obsessed much?

heyo!  so, it is almost midnight  and that means this one is going to be a quickie!

thanks for all your props on my thanksgiving feast creations!  i still have visions of sugar plum fairies sweet potato galette dancing around in my head!  thursday will be a lot more mellow when it comes to dinner~and probably a lot more traditional.  but i do want to make some whole wheat rolls and was wondering if anyone has a good recipe? eh? eh?

oh yeah, i am trying to be speedy.  that’s right. here goes!

meal 1: mighty maple protein oatmeal+oat bran

 

i found some bob’s red mill oat bran in my work kitchen today and so i decided to go halfsies with the rolled oats and oat bran.  i love the volume and texture oat bran creates!

meal 2: pesto + ww linguine + ground turkey + mushsrooms + steamfresh veggies

so this pasta was leftover from saturday.. i toss in about 1/3 bag of steamfresh mixed veggies to up the serving size.

p.s. i am addicted to houndstooth, as you can see with the bowl my pasta was in.

no.. not that kind of houndstooth!  although randy the basset hound has some nice tooth(s) ;)

i mean the kind that is on my mouse pad.

 

and multiple notebooks.

  

and my postits & postit holder.

and my recipe box.

you get the idea.

my boss offered me his season tickets to tonight’s jazz game so i checked with marshall and we decided to go.  marshall’s grandpa’s birthday is tomorrow so it actually worked out perfect.

that mean it had to race home from work so i could still sneak in a workout.  it was lower body strength training today but since i was short on time i swapped my weight workout for some HIIT on the treadmill!

• incline=0
• 1 min 5.0
• 1 min 5.5
• 1 min 6.0
• 1 min 6.5
• 1 min 7.0
• 1 min 7.5
• incline=0.5
• 1 min 6.0
• 1 min 6.5
• 1 min 7.0
• 1 min 7.5
• incline=1.0
• 1 min 6.0
• 1 min 6.5
• 1 min 7.0
• 1 min 7.5
• incline=1.5
• 1 min 6.0
• 1 min 6.5
• 1 min 7.0
• 1 min 7.5
• 1 min 9.0
• incline=0
• 1 min 3.0

the end. hot mess.

went home, showered my mess of a self off and hurried and got ready!

i was out the door but not before whipping up something to eat..

meal 3: turkey & LCL sandwich on nature’s pride whole wheat with yellow mustard

all wrapped up for the road!  i took a pear with me and i also made marshall a sandwich~i was picking him up and knew he was hungry.

the game was fun! my boss has pretty great season ticket seats.

it was really random, i looked to my left and spotted my 3 friends!  if you can see a girl in a red beanie then you win. instead of “where’s waldo?” it is “where’s amber?”  and if you do spot her.. tell her she is crazy for not liking pumpkin pie and whipped cream ;)

i promise i am not stoned and that is marshall, his grandpa and his dad!

side note: the dude sitting next to me ate a whole thing of nachoes, a pretzel with nacho cheese, a tub of popcorn AND a slice of pizza. and soda. i am not one to judge but that was a little ridiculous if you ask me.  not to mention it probably cost him over $50 for it all!

after the game i was super hungry..came home and had part of this, the other part marshall stole..

peach chobani!

  

my favorite!!

my room is SO cold so i decided it was time to bust out the flannel sheets!  what do you know..

they are houndstooth!

i decided to take a few more photos around my room and bathroom of other random houndstooth stuff i have…

clearly i have a problem. i didn’t even bother photographing the houndstooth shoes.. flats, heels, wedges..sigh.

i am going to bed now.

before i go.. did you know that if a costco employee cuts his/her thumb off in the meat chopping department, they get $5 million.. and also get fired? interesting, no?

my roomie, marshall and i got into a deep discussion about how much each finger would be worth losing. their pinkies are worth $50,000 but i told them i would need half a million to part with a pinkie.

Qs~

1. are you obsessed with anything? houndstooth for me. if it is houndstooth and i see it, you can bet i will buy it. even if i don’t need it! when i broke my arm, my sister made me a houndstooth sling!!

2. how much money would you need to chop off and sell your pinkie? or is it pinky?

one more work day for me!

xo. janetha b.

an early thanksgiving feast.

it is 5:43 PM monday night.  guess what? i am still full. i don’t know how that is humanly possible, but i am.  the only things that have entered my mouth today (TWSS) are a few bites of an egg scramble, 1 slice of whole wheat toast and an apple. oh, and some wasabi peas.  i am still so, so full from yesterday’s feast!!

how about i take it from the top?  the top of sunday, that is. sure, ok.

sunday morning i woke up bright and early at 8 AM and then went back to bed until 11.  after some house cleaning and coffee drinking, marshall and i decided to go to einsteins.. after all, it was my free day (which, on body for life, is a day off from exercise & by-the-book clean eating).

i got an asiago bagel, toasted, with sun dried tomato cream cheese..

is it just me or do you guys always find that eintsteins puts WAY too much cream cheese on their bagels? i usually ask for just a skiff but i forgot this time. i ended up scraping it all off into a pile on the side…

anyway, snowboarding did not happen yesterday because, well, the lack of snow is making me think the gasolina it takes to drive to the resort is just not worth it. side note: it finally DID snow so i will be going up thursday, friday, saturday, sunday.. :D

so i think i mentioned it, yesterday my family celebrated thanksgiving because it was the only time we could ALL be together (minus my sister & her fam in cali).. so we celebrated the holiday early and my mom, dad, grandma, marshall & i will be celebrating it AGAIN on thursday.. just not quite as extravagant as yesterday was.

i got to mi madre’s around 2:30 and started cooking up a storm!!

aren’t we so adorable in our aprons??

the next 3 hours were basically non stop cooking. i, of course, was in heaven.  my mom and sister and sister in law all helped and it was so much fun!!

momma b stayed hydrated with a mason jar of grape juice as we cooked

on the menu?

*i have linked to the recipes if they were available online!*

shredded roasted brussels sprouts with toasted almonds & parmesan

sorry about the smear. i must have had a smudge on my lens!

these were good, but not as great as i had hoped they would be. i even quadrupled (yes, you read that right) the amount of balsamic.. still, not the greatest. BUT, yummy still.

deviled eggs

for my deviled eggs i simply mix the yolks with a little bit of each: mayo, mustard, salt & pepper. sprinkle with paprika. my mom got me that cute orange deviled egg pan when she was on a trip somewhere! i think new mexico?

pear & gorgonzola green salad with homemade pear vinaigrette

this salad was SUCH a winner! one that i will make again and again.  my sister in law lindsay did a fantastic job at whipping up the vinaigrette.  the only thing i left out of the salad was the hazelnuts, i didn’t have any on hand.

i loved this recipe and i found it by googling “green salad with pear”~turns out the website the recipe is on has a ton of delicious looking recipes. can’t wait to try some out!

savory mushroom bread pudding

pre-baked:

 

post-baked:

ever since seeing angharad make this on her blog i have been wanting to whip it up!  umm. yum. it was a hit! the only problem was it made quite a bit, and since we had SO many dishes.. i wish i had halved the recipe.  also, it was baking at my sister’s house and so i wasn’t there to keep an eye on it. the top got a tad toasty but it was still fantastic once i dug below the charred layer ;)

sweet potato parmesan & goat cheese galette

 

pre-baked~

post-baked~ 

i can’t decide if my favorite dish was this one or the salad.  it was incredible! everyone else loved it too.  it was very simple to make, it was just thiin layers of sweet potatoes layered with parmesan and goat cheese.  the flavors all combined fabulously.  definitely one for the books.

cauliflower & broccoli with a gruyere, emmental & swiss cheese sauce

this was simple yet sophisticated.  originally, i was going to make a broccoli & gruyere gratin that i saw in real simple magazine, but we were short on time and oven space so we ended up just steaming the veggies and melting the cheeses over top.  easy and elegant!

caramelized onions with thyme

i pulled this recipe from real simple magazine.  in addition to the onions & thyme, the recipe called for white wine, white wine vinegar and salt & pepper.  it was really good on top of the turkey!

cranberry apple sauce

look at that color!  this was another recipe from real simple magazine.  and it was just that: real simple.  my mom was in charge of this one and she did a great job.  it was 1 lb cranberries, 1 cup apple cider, 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar.  sooo much better than the canned stuff!

