I have essentially made the decision to skip morning workouts this week. I've been prepping dinner in the early evening, then we work out when he gets home, then I finish dinner after the workout. I miss the early mornings, but I am also valuing the sleep during this crazy time of the school year.

10. I hope someday soon we'll find equality.

Share something fun and random below. Let's brighten up the last week of March!

Meals and Fitness - Planning for the Week

On Friday night, as I stared in dismay at my pathetic attempt at scrounging up a meal, I had to acknowledge that our fridge needed some major attention.

So sad.

A trip to the farmer's market and Trader Joe's fixed that!

In fact, yesterday turned out to be rather productive:

We got almost everything done! Nothing beats the feeling of productivity. I saved the oatmeal cookies for today and followed this recipe. For the oil, I used about 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and then filled the rest of the 1/2 cup with applesauce. It gave the cookies the perfect texture!

Yes, one is missing. I don't know what happened there.

And since I missed it yesterday, our menu for the week:

• Monday: Leftover vegetable lasagna (made it last night, and it was amazing!) 
• Tuesday: Minestrone soup with sourdough crostini
• Wednesday: Pizza with pesto sauce, tomato, and mozzarella, plus roasted asparagus
• Thursday: Miscellaneous leftovers, or grilled cheese with salad if we've eaten it all :-) 
• Friday: Breakfast for dinner before our flight!

Workouts this week:

• Sunday: Walk to farmer's market
• Monday: Core circuit + 2-3 mile walk
• Tuesday: 45 minutes of cardio intervals
• Wednesday: Legs + HIIT (Fitnessista's awesome-looking workout!) + Core 
• Thursday: Upper body + Incline walking
• Friday: Full body circuit
• Saturday: Travel day!

I'll be sharing some of these workouts on my scheduled blog posts for next week. I'm not sure what the Internet situation will be in Turks & Caicos (try not to feel too sorry for me), so I want to set up some posts to publish while we're away. Already I have that veggie lasagna and a terrific core circuit planned for you (get ready--it's a doozy!). 

The rest of this week looks to be a bit hectic at work but fairly calm at home. I just want to give lots of lovin' to our sweet little guy before we go! Thankfully we have awesome neighbors who love to hang out with Scout, so we never have to worry when we go away. 

Best cat ever.

What are your meal and fitness plans for the week? Any new recipes or workouts? Link away!

10K Race Recap

10K: Check! 

LITERALLY ONE SECOND OVER MY GOAL TIME OF A 9-MINUTE MILE. Thankfully, the math works out that it's actually a 9.002-minute mile, so Terry thinks I can go with it. Also, the website lists my official pace at 8:59. I'll take it.

The race was scheduled to begin at 8 am, so we had plenty of time to wake up slowly, eat a slice of banana bread for breakfast, and head to the starting line, which was directly in front of the school where I teach. Unfortunately, the race didn't actually begin until 8:30, so I stood shivering for a solid hour and felt pretty numb by the time we started. Even my toes were frozen!

Ready to run!

The first two miles, as expected, felt pretty quick and cold. I knew I would warm up eventually, but it took much longer than I thought. Thankfully, since the run encourages lots of kids to participate, I spent most of my time and energy those first two miles dodging the children and trying not to trample the ones who suddenly shifted from a sprint to a dead stop without warning or fear of what might be behind them. (No one was injured during this run. At least not by me.)

Best sight of the day: A guy chose to run with his dog, and he put the bib on his pup's collar! It was so cute. I don't think dogs were supposed to be on the course, but I was thankful for the distraction as we tackled a particularly tough hill.

Another awesome sight was three dads all in a row pushing strollers as they ran!

Not sure if you can see them all here, but Terry was a champ and took this picture while running. 

The race consisted of two almost-identical loops. The first, however, felt much easier; on our second time around we had one gigantic hill that had been cut in half the first time (I'm not sure if that makes sense, but basically the first time we cut in on some side streets and didn't hit the hill until it was halfway over). I made the mistake two or three times of looking up--and I've heard that when you run hills you're supposed to keep your eyes a few feet in front of you to avoid that mental panic of how far you still have to go. Well, consider that lesson learned. I struggled up that beast and seriously considered walking, but I made it to the top thanks to some willpower that couldn't have popped up at a better time.

