Monthly Archives: April 2012

April Foodie Pen Pals!

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The Lean Green Bean
This was really fun!  I had an opportunity to meet several new bloggers and share my blog with many readers and blogger!  So if you have found this blog through the Foodie Pen Pals…WELCOME!
My Pen Pal for this month was Tianna over at teabagginit , you gotta check out her Ritz stuffed peanut butter cups…omg.
I got tons, and tons (yay!!) of yummy new treats!
My box was loaded with bars, and new snacks!  Which will come in very handy on my roadtrip this week to Texas!  Loved it!  Thank you Tianna!!
Speaking of Texas…it makes me think of how hot it’s going to be there…and that makes me think of BBQ…my other pen pal is a reader and she was kind enough to write this guest post for me!
Take it away Megan…

Just want to send you a quick recap of what you sent and how much I appreciate everything you put in the box, so thoughtful and useful! So the best part wasn’t even food: your running headbands are awesome! I’ve just started running myself, and sometimes just getting new running gear is a good motivator to go lol  The Justin’s almond butter was so good, I’ve had that before but forgot all about it. Perfect for a snack at my desk and easy to put in my purse! Chips and salsa are always a great snack and the spice in the chips was a change from my usual chips (hint of jalapeno had been my go-to for a while!) . I was surprised at the That’s All bars, I’d never seen those before and were so good…I’m a sweets person and they were really good and satisfied my need for something sweet at 3pm without hittin the candy jar! Lol

I have tasted the BBQ sauce but that is the one recipe that I haven’t had a chance to try yet. Busy month of April, but soon enough im excited to try some bbq made with rootbeer! Sounds super easy and delicious.

Thanks so much for sharing your favs with me, they’ll be added to my shopping list now too!

I am so glad that Megan liked her package!  Megan received: Chips and salsa, “Bone-suckin BBQ” sauce, my recipe for “The best darn pulled pork”, some “That’s it!” bars and some Justin’s butter along with 2 of my ‘Trophy Bands as a surprize!  I am so excited to do this again next month!  Who ever gets my package this month will be getting a little taste of Ft. Hood, Texas!

If you are interested in the headbands Megan mentioned please go to K@tastrophy Designs and get yours today!

And many, many thanks to Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean for putting this together month after month!

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11 Week Bikini Boot Camp challenge: Week 6 Full-Body Circuit Workout With Weights

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Week 6: Full-Body Circuit Workout With Weights

Get yourself some hand weights and prepare to get a full body workout!

I love simple circuit workouts.  I am not a huge fan of cumbersome home equipment.  So this is just the circuit set for me!

I highly recommend printing the workout!  You can take it to the gym with you!

Wildcard Wednesday: sometimes I don’t see it

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Remember how I reached my 20 pound weight loss mark this weekend?  Well…

Sometimes I don’t see it.  Sometimes when I look in the mirror I still see that fat, chubby girl.  Even when I am drowning in my clothes.

I just want to tell that girl that she does not need the ice cream…and that tee-shirt is huge on me now.

Behind that smile is sadness.  I was so hot and miserable last July 4th.  I was rolley-poley and sick of myself.

I just look at these photos and feel fat, fat, fat.  How did I let myself get that way?  Many of my friends thought that I didn’t look “that bad”, or I only had “a few pounds to lose”.  But 20 pounds later…they see the me that they have never seen before.  They see it.  Why am I unable to see the changes that I have busted my ass for week after week, month after month?

I remember being so excited that I could get back into those size 8 trousers from Gap…and now I can take them off without unbuttoning, or unzipping them.  Clearly there is progress there!!

It doesn’t happen everyday, most of the time I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and think “Wow!  I really have made a lot of progress!”  But it’s not always about the body.  Sometimes it’s about the inside.  Sometimes it’s about the inside being broken.  Now…I don’t go around smack talkin myself.  I see these new photos…

and I see a beautiful woman.  I see a happy, strong and beautiful woman.  One that I am so happy to know.  I see a woman who is ok with her body and happy and proud of all of the work that she has put into it.

And I think it’s ok that every once in a while…I slip back, and forget that.  Sometimes I forget and get down on myself.  But not today…today I busted my butt at the gym, and I see great improvements in my strength.

Today I see all that work reflected in that smile and I could not be more proud of me.

Do you ever have those days?  Have you ever worked for something and not seen the hard work pay off?

