Nut Butter Balls

One of my favorite, easy grab and go snacks are these nut butter balls. They are a little messy to make but they do make for a great, protein packed snack for the rest of the week. Here’s how they are made: 
Step 1: gather all ingredients (1/2teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4cup almond butter, 1 cup oats, 1 tablespoon chia seeds, optional teaspoon if shredded cocconut, 1/4cup peanutbutter, and 2-3 tablespoons honey) 
Step 2: Combine all ingedients in a bowl and mix. Mixing with hands is the easiest method. 
Step 3: Roll into balls. 
Step 4: Place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. 
Step 5: Enjoy! 
This recipie made approximately 15 balls. 
Let me know if you decide to give it a try! 
Happy Sunday! 

Spaghetti Squash

Last night I was craving pasta but didn’t want to settle for something high in calories so I went with spaghetti squash for noodles and a “sauce” of olive oil, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and basil. Then I added steamed broccoli and mushrooms and baked chicken. It turned out delicious! 🙂 
How it’s made: 
1. Chop the spaghetti squash in half long ways and scrape out the “guts”
2. Coat with olive oil sea salt and pepper. 
3. Place face down on baking sheet, bake at 375 for 40-45min. 
4. While it’s in the oven get the seasoning ready. (Salt, pepper, basil, and parasean cheese… No specific amount. Just to what you enjoy, mine was mainly Parmesan cheese)  
5. Bake chicken with salt and pepper on it at 375 for 20min. Make sure the middle is white all the way through. Cut into little pieces when done. 
6. Steam the broccoli and mushrooms. Only takes about 10min on medium-high. I added some of the seasoning to it. 
7. When the squash is done be SUPER careful to not burn yourself. Use a fork to scrape out the “noodles”
8. Mix everything together. 
9. Serve and 
10. Enjoy! 
As a side note, one spaghetti squash, one head of broccoli, one carton of mushrooms, and two chicken breasts, made more than enough for four people. 
Let me know if you decide to give it a try! 

Things I’m loving *Thursday

Well since I missed Tuesday for a couple weeks now I thought I’d make up for it by posting it on a Thursday…

Harris Teeter brand vitamin water. Zero calories and a little kick of flavor. I haven’t tried them all yet but I think the lemonade one is my favorite so far. 

Instagram. This has by far become my go to social media. I enjoy all the filters. Makes me feel like I’m actually taking good pictures 😉 
I have never been a huge hockey fan but I have been fortunate to recieve free tickets on several occasions this season and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The games are fast paced and the atmosphere is great. Win or lose, I always have a good time. GO CANES!!

This is an out door group fitness class with locations all over Raleigh (and elsewhere). The one I went to was awesome. The instructor catered to all levels and made the workout a ton of fun. If you are looking for something new, you should give it a try. 

Wine and Design. It is just as it sounds. Bring your own wine and they teach you to paint a particular picture. I had a great time and I even got a cool piece of art out of it. 

Hopefully you can enjoy a few of these things yourself. Have a great Thursday! 

Treadmill Workout

I know many of you runners are hating these colder, shorter days and have been pushed to the runners least best friend, the treadmill. Although it is a handy machine, the minutes can seem to drag by. Here is an hour workout (including warmup and cool down) that will hopefully help you to stick to that hour you targeted when you walked into the gym: 

10min warm-up: 
3.5-4.0 (walk) 5min (5min)
4.5-5.5 (light jog) 5min (10min)
40min main set: 
Long Slow Set: 
6.0 (very comfortable jog)–5min(15min)
6.5 (comfortable)–4min (19min)
7.0 (could go a while but getting more difficult)–2min (21min)
7.5 (tough but not a sprint, tempo pace)–1min (22min)
7.0–2min (24min)
6.5–4min (28min)
6.0–5min (33min)
7.0–3min (35min)
7.5–2min (37min)
7.0–3min (40min)
6.0–5min (45min)
Quick Speed Set: 
6.5– 1min (46min)
8.0 (not an all out sprint but difficult)– 1min (47min)
6.0– 2min (49min) 
8.0– 1min (50min)
6.0– 2min (52min) 
8.0– 1min (53min) 
6.0– 2min (55min) 
5min cool down:
4.5-5.5 (light jog)–3min (58min)
3.5-4.0 (walk)– 2min (60min) 
*can adjust speeds based on your running ability. This workout is based on someone who typically runs 8:45-9:15min miles. See descriptions of how each speed should feel to vary it up. 
**the last numbers in parenthesis are what the time on the treadmill should read …just incase any of you get runners brain like me and can’t do math on the fly 😉
Happy Running! 