well there you have it, the eight dishes i planned.  in addition to these, my mom made regular mashed potatoes & gravy, the absolute BEST stuffing in the world (my favorite part of thanksgiving, hands down), fruit salad (as per marshall’s request) and a glorious 22 lb turkey!!

my sister also made some really cute knot rolls which were delicious.

time to feast!!

once we sat down to eat, i was exhausted.. and actually not as hungry as i wanted to be.  with all the running around, tasting, bites here and there.. i just lost my appetite! but, of course, that did not stop me from eating!! my plate~

i ate most of what you see and went back for more stuffing ;)

i am not quite sure how i managed to eat pumpkin pie only a short time after dinner.. but i did.. and it was fabulous.  thanksgiving is not thanksgiving without pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream (with lots of vanilla extract)!!  can you believe one of my best friends hates both pumpkin pie AND whipped cream? i know, she’s clinically insane.

the evening was spent hanging out together and just enjoying the company of our fam all together.  PLUS it was snowing! glorious, glorious snowwwww :)

we had a few rousing rounds of boggle and i won.. again.. haha. maybe one day someone will dominate me at the word game.  but the two things i know best are cooking and word games!  well, and workouts.. but that was not on yesterday’s agenda.

i am happy to report that my full body workout i did saturday left me with some killer DOMS yesterday. 

well i am not even going to recap today~i already told you i have not eaten much as i had no appetite!  i just got home from the gym where i busted out 20 minutes of HIIT on the treadmill, 5 minutes of high resistance on the crosstrainer elliptical & 10 minutes of ab work… gotta whittle my middle!!

i am going to spend the rest of the night unpacking (yes, MORE unpacking!) and catching up on my reader and hopefully hanging some artwork/photos on my bare walls. once i am all done with my room i will show it to you guys! maybe i could do a video tour of my house?

anyway, hope you all had a great monday. mine was not that great, in case you are wondering..  i am a tad irritated.  there was a snow storm and i slid/crashed into a retaining wall and my car’s front bumper is all sorts of scratched up. i am ok though!  i just don’t want to dwell on it so i didn’t write about it but i did want to mention it!

hope everyone has a short work and school week this week! i know i am excited about tomorrow being the second to last day of my work week!

Qs~

1. hands down, what is your favorite dish (not dessert) to eat on thanksgiving? like i said up there, my favorite is my mom’s stuffing. it is out of this world delicious! but i think the sweet potato galette was second place this year…

2. favorite kind of pie? i may have asked this one before, but oh well. fresh peach pie with homemade whipped cream is mine. but daaang.. pumpkin pie is so good!

xo. janetha b.

nhdwqkjbfcdnbkjsca.

ugh. SO. just had a big scare! i had a whole post typed up.. just had to insert my photos~ and i get some black screen on my laptop saying there is some sort of error and something or other is corrupt.

eek.

i was sure all my files and photos were long gone. history.  i spent an hour recovering my system…

we all crossed our fingers (and paws) that everything would be safe and sound.

well.. lucky for me, it was! now i am going to go grab my portable hard drive and do some surrrious backing up!

the bad news? well, i lost my whole post.. grumble. it was so long!

i am afraid to say.. you are going to get the shortened version via a list. sorry charlies, i just don’t have it in me tonight.

1. thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all the incredible comments, insight and wise words left on my last post. that is why i love blogging so much.. the feedback i get from all of you really impresses me and i feel so fortunate to be acquainted with all of you smart ladies! so yes, thanks much. xo

2. yesterday i mentioned that i got a new gadget! here it is:

meet “the baby computer” (as my mom and i call them) aka a netbook. this will make blogging away from home so much easier.. and if my laptop ever DOES bite the dust (as i was afraid it might tonight).. i have backup now ;)

3. yesterday’s workout was rad. 12 minutes on the treadmill @ 15% incline at 4 MPH, 20 minutes HIIT on the treadmill ranging from 6.0 to 7.5 MPH and maxing out at 9 MPH on the final minute. 22 minutes on the bike while reading my new mags: oxygen and real simple. hooray for them FINALLY finding their way to my new address!

4. yesterday’s dinner was whole foods salad bar with a little added protein from the seafood counter~6 ounces of shrimp.. doused in TJ’s sesame ginger dressing of amazingness.

 

5. today has been an incredibly productive day! i got all but one box unpacked in my room! yesss. confession: i still have 5 or 6 boxes in the garage to unpack, but hey.. out of sight, out of mind, right? right. ;)

6. i had not one but two almond milk lattes today. in a snowman mug. and there is no snow outside. i’m sad about that.

7. i had a fanfreakingtastic workout today! i did some research online and with some tips from susan’s blog and the oxygen website and a few ideas of my own, i put together a fun total body workout. here is how it went down:

i completed each exercise block 3 times through and then moved onto the next. in bold, after the move, i am going to list the main muscles the move worked.. of course, there were other muscles working (such as glutes during a step up) but i am just going to list the targeted muscles.

5 minutes/0.5 mile warm up on treadmill

block A:

• romanian deadlift to bent over row 15 reps hamstrings & upper/lower back
• step up with knee raise and dumbbell bicep curl (8# dbs) 24 reps (12 each leg) quads & biceps
• split squat with forward reach (8# dbs) 24 reps (12 each leg) quads, hamstrings, glutes & upper back

block B:

• dumbbell pullover to crunch 15 reps upper back & abs
• single leg bench dips 24 reps (12 each leg) triceps & quads + hip stabilization & core
• bridge with dumbbell chest press 15 reps chest, hamstrings & glutes

block C:

• oblique twists w/ 10# plate on decline bench 50 reps obliques
• lower abdominal crunches on decline bench 50 reps lower abs
• wide stance squat with front raise (8# dbs) 15 reps quads & shoulders

block D:

• seated calf raises @ 30# 15 reps calves
• walking lunge with 10# plate oblique twist 20 reps

10 minutes on stairmill

this workout took an hour including the warmup and stairmill. it was so awesome! i am going to do the same routine next saturday but try to up some of the weights to make it more challenging.  i loved combining the muscle groups during my workout. it was lots of fun :D it was a little rough as i have DOMS in my hamstrings (from last tuesday!) and my chest/triceps.

8. i made a yummy dinner tonight using some of my foodbuzz fest swag!!

i used some whole wheat linguine, 93% lean ground turkey, basil & oregano diced tomatoes & sliced mushrooms and tossed it all with the pesto.  served the pasta alongside some steamed broccoli with a side of bad lighting..

9. instead of doing anything exciting.. i spent the evening recovering my computer. bah. so happy it worked!

10. deb posted a really fantastic flashback friday post and you all need to go read it. now. please and thanks :)

11. tay also posted a fun disney flashback friday post, check it out!

12. i need to tell you guys about a little somethanggg called operation chocolate-covered kindness…

katie is raising money through page view compensation to donate to charity!  i have copied and pasted this from her post~

What can you do to help?

• Spread the word!  If you have a blog, please help me (Katie) get the word out by blogging about, or even just mentioning, the “Operation Chocolate-Covered Kindness” page view charity drive on your blog.  (Feel free to use the logo as well.)

• Throughout the month, blog about, and link to, ANY chocolatecoveredkatie.com post (such as a Chocolate-Covered Recipe).  Each time someone clicks on any link to my (Katie’s) blog, more money will be earned for the cause.  Good time to make Fudge Babies or Peanut Butter Babies, perhaps?  Or Banana Butter… or Melted Banana Trick oats?

• During the month, click on as many pages/links on my blog as you can.  Each post you click on, and each link you follow, earns more money for the charity drive.  Or, when you see my (Katie’s) posts in Google Reader, simply click on the posts instead of reading them in Google Reader format (which doesn’t translate to any page views).

• Browse the Chocolate-Covered Recipes, read up on processed foods or veganism for omnivores in the FAQ section, find every flavor oatmeal imaginable in All-things-Oatmeal, see “My Life in Cupcakes” in the About Me section, check out the Most Popular, or just peruse old posts. 

so please spread the word and click for some chocolate-covered fundraising love!

13. the incredible and beautiful quinn posted a RAD tidbit the other day.. there is actually a recipe analyzer that you can simply type the ingredients of a recipe into a post and it will quickly calculate the recipe stats and display a nutrition label AND give the recipe a letter grade! check quinn’s post out here and you can find the recipe analyzer here. thanks quinn!

