Fitness Faves

March 30, 2012 by

Hey heyy hayy!

Countdown to the weekend can begin!

I started the day off waking up far too early and wanted a little protein pump me up drink to begin the day off right before breakfast. I heated up a cup of unsweetened almond milk and mixed it with 1/2 a scoop protein powder, 1/2 tablespoon raw cacao powder, and stevia. Tasty, and of course it had a nice protein punch!

This week sleep wise has been a little brutal for me. I have been having such a hard time sleeping throughout the night. Long gone are the nights I went to bed at 9, it has been the norm for me to go to bed at 12 only to wake up at 4 or 4:30 and not able to fall back asleep. It has been about 6-7 days of this and I am just exhausted. Hopefully I can get my sleep on track this weekend

Well enough complaining from me! Time to get to the goodies.

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Another week of Fitness Routines brought to us by the lovely Lindsay!

 

In Sweetness and In Health

Check out my Workout Log for all my workouts I completed this week.

On Monday I did this 99 Problems Workout (my legs were shakin’ after this one!)

After my protein hot chocolate, I completed a new tabata routine I made for today.

Tabata is very beneficial for our bodies. It helps to burn fat, raise metabolism, and increase physical endurance. Be aware though tabata is not for the faint of heart, it is very intense. Tabata can be as short as 4 minutes! It is also very important to properly warm-up before performing these intense workouts.

**Laury recently wrote a great post about the true Tabata training method, technically this workout is not real Tabata Training. It is still awesome though!**

I really need to get one of these for my workouts…badly, for now, I just use an online tabata timer, so you can use that!

*32 rounds is just repeating the 8 exercises 4 times* (24 minutes total, and 16 minutes actual working out)

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Yesterday after returning from my appointment I put on this number, I’m not too sure if I want to keep this dress though, it’s a little on the shorter side, but will probably be good for work in the summer.

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Of Possible Interest:

  • Possibly the best news ever, ANCHORMAN SEQUEL is announced!!! That movie is just the best. My weekend has been made.
  • Vegans Angry With Starbucks. Thank goodness I stick to Americanos ;)
  • I also want to give Meg a High Five for her High Five Friday’s, for staying so positive throughout a bad flood in her apartment! She rocks!

Happy Friday!!!
What are your plans for this weekend?
What’s your workout for today?
xox Lisa

{19 Comments }

Manmaker

March 29, 2012 by

Hello beautiful people!

I first wanted to give a little shout out and big thanks to Rita of the Blog Genie, who is absolutely fab, and hooked me up with this amazing new design and header. If you are looking for someone to fix up your blog, go to her. She is so sweet and helpful and a pleasure to work with!

Breakfast this morning: Green Smoothie with almond milk, frozen spinach, frozen strawberries, flaxseed, almond butter, vanilla sun warrior

My day started at spin early this morning and then an appointment at 8:00, so this was taken on the go.

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A new favourite exercise I did during my workout were Manmakers; they rock! Try them out in your next workout session!

Yesterday afternoon I completed a HIIT workout, then snacked on a cup of greek yogurt, mixed with 2 tablespoons coconut flour and topped with some fresh strawberries. I’m pumped that strawberries are nice and ripe now. Spring is the best for berries.

For part of my dinner I roasted brussels sprouts. And can I just say frozen brussels sprouts are freakin’ good! I can’t get over that they taste so great even though they’re frozen…I may even like them better than fresh brussels. Crazyyy, okay I guess it’s not really that crazy…at all.

I roast the veggies in coconut oil, and baked in that equals yumminess (spell check says that’s a word?).

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My outfit yesterday.

Most people don’t like the “leggings as pants look”, but I’m fine with it as long as I’m wearing higher shoes (like heels or wedges).

What do you all think?

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Yesterday I posted a picture of a muffin-for-one I ate for as part of my evening snack, and wanted to share the version I make.

Based on this recipe, but not vegan. Or blueberry flavoured. Or baked. ;)

In a bowl mix:

  • 3 Tablespoons Flour, I used Teff (great gluten free flour) [I also like to mix it up with brown rice flour, protein powder, ground flax, etc.]
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Stevia and 7 drops alcohol-free vanilla stevia drops
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup egg whites

I mix it all together (it will look like it is not thick enough, but it will be once cooked), and place it in the microwave for 3-4 minutes (depending on microwave), and then I refrigerate it and will eat it in the evening before I go to sleep.

Alright that’s it, hope everyone has a great day. Only one day left till the weekend! :)

What’s something you’ve been really enjoying lately? Food, fitness, or fashion wise?

{12 Comments }

What I Ate Wednesday

March 28, 2012 by

Hello beauties :)

Happy Wednesday!

Everything I’m posting is what I ate on Tuesday, so technically it’s what I ate on Tuesday, but it’s Wednesday now, confusing?…anyyywayyys, onto the good stuff.

