All about that green

I’ll confess when everyone got into the green smoothie trend I was skeptical; I mean why would I willingly ingest something that color? After a long humid run in the middle of the summer I was relaxing on my sister deck and she whipped one up and I begrudgingly tried it. I think my life was forever changes that day, it was amazing and though I’m not sure exactly what she put in it, I went out and bought a blender that very day.

I may be wrong but I feel when I ran the Chicago Marathon last fall I felt so good through the end of my training and the race because of all the good nutrients I was now taking in on a daily basis. Over the winter I feel off the green smoothie wagon a bit because when its 3degrees out oatmeal seems like a much better idea!

My go to green smoothie is always some combination of Spinach, Almond Milk, bananas and Strawberries. I sometime by fresh fruit cut it up and freeze it for my smoothies but recently I have found the Wegmans just picked quickly frozen mixed fruit.... It is a combination of peach, mango, strawberry and pineapple and sooo yummy in my smoothies. I’ve also started to branch out and include Kale and my day just seems right after I ingest this green goodness

Since My New Year’s Resolution to become more fit I’ve been weight training 2-3 times a week. My goal is to tone up and increase my muscle mass I’ve been including more protein in my diet. I’ve never been a big protein person but I haven’t met a sugary carb I would pass up ( I’m looking at you Marshmallow peeps) So once I detoxed from my sugar rush I started trying protein powders for shakes.

In the past I’ve bought store brand protein powders because they are cheaper, or tried free samples given out at race expos and have always thought protein power had to taste gross. I’m not a fan of watery, chalky powder and that’s seems like all I found and all I believe there was. Into my life comes Quest Protein Powder, now I have been a huge fan of quest bars and usually have one in my purse for an emergency snack so I was curious about the powder. This stuff is life changing

I first tried the vanilla milkshake flavor and I really thought I was drinking one, it is on the think side (just like a milkshake) even when made with just water but that’s what I loved about it. Good bye watery shakes (Quest is a Protein Blend of Whey Protein Isolate, Casein. The Casein is responsible for the thicker texture and has a slower release then the Whey which gives a constant flow of amino acids that could last for a few hours). 

Then I got the idea to add the Vanilla to my Green smoothie and these two complement each other so well they should just up and get married. I now have a delish smoothie that really taste so much like a treat I think I am cheating on my clean eating!

Quest also makes unflavored protein for baking; I will definitely have to try that next

How do you feel about Green Smoothies?

Thick or thin protein shakes better?

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What I Ate Wednesday

Hi folks.  Jumping on the What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW) bandwagon, I figured I would share with you my new love for cooking clean and meal prepping. Truth be told most of my week day meals will look the same as Wednesday, due to working and getting in my training runs I meal prep on Sunday and put all my meals and snack in containers so I can just grab one during the week.

Wednesday is an early gym day for me; Alarm Clock goes off at 4:45. Get up and get ready. All my food for the day goes on my Lunch ( Lulu) bag. Take the dog out and mix up my Spark for my work out and head out the door for the gym

I take my 60 min Body pump class and shower at the gym. While I am getting ready I mix up and drink a protein shake to hold me over and feed my muscles. Once I get to work I heat up my egg muffins

I love the egg muffins so easy and tasty. These are my current favorite made with Egg Whites, Almond Milk, Turkey Sausage, Baby Spinach and Grape tomatoes. Mix everything up and pour into a muffin tin and presto a healthy breakfast for a few days. Some days I will have some fruit mid morning but today I got busy and time got away from me

Around 12:30 my stomach starts to tell me it’s time for lunch. I am really looking forward to my Crockpot Thai Chicken; I promise you it is tasty even if it looks like dog food! This is a clean recipe and so no guilt about eating it. Today I served it with Rice Noodles and Brussels sprouts, but can be put with any sides you enjoy. I am totally on a rice noodle kick right now, I love that my local whole food has a prepared foods bar where I can choice Rice noodles are my carbs

Later in the afternoon around 3:30ish its Spark time again! If you notice coffee isn’t a big part of my day, I have almost entirely replaced it with my yummy Advocare Spark. It’s a Vitamin & Amino Acid Supplement that is sugar free and gives you the energy and caffeine of coffee but without a crash later on

At 4:00 it is time for my afternoon snack of Greek yogurt and this really hits the spot today. I can be hit or miss with yogurt but I have been really craving it lately and it tides me over for my commute home from work.