14. my family is having thanksgiving dinner tomorrow!my sister and brother have off years as far as being at my parents’ house goes.. so we are celebrating early so we can all be together :) i am attempting six different recipes! including angharad’s savory mushroom bread pudding and a sweet potato & goat cheese galette. mmmm. can’t wait!

okay. soo.. that is the shortened version (can you even imagine what the original one was like?!) i hope you are all enjoying your weekend! i know i still have emails and blog posts to get to.. but for now, i have HAD IT with laptop land :P see you tomorrow!!

Qs~

1. where will you be spending thanksgiving this year? and with who? my fam is celebrating tomorrow but on actual thanksgiving i will be at my mom’s for round two turkey dinner! it will just be my mom, dad, grandma, marshall & me.

2. do you back up your files? what is your method? and how often? tonight’s debacle was a wake up call.. i need to back up my photos riiiight now! i have a portable hard drive that i use.

sorry this was not very entertaining! i was a little discouraged after losing post #1.. better luck next time ;)

xo. janetha b.

flashback friday round thirteen.

friday! finally.  i know i tend to say “this week was really long” a lot of times.. but this time i really mean it when i say this week was reeeaalllly long! i logged all my hours for the pay period by the end of my day wednesday.. too bad i couldn’t take thursday and today off, eh? ;)

well i didn’t post last night~keeping up with my schedule to skip thursday nights and post earlier in the day friday. i like it, hope you do too.

in addition to flashback friday, i have a few other things i want to talk about so i will give you a brief rundown of thursday’s meals & moves and also what i have shoved my face with today!

thursday.

meal 1: protein oatmeal @ 9:30 AM

wow, i hadn’t had oatmeal in ages.  i have been relying on greek yogurt messes every morning lately so it was nice to have a warm breakfast for a change.  i made it my usual way.. on the stovetop and then added a scoop of vanilla protein powder and ridiculous amounts of cinnamon in at the end.. topped with a spoonful of mighty maple.

meal 2: leftovers! @ 1:00 PM

pumpkin chili & golden corn vitatop. what is it about chili that makes the leftovers taste even better than the first time?  maybe all the flavors have more time to meld together.. this was incredible.  i made a lot in my slow cooker the other day, but my roomie and boyf have been eating it so this is the only leftovers i got from the batch! i will have to make another soon. i am thinking a white bean chili would win at life.

meal 3: protein mocha @ 5:00 PM

i drank this protein shake as i was leaving work and heading to the gym for my weight sesh.

upper body workout!

• 5 min warmup on elliptical
• incline dumbbell chest press: 12 @ 25#, 10 @ 30#, 8 @ 35#, 6 @ 40# (50 ball crunches between sets~total 200 crunches), 12 @ 30# no rest:
• incline dumbbell flyes: 12 @ 20#
• overhead cable tricep extension: 12 @ 30#, 10 @ 35#, 8 @ 40#, 6 @ 45# (30 seconds of jumping jacks between sets~total 2 minutes), 12 @ 35# no rest:
• tricep cable pulldowns: 12 @ 20#
• single arm dumbbell rows: (each arm): 12 @ 17.5# 10 @ 20#, 8 @ 22.5#, 6 @ 25# (20 bench tuck crunches between sets~total 80 tuck crunches), 12 @ 17.5# no rest:
• reverse flyes w/ dumbbells: 12 @ 20#
• seated overhead dumbbell press: 12 @ 20#, 10 @ 30#, 8 @ 35#, 6 @ 40#<—hard! (20 10# weighted oblique twist crunches on ball between sets~total 80 crunches), 12 @ 20# no rest:
• standing upright dumbbell rows: 12 @ 20#
• bicep cable curls: 12 @ 25#, 10 @ 30#, 8 @ 35#, 6 @ 40# (10 dumbbell butterflies w/ 16# between sets, total 40 reps), 12 @ 30# no rest:
• dumbbell hammer curls: 12 @ 16#
• YTWLs: 5 sets of each letter holding 3# dumbbell in each hand

the end!

i wasn’t too hungry last night for some reason so i kept dinner on the lighter side.

meal 4: TJ’s nut mix & greek yogurt mess @ 8:30 PM

i am i love with this nut mix. danica was the first to send it to me and now i purchase it every time i am in california at a TJs!

for my yogurt mess i used some swag from the foodbuzz fest~ frog hollow farm granola, and some oikos.. my very favorite brand of greek yogurt!

i also drizzled some of the bulgarian peanut butter that tina sent me on top… this peanut butter is DELICIOUS! thanks again tina <3

crappy photo, my apologies!

mmmmk so moving on.. to today!

friday.

breakfast was on the go because my boss had errands to run and needed me to tag along.. i did manage to get a REALLY fantastic new gadget.. i am picking it up tomorrow, stay tuned! i am so excited!!

meal 1: protein shake @ 9:00 AM

we were running around for a few hours and this did NOT hold me over long enough. by the time i was back to the office i immediately made lunch!

meal 2: egg+turkey+laughing cow sandwich @ 12:30 PM

don’t let the looks fool you. this was delectable.  on the left i had 2 cage free egg whites+1 whole egg scrambled with 1 wedge of laughing cow cheese atop a slice of nature’s path 100% whole wheat bread.  on the right i had another slice of the whole wheat bread with 3 slices of all natural turkey and annie’s organic ketchup. yep, yum.

have NOT drank enough water today.. hold please, while i go fill up the old water bottle!

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ok i am back! time for flashback friday! soo.. a year ago (tomorrow) my mom and i went to have our final photos taken for our body for life challenge~i actually have a whole page about this, you can see it here.

a friend of mine was gracious enough to offer to do some professional photos for us in his home.  penelope was brand new and so i took her along and she ended up posing for a few photos with us as well :)

i have mixed feelings about this flashback friday.  on one hand i am thrilled and proud of my mom and i for kicking so much butt this time last year.  on the other hand, i am mad at myself for letting myself go at the beginning of 2009.  so, while i feel a sense of accomplishment when looking back at these photos, i still feel a tinge of disappointment when i see them.

BUT.. for the most part, i am proud.  if you asked me that a few months ago, i would say the photos just made me miserable to look at.  since then, i have gotten back on track and am close to looking like i do in these photos.  that makes me smile.

what else makes me smile is realizing the lesson i’ve learned this past year.  maintaining takes work.

here is what happened.. august 2008 my mom and i started body for life. we got our body fat tested and were a tad discouraged with the results.

we were strict, by the book, only one or two cheats maybe.. if that. we checked out body fat again halfway through the challenge.  the numbers were changing.  the fat was going down and the lean muscle was going up. it was working :)

november 2008 we couldn’t believe our success when we got our final body fat composition testing done.  like.. WOW.. we did it! and it was not hard.  we ate 6 times a day.. were ALWAYS full, never hungry, we were happy and healthy.. loved every day of the challenge and loved every bit of success.

it is safe to say i had never felt better about myself than i did in these photos. ever. i was finally comfortable in my own skin.

then the holidays hit. “we will take the holidays off and start a new challenge january 5th”  we said. hmm.. yeah, we did start a new challenge, but we were definitely not as hell bent or hardcore about it.  we had already achieved our “goal weight” and so we were lenient—maybe TOO lenient—with the second body for life challenge.

well, then i got food poisoning. then i got sick. then i went to california. then i got sick again. then i went to mexico. then i got my tonsils out. then summer came. then this, then that.. point being, i was not watching what i ate close enough.. sure, i was eating healthy.  but i was taking too many free meals and eating too large of portions.. sure, healthy food is good for you, but too much of a good thing WILL lead to weight gain.  and so will lack of working out.

if you’ve been a long time reader you will remember when i had a few breakdowns about my weight gain. why could i not just FOCUS?  why could i not have the diligence and determination that i had the first time around?  i still cannot answer that question.

but i will say this: you can either slowly work toward your goal or you can slowly work away from it. sometime around august of this year i put my foot down and reversed my direction.  for nearly nine months i was getting further and further from my goal weight.. and i was getting heavier and more unhappy as time ticked by.  since august, i have slowly worked toward becoming comfortable in my own skin once again.  no, it has not happened in 12 short weeks like it did in 2008.  but i have been gaining muscle and losing fat at a steady pace.  my “skinny” jeans fit again and i am almost to the point where i can wear a bikini and feel confident.

