Monthly Archives: September 2013

Breaking into Pinterest

Hello! This summer saw the growth of my blog in that I branched out to social media, like Twitter and Instagram. (Psst, follow me! fitnessissweet and @fitnessissweet.) Now, I think it’s time to tackle Pinterest. I made an account a looong time ago, but never figured out the whole thing. Well, now that I actually have some recipes that would be Pinterest acceptable, I think I need to get that whole thing going. Plus, with the holidays coming up, Pinterest just has too many amazing and cute ideas to NOT utilize. To kick off this new endeavor, I’m going to do a round-up of pinnable posts and pictures, similar to Lindsay’s roundup. Once I get my own Pinterest up and running, these will be the first things I’ll have up! Feel free to pin them yourself!

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Banana Chocolate Chip Custard

This microwave friendly recipe is the perfect use of any brown bananas. It’s simple ingredients are staples anyone would have on hand, and it’s low sugar content means it is something that can be enjoyed any time.

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Grilled Peach and Chicken Salad

This is my favorite salad recipe, and it absolutely screams summer. The warm, juicy peaches and the tender chicken melt the creamy goat cheese, for the perfect texture combination. This recipe would also be a good use of those not quite ripe peaches that you get off season, because the grilling brings out their flavor.

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Baby Pumpkin Pie

Want to embrace fall with open arms, but don’t want to turn on the oven? Try this pumpkin pie recipe-it’s crustless and made entirely in the microwave. A just touch of brown sugar adds some carmel-y flavor, but won’t weigh you down. This treat gets its sweetness from a hidden source-banana! Full of warm spices, this baby pie will have you dreaming of fall leaves in no time.

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Tips for a Healthier Vacation

Going on vacation but afraid of losing your fitness? See these tips for what I did to make my vacation healthy.

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Tabata WOD

A kick butt workout that will leave you sore, but only takes 12 minutes? SIgn me up! This Crossfit workout is only 4 minutes for each exercise, but works the whole body.

Do you use Pinterest? WHat are your favorite things to pin?

WIAW-Last Wednesday at Home

Aaaand here we are already at Wednesday! I swear this week is flying by. This could have something to do with the fact that it’s the last week before school starts. And I’ve managed to save any and all errands until now. Other problem-I ordered a bunch of things online recently that probably won’t get here until school starts. Whoops.

BUT before life get’s crazy again, let’s celebrate the party that Jenn hosts every week!

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Monday for lunch I made a “throw everything in a bowl” kind of salad. The flavors worked pretty well, but not sure I would do it again.

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It’s basically a Greek salad-except I used Thai Coconut Curry hummus, which was just a little too strange for this mix. I had the idea that it would make really awesome fried rice though!

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While at the grocery store the other day, I passed by the pastry counter (because who doesn’t?) and saw this guy. My mom and I decided I should have one last celebration before I go back, so this was it! Since I’m starting a Mini Whole30 (just 7 days) on Friday, this was the right time. Carrot cake it was!

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Ok, I know I keep going on about how everything I own is the same color so I’m ALWAYS matching, but I just had to document the evidence YET AGAIN.

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I wore this to Spin the other night. Some exciting news-I talked to my Spin teacher after class the other night about becoming a Spin teacher. She directed me to the certification she used, as well as recommended some gyms to interview at. I’m excited about this-now that I’ve talked to her, I’m really gonna do it and get certified. My goal is to be certified (and hopefully teaching!) by the end of the year, although I’m going to wait until after my half marathon in October. 

Guess what Monday was?

NATIONAL GUACAMOLE DAY! You better believe I was all over that. 

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The best part? I planned this meal before even realizing that it was that particular National holiday. #guacaddict

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I celebrated in the form of a taco salad. I love this particular salad-the dressing is simply a mix of salt, pepper, olive oil, lime, and tomatoes. The meat on top (turkey) gives it plenty of flavor. I also subbed in chopped celery for the beans the recipe called for.

Tuesday morning I was up bright and early for a treadmill run. Which I really should never do; treadmill+early+tired=lazy run. I only made it 3 of the 4 miles slowly before giving up. I think I’ll add in some hill sprints tomorrow (which I’ve been meaning to do) to make up for it. 

After my run, I was pretty tired during yoga, so I grabbed a cappuccino from Peet’s, who makes one of my favorite cappuccinos.

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Check out the milk foam on that baby! The sad part? I haven’t had coffee much at all this summer, plus I’m sensitive as it is, so I couldn’t drink much of this before feeling like it would be too much. I hate wasting good coffee!

I then headed to Whole Foods to stock up for the school year, as well as prepare for my baby Whole30. I decided soup will be a staple for me this fall-although I could only find 2 soups (yes, in all of the store) that were totally Whole30 friendly.

