see ya next year, march.

i don’t want to talk about my technical difficulties as of late.  let’s just say i have a post typed up and saved to a disc.. and now my P.O.S. laptop up and decided to not read discs anymore. sweet. so i guess i will post ALL that information another day. ah well, at least i have a post on hand for a rainy day.

today was not rainy in the SLC. it was snowy.

piles and piles of snow. on march 31st. i do love winter, but i will be the first to say (actually, who am i kidding, i am definitely not the first to say. i am probably the 83,427th to say) i am ready for sunshine.

I LOVED READING THE COMMENTS ON MY LAST POST!!!! it was seriously so fun to hear why you started blogging (or why you don’t have a blog) and how your blog name came about. f’reals, people, go read the comments if you have not yet. there are some great stories :)

also, i am glad that several of  you can relate with my hatred for sweet cottage cheese. thanks for the suggestions on how i can possibly make it appetizing enough to shove down my throat as a sweet treat~ but i am done trying. it’s like i told clay, luckily it is not a matter of life or death and i will live to see another day. hooray.

meal 1: a waffle with PB mousse & an egg white pillow with ketchup @ 8:55 AM

waffle wednesday! i think alliteration is a really good reason to eat waffles.  speaking of waffles, mrs. how sweet posted an amazing recipe for multigrain waffles today.

this should have been eaten at about 8:40 AM but, as luck would have it, i got called into an impromptu meeting right after taking the photos. ugh. so.. the eggs got cold and the waffle got a tad soggy. but was it still delicious? you bet!

for the eggs, i microwaved 3 egg whites (on 60% power for 2 1/2 minutes, if you must know) and topped them with reduced sugar heinz ketchup. no, jess, our shared love affair with the heinz is not lost! no worries!

the waffle was one nature’s path flax freezer waffle topped with a mousse made with one container of brown cow greek yogurt + 1 TB of PB2. heavenly!

250 calories, 5g fat, 22g carbs, 31g protein

so i have a feeling this post is going to be long.. i will just go right into lunchtime talk.

meal 2: pulled BBQ chicken wrap @ 12:00 PM

you had to see this coming. let’s take a look at the many ways i have used this pulled BBQ chicken this week:

• sunday: by itself with swiss on top
• monday: on a salad
• tuesday: in a sandwich
• wednesday: in a wrap

and i already have an idea for the last little bit of it in tomorrow’s meals :)

i layered a flat out wrap with a wedge of laughing cow cheese, cucumber, red peppers, romaine, BBQ chicken and yellow mustard. it was hard to roll up! so big! (TWSS)

approximately 350 calories, 5g fat, 34g carbs, 39g protein

i was not about to mess around with my afternoon snack after yesterday’s ultimate fail.

i kept it simple and had exactly what i felt like!

meal 3: iced protein mocha & a bowl of cereal @ 3:15 PM

for the mocha, i used 1 cup of black coffee, 1 scoop of EAS chocolate protein powder and ice. simple. delicious.

the cereal was just a bowl mug of nature’s path flakes (3/4 cup) with unsweetened vanilla almond milk (1/3 cup).

does it get any better than coffee and cereal? i really doubt it.

275 calories, 5g fat, 28g carbs, 31g protein

after work i really didn’t want to drive home and then to the gym. not after sitting in traffic for 45 minutes and not after driving in this lame weather:

so.. an insanity workout it was!

according to my body for life challenge, today was a HIIT/cardio day. i did the pure cardio insanity DVD in place of a typical HIIT session.

this was brutal.

brianna was nice enough to send me the link to a website that lays out the insanity workouts in detail. i decided to copy and paste the details of the pure cardio DVD that i did today:

• standard 10 minute insanity warmup which consists of jogging, jumping jacks, the heisman, the 123 heisman, butt kicks, high knees and mummy kicks. this cycle is done 3 times through and is followed by a nice stretching session. (i usually burn around 80 calories in the warmup alone!) you can check out this page for an exact rundown of the warmup.

next, there is 21 minutes of pure cardio insanity consisting of 15 moves:

• suicide lunges (side to side touching the floor)
• switch kicks
• wide football sprints
• stance jacks (think a deep squat and jumping jack combined)
• pedal (two lunges, then sprint, followed by 2 more lunges, etc)
• hooks and jump rope (8 hook punches, several high jumps, 8 punches etc)
• power jacks (like jumping jacks, but you go deep in a wide lunge)
• level 2 drills (burpee, 8 push ups, 8 run lunges, repeat)
• frog jumps
• power knees (switch every 30 seconds)
• mountain climbers
• ski down (jump side to side as if skiing)
• scissor runs
• suicide jumps (aka burpees)
• push up jacks (push ups with wide feet)

the workout finishes with a stretching/cool down session and the entire workout is about 40 minutes total.