 Once I arrive home, I take the dog for a long walk. He’s been cooped up all day and needs to get some energy out and who would want to walk for this view every night?

It’s been a long day and I’m really craving a big salad... I had Hummus Chicken prepared for dinner so I cute it up and put it on a huge salad consisting of baby spinach, carrots and avocado. For dressing I just mixed together some Balsamic Vinegar, olive oil and a little oregano and it really hit the spot. 

A confession is I love huge salads so much I went out to Crate and Barrel to by their 7” bistro bowls because the bowls I had at home could not accommodate my love of salads and these are perfect. #truelove

After a few Netflix episode of scandal it’s off to bed. 

Do you meal prep? 

What is your confessional love affair food item?

What are you currently watching on Netflix?

Boston's Run to Remember

Somehow Memorial Day weekend has snuck up on me and it was time to run the Run to Remember. I was alittle nervous going into it because I hadn't been running as much recently, I've been really into taking classes at the gym and between Body Pump, Yoga, and Spinning a few times a week I just haven't found the time. I've been really looking forward to this race and everyone said what a good time it is so I was still excited.

It's an early morning I set my alarm and was out the door by 5:30 am but first my pre-race necessities of Spark, O2 Gold, and Arginine Extreme

Gu is my fuel belt and Rehydrate in my water bottle and I was good to go! Not pictures is my Peanut Ptrotein smoothie with a banana and the apple sauce I ate en route to the race.

I ran with two of my friends and we park at one of their office buildings and walked ~1 mile to the start line. Of course I now though I had to go to the bathroom, they got in the line for the men's room and I went to the line for the women's room and said we would met back in the middle. Of course the women's line was extremely long and not moving, it was now 10 minutes to start time and I was afraid I would miss it. Then a volunteer said there were 100 port-a-potties outside with no lines, I go outside and of course there are lines but it moved quickly. I texted me friends to say I may not make it back to meet them and we may just have to see each other after the race. 

There were so many people and at this point I was stuck in the back which is not where I want to be

So I started moving through the crowd and trying to find my friends, but first I found the Nesquick bunny

Just when I was going to give up I spotted my friends and made it to them about 30 seconds before the start. The first mile or so was really crowded and you had to be careful, the streets of Boston took a beating this winter and there was a lot of potholes. 

This race benefits fallen members of the Boston Police Department so the police support on the course was great. I was running behind a man that had a shirt with the Boston Marathon logo and it and on the back it said " Thank you BPD for saving my life" the running community and the BPD will always have a special bond.

At about Mile 3.5  we crossed over the Mass Ave bridge and ran along the Charles River in Cambridge,  after about a mile we did a U turn and ran the other way 

The view of Boston was so beautiful. Around mile 5 there was police care from surrounding towns lined up with their lights flashing and officers cheering for the runners it was pretty great

( I didn't think to take a picture when I was running on the same side so I had to take one on the loop back)

Miles 6-8 we a struggle at one point we ran over a bridge with a grate like surface and the really aggravated my calf injury but I knew I was more than half way there so I just pushed on

I've never been so happy to cross back over the bridge into Boston because I knew I only had 3 miles left. ( I measure all run in how many laps around the lake it would be- I run around the lake in my home town and it's 3 mile so that distance is like second nature to me) the last 3 miles took us by the Boston Commons, Financial District and back to the Seaport for the finish. There was a small hill going back into the Seaport and it felt like heart break hill at this point, my calf was really hurting me and I just wanted to be done. I really pushed through to the finish and was shocked when I looked at my Garmin afterwards and my pace was 5:48 for that last push. Which kind of disappoints me because I feel I could have pushed harder if I had that pace left in my tank for the finish.

