spring break 2015: the highlights.

 ^^nothing like these two friends for an 8 hour car ride. snacks, music, and entertainment included.^^

^^a quick stop at Subway, which meant a chopped salad for me. not too shabby for a ‘fast’ food establishment.^^

^^by the time we arrived around 6 (shaved an hour “off” our time thanks to the change from Eastern to Central time. for an easy/fun first night, we decided to walk down the street and see what we found. we ended up at a little restaurant, and they had karaoke! we didn’t really participate, but one friend got pulled into singing when she was too enthusiastic about a song coming on!^^

Sunday through Wednesday we were superbly lucky, and we were able to hang out on the beach all day!

^^I started every morning with a 60-80 minute walk. I wanted to ‘rest’ from hard workouts, but I just love being active and a morning walk really puts me in a great mood!^^

^^the beach was pretty sweet.^^

^another thing I started most mornings with: some sauerkraut (and unpictured probiotics). being on vacation/out of my normal eating routine can throw digestion our of whack. a little fermented food and some probiotics helps me keep my tummy happy!^

^^beach adventures^^

^^I threw together a lot of salads this week. They’re quick, easy, and cold after sitting in the sun. the bacon I had lying around took my salads to the next level.^^

^^eggs and veggies, perfect before a morning on the beach.^^

 

^^sand art. he was the artist, my relaxing legs became the unwitting canvas!^^

^^sand castle adventures. to be honest, digging the “moat” was my favorite part. back, legs, and arms were definitely sore the next day!^^

^^isn’t it kind of required to eat ice cream at the beach? there was a homemade ice cream shop (Blue Mountain creamery) just one block off the beach which = dangerous/delicious. I honestly don’t remember what I had, but the chocolate chunks in it were amazing!^^

^^a simple, throw together dinner. I cooked a bunch of veggies + chicken the first night we were there, and then I didn’t have to spend an hour on dinner every night^^

^^we walked lots every day, which I loved. between that and my morning walk I was getting 30,000+ steps every day (#Fitbitnerd) which, in normal people terms is about 10-15 miles of walking every day. that being said, I really didn’t feel the need or want to workout every day. I enjoyed relaxing with my friends while still getting lots of movement throughout the day. The one day I did workout, was a more rainy day when we couldn’t get out to the beach. I did a 40 minute HIIT workout. 1.5 miles out, then I ran halfway back to a good hill. I did hill repeats for about 10 minutes, and then headed home.^^

^^another day, another ice cream. personally, I think it’s amazing that I only ate ice cream twice. I normally like a 1 to 1 ratio of days at the beach/ice cream consumed ;)^^

^^my best friend//sometimes we match {by accident}^^

^^our big night out. the restaurant ended up being a disaster– pre cooked/cold food, unwilling to split our check, extra items on our bill, etcetera– but the company and laughter was great^^

Questions of the day:

Do you have a “spring break” this year?

Would you choose to travel to the beach or the mountains for vacation?

a day of food.. and chocolate.

Morning! How are you all doing? I am having just the most excellent Wednesday. Yesterday afternoon, right as I was finishing up my HIIT session, my dearest, beloved Mom walked into the gym, to my complete surprise! Yay! So my next few days will be full of love and fun! I am a total mama’s girl//my mom is my best friend… if you couldn’t tell.

So without further ado (I’m actually off to walk with mom herself as I finish up this post), here’s a recap of my eats in a day (Tuesday as it happens.)

check out Jenn’s website for some more WIAW inspiration!

Tuesday: My morning started off with a little sip of coffee before I headed out for a 50 minute walk. It was misting the whole time but luckily the rain held off until a little after I arrived back home.

I started my morning off with my “hydration station”. 1/2 the coffee was drank before my morning walk. After the walk I had the rest of my coffee, a little apple cider vinegar + water, and a giant glass of water with lemon.

Breakfast followed: sauerkraut, 2 scrambled eggs,with broccoli, peppers, and cauliflower.

Thirty minute later, I realized breakfast wasn’t going to last me all morning, so I sliced up an organic gala apple and enjoyed it with some almond butter.

Breakfast held me through my classes (even if the classes made me sleepy…) and I finally arrived at lunch for a satisfying meal.

A jumbo salad with 2 grilled chicken strips hidden underneath, and topped with some red wine vinegar.

Afternoon snack (to fuel the studying!): 86% dark chocolate. snap, crackle, give me that chocolate! I think I’m an addict. I might be ok with it 😉

My workout for the day was a 30 minute HIIT workout on the treadmill. 30 seconds sprint, 1 minute walk. Repeat. Feel like a (sweaty) beast.

After my workout I still had over an hour until dinner and I needed a little refuel: chocolate chips (Enjoy Life dairy + soy free) with some raw almonds. More chocolate.. what can I say!