11 Week Bikini Boot Camp Challenge: Week 5 Boot Camp Circuit Workout From Heidi Klum’s Trainer

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Week 5: Boot Camp Circuit Workout From Heidi Klum’s Trainer

Do the entire circuit with 15 to 20 reps of each exercise. Then repeat entire circuit 2-3 more times.  You should be able to get through the circuits in under an hour. Heads-up …you will need the following for this workout: a set of 3- to 5-pound dumbbells, a 4- to 6-pound medicine ball; I don’t have one so I had to skip these, and an exercise ball to fit your height.

You can print out the PDF of this workout at the link above!

How is the boot camp going for everyone?  I cannot wait to do measurements and progress photos later this week!!

Motivation Monday

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As you may have gathered from my Wordless Weekend post…

I am back at it again this year with Team in Training!

And I am pretty darn excited about it!  I plan to run the full marathon this year.  It will take a lot of work, but I am so ready for it!

And now I would like to talk about something more serious…

I love a good peanut butter toasted sandwich and some fruit before a run.  The banana however, always comes back to haunt me.  Bananas have always made me burp.  And we are talking a “Barney burp”

Is it ok to belch while running in groups?  I mean…I have never been the type of gal to care.  I even speak while belching.  BUT, I do have some guilty feelings about doing it in public.  Is it totally rude to run and belch, obviously excusing yourself helps with the rudeness…but… well, what do you think?

Also, I started a herb garden this weekend

And sadly, I can see already that I may kill my Cilantro.  :(   Boo.  Because today it looks all sad and wilty.  But the above was taken on Thursday afternoon.  Any tips for indoor herb gardens?

oh yeah…and I reached my 20 pounds lost goal this weekend!!  Go me!!

Busy, busy bees

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Wow, what a crazy busy week!  I will keep this short and sweet because I am about to go have lunch with the ‘rents!!  Spent the afternoon with them…because they arrived just as I was starting this post! :)

So this week…lots of running, great eating…the end of tax season (YAY!)  Had a day off in the middle of the week with The Amazing Jeff, went to see a house, went to the Nike Women’s preview party…signed up to run the Nike Women’s Marathon…saw the ‘rents, saw the house again…and lost a few more pounds.  Woot.

oy.

So yes, busy, busy bees this week.  And next week will prove to be just as busy I am sure as I am headed back to Texas next month!

Do you sometimes get the feeling that the day just go too fast?  Do you feel like you need more hours in the day?

The Perfectly Poached Egg…an experiment

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Finally after years of ruined attempts at poaching an egg…

It was perfect.  Go me!  And I owe it all to Food52 …a great site/blog all about food!

This video is how the perfect poached egg came to be

Then I saw this little gem of an idea…

I love this idea!  And I cannot wait to try it out at my next family gathering!  We often have family over night and I love to cook for other people, hence the reason we hosted both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners (and both were amazing if I do say so myself).  My oldest nephew Justin says that my eating my cooking “Makes me feel like I am floating on a cloud”.  What a sweetie :)

This yummy poached egg should provide ample energy for my run a bit later…5 miles folks…fingers crossed it goes well!

11 Week Bikini Boot Camp Challenge: Total Body Circuit Workout Using Resistance Band and Weights

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Week 4: Total Body Circuit Workout Using Resistance Band and Weights

Grab those resistance bands and some hand weights!  There are 8 moves in this workout, and they work multiple muscle groups.  The article suggests 15 reps per move, which is a great set.  I would shoot for 2-3 sets of this for a sweat inducing, calorie killing workout!

This is week 4…how’s your bikini body coming along?  I know mine is well on its way to being ready to hit the beach this summer!  I have officially said g’bye to the 140s!!  Thank goodness!

How are these weekly boot camp sessions treatin ya?

Motivation Monday: I love my iphone. Oh, and Team in Training!

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Ta- Daaaaaaaaaaaa!

It arrived on Friday afternoon, and I proceeded to get lost in my iphone for the next 8 hours…

This girl is super glad to be rid of her blackberry and Verizon.  And in the nick of time too…since my blackberry has stopped receiving texts, emails…and I am over that!

I love being a part of the Team in Training family.  As an alum I have to opportunity to support a new group of converts every season, and it is such a blessing to be a part of it.  For the second time this season I have volunteered to host a water stop for a Saturday morning training.  I love doing it!!

Can we say party at my water stop at mile 2.5?!  Woot woot!  I kept my mates fully hydrated and snacked up with water, gatorade, animal crackers…and my personal fave: gummy bears!

It was a b-e-a-utiful day for their run!  Sooo much better than last year at this location.  After training everyone shuffled over to the Coach’s house for brunch.  Which is always a great time.

Then Sunday I was a totally lazy-arse and watched a few episodes of Grey’s Anatomy…and did pretty much nothing.  It was lovely!