Morning Workouts & Pumpkin Ale

Why does working out first thing in the morning feel so good?!

It's definitely a pain to wake up to a blaring alarm before 6am, when it's still dark out and the bed just seems extra comfy, but once I'm up and out of bed I feel fine. On the two minute drive to the gym I suck down either a Monster Zero or black coffee and by the time I get to the gym I'm energized and ready to go! Today I did back, a little ab work and a thirty minute interval walk on the treadmill.

A couple things help make an early morning workout doable. First, preparing the night before. Last night I laid out my workout outfit so this morning I didn't have to scramble through my drawers (I don't know about you, but for me, this process takes an ungodly LONG time!!! NO IDEA WHY). On my counter I laid out my house & car keys, morning vitamins, bottle of water, iPod and workout journal. After I got dressed all I had to do was grab my little pile of things in one quick reach and I was off!

My back workout looked like this:

4 minute warmup on hand bike

3 sets, 20 reps:
Lat Pulldown
Bent over Row
Hammer Strength Row

4 sets, 12 reps:
DB one arm row
1 arm seated pull
Rope Cable high pull (no idea what to call this exercise...hook the 2 headed rope up to the top of the cable and pull using your back/rear delts to bring it to your face)

Finished off with body weight pull ups and chin ups to failure

Then I did a few random ab moves and went over to the treadmill where I did a fast walk on incline while listening to the Nicki Minaj and Britney Spears stations on Pandora (love).

My sister and her boyfriend were at the gym this morning...which meant lots of stop-and-chats between sets so the weight portion of my workout wasn't as sweaty as it could have been thanks to all the extra rest. However, we had very significant things to discuss...like haunted houses and my upcoming Halloween party. Clearly, extremely important.

the cutiess

Our conversation reflected the fact that boyfriends seem to despise things like double dates to haunted houses. My sister and I agreed that these outings should be planned as girl trips instead of double dates, seeing as both of our boyfriend's had the same answer to the question, "hey, wana go to that haunted house friday night?"

...that answer being "No. But, if you really want to I'll do it".

 Translation: "I'm a really good boyfriend, and love you sooo much that instead of doing things I like to do I will put myself through the torture of doing these stupid girly activities that for reasons I'll never understand you sooo enjoy. But....it'd be nice if you could maaaayyybeee, just maybe, be a good girlfriend and not make me do this?"

Well, Casey is that good girlfriend and backed out of the haunted house for her man.

whereas I make Dan do stuff like this...

But, Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday, I never made it to a haunted house last year and I'm determined to do something festive this week. Preferable including a trip to a haunted house. Friday night. With Dan.

It'd be super awesome if candy corn can somehow, someway be incorporated into this weekend.

yum.

And apple picking.

And pumpkin picking...

And if we're coming home with pumpkins, we should probably carve them, right? And toast the seeds..while watching old school horror movies...and drinking that pumpkin beer I impulsively bought yesterday..

can't wait to try this!

See how I plan out this crap in my head? Who the hell am I going to do these things with? Cuz, I haven't said anything about any of this to Dan (except for the haunted house)...and when he asks me what I want to do this weekend, I'll probably say "I don't know, babe..what do you want to do?"

I'm going to challenge myself...when this conversation comes up I'm going to tell him my ideas!!!! (or at least direct him to this post...)

Well, I'm off to start my day which includes finishing the laundry, going to Party City for cute stuff for my party & costumes and some other errands...and class this afternoon (Group Dynamics--actually a pretty fascinating class!).

Side note--my Hair ADD kicked in again and I now have DARK brown (nearly black) hair!

darkkk girl

Cake for Breakfast??

This morning's breakfast was amazing.

chocolate peanut butter heaven...

I used Chocolate Covered Katie's dessert pizza recipe and just went all out :)

I mixed together:

• 2 tbsp coconut flour
• 2 tbsp garbanzo bean flour
• 1 tbsp applesauce
• 1 rounded tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp cacao nibs
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• TINY pinch salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• drop of almond milk

Then I baked the concoction for about 15 minutes and topped it with "peanut butter syrup" aka 1/2 tbsp Better'n'PB, 1/2 tbsp coconut butter and 1/4 cup almond milk microwaved for 30 seconds and stirred up (sounds weird but trust me its delicioussssss). I poured the syrup over the chocolate blob and topped it with some banana chips for crunch and a squirt of whipped cream...since it was resembling cake anyway. why not? 