i have a little over two months before i hit the beaches in jamaica.  and i can promise you this: i will be back to my happy weight.

i now use these photos as motivators.. i know i can do it, ive been there before. all it takes is some self control and hard work.  i am my own worst enemy but i am also my own biggest fan.  i just am glad i have the right mind set and am not criticizing myself when i see these photos now.. instead, i am reassuring myself that this will be me again come february!

aside from the whole body weight issue talk above, i also think of something else every time i see these photos. i love my mom.  she is my hero and my best friend.  she is a busy lady and she stuck to the challenge day in and day out. she was by my side the whole time, we were constantly on the phone supporting each other.  i know i could not have done this without her.

side note: my mom posted a really rad guest post HERE. she did not fall off the wagon like i did.. and kept her weight down the whole time.. and now does not have the same issues as i do. good job mom!

looking at these photos reminds me of how much fun i had with my mom while doing this challenge.  we always have fun together but this time we were getting healthier and doing ourselves a favor~it made it so fantastic!!

i know i rave about my mom a lot.. but i am not exaggerating when i say i would die without her!!!

we got a little goofy in these ones.. but it was a lot of fun and we felt so happy to be done with our challenge.. we were all smiles!

here are a few more randoms, sorry if it is photo overload but there were like 200 to pick from!~

it is strange.. some people get motivation from looking at other people. at actresses or fitness models. maybe from other women at the gym.  not me.

i get motivation from where i once was.. because i know it is physically possible for me to be there again.  no reason for me to pull motivation from the superstar bods i see in oxygen magazine because everyone is different and i will never have long, lean legs.  i will always have a bumpy abdomen. i won’t ever be able to achieve certain features because it is just not in the cards for my body type.  and i have realized this and i don’t get envious or jealous of other women like i used to.  i have come to terms with my body type and now i just strive to be the best janetha i can be.  and so, obviously, my motivation comes from looking at photos of me when i was at my best.

i highly suggest this method.  it helped me with jealousy issues i once had when i was younger.  i now know there is no point in jealousy, it only makes you miserable.  and when you get motivation from your former self instead of from looking at other people, you definitely do NOT feel jealous (how can you be jealous of yourself? you can’t.) instead, you feel empowered.. motivated.. inspired.

so there you have it. my motivation. and my two cents. thanks for reading!

did you participate in flashback friday? let me know and i will link back to your post!

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so.. that ended up a lot longer than i expected! i will save my other cool stuff to talk about for my next post.  right now, i have to go meet the exterminator! he is going to tell those spiders in my bedroom who is boss :D

i hope you all have a glorious weekend.  relax, eat some yummy food and pray for snow!!!!

Qs~

1. what foods do you think taste better as leftovers? in addition to my chili, i also think any italian, thai and chinese foods taste really good leftover!! hmm basically any type of noodle dish come to think of it…

2. what is on your agenda this weekend? tell me, i really want to hear your plans! i am going to attempt a compound workout saturday and go snowboarding sunday :)

xo. janetha b.

slow cooking.

hey guys! wow, my last post generated a lot of great comments.  it seems that several of you do compound exercises when strength training, some of you alternated between compound and isolated, and a few of you are like me: isolation all the time.

many of you mentioned jillian michaels and her use of compound exercises.  i did do the shred for about 20 days.. i did like the way the compound exercises elevated my heart rate.  if i can possibly find the dvd in my piles of boxes somewhere, i might give it a shot again.  or just make up my own routine at the gym.  currently, i strength train 3 times a week, alternating between upper and lower.  one week i have 2 upper days/1 lower day and the next week it is vice versa.  i think my game plan is to change to one upper, one lower and one combined day each week.

okay, good talk, moving on!

i woke up this morning and threw some ingredients into my crock pot.. which i have had for years and have never used.  may as well start now, right?  more on that in a bit.. first, waffle wednesday!

i finally made it to the store last night and snagged some kashi waffles.

meal 1: wafflewich @ 8:00 AM

for this sweet and savory sandwich i used two kashi golean blueberry waffles..

 

and cooked up 3 egg whites+1 whole egg using cage free eggs.  then i sandwiched the eggs between the waffles and drizzled a little sf syrup on top.

i have always loved pairing syrup with savory breakfast items such as eggs, bacon and sausage.

the blueberries in the waffles were a nice touch.

right after breakfast i went into my boss’ office for a meeting.  i came back to my desk and i was drinking my coffee and working away when i noticed this:

a note from marshall.. pointing to my camera. he must have come to my office to say goodbye while i was in my meeting (we work together.. but he works out and about, not in the office).

i turned my camera on, as the note instructed..

a kiss! haha. he’s cute. and needs to shave ;)

i worked lots and lots today. not a second for blog reading. what can ya do?

when my computer was all messed up and semi-frozen (i NEED a new computer at work) i got real frustrated and took a time out for lunch.

meal 2: turkey sandwich + veggies @ 1:00 PM

the sandwich was on nature’s pride 100% whole wheat bread and i layered it with local red pepper hummus, sprouts, all natural roasted turkey slices & annie’s dijon mustard~

bueno!

the veggies were just some steamfresh dudes.

good lunch!

guess what?? i left work at a decent time today!  i only worked 20 minutes of overtime.  then it was straight to the gym.

i decided to get a little creative with my HIIT today and did something totally new.

10-10-10 triple machine HIIT.

10 minutes on treadmill:

i did two sets of 5 minute intervals, the numbers are in MPH:

• 1 min 6.0
• 1 min 6.5
• 1 min 7.0
• 1 min 7.5
• 1 min 8.0
• 1 min 6.0
• 1 min 6.5
• 1 min 7.5
• 1 min 8.5
• 1 min 9.5

10 minutes on elliptical:

i did two sets of 5 minute intervals.  the first 5 minutes i went forward on the elliptical and averaged a 9.0 MPH pace:

• 1 min level 2
• 1 min level 4
• 1 min level 6
• 1 min level 8
• 1 min level 10

the next 5 minutes i decided to go backward.  wowww.. it is hard to go backward.. well, at least when you have DOMS in your whole lower half!  this is because you kind of have to squat/hover to go backward.  i never go backward on the elliptical, come to think of it.  it was really different and i liked the challenge!  it was a little harder so i only averaged a 7.0 MPH pace:

• 1 min level 2
• 1 min level 4
• 1 min level 6
• 1 min level 8
• 1 min level 10

10 minutes stairmill:

i finished off this workout with two 5 minute sets of intervals:

• 1 min level 4
• 1 min level 6
• 1 min level 8
• 1 min level 10
• 1 min level 12
• 1 min level 4
• 1 min level 6
• 1 min level 8
• 1 min level 10
• 1 min level 12

i ended up going 1.19 miles on the treadmill, 1.26 miles on the elliptical and 0.97 mile on the stairmill.  this workout was fanfreakingtastic!

i came home and was happy that i did not have to do much for dinner!  i had put ingredients for pumpkin chili in my crock pot so all i did when i got home was stir in the beans and corn and let it warm through!

 

marshall baked himself some heat & serve rhodes rolls.  professional baker ;)

 

he had an audience!

no rolls for me.. instead i toasted a golden corn vitatop~

 

meal 3: homemade pumpkin chili+2% cheddar+dollup 0% oikos & golden corn vita @ 7:00 PM

such a comforting, healthy meal for this time of year!!  now if only we would get some more snow!

for the chili i just made it up in my head.. but this is what i used:

• 1 lb 93% lean ground beef
• 1 can peeled & diced tomatoes
• tomato sauce
• frank’s
• chopped green pepper
• chopped red onion
• lots of cumin
• lots of chili powder
• about 3/4 cup-1 cup pure pumpkin (canned)

i let this cook all day in the crock pot and when i got home i stirred in:

• can of organic black beans
• can of organic kidney beans
• can of organic corn

i can proudly say my first crock pot experiment was a huge success! i can’t wait to make something else!!  the chili was super good with the golden corn vita top broken up and sprinkled on top.

marshall ate 750 calories worth of rolls..only 300+a bite are pictured here..

and then we assembled an ikea bookshelf for my room!

