15 Thing Friday

1. I had the hiccups all day at work yesterday. I HATE the hiccups. I get very violent, aggressive hiccups. PAINFUL hiccups. HATE hiccups.


2. It's all about awards season in Hollywood right now and there have already been some KILLER looks. My top 3 right now (Note: All from source: Day Old News)...

Naomi Watts KILLED it in this red fitting dress. The back is amazing. And it fits her like a glove. Perfection. 

  
My other 2 fav looks so far came from Brittany Snow and Jennifer Gardner. LOVE Jennifer Gardner and think she always looks incredible and this is no exception. Not a huge Brittany Snow fan, but I think she looks so pretty here. Love how simple, yet sparkly it is and the little sleeves and the color and I think her hair and makeup are flawless.

 

3. While we're talking fashion, let's get the BAD outta the way too. (Note: All from source: Day Old News) JLo and Lucy Liu. Bad, just bad. 

4. Couple workouts recently. Wednesday- 60 minute spinning class & 2.5 miles in 23:26 (top pics) ; Thursday- 5.5 mile run in 51:16 (bottom pics) ; 60 minute spinning class & 2.5 miles in 20:16 (no pics)

 

5. Oh, and there have been a many dog-walk sessions too.

6. Still obsessed with One Tree Hill. It's just good, dramatic, bad, soap-opera-ish TV.


7. Have you tried Chobani bites yogurt yet? It's OK. Much runnier than other Greek yogurts. And, believe me-- it is a BITE. Well, maybe 3 bites. But, you get significantly less yogurt than regular cups of Chobani. But, at 100 calories and 8g of protein, it's a pretty good snack. And, LOVE that it has a little texture from the chocolate and that it's CHOCOLATE (duh). I'd buy it again.

8. I've been listening to some weird music lately. CLASSIC Eminem and some Kelly Clarkson. Check these 2 songs out. You'll thank me.

 
9. I can't believe this girl is pregnant again. Seriously. There should be a law against some people procreating.
 

10. You want more cute dog pics? Of course you do! I'm sure I'm a little biased, but I think Sadie is one of the cutest dogs in the world. We get stopped all the time by random people on our walks and they tell us so too. I think she's getting a big head about it.

11. All this Manti Te'o stuff is crazy ridiculous. I seriously can't even wrap my head around all the nonsense. I mean-- come on. The articles don't even make sense anymore because every other second they report something else and contradictory. I mean-- WTF?? It'll be interesting to hear how this whole crazy soap opera turns out. 


12. I've got a nasty bruise on my arm and I have no idea where it came from. Hate when that happens.

13. The weather is supposed to get FRIGID and snowy by the end of the weekend. Not looking forward to that. HOPEFULLY that wind isn't tooooo bad Saturday so I can get my booty out for a long run.

 
14. I'm thinking about trying to make these. I bought a jar of TJ's Cookie Butter like forever ago and (you may want to sit down for this) I wasn't really all that impressed. I didn't really like it. I didn't NOT like it, but I definitely didn't LIKE it. Maybe I'll like these more? We'll see. 


15. Need some motivation this weekend (because I'm sure I will)? 

(source)

WIAW - Saturday Style

No big hurah today. Tired. Grumpy. Just not my day. So, let's just skip the chit chat and jump right in...

 

 

What I Ate Wednesday brought to you by our host, Jen. I thought I'd mix it up and change the day I logged to a weekend day so below is a rough outline of my diet/exercise from Saturday, 1/12/2012.

  

Saturday morning started off with a long run. 13.5 miles in a 9:00 pace-ish. I didn't eat or drink anything before I left. I honestly have no explanation for why... just didn't think aout it. FAIL, I know. Anyway, while running I had 4 Gu Chomps which is 1/2 a pack. I'm REALLY had with fueling properly. A lot of times I don't even fuel for anything under like 14ish. Stupid, I know. Anyway, I DID fuel this time. 4 chomps have 90 calories. I had 2 at mile 7 and 2 at mile 10. It made a NOTICABLE difference. Who knew fueling properly (or at least better than not fueling at all) would help? Wow. SHOCKED.