Dinner enjoyed with my mom and a club meeting: salad with all the veggies, topped with salmon that I brought from home (because I am a nutrition nerd.)

And there you have it– my eats for a typical day! Sometimes more, sometimes less, but always chocolate. It’s the best.

Questions of the day:

What is one food you eat (almost) every day?

Chocolate: dark, milk, or white?

Do I talk about chocolate too much? 😉

On: Rest.

Time for some Thinking Out Loud!

I am currently sitting on the plane back to Greenville, typing in the air. The past few days have been crazy around here! It wasn’t easy to find the balance between packing, studying, workouts, and making sure I spent enough time with my favorite people (aka the fam) before heading back down to South Carolina for the whole summer.

A funny thing happened in the midst of all the busy days. I didn’t go to the gym- Thursday or Friday. As someone who is likes control and order in her life, I normally don’t skip a day at the gym, and in the past missing a workout would have made me feel stressed and out of control. Especially in the midst of a week (like this one) where I was eating out more, and indulging in some treats.

But who wants to live tied to a schedule, stressed out anytime life gets a little crazy, or anytime we miss a few workouts. Not me! Being able to let go of that control, and just enjoying the time with my family was such a blessing. God has brought me so far in this journey, and He continually shows me that I don’t need to be in control, in fact I can’t be in control- He already is!

Thursday morning, I woke up and it was pouring rain. My mom was at work already, and I was stuck at home. I like to get a morning walk in with my mom every day, but what can you do?! Rain is rain. I studied most of the day, and didn’t do anything too eventful. At lunch time, I did a 30 minute mini-circuit workout, just to get the blood flowing back to my head. Mid-afternoon, my mom arrived home and we decided to go for a walk, to hang out and make up for the walk we had missed in the morning. Normally, 2:30-3, when my mom arrives home, is right when I head to the gym. But I decided that spending 1 hour+ with my mom would be much more beneficial to my health than any workout. In addition to the excellent conversation, we ended up walking 5+ hilly miles, so we got our own little workout in after all! I told myself I was going to do a workout in our basement later that night, but between talking to my mom, studying, making dinner, and starting to pack.. I never did. And I was completely happy with that decision!

Friday morning, I woke up and walked with my mom, as per our usual schedule. We walked our normal 3 miles, enjoying the early morning chill in the air.  The time spent together was so valuable! We always have fun on our walks, even if I was getting pretty hungry hangry for breakfast by the end 😉

We had to rush to clean & prepare our house before a family came to check it out at 10:30 (my parents are selling!). My mom met up with a friend to walk 2.5 more miles (way to go Mama T!) and I got ready for the day. While our house was being shown, we spent an hour shopping at the Gap, and I scored a bunch of cute new dresses! I spent the rest of the morning packing, eating lunch, packing more, and studying a little bit.

Mid afternoon one of my best friends stopped by so we could hang out– who knows the next time we’ll both be on Long Island at the same time! We decided to walk the ~1.3 miles from my house down to Dunkin Donuts for an afternoon ice coffee. The walk wasn’t bad at all, but the sun sure was shining down on us! I pretty much guzzled down my iced coffee, and enjoyed every sip! Plus, it was “National Donut Day” so we each got a free donut with our drink. Normally, I would never eat a donut, especially on a day I hadn’t been to the gym– you know, a day I hadn’t “earned” it. I got a frosted chocolate donut with sprinkles, but mostly ate the frosting.. I wanted the treat but didn’t really want to risk it with all that gluten.

That night, my Dad and I headed out for a delicious dinner in downtown Port Jefferson. I had a greek salad with salmon- simple and delicious. After dinner we walked around for a while and enjoyed the sunset. Then we grabbed some ice cream- yum! I had chocolate soft serve and rainbow sprinkles.

 

It was such an enjoyable day, and I was glad I didn’t stop to worry about the working out, or what I was eating. I had what I wanted and I felt great about it! Plus, with all that walking and activity, I was getting good ‘exercise’ without putting the stress of a hard workout on my body.

Saturday morning, it was another mom & daughter walk- our last for a while :(. After the walk, we had tea together! There is the cutest little Tea Room in our town, and it’s a fun date for anyone who enjoys some good tea. I had apple-cranberry tea, and a cinnamon scone. A fun and perfect morning!

After packing all Saturday afternoon, I headed to the gym and did a 40 minute HIIT workout. After a few days out of the gym, I felt awesome! I’m sure I would have enjoyed working out on Thursday and Friday, but I enjoyed spending time with my family and friends so much more. My priorities are way different than they were a year ago or 2, and that is something to be thankful for. I can’t wait until the next time I get to spend time with my favorite people!

Do you ever choose fun over the gym? 

When was the last time you took a rest day, or *gasp* two?