Exercising Under the Weather

From a few of my new to running/exercising friends I have been receiving the same question over and over again… I have a (insert small sickness…cold, sore throat, etc) should I still workout? 

Unfortunately the answer isn’t straight forward and depends on you body but here are some guidelines to consider… 
– Are you achy? Is it hard to get out of bed? Are you absolutely drained? — if this is the case, a day of rest is probably for the best. 
– I’m starting to feel some symptoms but I’m fuctional — this is kinda the gray zone. My recommendation is to still workout but take it down a notch. If you were supposed to do a hard run, maybe go for an easy walk/jog instead. You’ll still get the endorphins boost but you won’t be draining yourself.  
– I’m not feeling absolutely terrible but this cold, cough, etc is lingering forever — this is another gray zone but I tend to say if something has lingered for more an 3-5 days it may be time for a rest day. 
Regardless of if you decide an off day is beneficial to you, when you’re feeling a little under the weather, be sure you are eating (getting protein), drinking plenty of water and getting extra sleep. 
Also, if you do take the off day, don’t guilt trip yourself. Remember, you are exercising to be a healthier person. Listening to what your body needs is important in being the healthiest you can be. 
Wishing you all a healthy Tuesday! 

Eating on the Go

Post graduation I thought my life would be a little less on the go but turns out I was all wrong about that. Even though I am only working part time, it seems like I am still, just as much as I was in college, eating on the run. So I thought I’d share some tips with you about how I manage this on the go eating in a healthy way: 

1. When buying groceries, think about your week ahead and be realistic. As great as it would be to have the time to, to as soon as you get home from the grocery store measure out everything into on the go baggies, maybe that’s not realistic. So think about spending the extra $1 or so to have them pre-packaged. Some of my favorites are: baby carrots, apple slices, almonds, and pistachios. 
2. Avoid buying the grab and go salty and sugary snacks. If you don’t have them you can’t eat them. 
3. Buy an insulated lunch box and an ice pack. This opens up your ability to pack many other healthy snacks such as low fat string cheese, yogurt, and sandwiches with deli meat. 
4. Plan ahead. If you know you are going to have a busy week, take a couple hours on the weekend to prepare your snacks/on the go meals. Or if you are like me and your mornings always seem to be a little more jam packed than you expected, pack your snacks the night before. 
5. Drink water. This can’t be emphasized enough. Water is essential to maintaining health and your waistline. 
Some of my favorite on the go snacks include: 
Bananas, grapes, low fat string cheese, apples, almonds, pistachios, Greek yogurt, baby carrots, cucumber slices, and whole wheat crackers and peanut/almond butter. 
I hope this helps! Happy Monday! 🙂 

Holiday Update

Sorry for the long time between postings. It has been a busy and very happy holiday season. To give a quick update lets head back to Dec. 18th. That is the day I graduated from NCSU and drove home to Charlotte…

Charlotte is where I spent time with family through Christmas. We did our typical Christmas Eve traditions of going to church, making a big family meal, driving around looking at Christmas lights, opening a new candy cane ornament and PJs from Grandma, and of course we wrote our letters to Santa (yes at 22 I still write a letter to Santa). We have a great time and lots of laughs as we act maybe a little less than our age…hangiing spoons on our noses, making the wine glasses sing, and balancing napkin rings on our heads, but it is all in good fun. Christmas day we also have our family traditions. On Christmas day we first have to check for Santa. Santa comes to the basement and Dad has to go downstairs and check first to make sure he came. And guess what… he sure did!! 😉 My favorite part is always the stocking because it is always jam packed with more than I could ever imagine or fit in there myself. Next, we move back upstairs for breakfast and presents. Alex (my brother) always goes first handing out his gifts to everyone since he can hardly handle keeping secrets…hints why he buys on Christmas Eve!! We open one gift at a time to make Christmas last as long as possible. This year we finished opening gifts at 2pm (granted we don’t start till about 10am). It was a great Christmas 🙂