After drooling over the scones in the pastry case, I compromised and got some of their delicious vanilla granola over fruit, along with chinese chicken salad and a vegan taquito for lunch. 

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After lunch I went to buy a water belt for running. Has anyone else thought that running belts are basically glorified fanny packs? Haha. I’m not thrilled with the one I got, since it holds just a large water bottle-I’m worried it will be too heavy. The ones with smaller bottles kind of interfered with my arms though…

I also saw this mug at Marshall’s and had to have it!

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I also stopped at a craft store for some fall decorations for my dorm…and was met with an onslaught of Christmas. Really?? It’s September! But I’m not going to complain about all the fall stuff being 50% off!

Speaking of fall, try this recipe for microwave friendly Baby Pumpkin Pie! I just posted it yesterday!Image

And here’s an afternoon snack.

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Ok, I’m going to get some outrage for what I’m about to say, but I’m officially done with Quest bars. For a while, I couldn’t decide if I really liked them or really disliked them-probably because the flavors are good but I just don’t like the taste of stevia. But they have kind of a lot of nuts, so my face breaks out. And they mess up my stomach. I had a piece of one today and my stomach immediately cramped up. It might be because of the sugar alternatives (like sugar alcohols)? Obviously everyone is different,t and most people love them, which is great but they just don’t work for me!

Aaand back to what I actually ate. A REAL Greek salad (as in, no weird hummus, just red pepper).

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And a dessert of figs and a granola bar. I love that these bars now come in non-peanut butter, because then I don’t have to worry about my skin. Did I ever mention what happened in Hawaii when I ate a ton of Macadamia nuts? Yikes-I got weird lumps all over the back of my legs. Image

That’s all I have on the food front for you guys today, but I have to share with you what I worded on today. I have the Nike Women’s half coming up in October, so I wanted a special shirt to wear for the occasion. I made a Fitness is Sweet tank earlier this summer, but it’s just going to be too cold for that.Image

Since avocados are kind of the theme of my blog, I wanted to do something similar, but maybe a little more running related. I tried to find pictures of avocados running on the Internet, but luck. Who wouldn’t want to look at pictures of avocados running? I mean, come on! I found some pictures of other vegetables/objects running, so I decided to try my own hand at it. I started by tracing the legs and face.

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I then drew an avocado to fit the arms and face. I decided the eyebrows looked to much like antennae, therefore making my avocado look like a colorful green beetle, so I scrapped those.

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I then spent time designing the perfect shirt, only to find out at checkout that I could only have 2 colors on the shirt. I looked at a few other sites, but I had already fallen in love with the font. SO. After a ton of fooling around, here’s the end product, which I just ordered! It says “fitnessissweet.com” on the back.

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I’m so excited! 

What is your favorite fall produce? Have you ever made a shirt?

I’ve Been Bitten By the Pumpkin Bug (Recipe)

It’s not quite fall OFFICIALLY yet, but that doesn’t mean we have to wait to enjoy all the wonderful foods of fall. Ever since I developed my banana chocolate chip custard recipe, I’ve been brainstorming how I could use that base idea and transform it into a fall treat. And thus, Baby Pumpkin Pie was born!

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One of my favorite pumpkin pie recipes (aka the only recipe I’ve made pumpkin pie from scratch with) is a crustless version. I like it so much, I even had it for my birthday one year because it’s less sugary than cake and I didn’t want that shot of sugar before a big test the next day. It ended up taking longer to bake than expected, so we were all impatient to dig in when it came out. So we hurried to stick the candles in and sing! Since the pie was still so hot, the candles completely melted, leaving spikes and drips of wax throughout the pie. Lesson learned!

This version is similar to that in that it is crustless; however, I guarantee you won’t have to wait long for this, as it can be made in the microwave-my favorite thing! Even better, it’s single serve and very low sugar. Enjoy!

 

Baby Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

1/2 ripe banana

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

2 T egg whites

1/8 t baking powder

a pinch of salt

3/4 t packed brown sugar

1/2 t vanilla

1/2 t pumpkin pie spice

3/4 t cinnamon

 

Directions

1. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the banana half for 30 seconds, and then mash.

2. Mix in all other ingredients.

3. Microwave for 2 minutes 15 seconds, or until cooked through (microwaves will vary).

4. Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

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What is your favorite fall food?

MIMM-Summer’s End

Happy Monday everybody! This is the last Monday before school starts-I start so late! So let’s make it Marvelous! Thanks to Katie for hosting this party.

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Marvelous is…

Moving back into my dorm this week! I actually do think I’m ready for school to start. This has been a very low key summer, which is exactly what I wanted, but I’m getting a little antsy.

Marvelous is…

Jumping onto the pumpkin bandwagon early with a new recipe! Baby pumpkin pie-and it’s microwave friendly! The recipe should be up Monday night.

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Marvelous is…

Fig and goat cheese salads. Can’t. Get. Enough.