On our way up the hill, I noticed two women running together--one was struggling as much as I was and actually did walk a bit, and the other looked like she could have run all day and kept telling her buddy to continue running. Throughout the rest of the race, and even when Terry moved up ahead, those ladies and I stayed fairly close together, and I appreciated knowing they were there. Somehow it was motivating, even though we didn't talk until the end (more on that in a sec).

Terry looked super solid around the Mile 4 marker, so I told him to go ahead without me. I felt completely devoid of energy and was lacking that mental endurance that's so important for me when I run. About half a mile after he left, I told myself I need to relax and just run for fun instead of pushing for some ideal time. That was all it took--I felt a huge rush of energy that carried me through the next mile or so.

One I passed Mile 6, I was dead. Actually, I would say I was dead around Mile 5, despite that energy burst, but I couldn't imagine moving any faster than I already was. But those two ladies from the Big Hill swooped in out of nowhere next to me, and the one who looked like a champ started yelling, "Come on! Give me all you've got! I saw that he left you; you need to show him how strong you are!" All I could think was, "Damn it. I guess I have to speed up now." But then I saw Terry, who had already finished, trotting back to finish the race with me, and I gave it all I had to sprint to the finish. If that Bill Hill Champ (who I later figured out is a running coach) hadn't pushed me, I wouldn't have gotten (as close as I did to) my goal time. And thanks to my awesome husband for coming back to finish with me!

It was really a fun race, and afterward we ran into some friends we didn't know were running. We all congratulated each other (the husband got a 10K time of 42:10 and won 8th overall!), and then Terry and I checked out the booths and chatted with a few of my coworkers before heading home.

Thought this sign was hilarious--can you imagine donating blood after running? (Lots of folks there came out just to support and watch, so hopefully the blood drive was successful.)

The race was more like our City to the Sea 5K than our Disney Half Marathon experience. It felt relaxed, low-stress, and far less crowded than Disney. I think when I do 5K or 10K races I'll stick to ones like this: local, friendly, and low-key. The environment was so positive and uplifting without feeling intimidating or overwhelming.

And that was it! I look forward to another rest day tomorrow before jumping back into our normal workout routine. And I'll be back to share a little more about the weekend, too.

Hope you had a good one!

Have you raced before? What is your favorite distance, or which distance would you most like to try? Do you prefer big races or small, local ones?

Have a great start to the week!

Friday Night Fails

When I used to be a dancer, the superstition went that a bad dress rehearsal was good luck. I think the belief was that you get all your nerves out on the first go 'round. Well, if tonight counts as the dress rehearsal, tomorrow should be a spectacular day.

Really, the only major problem was dinner. I had goat cheese marinara pasta on the menu, and this morning I saw two zucchini in the fridge, so I thought I'd add those to the mix as well. But when I got home, I realized I didn't have any marinara sauce, and I didn't have all the ingredients to make my own. So I improvised and sauteed the zucchini along with some spinach, boiled the pasta, and chopped some tomatoes we had on hand. I hoped to throw some mozzarella into the mix, but alas--no mozzarella. Awesome.

The whole dish tasted like acidic tomato. Honestly, I didn't have high hopes in the first place, but I guess I thought enough olive oil and herbs would do the trick. No such luck. I tossed the whole damn thing and started over with banana pancakes.

Thankfully those at least turned out alright! We added peanut butter and walnuts for protein, and hopefully it was a good choice to fuel our run tomorrow.

My other fail tonight was not checking to be sure I had all the ingredients for banana bread. No yogurt. I subbed in buttermilk, so hopefully that did the trick (the loaf just came out of the oven, and it looks fine, but who knows what the texture will look like on the inside!). I hope it worked, because we're counting on a slice of that bread for breakfast tomorrow!