Then a few days later as a family, plus a couple extras (Lindsey, Alex’s girlfriend & John, my boyfriend) all flew down to Mexico to ring in the New Year. Everyday was 70-80 degrees!! I defiantly miss that since NC has become the Arctic all of a sudden. We were there for one week and had a blast hanging on the beach, playing games, and doing maybe a bit too much drinking. John and I (and I think Alex and Lindsey) managed to get in a few good workouts. It was fun getting to run in a new place and explore a little. My favorite thing to see along my runs were all the Iguanas. They are some awesome but slightly scary looking dudes. While we were in Mexico we had a very cultural New Years Eve experience. We got on a boat with about 400-ish other people, maybe 30 others who spoke English, and cruised to an island for dinner and a show. I think we even saw a Mexican proposal…not sure though since it was in Spanish. Even though the water was rough, it started raining, and the food and drink sucked we still had a great time brining in the New Year all together with our extra large 12 grapes (a Mexican tradition similar to our black eyed peas and collard greens) and dancing. I’m pretty sure we all agreed that we would never do it again but we were all glad we had the experience. On the last day of the trip we visited the Myan Ruins. That was pretty cool but then again there were so many Iguanas I think I was more fascinated by them than anything else. It was a great trip with lots of laughs and good memories.

And now… unfortunately the holidays have come and gone and it is back to reality. Well kind of! I am currently applying for nursing school. I am looking to apply to accelerated bachelors of science nursing programs to start in the fall. I got my first application in yesterday. If any of you have advice or experience let me know!! I am all ears 🙂

I hope you all had a happy holiday season and returning to reality hasn’t been too rough!

Stay Warm!! 🙂

Water Water Water….

You know that phrase “Money Money Money?” Well it should be changed to “water water water…. will save you money money money!!!” This is because water is probably the most important and most widely available nutrient that we need and have. Our bodies are made up of 55-60% water. This water helps keep our joints lubricated, digestive system working smoothly (try pushing out a number 2 when you are extremely dehydrated…Good Luck), blood flowing, lips from cracking, skin clear, waistlines trim, and the list could go on and on.

So why is it that we so often sway from water to other more high calorie, sweetened beverages? Many people (like myself) don’t like it, think it doesn’t have any flavor, like other beverages more, don’t think about it, etc. etc. So today I’m going to take you through some ways to make yourself drink more water and thus save you some money money money!

1. Find a water bottle or cup that you want to use. For me this is either a sports bottle with a squeeze top or some kind of straw.

2. Add something to your water. This something can be as simple as ice cubes or as elaborate as sliced and diced fruit or veggies. If you must start with things like crystal light packages, ween yourself so you are using less and less each time. For me, an individual packet lasts for 3 cups of water. You can also try carbonated water. Make sure you read the label to make sure no sodium has been added and if you are choosing a flavored carbonated water make sure there is also no added sugar.

3. Set small goals to meet your daily goal. Pinterest had a great idea for this. Set hourly goals of drinking several ounces of water as opposed to the “I have to drink all 9 cups (females) or 12.5 cups (male) right now.”

4. Have water handy. As bad as it is for the environment, when I have plastic disposable water bottles readily available I tend to drink a lot more water. This is especially true when I keep them in the fridge and the trunk of my car. By doing this I tend to grab a water most times I open the fridge before going for food and when I am out in about it helps keep me feeling full so I am less tempted to stop for something to eat. 
5. Start your day with a glass of water. This helps get you off on the right foot for the entire day. I don’t know about you, but if I start my day with some kind of crummy fuel, the rest of the day tends to follow in those same footsteps. So start off the day on the right path. Plus, this way, one of those cups is already done for the day 😉 
6. Have a cup before every meal. Again this knocks out three cups for the day and as an added bonus, like I mentioned in Holiday Eating, this can help keep you from over eating during meal time by helping you feel full faster. **Remember it takes 20min for your stomach and brain to communicate letting you know you are full**
7. Finish your day with a cup of water. At this rate you have 5 cups knocked out easily if you have one when you wake up, one before each meal, and one before bed. This only leaves you with 4 (females) or 7.5 (males) more cups to get in through the rest of the day. 
8. Be intentional about carrying and drinking your water. Once you get in the habit of it, it is much easier to get in ALL those cups every day 🙂 
And so I mentioned this is going to save you money… 
  • A 24 pack of water costs approximately $4 (16.9 oz Dasani) and a 24pack of soda (16.9oz bottles coke) costs approximately $14. 
  • Or how about all those lotions and potions you are putting on your face to keep it moist and firm? Those get pretty pricy too but what if you were able to make those last a little longer because your body was moisturizing from the inside, so you weren’t having to put so much on the outside? 
  • And what if you drank a glass of water every time you were bored instead of reaching for something to munch on? That would also save you some money. 
  • Hydration is a key factor in being healthy…good health is almost always a guaranteed way to save some serious money!! 
So save some money and drink more water!! 