OMG seriously.....it was amazing. It just tasted like mushy delicious fantastic chocolate peanut butter cake. It was that good. Plus, the apartment smelled like a bakery. Since I'm always extra hungry in the morning I also had some egg whites with salsa :)

I notice when I eat a bigger breakfast with carbs and protein and healthy fats I have SOO much more energy not just in the morning but all throughout the day. I also notice I'm way less hungry throughout the day and don't crave sugar. 

It's hard to believe that a few years ago I used to just eat a bowl of cereal with some almond milk and maybe some strawberries and banana on top-that's IT!! Nothing but carbs and NO protein. I was usually starving about an hour (sometimes even sooner) after. Usually, I'd just have another bowl of cereal. Then I craved sugar and carbs throughout the day and would pick at JUNK. People are usually surprised at how much I eat for breakfast but since I've started having "bigger" (really, just more BALANCED) morning meals I've noticed such a positive difference in my hunger, energy and mood. 

Plus, today I worked out first thing in the morning on nothing but coffee, which usually leaves me STARVED.

Now I feel perfectly fueled and ready for another busy day of chores, work and class...won't be home until bedtime :(

I Did It!!!!!

All the gorgeous women 

Victory is MINE :)

I did it-I won my very first fitness competition! First place, baby!!!! The moment was SURREAL! I worked SO hard and truly gave it my all. For all that dedication to pay off just brought me to tears-- literally, on stage. When they handed me that trophy I just started balling! ( happiest tears ever!)

One of the best moments was hearing my sister scream the whole time!!! She was sooo loud I could hear that mouth of hers the whole time I was on stage. I loved it because hearing her voice was so comforting and gave me such a confidence boost. When my name was called for first she screamed out, "THIS IS HER FIRST SHOW!" Because, after all, doesn't that make anything that much more satisfying? To go into something brand new- for the very first time- and kill it!!!! Let me tell you, it's an incredible feeling. When my sister competes for her first time ( which I hope she will because she's a beautiful crazy lil fit chick herself) I owe her MANY, MANY screams.

My sister--BEST cheerleader EVER

I am SO blessed to have such an amazing support system. My crowd of cheerleaders included Dan, my sister, my parents, my friends Jackie and Gianna and of course, Greg, aka the best trainer in the universe, hands down. Greg was supportive of me from day one. He didn't just meet me once or twice a week to train and then send me off on my own. He motivated me every single day, even sending me motivational tweets! From the start he believed in me and told me I would do well. He critiqued my walk and gave me a million helpful tips. Along with sculpting my body to what it is now through intense training he also helped me build my confidence up to a place I never thought possible. If you want a sickkkkk trainer who will motivate the hell out of you and help you look and feel your best-Greg Watson at Equinox Fitness Club in Scarsdale NY is your guy.

beautiful & supportive friends <3

I'm off to the gym to get in a good workout before a long day of cleaning, cooking, errands and school!

world's best trainer!

Coffee vs Energy Drinks

First off, I am a caffeine queen. I LOVE it. Caffeine is definitely my biggest vice. As addicted as I am, I have cut down quite a bit. In high school my caffeine consumption was as such: 
Large or extra large dunkin donuts iced coffee in the morning on the way to school
2-3 diet cokes before lunch
1-2 diet cokes and or coffee after lunch
Red bull before going out and red bull and vodka when out

In college, it increased a little:
A sugar free red bull or other energy drink on the way to class, or sometimes on the way to dunkin....
Coffee before or after class (extra large dunkin) or both
Several ( or way more) cans of diet coke throughout the morning/ early afternoon
Another energy drink and coffee before and again during work
Medium or large coffee or 2 during night classes
More coffee after class if I went out with friends

In college I was a commuter and the money on my meal card was NEVER used because I always packed my own food. So to utilize the money ( I never let it go to waste) I stocked up on fuel for my awful caffeine habit. I bought a ton of 12 pack cases of diet soda cans. Sometime I just carried the case with me from class to class and popped them open throughout the day. I always had a case or two in the trunk of my car for emergencies. 

Finally, around my college graduation I realized how bad this habit was. I relied on my blood pressure to tell me if the caffeine was getting out of hand; if it went up I'd cut out some caffeine. Because I was such an avid runner ( a serious distance runner at that time) and gym rat my blood pressure stayed consistently around 110-20 over 60-70. Finally I realized that I was lying to myself-- the caffeine intake was really extreme and something had to be done. 

I'm really good at quitting things cold turkey ( it's how I stopped smoking, cut out fake sweetener, dairy, etc). I had already cut out the splenda, which led to way less coffee because I wasn't used to the bitter taste yet, but I was supplementing coffees with diet cokes- even worse.  So out went ALL the soda!! At first my headaches were outrageous and I was really cranky. I realized I slowly started adding in more energy drinks. 