Anyway, I got back from my run at about 11:30am. I knew we planned to take Sadie to the dog park that day so I decided not to shower then (GROSS, I know) since I figured I'd get dirty and sweaty at the dog park (I was right, just for the record). So, I changed into some clean clothes and then stormed the kitchen for lunch. To be honest, I wasn't even hungry, which is pretty normal with me post-long run. My tummy's just always kinda MEH and nothing sounds good. BUT, like a good little runner, I knew I needed to eat something. Enter: breakfast/lunch of champions. 2 scrambled eggs with a sprinkle of low-fat shredded cheese and a banana. Random and weird, yes. Tasty, absolutely.

After eating the above and watching a few YouTube videos on how to take your dog to a dog park (we're so weird), we were off to the dog park! We played and ran around with Sadie for about an hour and a half. Turns out, that's EXHAUSTING! I swear, I was more worn out from that than the 13.5 mile run! 

We got back home at about 3:30 and I was hungry! But, I knew we were going out for dinner at 5:30pm so I didn't want to eat anything tooooo substantial and ruin my appetite. Clearly I was delusional as when have I ever "ruined my appetite"?!!? I can eat. A lot. All the time. Anyway- clearly there was only 1 food to grab to hold me over. ICE CREAM.

I actually only had a few spoonfuls because I got distracted playing with Sadie. It was damn tasty though!

The Hubs and I left at about 5:30 for dinner. We had big plans to use a gift card we got for Christmas and go to Carrabbas. When we got there and there was a line out the door and a 45 minute wait we had to go to plan B. MEXICAN! I chowed down a crap-ton of chips and salsa and then had about 1/4 of this MASSIVE burrito mess that was filled with chicken, chorizo, rice, and beans and topped with queso. I also had 1/4 of the (unpictured) chicken and grilled onion quesadilla the Hubs ordered. SO, SO, SOOOO good.

After eating WAY too much mexican food we walked around the mall for 20 minutes and then headed to see The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I am physically incapable of seeing a movie at the theatre without some sort of snack. Obviously. Enter SOUR PATCH KIDS!

And, yes- it was the big bag. And, yes- I did eat the whole thing. Ok, ok-- the Hubs had a few too. But, I did have a few (unpictured) handfuls of his SmartPop white cheddar popcorn too.

And, with that-- happy Wednesday. Hope your day isn't as suck-tastic as mine. :)

Signature Strength, a hole, and leash walking

This is how I felt this morning. Working out was the LAST thing I wanted to do. It was COLD and I didn't sleep great and all I wanted to do was stay curled up in my bed... but, I got up and made it to Signature Strength by 5:3oam. 

   
Class was BRUTAL... again. Kicked my ass. It always kicks my ass. How is this possible? Wouldn't it start getting EASIER the more I go? Maybe I need to go or do any sort of anything resembling strength training more than just once a week? Huh. Rocket science, I tell you.

Anyway-- the warm-up was:
-30 sumo squats til your butt hit the step
-20 push-ups (I did them girl style)
-10 squat thrusters (I used 10-pound weights) 
Repeat 3 times, followed by a 2 minute plank

Kills me every time. Just call it the start of the workout. Don't LIE to me and call THAT a "warm-up". There's nothing small enough about that to warm UP to. It's up. Way up. Rant over. After the warm up we did a bunch of rows, bicep curls, russian twists, planks, push ups, squats, reverse lunges, squat thrusters, chest presses, swimmers, cannon balls, tricep dips, and more. If I didn't feel like the deathly pic above shows before the workout, I sure as shit did after it. I walked up to the treadmill to do my usual quick run and just couldn't even get the energy/motivation to step on it. I walked right back to the locker room and sat in the sauna for 20 minutes instead. #fail Hopefully I can get a run in later today during my lunch hour... but, I kinda doubt it. Oh well. At least I got some strength in.

After class I showered and stuff and it wasn't til I got to work and that I realized I have a hole in my shirt!

Oh no! I look like a slob today! Oh well. It's a small-ish hole, but it is right in the middle of my tummy-- no hiding this sucker. At least I'm wearing a tank top under the shirt so I'm not showing any skin. :)

I'll leave you with a cute pic of Sadie because I can and because she's just so damn cute. 