Making it to spin by 5:30 was a breeze today, I woke up with no alarm at 4:30 for clearly, some very odd reason. I moved my tush on over to the gym, got on my bike, sweat the hour away, and was out there by 7. I went back home showered and had breakfast awaiting for me in the fridge. Thank goodness for overnight oats I was hungry.

Breakfast – 8:00 AM – Overnight oat bran with 1/2 cup egg whites, 1/3 cup pumpkin, 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds, cinnamon, stevia, and left overnight in the fridge to thicken up. With a side of starbs.

Seriously, after this is cooked and then left in the fridge overnight it gets so thick and tasty! I was stoked on this bowl, I also topped it with peanut flour paste and banana slices.

Later, I wandered on over to the grocery store to pick up a few items I’ll be needing for the week, ran a few errands and by the time I got home, put stuff away, and did some laundry it was lunch time. It was cold this morning so I was craving some good ol’ baked veggies. Roasted kabocha it was!

Lunch – 11:30 AM – (yes, I know I eat lunch at the time 5 year olds do)

Baked Kabocha Squash with Raw Coconut Butter. I.love.squash. So good.

Then things went a little sour, I was coming up for a recipe for dinner, and who knew you can’t mix water and oil on high heat together. Oopsie! Let’s just say things were a complete mess after I realized this ;) but no damage was done to myself, so at least that’s a plus. I ended up starting over and then landed a success! Recipe to come tomorrow.

I went to hit up the mall after, to meet my dad for coffee and do a little spring shopping, I recently tidied up my closet and got rid of lots of old clothes I don’t wear anymore so I needed some new things. Exciting!

I didn’t get home until 4 and was a little hungry so made an afternoon snack.

I’m participating in the 7 day green smoothie challenge. So after I came back from the mall, I made a smoothie of frozen spinach, frozen strawberries, scoop vanilla sun warrior, and a cup of almond milk! Delicious, and the challenge is going smoothly (pun possibly intended). Smoothies rock. :)

Snack – 4:00 PM – Green Smoothie

By the time dinner came around I didn’t feel like making much, so I just heated up some leftover spaghetti squash with roasted veggies, defrosted a piece of turkey meatloaf (last one), I’ll have to make more soon. Also Chelsey’s best ever marinara and topped it off with the recipe I’ll be giving you tomorrow; a savoury goat cheese truffle. Divine.

Dinner – 5:30 PM  - Spaghetti squash, marinara, turkey, goat cheese truffle

Now time to catch up on some blogs, Real Housewives, and Chelsea Lately.

Enjoy your night everyone!!!

Snack – at 8:30 PM – will be a protein muffin (recipe to come soon!!), with (not pictured) peanut flour paste and coconut cream.

YUM.

What was the best thing you ate today?
Have you ever had a kitchen blunder that ended up good after all?
xox Lisa

 

{18 Comments }

A Circuit Workout and Tuesday Talks

March 27, 2012 by

Morning!

Look at the beautiful sunset we had last night!

I lied to you all, yesterday I actually ended up doing a workout, and it rocked. It is a circuit workout! I love circuits because you change exercises so often that you don’t have time to get bored.

I heard this song earlier on the radio and it was stuck in my head all day yesterday, which gave me inspiration to incorporate part of the song into my workout!


This was a tough workout, my legs felt dead by the end of it!

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I am pretty excited about this coming weekend, because I have plans to see the Hunger Games. I have heard it’s a great movie, so I can’t wait. I’m still positive the book will remain better though. As is usually the case with books vs. movies.

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Speaking of the Hunger Games, friday night I just layed low and was watching Chelsea Lately and Jennifer Lawrence (who plays Katniss) was on the show. Oh my, can I just say I love her more now. She was actually hilarious, so now even more excited to check out the movie :)
Here’s a link to her interview if you want to check it out: Jennifer Lawrence Interview

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This week has been a little tough for me, after reading Tessa’s amazing post yesterday on exercise and recovery I started looking at my own recovery. I know I still have so much work to do. I haven’t gone into much discussion about my eating disorder, but I have been having a lot of anxiety with it recently. I feel like I have to exercise everyday to deserve the food I am eating, because if I do not workout I don’t need the fuel at all. I also am leaning towards all my “safe food” and am having trouble branching out. Meg has been helping me a lot with my fear foods and I can’t thank her enough for it, I know I just have to do it so that my anxieties will lessen, but it is so hard to get out of the ED mindset. I am definitely going to keep motivated this week and challenge myself with foods I am not comfortable with! I need to be uncomfortable to make a real change. I wrote a list down of my fear foods and asked why I’m afraid of them I have no reason to be. I’m thankful I have this blog to get my feelings out there, because before I would just hold it all in; and things could go down badly in a spiral relatively fast. I’m determined to kick my ED this week! I have the week off of work so I have the time to be making these challenges everyday!