Truth be told, I need to stock up on some staples around here. We have virtually no options for breakfasts and lunches, and obviously dinners are a bust too. I'm also out of basics like oats and whole wheat flour. And yogurt, as you know. Cheese, apparently. But also we have exactly four pieces of fruit in the house, and they're all pears. You better believe we'll be hitting up the grocery store on the way back from the run tomorrow!

Speaking of which, we are all pumped up for our race!

Our race packet included a Sketchers bag, which is actually super roomy and would be great for hiking or park workouts, a t-shirt, and several coupons/offers from local businesses.

I'm actually going to sign off here to stretch and foam roll before bed. Thanks for all the good luck wishes on yesterday's post, and I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!

Geared Up and Counting Down

Well, only one more day until our big run! I'm particularly excited about this race, because A) it's shorter than the last one, B) it's pretty close to home, and C) it's sponsored by the school district where I work, so I'll know a lot of people there!

When we ran our half marathon in September,

Terry and I ran by ourselves and didn't know anyone on the sidelines. This time, we'll have plenty of friends (and students!) and will hopefully feed off that energy to get through the run. I'm also thrilled not to have to spend the night in a hotel, and I can't describe how grateful I feel not to have to wake up at 3:50 am! Since the race starts at 8, we can wake up even later than our usual time.

To prep for the race, I have a few more items on the to-do list:

• Create a new playlist and charge my iPod.
• Stretch and foam roll tomorrow morning and evening.
• Drink more water than usual.
• Enjoy a delicious pasta dinner tomorrow night.
• Decide on my run day outfit.
• Get to sleep early and get pumped up!

Much less stressful than last time, that's for sure. I think I could get used to this 10-K thing!

Today, to give our legs a rest, Terry and I completed Tina's Upper Body Burn Out with pre-fatigue sets. Yowza! My arms are feeling mighty weak after that beast of a workout. Terry and I both struggled to pick up our water glasses at dinner!

To round out the workout, we walked to Wahoo's, a little over a mile from our apartment. It was a perfectly mellow way to spend the evening.

And I have to mention one more thing we're super excited about: Our upcoming spring break trip! Terry and I always love traveling together, but this vacation is the first just-the-two-of-us beach trip. Crazy, right?! We've been on a few cruises, and we've been to Hawaii with my family and Cabo with his family, but most of our travel destinations land us in big cities. This time, we're off to Turks and Caicos!

Source: Google Images

I can't wait to spend a few days relaxing on the beach with my husband. That guy works so hard, and he has a huge project deadline (well, several deadlines) over the next several months, so we're taking advantage of the opportunity to get away. We chose Turks and Caicos, an island in the Western Caribbean, because it's considered one of the world's best dive locations. Terry will dive, I will read and perhaps get a massage, we will eat and rest...we're SO excited!

For now, we're off to enjoy the rest of the evening and gear up for an awesome Friday! Oh, and happy Spring!

Do you have any upcoming travel plans? Do you prefer beach destinations or cities?

Resisting Temptation and WIAW

This morning started with a delightfully quick two-mile jog. Terry and I hopped on the treadmills at our apartment's gym and kept the pace super light (about 6 mph for me). Unfortunately, my foot had a funny pain during the run, so I walked about 5 minutes in the middle and started up again after it felt better. Weird, but hopefully it won't happen during the 10-K this weekend!

Check out the other WIAWs!

For breakfast, I whipped up some smoothies with banana, strawberries, blackberries, yogurt, milk, and peanut butter. 

I sprinkled a little almond butter granola on top for a little crunch. Yeah, I get fancy sometimes.

I packed up my lunch and realized it probably wouldn't be enough to keep me full throughout the day:

But I didn't have time to pull together anything else, so that was it. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), the day turned out to be so crazy busy that I didn't have time to feel super hungry.

But this lunch creation was amazing! I brought a container of granola and some milk in a mason jar. Cereal in the middle of the day? Does it get better than that? I also ate half my apple before my last class.

Not surprisingly, I was starving by the time I arrived home. I grabbed two brown rice cakes and dipped 'em in eggplant hummus. Simple, delicious.