We're working on leash walking right now. She pulls like CRAZY when we walk. She just wants to sniff and smell everything and does not want to stay right next to either of us. She's so stubborn! So, we're trying to keep her on a shorter leash and give her treats for staying near us... it's a sloooow process. We're thinking about doing an obedience class, but that's seriously the only issue we're having. She's potty and crate trained. She doesn't bark. She doesn't jump up on strangers (much). She did great at the dog park with other dogs. She's SUCH a good dog, we'd just like her to stay near us a little more when we take her for walks. We'll see. Stay tuned.  

Weekend!

Happy Monday! How was everyone's weekend? Mine was spectacularly low-key. 

Friday after work started off with a long walk with the Hubs and Sadie, then a quick dinner at home and then grocery shopping. EXCITING STUFF. Sadie and I ended the night by 10pm like this:

Saturday was BEAUTIFUL! The weather was perfect. 60s and partially cloudy. PERFECT. And, my legs were itching for a long run! Ok, ok-- to be honest-- I literally told the Hubs about 5 seconds before I walked out the door "I don't wanna run!!". I wasn't exactly ITCHING to run... but, sure enough-- within half a mile, I was feeling it. My legs felt fresh and the weather was perfect and I was just loving running. 

13.1 QUICK miles! I set a new, unofficial half-marathon PR! 13.1 miles in 1:57:59 for an even 9:00 average pace! I even managed to negative split with the last 2 miles being 8:30s!

 

I wrapped up the run with a slower .4 mile cool down at a 9:38 pace.

 

13.5 miles for a Saturday morning! LOVE. I seriously don't get why people run short when they can run long! BUT, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. I did manage to tear up my ankle... again. OUCH! Oh well. I'll survive... even if my sock doesn't! 

Saturday after the run the Hubs and I decided to take advantage of the perfect non-Spring day and took Sadie to her first ever dog park! We ran all over that place and played around like crazy for almost 2 hours. It was a blast... until that little rascal escaped because some idiot left the door open! It took about 20 minutes of all out sprinting and climbing a barbwire fence to get her back. She's lucky she's so damn cute.

After catching our little escape artist, the Hubs and I had a date night! Mexican and a movie. 

 

We saw The Perks of Being a Wallflower at the cheap theatre. Can't beat going to see a movie on a Saturday night for $2 a piece! Anyway- the movie was pretty good. I totally have a girl crush on Emma Wastson now. If you haven't seen it, I'd definitely rent it. 


Sunday the weather took a quick turn for the norm-- 30s and snowy mix. Boo! So, I started the morning off with a 60-minute Spinning class and then 2.5 miles on the good ol' treadmill.

Not exciting, but got the job done. 

The rest of Sunday was spent with my ass glued to the couch with my latest and greatest obsession: ONE TREE HILL. Thank God for our Netflix Instant membership. I'm definitely getting our money's worth right now. I legit watched HOURS of it Sunday afternoon. Addicted.

I also cooked Sausage and Lentil soup (using this recipe). Delicious. I had it for lunch and dinner. What can I say, when I like something I get a smidge addicted. Anyway, I also did some laundry and took Sadie for a 1.5 mile walk. Exciting stuff. 

So, that was my weekend. Look for an almost exact repeat next weekend. Confession: I kinda love that. 
 

Weekly Workout Recap (1/7-1/13)

Love this poster... though, let's be honest-- "dirty workout clothes" and "don't like sweating" have NEVER been excuses for me. Come on now.