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Of Interest:
A law in Israel was just announced stating that they will no longer higher models who have a BMI lower than 18.5. Read more here. Do you think this is a law that should take place globally? What if someone is naturally very thin? Obviously I think this is great to get more awareness out on the dangers of eating disorders! Also it will be nice to see more diverse models, but another part of me wonders if it is fair to completely eliminate models who are simply naturally that thin. Isn’t that being discriminated against?

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What do you think of the new law in Israel banning models who have an unhealthy BMI?
What is your workout for today?

Enjoy your Tuesday!!

{12 Comments }

Holy Crap, Skinny B, and Snacks

March 26, 2012 by

Hey all, it’s Monday!

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Can you tell I like this website?

Hopefully everyone enjoyed their weekend! :)
I actually do not mind Monday’s too much, it always seems like Tuesday is the longest day to get through, and I like that it is a new start to the week!

I have a few different goals for myself this week, one including getting out of my comfort zone and trying new things. Including some new ingredients, recipes, and even eating at different times. I have to learn to be able to be less restricted in this sense.

Now on to something yummy from this morning, breakfast!

Oat Bran with egg whites, chia seeds, pumpkin, peanut flour and topped with new to me granola

this breakfast cereal is made in BC

great ingredients!

I ended up trying this Holy Crap on my oats this morning and it rocked! I’d say it is more of a granola though, not “breakfast cereal”. The ingredients are top notch, no added sweetener at all, and it really tastes good! I’m impressed. They also have another line called Skinny B, which I think I’ll like, so next time I’m at the store I’ll have to pick that up.

Later in the afternoon I got a little hungry and whipped up this snack.

Coconut-Cream Mousse

  • 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (I used 2%)
  • 1/4 cup cottage cheese (I used 2%)
  • 1/3 banana, frozen
  • 1/4 teaspoon coconut extract (you could use vanilla if you don’t have coconut)
  • stevia
  • 1 teaspoon almond butter
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon guar gum and xanthan gum (to thicken) [optional]
  • 2-4 tablespoons almond milk (to get blender moving) [if needed]

First blend greek yogurt and cottage cheese together, then add in the banana, and extracts/stevia, next blend in the coconut flour and almond butter; at this point if you need some liquid add in the almond milk, and you can add in the guar/xanthan if it is not thick enough for you at this point. I used a food processor for this.

You can freeze it for about 10 minutes, so it will get super cold.
This was really good!

And if you don’t have any coconut flour feel free to add in almond flour, protein powder, or cocoa powder to replace it. I’m sure it would taste just as good!

Since my tailbone is actually pretty sore today, I opted to skip my planned workout, instead here’s a playlist I made last week:

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Has anyone seen these toe socks for pilates or yoga?! I so want them! My feet are always cold! Maybe these would get me to try yoga more often than I do right now ;)

 

Would you buy toe socks specific for yoga or pilates?
Do you like Monday’s, or are they a drag to get through for you?

That’s all for now. Enjoy the day!
xo

{6 Comments }

Baked Almond Coated Kale Chips

March 24, 2012 by

Hey All!

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Happy dance for the weekend! ;) How is your Saturday starting off?

It is absolutely beautiful today, :) so after this post I’m going to go out and spend the day enjoying this weather with some friends!

I love having snacks that are healthy and easy to make. These kale chips can be served as a side dish or eaten as a snack. Does anyone else hate the work snack? It sounds weird to me…anyways…

Almond-Kale Chips
Serves: As many as you’d like :)
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20-40 minutes (depending on your oven)

  • 1 large bunch kale (I used red, I prefer dinosaur kale though)
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 2 tablespoons almond meal/flour
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • dash of salt and any seasonings you desire***

Set your oven to 250 F

1. First de-stem and wash your kale, then place it in a strainer and pat dry the kale.

2. Set kale aside, melt the coconut oil in the microwave and add the nutritional yeast and almond meal and any of the other seasonings you wish to add to the kale.**

3. Grab a mixing bowl and massage the kale well into the dressing with your hands.

4. Place the massaged kale onto a tray lined with tinfoil, and place the kale in the oven, set your timer for 40 minutes (be sure to check on the kale after 20 minutes, and keep an eye on them for the next 10-20 minutes).

Sugar-Free “Ketchup”

1. Mix a dash of stevia in a bowl with 2-4 tablespoons of tomato paste, easy-peezy ketchup.

sugar free ketchup

mix

the finale

Note: ***Feel free to make the kale any flavour you’d like: spicy, savory, or you could make them sweet with sugar/stevia and instead of nutritional yeast use cocoa powder.

Happy eating!

I stumbled upon this via pinterest yesterday, and for some reason it just makes me laugh so hard.

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Alright, I’m off!