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Marvelous is…

Rocking my 10 mile run today. I beat my last 10 mile run time by over 4 minutes!Image

This is my last flat long run for a while since my race is hilly. I’m a little nervous because up until this point all my long runs have been flat. As far as today’s run? It felt pretty good. The shoe insert I carved out helped my foot feel better at least somewhat-it didn’t become an issue until the turnaround point. I’m convinced I would be soo much faster if my foot didn’t kill me every run. I’m getting custom inserts made so hopefully that fixes it. Also-I took a look at the carved inserts after my run, and since they’re foamy, they completely flattened, which is probably why the hole stopped helping. Oh well. Also, I rolled my ankle around mile 2. It wasn’t too bad so I shook it off and kept going. I think ice and compression socks may keep it from being an issue. 

Marvelous is…

Post run lunch. WIth a side of ice bucket (for my foot pain and ankle-killing 2 birds with one very, very cold stone).ImageImage

Lunch was a couple of baby sweet potatoes topped with spinach and an egg with spices. I also had a smoothie-cherry, pineapple, and lots of pineapple coconut water. So refreshing!

Marvelous is…

The fact that no matter what random clothes I pull out of my closet, I always seem to be wearing the same colors.Image

Marvelous is…

Relaxing post run with an adorable kitty. I’m going to miss him so much when I leave! And the poor thing-he has allergies so right now his eyes are pink rimmed, runny, and itchy. 

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Marvelous is…

Soaking up the last bit of summer with one more summery meal. Yes, I realize this contradicts the above statement about pumpkin.

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I made Grilled Peach and Chicken salad, except I used nectarines instead of peaches.

And for dessert-some of the last summer fruit in the form of a fruit bowl. Topped with sunflower seed butter-perfection.

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What is Marvelous in your Monday? Are you excited for fall or sad that summer is ending?

Ready to Run

I can’t believe I’m going to be living in my dorm in a week. Where did the summer go? Since I’m pretty local, I’m going to do kind of a “rolling” move in. I have a ton of stuff in a storage unit, so I’m going to take all that on Thursday, and then move in completely on Saturday. And then wake up Sunday and do the brutal run I have planned for myself. It’ll be my first hilly long run. 

Let’s back up a little bit. Let’s talk food. And workouts. I cleaned up my eating habits a lot since coming home from vacation, and have been hitting it pretty hard on the exercise front. And I can definitely see and feel the difference. It’s incredible what healthy eating can do for you! I’m concerned though that I’ve given myself too much energy as a result because I can’t fall asleep at night! But that could also be jet lag. So here are some eats.

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A salad with spicy avocado hummus, avocado, onion, tomato, and a runny egg. I’m loving the hummus salads right now.

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Caesar salad with grilled chicken. I’m trying to see how many different types of chicken salad I can eat. 

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Sunflower seed butter on toast, plus a white nectarine from what will probably be my last farmer’s market visit in a long time.

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A new fall recipe for you guys! Baby Pumpkin Pie.

Other things:

I’ve still been having the same foot issues when I run longer distances, despite the inserts for my shoes the foot doctor recommended. SInce I haven’t had full feeling in my toe since my race over a month ago, my mom has been insisting I see the foot doctor again. I finally took a look at my inserts and realized they weren’t taking pressure off the right spot, so I made an appointment. I’m getting expensive (booo) custom made inserts that are supposed to solve the problem. Yesterday, I got the mold of my foot taken, and I should get them in about 2 weeks. However, I still have 2-3 long runs before then. I decided to try my hand at carving out a hole in the base of some old inserts to try and relieve some of the pressure. DIY at its finest.

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However, I didn’t get a chance to try them out before tomorrow’s 10 mile run, so I’m really hoping it will help. Hope for a more comfortable run, combined with a few light workout days has me more than ready to tackle this run. I forced myself to take yesterday off of Crossfit because I had gone 4 days straight and on Thursday my legs were donezo. Now, I feel much more rested and have an excess of energy!

Today, I also did a little back to school shopping to avoid the dust storm going on in my house as a result of my parents cleaning everything out. I really want boots so I can wear workout pants all the time and pass it off as acceptable. I didn’t find the ones I was looking for though. Fashion question-do black boots go ok with black leggings?

Naturally, I didn’t exactly stay on task.

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When I get the new laces for my new shoes, these will match PERFECTLY. I admit it, Nike shorts are my weakness. 

Here are some other things I picked out:

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I’m in love with infinity scarves right now. I’ve vowed not to wear regular scarves anymore, because I can never figure out how to wrap them and make them look good. Speaking of which, I started knitting my own infinity scarf! So we’ll see how that turns out!
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I’m sorry this post was all over the place-I had a lot of random things to talk about. 

What’s in your back to school shopping bag? What are you looking forward to most about fall?