Weekly Workout Recap (1/7-1/13):
Monday, 1.7.13: 60 minute spinning class, 2.5 miles, 5.5 miles & 3.5 miles (w/ Sadie)
Tuesday, 1.8.13: 60 minute signature strength class & 5 miles
Wednesday, 1.9.13: 60 min. elliptical
Thursday, 1.10.13: 65 min. elliptical
Friday, 1.11.13: 60 minute spinning class & 2.5 miles on TM & 65 minute elliptical & 1.8 mile walk with Sadie and the Hubs
Saturday, 1.12.13: 13.5 miles & 2ish hours playing with Sadie at a dog park
Sunday, 1.13.13: 60 minute spinning class, 2.5 miles & 1.5 mile walk with Sadie


Totals for Week (1/7-1/13):
35 Miles Run
3.3 Miles Walked
2 Spinning Class
1 Signature Strength Classes
190 Minutes Elliptical
0 Rest Day


Started the week off with a BANG on Monday! Up by 4:55am to take the dog out, hit the gym, work, run during lunch, more work and then a quick run with the dog! Wowza! I'm tired again just from reading all that! Anyway, PLANNED to really focus on foam rolling and icing and doing some strength moves each night, as the knee has been being a bit of a lil' bitch again lately... but, didn't. FAIL. Seems like the knee has been acting up more and more and I know it's because I've been doing less and less of all that. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that that means that all that works and to keep doing it. Duh, Meagan. Hey, I never claimed to be smart. :)

15 Thing Friday

1. Seriously-- thank GOD it's Friday. It's been a LONG week. First full week back since the winter break holiday and it was brutal. I've been counting down the moments to the weekend since like Tuesday.


2. Obsessed with this look. Seriously. 

(source)

I love that dress. She's gorgeous. He is hot. Love everything about this.


3. Shape magazine retweeted me. My life = MADE.

 
4. Heard this song on Pandora and LOVE it. Not a HUGE Ingrid Michaelson fan, but love this song.

5. I've been looking for a running zip-up hoodie with pockets that zip forevvvver and can't find one. Well, that's a lie. I got one from the in-laws for Christmas but it doesn't quiet fit right. I'm SUPER picky about running clothes that cost anymore than... well, free. If I pay anything for it, it better fit perfect. Plus, I'm CHEAP. So, that doesn't help. Bleah... the search continues.


6. I am OBSESSED with One Tree Hill right now. Still. I can't get enough.

(source)

I'm a little more than half way through season 3 and OMG. I literally just GASPED out loud. OBSESSED.


7. The Hubs and I are officially THOSE people.

Our lives pretty much revolve around Sadie. Exhibit A: We talk about her bowel movements via text. Regularly.



8. I bought a Groupon this week for a shellac manicure and a pedicure. I'm beyond pumped. For $35 it's a pretty sweet deal. I've never had a shellac manicure before, but I've heard they're amazing.

9. This is crazy. Seriously. She felt the need to WAX HER 3 YEAR OLD'S EYEBROWS?!?! Seriously. 13, maybe. But, 3?!?!? COME ON. I'm legit disgusted.


10. OMG. You all know I LOVE me some Taylor Swift. But, she outdid herself with this look. GORGEOUS. Looooove it. The earrings, the dress, the hair, the makeup. Love, love, love.

(source)

11. I didn't get up for the gym Wednesday or Thursday morning. FAIL. I told the Hubs last night he had to MAKE me get up when my alarm went off at 4:55am. While he didn't have to physically force me outta bed, it was a too close for comfort call. BUT, I did get up! 

My spinning class schedules been getting all rearranged this week because the normal instructor quit, so it's now Wednesday/Friday instead of Monday/Wednesday. You don't care, I know. Looooong story short, I got up at 4:55am, went to spinning and then hit the treadmill for 2.5 miles in 20:06 this morning. I was a sweaty mess at the end. Kinda love that. As much as getting up that early BLOWS, it sure makes me feel great at about 6:55am when I'm in the shower and know I already got a killer workout in. 




12. Why is this news? I mean, I get it-- it's a cool kinda social experiment or whatever... but, news worthy? C'mon. Although I suppose when you consider the same "news" source has THIS on as a headlining news story, I shouldn't be that surprised. (For the record, Yahoo! is not my personal news source. I promise.)


13. New stills came out for the next Hunger Games movie. Words cannot describe how pumped I am to see this movie.

(source)

14. The Hubs and I have to go grocery shopping tonight. What's on the list?

Exciting stuff, huh? Well, actually it is pretty exciting, since there's a whole recipe down there! What are we cooking up? This soup and this bread. I happen to already have all the ingredients for the bread-- that's how easy it is! And, we just made that soup for the first time a few weeks ago and I've been craving it again ever since, so we're making it again. It's SO good and pretty easy. I use turkey Italian sausage and up the heat by adding extra red pepper flakes. Yum, yum, yum.