Sweaty selfie but done and Medal received, this medal was really cool it's a replica BPD badge

Not my best race but love the course and the support. My next races are a 5K and the a 10K so hopefully will get my running mojo back for them. Now off to foam roll and get ready for the week.

How did you spend your long weekend? 

How did you get your running mojo back after some bad races? 

Body Pump still has it going on

That quote couldn’t be anymore true! About three months ago I rekindled my love for Body Pump and have never made a better fitness decision. For those of you who have not heard of this amazing class here is the Wikipedia description;

Body Pump classes are 60 minutes long and contain eight separate muscle-group specific songs or "tracks" along with an opening warm up track and closing cool-down track. 

The classes are performed to music using free weights-plates, barbells and an aerobic step. Participants choose their weights based on the exercise and their personal goals. Major muscle groups are worked via series of compound and isolation-based exercises including squats, presses, dead lifts. The focus is towards muscle endurance using several repetitions. 

A normal class consists of 10 tracks each lasting between 4 and 6 minutes. 

Let me tell you this class is AMAZING. Quick history of me, after a really bad breakup a friend brought me to my first body pump class a few years ago to take my mind off my heartbreak. Boy did it work, this class was my new loved and I made sure I went 3 times a week well then life happens, you meet a new boy, get a new job, life changes, different things demand you time ( enter any other excuse here) and I stopped going. A year or two after I stopped going the gym closed so I couldn’t go back if I wanted to. Fast forward to January, my current gym offers Body pump but it was almost impossible to make it at the times offered after work and I couldn’t drag myself out of bed if I wanted to at 5 am for the morning class. Well when I signed on as an Advocare Distributor I also signed on with a great team and my Sponsor was a body pump instructor, her amazing arms alone were enough to make me want to hit up class again

Now 4 months later I am soooo glad I did this, I can already see the changes and my muscle tone. I am also proud to say when the alarm goes off at 4:45 on body pump days I jump out of bed, get dressed and mix up my Spark and get my bootie to class! I am finally a morning exerciser and I now bring my best friend with me to class! Win-win. It is going to be tank top weather pretty soon and who doesn’t want tones shoulders and arms.... yes I am that person who takes shoulder/ back pictures just to see progress

Another exciting plus is all those squats and lunges will strengthen my legs for my marathon training... score

How many of you have tried Body Pump? Love it, Hate it, have no opinion either way?

A Race A Month

I officially have a number for the Marine Corps Marathon this October ( eeeek!) now time to concentrate on my training. This will be full marathon #5 and my second Marine Corps Marathon and hopefully a PR. Now that I have Advocare in my life and clean eating if I focus a little more on training this could be great. 

This has lead me to decided that a race every month until October will be a great idea. Luckily I had races planned in March and April already. 

March was a race for St Patricks day, after a long cold winter it was the first race outside and there was snow on the ground.

I ran with my friend and it was her first race and I just enjoyed being out there.

Last weekend was my first half of the year. A trail run through a park in NH and the first 70 degree day in New England. It was a great race and I felt a little of during the run but still my favorite route

Next Race isn't til the end of May but will be another half and I can't wait! Now to enjoy watching the Boston Marathon activities this weekend and wishing I ran it again

Not everyday you get to drive through the finish line!

What fitness/ running goals do others have?

24 Day Challenge Results

It's actually almost time for my second 24 day challenge and here I am writing about my first one.

I did my fist Challenge in January and that's where I fell in love with Advocare and their products, for those of youthat done know the 24 day Challenge consists of a 10 day gentle cleanse and a 14day max phase. The cleanse was gret for me and it completely recommitted me to clean eating

The fist photo is the day I started the challenge and the second picture is day 24. So obviously I was completely happy with my results. I will start my next 24 day challenge on Monday and will be better at documenting that. 

That's it for now...