 

we decided to reward ourselves for the extra hard work (yeah, right..) with frozen yogurt!

i had been craving fro yo since last friday.. sooo, whatever, i went for it.

meal 4: small frozen yogurt + pom arils + raspberries + strawberries @ 9:30 PM

we got it to go and took it back to my house so i could blog & marshall and the poochies watched tv :)

and now we are current!

sooo.. the local radio station morning show does something every wednesday called “things that must go”.. i got to thinking about things that would be on my list regarding my trip to the gym today.

things that must go.

• people who spit their gum out into the drinking fountain at the gym.. really? are you nine?
• dudes on the treadmill next to me who not only talk on their cell phone while jogging on the treadmill.. but talk on it on speaker phone.. get a grip buddy, nobody wants to hear your conversation
• creepy old men who come up to me while i am filling my water bottle and say, “better fill ‘er up since the drinks here are on the house!”  uhhh.. no comment.

well i am going to call it a night.. two more work days until the weekend.. hope you all hang in there!

Qs~

1. favorite slow cooker recipes?? ready, go! i want ideeeeas.

2. what would be on YOUR list of “things that must go”?

xo. janetha b.

compound vs. isolation.

hi guys! how was your tuesday?? hopefully all you hoped for and maybe more.

i just finished a very late dinner (it is 9:45 pm!) and now i am going to pound out this post so i can possibly unpack a box or two in my room.. still slowly unpacking it all.. sigh. the one nice thing is my new room is a ton bigger than my last one so i have lots of space for everything!

first of all it was really fun to hear about your phobias!  several of you are also arachnaphobic but what i really enjoyed was the unique phobias such as the fear of dirty bathrooms, the fear of sharp objects, the fear of smashing your teeth, the fear of squeaky glasses and the fear of frogs.  loved all the answers but those ones i really got a kick out of!

second, sorry about the false alarm and making some of you think i was engaged! haha.. no, not so much. maybe eventually ;)  it was awesome to see the creative old/new/borrowed/blue answers you all came up with!

onto today!

meal 1: greek yogurt+shredded spoonfuls+mighty maple & coffee @ 10:00 AM

yes. at ten AM.  i OVERSLEPT!  i got to work at 9:30, brewed some java and threw together this mess. i hate the feeling i get when i oversleep. not to mention the rushed getting-ready business that follows. i felt like a trainwreck all day! at least this was delicious..

i worked my tail off all day long, once again, i am not sure when i am not going to be busy! really looking forward to the four day weekend next weekend. i was craving a salad for lunch but whole foods was too far of a drive.  i decided to give new york subs a chance…

meal 2: chef salad minus ham plus chicken minus croutons plus my own garbanzos @ 2:15 PM

meh. not the greatest. but it worked. i drizzled it with balsamic.. always makes things taste better!

lalala.. work work work.. i did sneak in a little blog reading! yay! missed that. hopefully i can squeeze some more in tomorrow. slowly catching up with you all!

right before leaving work i knew i needed something to power me through my weight sesh i had planned..

meal 3: protein mocha @ 5:30 PM

drank it at my mess of a desk. i make my protein mocha with 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder (i use EAS brand), 1/2 cup almond millk, 1/2 cup cold coffee and a lot of ice.. all mixed in the magic bullet. yum! but seriously not impressed with working late again.

  

after work i raced home and changed for the gym. yessss!

 

i was craving a really good lower body workout so that is exactly what i did. this is going to be long, feel free to skip over the deets.

• 5 min warmup on bike
• bulgarian split squats
• 12 each leg @ 25#
• 15 reverse crunches
• 10 each leg @ 30#
• 20 bench tuck crunches
• 8 each leg @ 35#
• 50 ball crunches
• 6 each leg @ 40#
• 20 oblique crunches on ball w/ 12.5# weight on chest
• 12 each leg @ 25#
• ball-against-wall squats
• 12 reps w/ 25#
• 12 second hold
• laying hip raises w/ feet on bench & 10# plate on hips
• 2 sets of 25
• plank
• 2 sets of 30 second hold
• single leg dead lifts
• 12 each leg @ 16#
• 15 reverse crunches
• 10 each leg @20#
• 20 bench tuck crunches
• 8 each leg @ 25#
• 50 ball crunches
• 6 each leg @ 30#
• 20 oblique crunches on ball w/ 12.5# weight on chest
• 12 each leg @ 16#
• stability ball hamstring curls
• 20 reps
• standing calf raises
• 12 @ 20#
• 20 walking lunges: holding 10# plate with twist (when in lunge) and leg raise (with opposite leg when coming out of lunge)
• 10 @ 40#
• 20 walking lunges
• 8 @ 60#
• 20 walking lunges
• 6 @ 80#
• 20 walking lunges
• 12 @ 20#
• single leg calf raises
• 12 each leg @ body weight
• 10 minutes of ab work: bicycle crunches, leg throw downs, ball-to–hand passes, legs up against wall lower ab crunches
• hyperextension bench
• holding 10# plate:
• 10 reps straight up
• 10 reps up and twist left
• 10 reps up and twist right
• 15 side reps left
• 15 side reps right

the end! sure wish i knew where my HRM watch was so i could track my stats. no can do.

dinner was random to the max.

meal 4: chicken + hummus + sprouts + romaine + dijon sandwich & steamed veggies @ 9:15 PM

this is the chicken i have been using:

great stats and happy chickens!

 

in addition to this chicken, i used nature’s path 100% whole wheat bread, annie’s dijon and some local red pepper hummus. this sandwich was A+!

 

the veggies on the side balanced the meal out perfectly.

well.. that about sums up my day! oh yeah, i also managed to get over a gallon of water down the hatch today.  i am really loving being back on track with my eating, workouts and water consumption.  i just need to get back on track with my vitamins and supplements!

you may wonder what my title is all about!  well, i wanted to take a moment and talk about an article i read in oxygen magazine that was written by jamie eason (love her!!).  the article included tips to get into great shape before a specific event, ie: fancy party, wedding, vacation.  well, with jamaica on my mind (i know, still a bit far away!) i decided to see what she had to say.  the one thing that struck out most to me was her tip to do compound exercises instead of isolating one muscle when weight training.

the way i lift weights has always been using isolation.  for instance, i will work out quads, hamstrings, calves and abs.. all separately.  i will also work biceps, triceps, back, shoulders and chest separately.  i never do compound exercises.

oh, for those of you who are not aware, compound exercises are exercises that require exertion from more than one muscle group.  for example: squat while holding dumbbells and complete a bicep curl when in “squat down” position.

it left me with a lot to ponder.  are compound exercises better than isolation exercises?  sure, isolation is great for strengthening each muscle group individually.. but i think for all-over muscle tone, compound exercises may be a bright idea.

i am going to be looking more into compound exercises and i will probably be adjusting my workouts.  i usually strictly split up my upper body and lower body workout days.. so that may be changing.  i will talk about it again after i research it more!

in other news!!~~

• i have been working on my moves page.. let me know if  you would like me to take photos of any specific exercises and i will post them there.
• holly the healthy everythingtarian is raising money to build a well in cambodia! PLEASE, PLEASE go check out her post and donate to the cause!!! every little bit helps.
• don’t forget tomorrow is waffle wednesday!
• tomorrow is also national vichyssoise day.. without googling it, do you know what that is???

okay, hope you all are doing well! sorry i have been so busy lately <3

Qs~

1. when strength training, do you practice compound exercises or do you stick to isolation? how do you break your strength training days up throughout the week? like i said, i do isolation.  i alternate between upper and lower body workouts, doing strength training every other day (with cardio on the off days).. i have thought about splitting things up into more specific muscle groups (like a chest/shoulders/triceps day and a back/biceps day) does anyone do this? i would also love to hear what you guys think about compound exercises.