And the rest of my apple with a little almond butter and honey.

The highlight of today's meals was most certainly this delicious veggie-stuffed quesadilla. 

I even made the tortillas from scratch! Not too tough to do, and I actually reduced the recipe to only make four tortillas instead of the usual 12, so the process was quick. 

I sauteed up some plain spinach, shredded a combination of Manchego and cheddar cheeses, and used a Y-peeler to make some zucchini ribbons. Such a GREAT way to squeeze in some veggies!

I was particularly proud of myself tonight, because I planned ahead (as opposed to my pathetic but delicious lunch) when I knew dinner wouldn't be the healthiest of choices. Our dinner meeting tonight offered a certain fast food, and I made the choice to avoid it altogether. I cooked up these cheesy delights beforehand, ate at home, and didn't feel the need (or desire, really) to join in the meal at the meeting. And since it was a meeting, not just a dinner, my choice not to partake in the food wasn't awkward for me or anyone else. I doubt anyone even noticed.

Don't get me wrong--I definitely perused the table and even thought about getting a plate of the fried rice and chow mein, but I recognized that I had eaten a very filling meal and that I really didn't want or need anymore food. I walked away from the buffet table, and within a few minutes of working with my group I wasn't even thinking about the food anymore.

Well, at least that was true until they brought out the cake.

You know I had a piece of that deliciousness! And it really was great cake, too. Simple, but so good--yellow cake with whipped cream frosting. Light and creamy and perfect. But temptation struck again when I was done with my first piece and saw all these extra pieces sitting there, begging to be eaten. They were perfectly sized, too, so that one more wouldn't have been outrageous. But I'm trying to work on my portion sizes, and I managed to say no.

Resisting temptation is still a struggle for me. I genuinely love food--don't we all?--and I have a hard time stopping at just one or saying no or quitting when I'm full. I'm also a big social eater. Just last week at our staff development day I resisted the donuts for about two hours and then went for it. I didn't need one and had packed plenty of snacks, but still I indulged.

Of course, indulging is fine now and then, and I don't think I overdo it very often, but I am still trying to improve my willpower. I think 4 pm and after dinner are my most tempting times. I come home from work and just want to snack like a maniac. It'd be one thing if I would come home and eat berries or yogurt or an apple. But of course I would much rather snack on pita chips, cupcakes, bread and cheese, and chocolate. And after dinner I have my usual dessert but could certainly tone down the portion size.

So I'm working on it. I get so proud of my little victories, like tonight, and they motivate me to make better choices the next day. It's not about not eating, it's about choosing healthy foods and only eating when I'm hungry, indulging once in awhile instead of all the time. On the other side of that is not pulling excuses like "I'm too busy to eat" the way I did today (can you tell I'm pissed at myself for that one?), but I'll save that for another time.

Hope you had a terrific Wednesday!

How do you resist temptation? Even non-food-related advice can apply here!

One Minute at a Time

More than a few times, I've had people ask me what I do for my fitness routine, or I've had folks read about my fitness regimen on BLWB, and they seem disappointed or discouraged sometimes when I say I work out 5-6 days per week for about an hour.

But I didn't always work out so much. I remember in college going s couple of weeks without hitting the gym, and there certainly wasn't any consistency in my exercise habits. I've been in that place where I felt too unmotivated, too tired, too busy to get a workout in. Once a few days slip by, it's so easy to lose the fire of all the hard work I may have put in before.

So maybe you're just getting started. Or maybe you want to start again. How do you do it?

Of course, there are countless ways to start, and of course you should consult a doctor before making major changes. But my recommendation is to focus on one minute at a time.

Maybe you haven't worked out in months or years. In that case, literally one minute at a time can benefit your health. Try one minute of walking, one minute of rest. Repeat for 5 or 10 minutes. Then try it again the next day. The same could be done with other low-impact cardio exercises that increase your heart rate without too much stress on the body--try the low impact jumping jack.

Maybe you're getting back into the swing of things after a little exercise hiatus. Try one minute jogging, one minute walking for 20 minutes. Increase your total time week by week, or consider increasing to two minutes running, one minute walking.