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WHEW!!

after my workout i laid on the floor in a state of utter and complete exhaustion. and then i was attacked by a couple of rascals.

don’t mind my blinding white skin. utah does not know that it is supposed to be spring.

after a nice long icing session that involved my ankles and two big bags of peas, i decided i needed to eat.

my cute fiance (i still hate that word. can we pick something else? like elephant?) went to the grocery store while i was doing my insanity workout and then he took it a step further and cooked his and hers tacos/taco salad!

bless his heart, he can make two things: tacos and spaghetti.

the meat mixture contained a diced red pepper, a diced red onion, diced green chiles, ground turkey & taco seasoning.

mmmm.. sooo meaty! (said in the “chat stew” voice from the soup. i love joel.)

the toppings included avocado, tomato, black beans, salsa, greek yogurt & hot sauce.

this is how you build a taco salad. ready, go!

layer 1: romaine.

layer 2: black beans.

layer 3: meat.

layer 4: avocado & tomato.

layer 5: greek yogurt & salsa.

layer 6: hot sauce. this brand is particularly delicious and CALIENTE!

and viola!

meal 4: taco salad @ 7:30 PM

it was super duper gross.

marshall had tacos. and coffee. i caught him with his mouth full.

the boy ate 5 tacos. five. f-i-v-e. and has runway model legs. damn him.

after dinner it was adventures in baking! ermm.. NON baking, actually. no oven was used in the process of this project.

i made susan’s apple cinnamon protein bars with the following changes:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 4 scoops 6 scoops vanilla whey powder
• 6 tbsp 4 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tbsp 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup raisins oh HELL no, no raisins for me.
• one unsweetened applesauce cup (such as Mott’s) 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup probably 2/3 cup water

*mix well, put into a 8×8 or 9×9 pan and refrigerate. makes 8 bars.

i told her i was going to make them now:

apparently there is a 3 hour time difference between us, as i was not making protein bars at 11:11 pm. (oh! make a wish! do you guys do that? i always do.)

mix, mix, mix.

do you want to see the rad jar i keep my protein powder in? well, whether you do or you don’t, i am going to show you.

my sister custom makes me something volcom (it is a brand that i used to be obsessed with) every year. she is so awesome. and i love her. hi marisa! this jar has a big volcom stone on the bottom. it is perfect for protein powder!

i can’t wait to try the bars! they are in the fridge now. i am sure that will be my meal 5. so, in that case, i will tell you the stats.

meal 5: apple cinnamon protein bar @ 10 PM

photo to be taken when i eat it.

215 calories, 5.5g fat, 20g carbs, 22g protein

yay!

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a few things:

1. i will be posting guest posts every thursday for awhile. i need a break.. i am a busy girl! i have some great ones lined up.. first one starts tomorrow. get excited!!!
2. i am in the market for a blog makeover. if you have any suggestions as to who i can use for a total blog overhaul, please send some references my way!
3. i had a whole list of awesome posts from around blog land for you to check out but they are on the untouchable disc. i will post those links for you prior to the guest post i have lined up.
4. i almost have 15,000 comments. holy crud, that is pretty cool. i will be sending out a super sweet prize to the 15,000th commenter.
5. march is OVER! can you believe it? here is a list of the national food holidays for the first week of april!

• april 1: national sourdough bread day
• april 2: national peanut butter and jelly day
• april 3: national chocolate mousse day
• april 4: national cordon bleu day
• april 5: national raisin spice bar day AND national caramel day
• april 6: national caramel popcorn day
• april 7: national coffee cake day

okay.. that is all she wrote.. time to go enjoy one of those protein bars!

i leave you with some photos of the ones i love :)

Qs~

1. what is the last recipe you tried out? i can’t wait to sample susan’s bars :) they look so good!

2. of the national food holidays for the first week of april, which are you most excited for? PB&J day for me! yesss.

xo. janetha b.