Finally I found a balance which has led me to where i am now in terms of caffeine:
Big cup of iced coffee or 2 smaller cups of hot coffee after breakfast ( apparently it's not good for your metabolism to drink something caffeinated with a meal)
A sugar free or calorie free energy drink before a workout ( sometimes an iced coffee instead)

Usually I have my coffee with a teenie splash of non dairy milk, but now I just drink it black. Flavored coffee is actually, dare I say...better black. The flavor overrides the usual bitterness. 

Thanks to training for this competition, though, I've nixed the energy drinks. I'm eating so clean that I figured I'd nix the artificial stuff for now. So pre workout is just a big iced coffee. At first I was annoyed because I felt like the coffee just didn't deliver like the energy drinks did. I never ever got jittery from them I just got some energy. I'm very ADHD so my body responds pretty well to caffeine, it focuses me and never makes me jittery. After a week of only coffee, even though I'm taking in LESS caffeine,  i feel way better and more energetic! Plus, I never get that bloated or crampy feeling in my stomach that I sometimes get from energy drinks. 

This is not to say I'm mixing energy drinks forever (weird as it is, sometimes I crave a Monster Zero, I actually LOVE the flavor) but they're definitely out of my daily routine for good. I'm going to stick to the twice a day black coffee thing. I think my body responds way better to it. Maybe once a week before a Saturday morning workout I'll cave and go for a Monster Zero. But for now, coffee it is! 

Food FIT for FALL

  The other night before dinner I was feeling a little bored but had the urge to cook something. I'm still eating the same thing every day for one more week so I decided to make something for Dan. He's trying to eat as healthy as possible but sometimes it's hard because his schedule is so crazy. So I figured I would make him some healthy granola. It's good because he can add it to his cereal in the morning for lasting energy PLUS it's totally portable so he can bring it to work without worrying about refrigerating or reheating.

So to make sure it'd be healthy it had to have a balance of:
fiber
protein
carbs
healthy fats
antioxidants


Granola can be LOADED with fat and sugar...which is usually what makes it so delicious :(

So instead of oil I used egg whites, which also adds in some extra protein. For sweetness I combined a tablespoon of pure maple syrup with a tablespoon of farm fresh honey and added a little water for a less thick consistency. To make sure it was still packed with flavor I added a TON of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice to the dry oats.

This granola is yummy, good for you and fuels your body without added fats or sugar! Plus it tastes like FALL. Perfect for transitioning into the new season!

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 cups oats (I used quick cook)
• 1 T pure maple syrup
• 1 T honey
• 2 heaping T water (more if you need)
• 1 heaping tsp cinnamon
• 1 heaping tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 3 T egg whites
• 3/4 cup walnuts
• 3/4 cup macadamia nuts
• 3/4 cup freeze dried blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine oats, spices, nuts and berries in one bowl and mix. In a separate bowl combine all wet ingredients, mix well. Pour wet ingredients over oat mixture and stir until well combined. Spread mixture out onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet (if you like your oatmeal on the sweeter side, drizzle it with some more maple syrup now). Bake for 20 minutes, stirring it up at the 10 minute point.

before baking 

combining wet & dry

Let sit at room temperature so it becomes nice and crispy!

packed & ready to go!

Every season has it's own selection of food unique to its time of year. Fall happens to have some of the best my favorites:

Apples

Pumpkins

Butternut Squash

Sweet Potatos

Cranberries

Grapes

Walnuts

candy corn 

I can't help it!! There's absolutely nothing healthy about it and usually it's everyone's least favorite candy but for whatever reason I just LOVE candy corn. I love every single flavor and even those waxy little candy corn pumpkins! In the fall I usually always have candy corn on me...hiding in my purse or car or somewhere. A few little triangles here and there are NOT going to kill me. ;)

Back At It!!

My first week of class is officially over!

I loved it!

My classes seem great so far, and I couldn't be happier to be a part of the counseling program!! I can tell that I'm going to learn a lot this semester, and though it will be a lot of work I'm going to enjoy it.

The days I have class are pretty busy, though. Tuesday I woke up at 5am to get to the gym by around 5:20. I got dressed, grabbed my iced coffee from the fridge (it makes life soo much easier when you set the little things up the night before), grabbed my workout journal and off I went.

not too bad for a before-coffee shot

pure joy in a cup

training log

I love working out at the crack of dawn for several reasons-first, Dan is there! He's up waaay before 5am, with a TON of energy--so much energy that he does his own workout at home before the gym even opens. I can bang out  an early workout, but that's pushing it. I also love it because I love the feeling of looking at the clock at 7am and feeling SO accomplished! Gym, shower, hair, makeup, all out of the way before the day even starts! Plus, the gym is nice and calm and quiet at that hour and most of the people who are there are in the group fitness classes...meaning I get all the equipment all to myself! Can't beat that!