2. so.. do you know what vichyssoise day is? without googling it! and can you even pronounce it?? i must be a culinary failure. i don’t know what it is nor can i pronounce it. :P

xo. janetha b.

something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

no.. i am not getting hitched.  but i am using this little wedding rhyme for the theme of today’s post!  but FIRST i would like to reflect back on some of the motivational tips you guys left on yesterday’s post.. because daaaang i have some clever readers!

sharing time:

• deb: “I think it’s about re-committing and just mother f-ing DOING it!”
• jenna:”I motivate myself by thinking of how exciting it will be to see how proper eating and training will postitively affect my body.”
• nicci: “I motivate myself with a reward at the end of the month. Not food related but a nice pedi or a new shirt. Sometimes going and buying 3 magazines or a new book.”
• lizzy:”i do what you did and just list out the things i know i need to work on. having that list out in front of me is what helps”
• allison: “I need to dive right back into it, otherwise ‘vacation mode’ lasts for weeks”
• tay: “It’s super hard to get BOT, but I go day by day and it gets easier! I think about how much better I’ll feel once I feel clean and on track again.”
• ildie: “Try setting mini goals. Things you want to accomplish at the end of every week instead of at the end of the 7 weeks. Might be easier to meet them and then feeling good about succeeding should motivate you to keep at it. I find that this works the best for me. I try and set a mini goal for every week.”
• susan: “Part of the reason why I’m tracking calories again. Maybe it will be helpful to tighten things up just to get me through the holiday season. At least Christmas is full of turkey, which is the best lean protein there is ;) I guess just realizing that you’re doing it and changing it is the first step in the right direction…”
• naomi: “I always get motivated when I go to the gym, this is why i never workout at home…even if I am not in the mood, once I get there I always have a great workout, seeing everyone else work so hard motivates me to work even HARDER than them!”
• paige: “I just do it. I don’t have any real words of wisdom here. I just…do it. Coercion I guess? lol”
• kristin: “when I need to get back on track- list, list, list! And I’ll write down what I’m eating (NOT kcals, just the food) for a couple weeks to make sure I am balanced. But no more- getting obsessive is no good!
  I also like to switch up the exercise, which is always a fun way to kick it up.”
• andrea: “I remind myself of how much better I feel when I work out right and eat clean. I also write my meals and workouts into my day planner. That way they are an appointment I can’t miss…”
• holly: “i think just continuing on with healthy habits – everytime i try to compensate for overeating/not exercising but doing the opposite, it never ends up well. just resume healthy habits and all shall be fine.”
• low: “make a list of attainable things I can do to help. Maybe it’s not everything I’d ideally like to be doing, but it’s the stuff I know I can accomplish and that will take me closer to my goal.”
• kailey: “I assess the situation when I’m in it. Am I really hungry, or is this just a habit I’ve created? Is that what I really want? Do I feel like feeling like crap after I eat this whole box of crackers? Nah. That normally helps, but then again I try not to be stringent or too hard on myself.”
• katie: “I have started trying on my bathing suit more than once a week to motivate myself. I sometimes disgust myself, but it sure motivates my butt into gear.” <—this was my favorite tip!
• erika: “I am in that mode myself and have resorted to counting some cals. I know, bad, but I am at the point where I am viewing any amount of almond butter as ok bc it is good for you. I like to leave out the fact that 6 TBS is NOT good for you. So counting works for me to get on track…”
• dorothy: “think about how great i feel after i eat super healthy all day and how stupid it would be to ruin it for a piece of cake or (hehe) vanilla bean ice cream”
• taysa: “I usually keep around inspirational pictures, either of myself at a healthy weight or celebrities, etc and put them in front of me wherever I am. Seeing my end-goal helps me feel remotivated.”
• angharad: “I tend to just make sure I do lots of exercise (running, yoga and weights for me!) and eat as much fruit/veggies as possible!”
• tiffany: “I get motivated by reading about you getting motivated.” ;)
• kristi: “When I know I have the support of someone else, I tend to be more motivated and make better choices.”

whew. that was long but SO worth it.. it helped me to go over all the tips again and i hope you all can pull something motivating from this list the next time you need a little nudge!

okay, now onto my day! 

something new.

okay, no, i am not going in the order of the classic wedding rhyme.. so deal with it :P

meal 1: egg whites+feta+spinach+chicken+onions & dry wheat toast & black coffee @ 8:00 AM

so.. the original pancake house has been getting old.  for those of you who are new to reading my rambles.. i go to the original pancake house EVERY monday for a sales meeting.. and the meals get OLD.. FAST.  and then for some reason today i decided to try a totally new combo.. and it. was. incredible.  why did i never utilize the chicken option before? no idea. but you can bet the farm (if you have one) that i will be having chicken in my eggs for many a monday to come!

work was busy again today! i managed to break just a bit past when i would normally eat. i chugged lots of water in between meals to tide me over.

something old.

ohhh.. an oldie but a goodie!

meal 2: cottage cheese + garbanzos + hidden valley ranch seasoning @ 1:00 PM

it had been way too long since i had this combo.  i didn’t have any add ins today but it was perfectly delicious just as it was.

around 5 o’clock i had half of an unphotographed clif bar.. we will call it meal 3 just because. and then i was at work until 6:15. that is an 11 hour and 15 minute monday at work. bah. i did manage to finish my gallon of water before leaving the office though.

i did not go home and lay around like i wanted to. i went to the gym. go me.

something blue.

my workout outfit had a whole slew of blue. blue tshirt. blue hoodie. blue socks. blue on my shoes.

don’t mind the huge mess behind me.. i am still working on unpacking! it never ends!

my workout~

20 min HIIT on treadmill

• incline=0
• 2 min @ 6.0
• incline=0.5
• 1 min @ 6.5
• 1 min @ 7.0
• 1 min @ 7.5
• 1 min @ 8.0
• incline=1.0
• 1 min @ 6.5
• 1 min @ 7.0
• 1 min @ 7.5
• 1 min @ 8.0
• incline=1.5
• 1 min @ 6.5
• 1 min @ 7.0
• 1 min @ 7.5
• 1 min @ 8.0
• incline=2.0
• 1 min @ 6.5
• 1 min @ 7.0
• 1 min @ 7.5
• 1 min @ 8.0
• incline=0
• 1 min @ 9.0 (high point)
• 1 min @ 2.0 (cool down)

not gonna lie.. i am surprised i could still run so fast after slacking for so long. i ended up going 2.25 miles in the 20 minutes.  then i rode the bike for 10 minutes just for fun.

something borrowed.

well.. i guess my dinner could count for something borrowed AND something blue.. but i wanted to tie my workout in somewhere so that is where the blue went ;)

meal 4: amazing salad @ 8:00 PM

still working on good lighting at the new house. ha. this salad had..

• romaine
• sprouts
• grilled chicken
• braeburn apple (half)
• avocado
• blue cheese

and something borrowed..

artichoke hearts from the roomie!

i topped it all with the balsamic dressing i snagged at trader joe’s while in cali.

i don’t know what it is about the pairing of blue cheese with apples.. IT. IS. SO. DANG. TASTY.

pre dressing drizzle..

post dressing drizzle..

i may or may not have licked the plate.

after dinner i worked on unpacking my room a bit.  i was folding a heap of clothes and i found another spider in my room. good thing my brave roommate drew came to the rescue and did away with the creepy crawly.  i think he may have been surprised at how much i freaked out over the spider.  i HATE spiders.  i am definitely arachnophobic. to the max. i am ridiculous when i see spiders. i squeal and make a huge fuss. and it is not an act. i hate spiders. even the ones who can’t hurt me. hfewjkhfcdjkflhew. i have to stop talking about them now. oh yeah, and this should go without saying, but after i found the spider i stopped unpacking. better luck tomorrow, eh?

well i feel like i haven’t had a second to breathe today. wake up, work nearly 12 hours, work out, come home, make dinner, eat, clean, blog. guess i will go to bed and do it all again tomorrow :)  and maybe have a moment to tackle my google reader which is up to almost 300. sorry lovies!

this girl has got to get some sleep.

Qs~

1. what is something old, something new, something borrowed OR something blue in relation to your monday? i already told you all 4 of mine!