Maybe you already feel fit but are looking to up the challenge. Set a goal for a few new exercises you would like to try but have struggled with or shied away from in the past. In that case, challenge yourself to tackle that tough exercise for just a minute at a time. Hate burpees? Push yourself to complete as many burpees as you can in 60 seconds, then try to improve each time. Struggling to improve your flexibility? Try timing your stretches for 60-second increments. Looking to improve a yoga pose? Hold it for a minute!

The big idea is not to get discouraged. Every day should feel a little easier, and soon you'll be able to increase the challenge and improve your overall fitness. One minute at a time you can start getting fit, get back into the groove of going to the gym, or try something new.

And hey, you can do anything for one minute, right? Except watch this video, which is hilarious but seven minutes long.

What advice do you have for someone just starting? Getting back into it? Looking to increase the challenge?

Scenes from the Weekend

Friday's work session with my English department:

Impromptu lunch date with my hubby on Friday.

Yesterday Jenn took me to tea at The London, a fancy hotel in West Hollywood with a lovely upscale restaurant.

The tea was Rose and French Vanilla--very fragrant indeed. 

Scones, sandwiches, and desserts to accompany our tea. Plus excellent conversation, of course!

Homemade calzones with mozzarella, zucchini ribbons, and Parmesan, plus marinara on the side for dipping. 

I used Lisa's whole wheat pizza crust recipe and Smitten Kitchen's calzone instructions (in her amazing cookbook) to make this bit of magic happen!

In the spirit of the holiday, I spent a little time in the kitchen baking up a batch of Chocolate Whiskey and Beer Cupcakes from Smitten Kitchen.



Plus menu planning, of course!

• Monday: Out for a dinner meeting
• Tuesday: Greek salad
• Wednesday: Out for a UCLA meeting, but I'm thinking of cooking up some veggie quesadillas beforehand
• Thursday: Breakfast for dinner--waffles, pancakes, or crepes with fruit
• Friday: Pasta with goat cheese marinara to fuel up for our 10K!

I skipped this weekend's workouts and long run in an effort to battle off whatever bug is trying to get me. I am feeling more energized this evening, so hopefully I'll be back to 100% tomorrow. But of course, that means I missed my last long run before next weekend's race. I'm a little nervous about feeling less than prepared, but on the other hand perhaps some rest wasn't the worst idea.

Anyway, if all goes well, here's this week's plan:

• Monday: 4-mile run
• Tuesday: Lower body strength and incline walking
• Wednesday: 2-mile run
• Thursday: Upper body strength + stretch
• Friday: Rest, stretch, and foam roll

I hope you have a spectacular week!

What are the plans for your fitness and food this week? 

What I'm Loving Lately

My husband. Not only is he the love of my life and all, but he also spent the day being incredible: donating blood, taking care of our taxes, grocery shopping, and cleaning. I'm so grateful for such a great guy to spend Friday night (and the rest of my life) with.

Scuba stud!

The Biggest Loser. As always. SO excited for the finale!


These new workout pants, thanks to TJ Maxx. Jenn and I went on a shopping adventure recently, and my goal was to find some calf-length pants. Success.

Friday. Obvious, yes, but today was an in-service day, so I loved more time with my coworkers, a break from the students, and less stress than the rest of the week.


The sandwich-and-fries combo--homemade and healthy.

Grilled Caprese sandwich (minus the usual pesto) with baked sweet potato fries

The Bruins. On to the Final Round of the Pac-12 Tournament!!!


This petition for Kraft to remove artificial dyes from its products, particularly Macaroni & Cheese. Learn more on FoodBabe.com or at 100 Days of Real Food. You can sign the petition yourself here!


This adorable thing.

Being a sweet little kitten is exhausting. 

The looks of this weekend. Relaxing, puzzle-building, finishing my current book (The Lifeboat) our last long run before next week's race, dinner with friends, and St. Patrick's Day!


Any St. Patrick's Day plans for you? What are you loving lately?