Miss me?

Of course I'd be back. And with EXCITING news! A week ago, my hubby and I took a trip to participate in our first 5k (me) and half marathon (him). 

SO. MUCH. FUN!

The rush of excitement that I felt was amazing and I had honestly never experienced anything like it before. Being my first race, I was a little nervous, skeptical, and afraid my shin splints would put a major damper on my run. I think not! No stopping me ;)

As soon as the horn went off, I began with a slow jog. Maybe 20 seconds later I felt this rush! This 'Run, now, RUN!' feeling. Once I started, BOOM!, couldn't stop.

I was very pleased to have only stopped once for water (which slowed me down when I was picking back up my pace!) but overall, I killed it in my mind. 

My time: 35 minutes

Distance: 3.2 miles

Of course I felt GREAT after the race (although my daughter would NOT sleep the night before- UGH- exhausting!) but the next day, BAM - shin splints. Welcome back you devil! :(

Hubby hurt his ankle during the race but finished strong - doc confirmed that it is a sprain. Getting better everyday - and my shin splints are being doctored and are resting so that I can run again.

Next up: hubby and I are doing a 5k together in August. 

We're gonna train to finish stronger than my 35 minutes!

Even more fun- the end of the 5k is a run through a lazy river.

Um, HELLO, how crazy-challenging-fun-but-exciting!

So there you have it, one goal down for 2013 - many more to go! 

XOXO and Happy Fitday! 

Oopsie...

Wow! I have been so incredibly distracted with .... well, life. Sometimes things really get the best of you. Moving forward, I haven't posted lately and that sort of makes me sad. Time to get some feelings out...

My daughter has some very exciting things happening in her life and I am struggling a bit, but remaining positive. It's so easy to get out of your loop and let the stress of things completely intervene. I've been having crazy cravings lately! Some cravings got so out of hand I literally indulged - and regretted it later. Seems like I would already know the result, right? Oh well. Now that I'm back into my swing of things, I have a bit going on within the next week.

Family is in town..

Situating my daughter's new venture..

Going out of town next weekend..

Prepping for my FIRST EVER 5k!!!

Getting things shipped off to my mom for Mother's Day..

Dentist appointment (ugh, can I cry now?!)..

annndddd.....

more of joyous, roller-coastery, fun, emotional, crazy LIFE.

Just looking at that list really stresses me out. But what stresses me out the most?? THE 5K. Why? Well, one thing that most people don't know about me is that I struggle with shin splints. Not sure why, but dang it, I've been cursed by the running gods. The problem began THE VERY SECOND I tried to train for my race. Weird. So for the past few months, I've been to the physical therapist (who told me to refrain from any crazy cardio for 3 freakin' weeks!), taken an entire bottle of potassium pills, kt tape, new shoes - you name it and I've done it. Thankfully, I've seen major progress after the new shoes. 

I went to this super cool place in my area that evaluates your feet, ankles, legs, anything while you run on the treadmill. They give you soles to match your foot and recommend the type of shoes you need for the certain use you want to get out of it. AMAZINNNNG! 

From there, I even started wearing kt tape... and, well, FAIL. Why does it fall off when I start sweating?! - I'll have to perfect my taping skills for sure. 

So there you have it. I have been running 1-2 minute sprints and slowly upped it to running 5 minutes at a time. As of 2 days ago, I could run half a mile and I felt great afterwards - I even wanted to keep going, but knew I had to treat my baby shins the right way. 

Tomorrow's goal: run a mile. Wish me luck! 

Happy Friday!!

XOXO

Another Sickly Day: Another New Recipe

Today's happy Sunday is spent - once again - indoors. DAY TWO of no working out thanks to my cold. Fortunately, I can feel some energy coming back and I have DayQuil on standby every 4 hours. I will be good to go tomorrow. 

Anyway, when I'm sick and bored, I end up cooking. Healthy foods of course. It makes me feel better! Today I scrolled through my Pinterest board for a new recipe that I have been eyeballing for some time now. This recipe is called 'Quinoa Pizza Bites' and I give major props to Morgan Berg at fit success.blogspot.com. 

THIS RECIPE WAS AMAZING! 

So.... I did tweak it a bit. I only needed quinoa, oregano, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, fat-free mozzarella cheese, and egg whites. BAM - perfection! It also called for salt, but I am an anti-salt freak. I do NOT like salt. YUCK!

I'm a major Trader Joe's freak. If you do not have a Trader Joe's in your area, I sincerely apologize. You're missing out. L-O-V-E! 

So, with my 'Trader Joe's' brand of quinoa, I had some in my pantry that is gluten free tricolor quinoa. I love it. So I boiled half a cup until it was ready, and in the meantime, I chopped half a cup of onion and 1 teaspoon (give or take..) of garlic. I then mixed everything together, including my quinoa, and mixed in the oregano, sprinkled some Italian seasoning, about 1 large egg white, and some organic fat-free mozzarella cheese.

From there, preheat your oven to 350 and grab a muffin pan, spray with Pam or whatever you use. I used the Smart Balance spray. Spoon out a tablespoon of the mix and put into each hole. I baked these babies for about 15 minutes. They could have baked a little longer but I was being very cautious and didn't want them too crispy. 20 minutes would have been perfect! 