2. what phobias do you have? in addiction to arachnophobia, i am also VERY claustrophobic.

xo. janetha b.

sweet.

sweet potato that is. i think i am turning into one. i ate sweet potatoes thursday, friday and saturday. and i am craving one today but i think i will refrain. oh and today i spotted a recipe for sweet potato cupcakes.. mmm.. those may have to be whipped up in my kitchen soon.

oh! first off do you want to know the winner of the oikos relaxation prize pack?  i bet you do…

number one! which was julia! she said: “My favorite way to rewind and relax is being outdoors, like in the woods or at the beach. When I can’t be outdoors, I like sitting in my chair and reading.”

congrats honey pie! send me your info and i will pass it along to the folks at stonyfield farms so you can get your loot!

okay. so.. long weekend. i can’t really recap everythang because this would turn into a novel but i will show you eighteen pounds of sweet potato fries the highlights!

friday night i met up with the ladies!  first off a few of us met up at the bohemian brewery for some food and drink action.

they serve bread alongside this incredible spread which is, from what i can decipher, just cream cheese mixed with green olives.  it’s super tasty.

my friend and i split the chicken pesto pizza~

this, times 3. delish.

after our meal we headed to the bayou to meet up with seven other lovely ladies.

we hung out while waiting for a table, which turned into an hour and a half long wait.. so glad i ate beforehand or i would have been staaarving.

once we finally sat down everyone was ordering food and i didn’t since i already ate i blurted out “sweet potato fries” to the waitress. gah, trust me.. they are so worth it :)

don’t worry, i had help.

i realized that i am old when the main topic of conversation all night was wedding details (no, not of MY wedding) and talk of buying houses and other adult related whatnot. ugh. can i please just go back to being 22? i also realized that i am old when we finished up at a bit past midnight and i was ready to go home. hah. it was super fun to hang out with everyone though.. i have been so busy with the move and then went straight to san fran, i have missed my ladies!

saturday i woke up to GLORIOUS, GLORIOUS SNOW!!!!!

snowgasm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i made myself a latte with espresso+almond milk~

in a very weather-appropriate mug:

and whipped up a greek yogurt mess using some ingredients from a couple of my favorite gals..

i started with a bowl of oikos and added chocolate almond macaroons from deb and bulgarian nut butter from tina:

throw a little shredded spoonfuls into the mix and breakfast was served!

i spotted something on the back of the shredded spoonfuls box that reconfirmed the fact that it is indeed my favorite cereal..

they said “stellar” :) it was meant to be.

after devouring this amazing yogurt bowl, i spent the next 5 hours at ikea, bed bath & beyond and target. whew. i got a lot of good stuff which i will probably show y’all sometime or another!

at least my new subaru can hang with the winter conditions. i was so dang happy the whole time i was driving. I LOVE THE SNOW!

 

 

 

 

saturday night we went to mccool’s for a birthday dinner celebration.

i was going to get some black bean soup but the waiter basically told me that it was disgusting so i went with the turkey burger + sweet potato fries..

‘

the sweet potato fries were served with some sort of curry mustard and it was fabulous.  and i ate fries two days in a row. and i didn’t even care. but i probably should have.. i have been so lenient with my eating lately. bah.

today marshall & i made egg sandwiches for breakfast.  i served mine up on a winter wonderland plate.. still so excited about the snow :D

2 slices of nature’s path all natural 100% whole wheat bread, 1 slice tillamook cheddar, 1 egg+1 egg white (cage free eggs)~i felt better about this meal than i do about all the others over the weekend.

this afternoon i went to a baby shower for my beautiful friend katie.  she is having a girl in february!  so exciting.

i made fruit pizza..

‘

always a hit.

and my friend sabrina made strawberry cupcakes which were super cute!

i had a little bit of fruit pizza but not a cupcake. i also had some of the other food that was at the shower~

mayjuh lackage of protein.  but not too horrible i suppose.

SO..honestly.. i have got to get off the crappy eating wagon. there. i said it.

the way i feel tonight after this weekend reconfirms the fact that i need to get my butt back in gear.  i was really lax with my eating at the foodbuzz festival and the whole time i was in cali,  once i got back to utah i was SO busy at work that i didn’t make the best choices for lunch.. nothing horrible, just not enough protein and probably way too many carbs.  when i am stressed out and exhausted i eat lots of carbs. and then i feel like garbage. grumble.

i have also been a slack ass at working out.  i have only worked out 3 times in the past week.. all cardio, no weights.  well, i did do 20 squats while holding marshall today. hah. but i can feel my body telling me to stop being so lazy and get back into the weight room. i have not been gaining weight or getting fat or anything.. but i KNOW i am losing muscle, i can feel it, i don’t like it.

i also have not been eating enough veggies or protein and have not been drinking enough water. it is crazy that i have been so lenient with myself because i know what i should be doing.. and i am just not doing it. duhhh janetha.

i counted.. 81 days until i leave for jamaica.  that is a little over 11 weeks. plenty of time to get my body bikini ready :)  it will be hard since the holidays are just around the corner.. but i am bound and determined to be happy in my own skin come february 5th (the date we leave for jamaica).

SO.. for the next 81 days i have a few goals:

• at least 1 gallon of water a day
• 3 cardio workouts a week
• 3 weight training workouts a week
• abs 3 to 4 times a week
• focus on lots of veggies
• body for life style meals (balanced protein/carb ratio plus healthy fat)
• cut waaaay back on sugar.. only eat a treat if i REALLY want it, not just because it is there (this is big during the holidays.. so many treats are everywhere!)
• try to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night
• no fried foods. no excuses.

i think that this is a good list to start with.  it is important for me to have specific goals and not just tell myself to “do better”.. if i lay it out then i am better at sticking to it. lists are this girl’s best friend!

okkkkay so yeah, sorry to ramble on there for a bit. just had to reassess my situation and talking it out helps me stay accountable!

hope you all had a great weekend, i am going to try to catch up on some blogs but i think cuddle time with the pups+marshall just might make me end up closing the laptop ;)

Qs~

1. how do you get motivated/get back on track after a lapse in regular exercise/clean eating (aka “vacation mode”)? let’s hear it people! i need a kick in the butt!

2. what is the best thing you ate this weekend? i love asking this question and hearing about all the deliciousness!

xo. janetha b.

flashback friday round twelve.

heyo! wow.. actually writing a post that is not a foodbuzz festival recap? weird.

this is actually going to be weak sauce because i have lots to accomplish and little time to accomplish it in.. but i couldn’t miss out on flashback friday :)

meal 1: oikos+chocolate PB2+chocolate fig vitatop

as you can see, i am classy and ate it right out of the container with a plastic spoon. and at my desk. this was my only option as i have never been so slammed in my life (TWSS).

 

mmmm.. i love PB2! and chocolate PB2. it is the best thing to happen to yogurt since cinnamon.  speaking of yogurt, have you entered my oikos giveaway? you have until midnight!

meal 2: turkey & avocado on wheat

i was going to make my own lunch but when the boss offered to buy me lunch AND fill my gas tank up on the way to pick lunch up.. i couldn’t say no!  thanks boss.  i think he feels bad because i worked almost 10 hours of over time this week.

mmmm.. pepperjack and mustard.

after work it was straight to the dentist and the whole right side of my face is numb! gah! it sucks. i am drooling and slurping and i look silly when i talk.  a crown cracked (don’t know how) and so they had to take it off so it can be replaced.  i usually LOVE the dentist because i love getting my teeth cleaned.. but i hate it when i have to get shots in my mouth. i hate shots with a passion and i think ones to the mouth have to be the absolute worst ever.

i am going to a girl’s dinner tonight so that is about it for food photos! sorry charlies.  i will have more tomorrow, promise.  and i plan on spending a fair amount of time at the gym tomorrow, i am extra excited for that. craving some weight training like nobody’s business!