15. Was this like the LONGEST week to anyone else? Maybe just because it was the first full week back since the holidays. Whatever the reason-- I am so incredibly glad it's Friday. We have NO plans for the weekend. Well, no scheduled need-to-do kinda plans. Grocery shopping, laundry, a redbox, a long run, seeing a movie at the cheap theater, some cooking (see #14), maybe going out for dinner or lunch, taking Sadie on lots of walks, and lots and lots of couch time. Perfection.

WIAW, 1/9/13

Seriously-- how is it Wednesday already? Or, at the same time, how is it ONLY Wednesday?!?!? Well, you know what Wednesday means! But, before we get to that-- workout check in: yesterday morning I went to a 60-minute Signature Strength class and then got 5 miles in at lunch. Today (Wednesday) I bailed on the gym this morning (fail), but plan on doing 60 minutes of the elliptical at lunch (while watching One Tree Hill on Netflix Instant-- still addicted) and then maybe doing Jillian or 8-minute Abs/Arms tonight. Anyway, now-- onto another round of WIAW (courtesy of Jenn!).

I thought I'd include calorie counts for what I could for this day, just to spice things up a bit. So, let's jump right in.

Breakfast: 9:30am

Coffee, Greek yogurt (still addicted to the pineapple flavor) with a handful of Honey Nut Cheerios mixed in. Quick, easy, delicious. (Note: forgot to add the tbsp of sugar-free creamer I put in my coffee, so add like 25 calories to that total. Whoops!)

Lunch: 1:30pm

 

Reduced fat salami on a low-fat wheat bun, a gala apple, 2 cuties (so good!!), diet cherry coke, and a large handful of Lay's Lights Chips (so bad for you, but SO GOOD!!).

Dinner: 6:30pm

The Hubs, my FIL, and I went to Bar Louie for $2 burgers and fries! YUM!!!! We started with the "Dip Trio" which is basically tortilla chips, salsa, guac, and cheese dip. I nibbled on some, but tried not to go TOO crazy. I got a plain burger and fries and had a small Woodchuck draft beer (SO GOOD! One of my favorites!) to drink (unpictured). I only ate a couple fries (not even 1/2) and didn't eat the bun, so below are estimates, but pretty close, I think. That's a pretty big dinner for me. I'd say I should've not had the beer because it's basically an empty 160 calories, but I won't. It was delicious and worth every sip!

Dessert: 8:30pm

The Hubs and I made homemade PB and chocolate fudge swirl banana pudding ice cream Sunday night (loosely following this recipe). It is BEYOND good. Words can't describe. I have NO idea what the calorie count is.... I know we used 1 can low-fat condensed milk, sugar free pudding mix, 2 bananas, several handfuls of Nilla wafers, 2 cups of heavy cream, 1/2 cup low-fat PB, and hot fudge to make a freaking shit-ton of ice cream. We still have SO MUCH left (Don't worry, I'll finish it by the weekend. Promise.). This'll have to do as a loose estimate.

So, total for the day 1757 calories, give or take. I'd say that's pretty good. I SAY my "goal" is about 1500 calories/day on an average day, but this day was a pretty active day (60 minute Signature Strength class and 5 mile run), so I up that to about 1700-1800 on active days, which makes 1757 right on track. I used the myfitnesspal app on my phone to track for this day. I've had the app forever on my phone and go through spurts of using it and not using it. I definitely am more aware of what I'm eating when I use it, but I just don't have the drive or energy or desire to count EVERY CALORIE. Who has the time? And, how draining and boring! No thanks. So, sometimes I track, sometimes I don't. More often I don't. Just being honest.


 Totally unrelated to food... after dinner and saying goodbye to the inlaws the Hubs and I tried to take a "family" photo with Sadie. See below.

 Ha! She was NOT into it. My favorite is definitely the top right where she was licking the Hubs like crazy RIGHT ON the mouth. His face is priceless. Love our little family. :)