Is your mouth watering? Mine is! ;)

So, let them cool and they are ready to go! I dipped them in my organic tomato basil marinara and YUM - I couldn't even finish all of them. I am stuffed!! Whew. 

Again, major props to Morgan Berg. These will be made again very soon! 

Happy Sunday!

XOXO

Saturday night-in: Dinner for One

Well, here I am on a Saturday night being sick with a cold. I have been going crazy all day without being at the gym. Instead, I've been on the couch watching movies and taking medicine every 4 hours. YAY to my immune system! Anyway, to occupy some time and avoid extra boredom, I made dinner. One new dish: Cauliflower Cheese Sticks and an all-time favorite: Spaghetti Squash with Meat and Marinara. I was so excited I took pictures!! (That never happens...)

So I'm having complications with my spaghetti squash. The first time I made it, I baked it cut in half, face up at 350 for about 30 minutes. When it wasn't done, I let it bake for another 20 minutes, checking it occasionally. Nope, still not done. I then submerged it in water and popped it into the microwave for 10+ minutes (again, checking it...) and still NOTHING. It would NOT get tender. I ended up eating it crunchy which was alright - I didn't mind. 

Tonight, I baked it face DOWN at 400 for about 30-35 minutes. Didn't get tender, but the outer shell was super tender and the spaghetti was super easy to fork out. Oh well....ya win some, ya lose some.

I had crunchy spaghetti squash (again...ugh!) with about a couple of ounces of lean turkey breast and my favorite organic tomato basil marinara sauce! 1/2 cup has less than 50 calories so it's the BEST! 

Next up, my cauliflower cheese sticks:

Ingredients only included this! Amazing right?!

Now, if only I had a cheese grater- UGH! Making cauliflower rice is very time consuming and way too frustrating when you have to do it with your fingers or a knife. Me? I went with the knife - and became too impatient and literally ended up with less than half a cup. Good thing these babies were just my appetizer! 

Anyway, with my half a cup of cauliflower rice, I popped it into the microwave for about 5 minutes. I then added 1.5 tablespoons of egg whites, 2 finely chopped garlic cloves, and I sprinkled italian seasoning and organic mozzarella cheese. From there, mix it together and spread it on a tin-foiled pan. 

MMMMM! So yummy!

Oh man, just looking at the picture makes me want more NOW! 

It's very thin, so I watched very closely as it baked (at 375). I let it get a little brown around the edges - not too crunchy but not so that it would fall apart. These babies baked for maybe 10 minutes...?

Voila! Perfect!

So as you can see, it only made 3 pieces. LOL! I added cheese on top and grabbed my organic marinara. I enjoyed every single bite. And now I want to whip up some more - but no can do (I still don't have my cheese grater). 

Anyone who tries these should definitely love them! I will no longer want to order domino's cheesy garlic bread! WIN-WIN for me!

Now off to watch Tangled with my baby girl and bake some chocolate chip cookies for my hubby! 

Happy Saturday!

XOXO

Meet Vida:

I'm a young mom, born and raised in the south, and currently living on the OTHER side of the country with my new family. I enjoy being outdoors, being with my family, anything girly, and working out/being at the gym. 

You'll soon notice that I talk a LOT about my daughter and the gym - or food. Good, healthy, yummy food. I've recently found my inner Betty Crocker/Rachael Ray - healthy style. (No offense, ladies.) 

Anyway... my daughter is my everything, and now she's over a year old and I'm still fat. The week of giving birth, I weighed a whopping 210 pounds. Naturally, after all of my water weight and such dropped, I lost around 40-45 pounds. Better than 210, that's for sure. I have always been a cheerleader so for that reason I stayed active throughout high school and had an adorable body. 

Soon after I was released from my doctor, I hit the gym. HARD. What a reality check. I was nowhere near "in shape" but I knew I had to start somewhere. I began working out with a personal trainer and upping my cardio daily. Within a couple of months I lost some weight, then I decided to challenge myself. I stuck to a very strict diet for about 12 weeks and BAM - I'm looking hottttt. (As my hubby would say - I beg to differ!)

Like most women, I was very hard and judgmental on myself - but whatever - someone has to be tough, right?! SO, here I am at 150 pounds and I'm feeling so incredibly great and I wake up every morning with the question: 

"How will I challenge myself TODAY??"

Between bodypump classes, spin classes, personal training, lots of cardio, and staying on my toes with a busy toddler - I should be much smaller, but hey, being a woman is challenging. I have some toning and more losing to go, but soon enough I'll get there, and when I do, I'll post a picture to show off a little! ;) 

I mean, I won't look like this:

No offense to this lady. Major props!

BUT, I'd like to look a little something like this:

How hott is Andrea Dumon?! OW OWW!

So there you have it. My first blog. My BIG spill. This is how I'm letting out my feelings, my ups and downs, my obsessions, and asking for advice/opinions. 

I may post a LOT, because I'm already addicted to blogging.... confession #8,947 ;)

Until next time! 

XOXO