*****************************************************************

flashback friday!!

i wasn’t sure what to do for this week’s flashback so i dug into the archives and check out what was going on around this day last year.  then i knew what i had to flash back to: the bite.

it was november ninth 2008.  i remember it clear as a bell. hmm, well, wait.. that simile is used more when you hear something. okay, scratch that whole clear as a bell business and just know that i remember it real, real well and that says a lot considering i have the memory of a goldfish.

marshall, randy, penny and i were hanging out at marshall’s casa.  i had only had penny for a couple weeks!  she was so little and perfect.

the kids, as we call them, got some rawhide bones from nana sue aka my mom.  i decided to give them each a rawhide.  totally normal idea, that is what dogs do.. chew bones.

marshall and i were sitting on the couch and the kids were in the kitchen devouring their treats.  then i heard the most heart-wrenching, blood-curdling, incredibly sad yelp ever!

penny came running.. and her face was gushing blood.  um. yeah. randy bit her. not just any part of her.. but her face. right between the eyes.

i burst into tears. randy got yelled at. penelope was scared for her life. i was scared for her life.  it was a sunday night.. definitely couldn’t rush her to the vet.  the blood was pouring from her poor little face like a fountain.  i was in hysterics.

we got some camera phone photos right after “the incident”…

her face was SO SWOLLEN she looked like a bull terrier from the side! and she was so sad. and so was i.

apparently what happened is randy gobbled up his rawhide and then went after penny’s.  when she didn’t let him have it.. he let HER have it. chomp to the face.

we were all freaking out and i went downstairs with penny and was bawling.  i kept saying “HER FACE! HER PERFECT LITTLE FACE!” i remember that marshall’s roommate alex thought i was crying because she would have a scar.. and he asked marshall if i was going to keep penny or give her away now that her face would have a scar. hahah ummm.. wow. he was serious too. of course i wouldn’t give her away! i would just have to start calling her scarface ;)

penny was standoffish and wouldn’t lay by me after this happened. i was devastated because i thought she though i had hurt her.  it was strange because once we let randy back inside after yelling at him, she totally changed and became happy again. she was just missing her brother!

this was the same night.. best friends again!

poor little bean!

i took her to the vet the next day and $180 later she was good to go. this was her a couple days later. it looked pretty bad for awhile!

we just decided the two of them could not have bones or rawhides around each other anymore.  they share a food dish and that was fine. we are still not sure why randy lashed out! i am just so glad they get along. actually, they are inseparable! this was them last night.. with matching thanksgiving bandanas my mom got them :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

sorry this installment of flashback friday is so snappy! gotta go!

if you participated in flashback friday let me know so i can link back! have a great weekend everyone!

Qs~

1. do you love or hate the dentist? usually i love it. unless i am getting shots to the mouth!

2. if you have multiple pets do they get along? have they always been friends or did they fight? how about the cat/dog combo? tell me stories about your babies :)

xo. janetha b.

i heart foodbuzz. round four.

hello and welcome to the fourth and final round of my foodbuzz blogger festival recaps!  dang, this has taken longer than i expected. thanks for reading along~even though it makes you guys jealous ;)

i misssss regular food blogging, to tell you the truth! as fun as it is to recap, i haven’t been taking photos of my food this week because i knew i wouldn’t be blogging about it and yep, i miss it. i also miss telling you about my workouts.  for the record, i went to a 5:45 AM spin class this morning! that is unheard of for me! it was awesome. and now i have my whole night to relax.  if you miss my daily rambles and whatnot, follow me on twitter because i have been rambling a lot on there!

anyway, i left off at the end of saturday~i stayed up WAY later than i should have and posted round one of my recaps.  after a short 5 hours of sleep, i woke up feeling sleepy but excited to meet up with deb again!!

allison & i walked to deb’s hotel and we set out on foot for a nice long walk along the embarcadero.  we walked from pier two or three all the way to pier thirty i believe.  it was so fun chatting with these two ladies about blogs, food and life in general.  it kills me that we all live so far apart!

we managed to get someone to snap a photo for us~

 

after our walk we said our goodbyes to deb and headed back up to the room to pack our bags and SOMEHOW fit all the swag into every nook and cranny of our suitcases!  i ate this pear while packing.. it was an item in one of the swag bags.

oh houndstooth carpet, i love you.

we then checked out of the hotel and took a cab to restaurant lulu.. not to worry, ashley gave the cab driver her jar of olives that came in her swag bag.  he was more than stoked.

the brunch was GLORIOUS.. we walked in and right up front was a bloody mary bar sponsored by skyy vodka.. we all skipped out on this, but still took photos of course. that is what we do.

the brunch was sponsored by nature’s pride bread.  when i looked at the buffet spread i was ecstatic to see SALADS.. i was craving veggies like nobody’s business!  i loaded up on the deliciousness of it all.

 

i actually took a photo of the wrong label of the pear salad. my version was the nonvegan one with big hunks of fabulous blue cheese :) pears and blue cheese pair SO well together!

i was REAL happy when i saw the frittata was made with mushrooms and my new favorite cheese: kerrygold aged cheddar with irish whiskey! drooool

i didn’t get a photo, but they had some delicious breakfast sandwiches made with smoked ham, kerrygold swiss (my dad’s favorite!) & truffle mustard all on nature’s pride 100% whole wheat.

they also had a huge pan of french toast made with nature’s pride’s latest bread variety~nutty oat!

my loooaded plate:

yum. washed it all down with black coffee that allison and i agreed was a tad on the gaggy side.

we said our goodbyes to our fellow bloggie friends and peaced outta there.

and then there was a parade.

hmmmm random. it is not every day you run into a parade in san fran! but we were lucky as can be.. i guess.

i had to go to the puma store to snag marshall a shirt and so ashley & jasmine went with me and allison & quinn started walking toward golden gate park.  we told them we would catch up with them after the puma store.

after i snagged a long sleeve T for marsh, we checked out a few other stores and then started walking to catch up with the other girls.  we ended up running into a dope farmer’s market!

     

this guy was our friend! he kept giving us samples of nuts and dried fruit. so delish.

 

MUSHROOOOOM HEAVEN!

have you ever seen such tiny jicama?!?  

purple peas? who knew. not me.

  

GIANT squash! try to get your mouth around that one jasmine!

i had no idea brussel sprouts grew like this. did you?

lots of photos :) loved the market. i didn’t buy anything since i already was packed to the brim as far as my luggage situation went!

after the market we said goodbye to jasmine because she had to catch her flight :(

ashley and i kept on trekking trying to catch up with the other girls. i am fairly certain we walked for over two hours. i was in flip flopsss. no bueno. we finally made it to alamo square.. full house opening scene anyone?

we got a call from the others telling us that their destination (the cliff house) was way further than expected and they were going to catch the bus. we totally sat down right where we were (which was in a neighborhood somewhere) and called a cab.  while waiting for the cab we were sitting on some steps. then.. a bus came! so we hopped up and hopped on! lalala, riding the bus.

oh. shit.

my puma bag was not in my hands.  UGHHHH! i left it back on the step we were sitting on.. we hopped up to get on the bus so suddenly that i must have left it behind! grumble. we hopped OFF the bus, walked back about 4 blocks. it was gone.. of course. double grumble!

we eventually caught a cab.. told him where we were going. he laughed hysterically when we told him that we were going to walk there. apparently it was WAAAAYYYY beyond walking distance. hah. he let us off at the cliff house and the scenery was well worth the journey.

we FINALLLLY met up with quinn & allison!

we all look pretty happy but i think it is safe to say we were all very exhausted.  and hungry.. sort of. we all sat down at a restaurant but by the time we got menus marisa and the fam had arrived to pick me up and whisk me away to the airport :(

so let me point out the irony here:

we split up from the others to go to the puma store. we spent the whole rest of the day trying to catch up with them. i LEFT MY FREAKING PUMA PURCHASE on the step in some random spot. by the time we did catch up to them i had to leave.. and remember, the only reason we split up was so i could get marshall a puma shirt. which i don’t have. someone in san fran does though.

isn’t it ironic? doncha think?

sigh.

i lovingly wrapped all my knick knacks swag in bubble wrap before heading to the airport.  thanks for your help ree!

and then i was off! back to the SLC. after a long, long day.

welp, there you have it! my recap of san fran in all it’s entirety! hope you enjoyed all four installments!!

i really, really, REALLY enjoyed attending the festival.  some people thought i was pretty crazy to be flying to california and rooming with a bunch of people i had never met.. sharing beds with “strangers”.. but you know what? i never once was worried about it. i knew i wanted to go from the minute i heard about it and i am so glad i went.  i can’t even explain to you how amazing it was to meet so many of my online blogging friends in person and to get to know each other better.  i am totally serious about buying an island and all of us moving there ;)

if you want to see more of the festival, check out these lovely blogs: danica, allison, quinn, jasmine, ashley, brandi, brittany, coco, sophia, meghann, emily, maggie, sabrina, kath, tina, two boos, andrea, amie, jenna & taysa.

yayer.

loved it.

the end.

Qs~

1. anything ironic happen to you lately? or not so lately? i love ironic stories.. tell me one that has happened to you.

2. what discoveries have you made about fruits/veggies that surprised you? i had three at the farmer’s market sunday! 1: purple peas 2: tiny jicama 3: how brussel sprouts grow (on a stalk). who knew! not this girl.

i will be back tomorrow with flashback friday!

xo. janetha b.