After the gym I ate my boring teenie little breakfast and ran off to catch the 8:02 train. I got into the city at around 8:30 and had a couple errands to do before my first class. It was a pain in the butt carrying a giant cooler and gallon jug of water around all day from class to class though. Oh well, only one more week of that! I got home at 8:30pm and was so happy to just snuggle with Dan, take a melatonin and relax for the evening!

Wednesdays are much easier, since I don't have class until 5pm. I did some chores around the house, stopped at Trader Joe's for the usuals and hit the gym for a training session all before class.

much cuter when gymmin it at noon instead of 5am...

It's a busy two days in a row! Its nice to have a semi-long weekend to unwind, go through the readings and then get back into it the following week. The days I'm not in class I do work at the gym for the day so I don't totally have a full day off until the weekend. But my two minute commute from home to work at the gym definitely feels like a break when compared to driving or training into the city!!

<3
Lindsay

Food in Class?

Ever since high school, I've always needed something with me to eat or drink during a class. Maybe it's the comfort or distraction of having something to nosh on? I also HATE eating while driving- I'm horrible at it. Plus, I really like to savor and enjoy every bite when I eat so inhaling something while the majority of my focus is on the road just does not appeal to me.

The problem with my eating in class habit is what I eat. When people eat in class (trust me when I say I ALWAYS observe people when they eat-- what are they eating?, how are they eating it?, why didn't they finish that?, do they realize how bad that is for them?, ooo that looks dang good....etc) I notice they typically eat snacky, not so healthy things that usually come out of a bag that has been sitting in a vending machine. I'm not a vending machine girl. Never have been. Since I was little my mom ALWAYS packed me not just a lunch but snacks and drinks as well-- she never gave me lunch money so vending machines were never an option. When I had my own money, and they were an option I just didn't want them, I preferred packing my own food.  So my class snacks are a bit divergent from vending machine fare.  I'll never forget one time in undergrad I brought dinner to a night class, it was a container of lentil soup that I wrapped in a huge ball of tin foil to keep warm, and ate with a silver spoon I brought from home. When I unwrapped it the smell of the soup permeated the whole classroom and I heard a girl sitting near me whisper to her friend, "omg..that b*tch is seriously eating lentil soup right now".  Sorry, but that soup fueled me for class a lot better than a  seventy-five cent bag of Fritos would have!!

I guess the things I bring to class may seem a bit odd, or stinky, to others. You'll usually catch me munching on containers of steamed veggies, veggie burgers, chicken breast and salad, scrambled egg whites cooked the night before, variations of fruit and last semester I even ate spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and turkey meatballs in class (that one got some looks).

a typical b-fast..eggs, veg, paprika..box it up & take it along!

Another reason I eat in class so often is because I time my meals. I like to eat 5 or 6  times a day- at least-and I make sure never to go more than 3 hours without eating. So if that time falls in the middle of class, sorry but I'm not going to keep my body waiting and risk slowing my metabolism, I'm going to open my stinky container of broccoli and chicken and whip out a fork and napkin and nosh while I note take. The stares don't bother me, I stare at you when you eat too. A lot of people usually end up asking me about it, too.

" That looks good! What is that?"
"That looks weird...um, what is that?"
"I notice you eat a lot! I heard that's really healthy, how do you remember to eat? I always forget when I'm busy"
"wow, did you make that?"
"how do you eat that cold?! Does is still even taste good?"

To that last one, no, it's never as good cold!! But it is still yummy, just not as yummy. Usually, I find a microwave somewhere....sneaking into teacher lounges.

This week and next week at school I'm going a little overboard though, and even I feel a little ridiculous. My meals are so structured this close to show time and Tuesday I'm in school all day long so every meal from my second to my last have to come with me in a big giant cooler. So Tuesday's I'm a total bag lady with my bag of books on one shoulder and giant orange cooler on the other- oh yeah, it's bright orange.

Last night in class our teacher told us we could not eat. This is the first time I've ever experienced this rule enforced. The class goes from 5 pm to 7:35 pm -- hello, dinner time!? Before 5 is too early for me and I don't get home until a little after 8 which is too late.  So I'll be bringing my dinner anyway and sneaking out into the hallway for a few minutes to quickly go enjoy my pre packed dinner.  Hey, you do what you gotta do, right?