Graduation

Wednesday, December 18th, 2013 marks the day I became a college graduate. I have to say, it was all (and still is) a bit unreal. It felt like the day I had waited forever for had somehow gotten here so quickly.

The night before graduation we had a nice dinner with family and John at 518 West, an Italian restaurant in downtown Raleigh. My only request was that it was in the city I had grown to love over the last 3 years as I wanted my family to witness just how great of a place it is for themselves. Dinner was delicious and the company was even better. This is a picture of myself, my brother, and grandmother at dinner.

Wednesday started early with the big commencement ceremony at the PNC arena. It was a very nice ceremony and our student speaker did great. Even more impressive, he kept it all a secret from his mother that he was the speaker. I’m sure she was shocked!

Then, later that afternoon, was the departmental ceremony. This ceremony allowed each graduate a chance to introduce all those who were there to support them as well as speak of their future plans. Although some did have upcoming plans, it came as a relief to me that many were in my same place as I am and did not have anything immediately planned.

To round out the fabulous day before packing my bags and heading home for the holidays, John and I headed to the bell tower to take a few pictures as many graduates do. We had a beautiful day with a blue sky.

                     

I can’t thank all those who helped make this day such a special day for me enough. I could defiantly feel the love and support from each and everyone of you. 
Thank You!! 

12 days of Bootcamp!

Good Morning! I hope you are all doing well and staying warm on this beautiful, chilly morning! My day started out great. I got to witness a beautiful sunrise, Christmas Tunes, and ofcourse a room full of sweaty people! I can’t think of what could possibly be better!! Today’s bootcamp was a little out of the ordinary, we “played” 12 Days of Bootcamp…

Day 1: Warm-up (3min)
3min of jogging/dynamic movements
Day 2: Rock Paper Scissors Sprint (2min)
just like normal rock paper scissors but with a twist,
the loser has to turn and sprint and the winner must chase them
Day 3: Lower Body (10min)
This circuit was done for 9continuous minutes and legs were burning for sure!
3x3min each walking lunges, squats, side lunges
 
Day 4: Simon Says Quick Feet Style (3min)
Keep quick feet the entire time. Left, Right, 180, & 360. For left and right Simon points.
Once out participants have step-ups on the bench till we get down to the winner.
Day 5: Core (3min)
Crazy Ivan (:30min) Superman (:30min)
Russian Twist (:30min) Superman (:30min) Crazy Ivan (:30min)
Day 6: Duck Duck Goose Squats Style (3min)
Those in the circle are to be doing squats the entire time while the tagger is deciding whose “goose”.
Rest is while the chase goes on.
Day 7: Push-Up Challenge (Bring Sally Up) (5min)
Fot those of you who don’t know what the “Bring Sally Up” challenge is check out this video.
I challenge you to give it a try…much more difficult than it looks.
Day 8: Freeze Tag (8min) – 2x4min
Get unfrozen by doing 10 jumping jacks. 
Day 9: Crab Soccer with Stability Ball. (8min)—2x4min
Soccer while doing crab walks and kicking a stability ball…talk about some burning arms. Our goals were if the ball hit in the air the wall. We had two teams going opposite directions. 30sec rest for half time.  
Day 10: Core (1:30min)
1min plank
Day 11: Race for Your Fate…win or burpee (3min) 
Run down to the opposite end and back 3x completing 3 burpees at far end each time. At the end, everyone (except the winner) does 10 burpees together as a group J
Day 12: Cool Down (3min)
About 1min walking to let heart rate come down followed
by about 2min of statch stretching.
 
 
I hope everyone had a great time playing this morning and thought it was a fun way to lead into the holiday season! I appreciate all those who came out week after week to my 6:30 bootcamp class. You all have made it worth getting up at 5AM every Tuesday and Thursday this semester! Also glad to see I am not the only one who is a tad bit crazy! 😉  Keep Up the hard work!!
 
Happy Holidays Bootcampers!!!