Have you ever tried kale chips?
Any fun plans this weekend?

{16 Comments }

Fitness & Falls of the Week

March 23, 2012 by

I like today. I got myself some of this. And I’m headed to the mall later.

after a sweaty spin class

after a sweaty spinnn class

My alarm went off at the nice hour of 5:30, I was not feeling getting up and working out this morning, but decided if I went downstairs and wasn’t feeling it I’d just go back to bed. Well turns out it was a good idea to just try it out because I ended up having a great workout.

If you know one thing about me, it’s most likely that I am the biggest klutz ever. I am always falling and tripping over my own feet, or invisible bumps on the hardware floor or street ;) So as I was running down my stairs the other day it was no surprise I slipped and fell right on my tailbone, holy gosh that hurts. I bruised it, but it is feeling a lot better today. Well it actually still hurts to sit for a long time and do certain moves working out, but it looks like it will heal just fine. :)

Funny Get Well Ecard: Have you had an accident in the last two years? 'Actually yes, just now as I dashed to the phone for this crap'.

As part of FLOW I wanted to share some of the workouts I did this week!

In Sweetness and In Health

Sunday – rest day
Monday – 800 Rep Workout

Tuesday – Spin
Wednesday – Burpee Blast

Thursday – Spin
Friday – This Bodyrock workout

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 Saturday – either rest or this workout. We’ll see how my tailbone feels!

Have a great Friday everyone!

Did you have any good workouts this week?
Do you consider yourself clumsy?

{8 Comments }

Thursday Things

March 22, 2012 by

Happy Thursday! I hope your morning has started off great!

Here are some things I’m loving this week.

I wanted to share this workout I did yesterday! It is killer. It made my arms burn and after the weight section there’s some plyometric moves to boost your heart rate and keep you working! My arms are definitely sore after this.

1. This workout.

*the burpees are meant to be full burpees (with a push-up)

2. Overnight Oats.

After spin this morning, I came home and ate some breakfast:

Overnight Oats

  • 1/2 cup GF oats
  • 1 scoop vanilla sun warrior
  • 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1/2 tablespoon flaxseeds
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin
  • 1 tablespoon raw cashew butter

I cooked this up yesterday and left it in the fridge overnight to eat right away this morning.

3. I want this shirt, I think it would look really cute with a high waisted skirt!

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4. I am on the search for these nail polish colours today:

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5. Go check out this site. It makes me laugh…out loud

Now I’m off to get a start on this beautiful day!

What are your favourite things this week?

{8 Comments }

Outfit of the Day

March 21, 2012 by

My OOTD:

Here’s the whole outfit from earlier.

Why, hello awkward hands

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 Sorry to make you super jealous of my bronzed skin, I can’t help it ;)

 

Do you have a favourite pair of shoes?

{4 Comments }

Tuesday Truths

March 20, 2012 by

Thanks for the love on the HIIT workout, its a doozy!

My day started out at the early morning of 5 AM for a spin class, I love spin. I came home and followed my usual routine.
Shower, makeup, breakfast, finish hair, coffee, and all that fun stuff ;)

Breakfast
Egg White Oats

  • 1/3 cup oat bran
  • 1/2 cup egg whites
  • 1/2 tablepoon chia seeds
  • 1/3 cup pumpkin
  • tons on cinnamon and stevia
  • topped with raw cashew butter

I got my topic idea today from Katie!

It got me to thinking that I go through my day to day activities in the same motion everyday. I always eat within my comfort zone, and never ever go out to eat with others. Honestly, I’m still so afraid of someone else handling my food. Not knowing exactly what is going in my food freaks me out because I have no control over what is going into that meal. I’ve decided to start challenging myself with these issues. No one can live this way, especially when the norm includes people going out to eat meals together, that is how most of my friends and family enjoy each other’s company. I’m going to need to start living in other people’s worlds too not just my own little health bubble!

Shoes I love-I'll show you my outfit later

I am happy I have the support of my family during this, of course this is the least of concerns compared to what some other people are going through at the moment. I am just thankful my friends and family have been with me through out my recovery. They help me to stay grounded and realize what is really important in my life. I need to always remember that there is in fact a line between TOO healthy, and also TOO unhealthy.

While I know how great it feels to eat healthy, and be healthy in general there is a fine line where I won’t make my mom smile because I won’t try something she made special for dinner. And it’s hard to realize that this struggle does not only affect me, but also everyone in my family too. Orthorexia nervosa is a term I don’t think many people are aware of, being so pre occupied with everything healthy is in fact a problem. There needs to be more awareness on this, I believe. And talking about it is a great start.

[I recommend reading Health Food Junkies, it talks a lot about Orthorexia and is a great read]

Anyways, thats my little spiel for today!

Hope your all having a great day! :)

Have you ever felt that you are too healthy at time?
Or do you know anyone who is?

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