Yesterday marked the start of this summer’s Best Body Bootcamp (BBB) and I am so ready to get back in shape. I have been kind of lazy lately. Yeah, I said it LAZY. I don’t know why but after training for my last race I have just been feeling unmotivated and my workouts have been basically 1-2 short runs, 1 strength training session and 3-5 walks per week. Nothing to intense and to top it off I have more races coming up in early August so I need to get my act together.
When I found out that there was a bootcamp session this summer I decided to jump at the opportunity to work with Tina and be apart of the BBB community. This was just the support and motivation that I needed to get back on track and reach my goals. Also after going clothes shopping and finding clothes that once looked good on me just didn’t work I was feeling even more motivated to get back to my dedicated workout self. Side note: I bought a dress for a wedding at the end of July and it’s my goal to look great in it versus the okay that I look in it right now.
Yesterday I did the fit test which was actually somewhat embarrassing and alone is motivation to get myself back to work because honestly I have never run so slow in my life. Back before I was pregnant I could do a straight mile about 5 minutes faster (and without the BOB) versus right now. I also could hold a plank longer than 45 seconds. So I have a lot to work towards and it feels good. I also want to lose inches. I am not so worried about the weight number but I’d like to get more toned. I am almost a year postpartum and I’m so ready to get back to my old body or at least closer to it. Although I will probably have another year or two before that happens due to breastfeeding (my goal is to breastfeed until at least two). I’ll share my weight-loss while breastfeeding issues in another post soon.
So while I’m not up for sharing my numbers (weight, measurements, etc) with you I will share a before picture. I will also share progress photos at 4 weeks (half way) and then at 8 weeks when the program is complete.
Who else is participating in BBB? Or have you before?
Happy National Drink Your Veggies Day!! I’m starting my day out with a nice green juice. I have been trying to do green juice or smoothies 3-4 mornings a week and after this weekend’s festive Father’s Day event I am in desperate need of a nice green veggie juice. This week is all about eating our veggies so I also need to whip up another batch of Bloody Mary Hummus to have with veggies for healthy snacks in the house!
Also honor of National Drink Your Veggies Day, you can also take part in this Naked Power Garden Sweepstakes. You can vote for your favorite Power Garden recipe for your chance to win a $250 garden gift basket. Oh did I mention that my Bloody Mary Hummus recipe is one of the recipes you can vote for?
For a ton of great recipes using Naked’s new Power Up fruit and veggie blends head over to Glam Power Up Pinterest Board.
How are you planning to celebrate National Drink Your Veggies Day?
Power Garden is Naked Juice’s new veggie drink lineup with 1 pound of veggies in every bottle*. With delicious flavors that only Naked could blend, Power Garden offers one of the easiest ways to get your daily servings of veggies and fruits, along with good sources of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Learn more at http://www.nakedjuice.com/veggiedrinks.
*weight of vegetables, prior to juicing
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Naked via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Naked
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Naked via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Naked.
I don’t know about you but I love hummus. Actually, everyone in my house loves hummus, my 11 month old could eat an entire bowl full if I let her. Since we are hummus lovers around here and we go through so much I have been trying to make my own hummus at home to save money and to make a healthier version.
Neil used to make it for us all the time but with his crazy work schedule/commuting there just isn’t time so I have taken over hummus duty and have been enjoying making a variety of flavors. Just last week I made a jar of balsamic hummus and Bloody Mary hummus (recipe below). Both jars were gone by the end of the week. I think we might all turn into chickpeas!
The Bloody Mary hummus was inspired by all the juicing that I have been doing for my cleanse. Instead of oil I used Naked Power Garden Tomato Kick juice to thin it out and provide the tomato/veggie flavor base. My favorite Bloody Mary recipe uses wasabi instead of your traditional horseradish so I used it in my hummus recipe to give a little heat. I also added some other traditional Bloody Mary ingredients such as (vegan) Worcestershire sauce and some lemon to brighten up the flavor.
Add the chickpeas, wasabi powder, black pepper,salt, lemon juice, tahini and Worcestershire sauce to the bowl of a food processor that has been fitted with the s-blade. Process on low while slowly steaming in the Naked Power Garden Tomato Kick through the feeding tube. Serve up with veggies, crackers and/or pita. For the best flavor make at least an hour before eating.
What is your favorite flavor of hummus?What is the most interesting flavor you have tried?
Come back and visit on Monday, June 17 to learn how you can enter the Pinterest Sweepstakes contest with Naked Power Garden by voting for my recipe!
Power Garden is Naked Juice’s new veggie drink lineup with 1lb. of veggies in every bottle*. With delicious flavors that only Naked could blend, Power Garden offers one of the easiest ways to get your daily servings of veggies and fruits, along with good sources of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Learn more at
So it has been 10 days since I started this cleanse and let me tell you it has been a rough 10 days. Well I guess that’s a big of an exaggeration because days 2-7 were going okay, day 8 was tough and then day 9 happened. This is the day that I had a happy hour date with a friend that we had planned over a month before so obviously I had the intention of having a cocktail. Not only did I have a cocktail but I had bread and then I went out after with Neil and Edith and we shared a cone of sorbet.
I hate writing this post and am a little disappointed in myself for falling off the cleanse wagon but I think it’s important to be honest with you.
I dreaded each morning because of how much I hate smoothies or green juice for breakfast. I mean I like them but I also want something more substantial especially after a night of non-stop nursing, which we have had a few this past week. I have always had a hard time with doing smoothies for breakfast and yet I try again and again but I’m not sure why I bother. I can never seem to make them fill me up despite adding nut butters, protein powders, avocado, coconut, etc to bulk them up. That being said I have gone back to eating oats with fruit, or fruit with nuts and coconut or veggies and gluten free or sprouted grain bread.
The good news is that breakfast was the only real diet/food related struggle I had with this cleanse was the morning green juice or smoothies. I know I had a piece of bread and sorbet on Sunday but otherwise I have been feeling really good with my high alkaline foods diet, (pretty much) no gluten, (pretty much) no alcohol and (pretty much) no refined sugars.
I have to say I have been very successful with the no coffee aspect of the cleanse has been a success and here I am still going strong. Honestly this cleanse has transformed itself into a coffee free June cleanse and I’m going strong and staying strong with this. I have to say I have lusted after Neil’s coffee in the morning but I also know my body needs a break and that I need to get back to my old routine of only 3-4 cups per week versus the 7-10 I have been having.
I debated restarting the cleanse after my bad day this past Sunday but I decided that it just doesn’t make sense to right now. We have a rare date night coming up which we plan to enjoy with a night of amazing food at Portobello. Then there is Fitbloggin which I am sure I can keep it healthy but also want to enjoy a beer or cocktail as well and then my parents come right after that. I have to say it’s bad timing for me to even attempt to do a cleanse properly.
That being said this is my plan for the remainder of the month of June (and hopefully beyond):
Green Smoothie or juice for breakfast 2-3x per week; for me this is so much more attainable than 7 days/week.
Gluten Free 4-5x per week; I know that too much gluten bothers my stomach so my goal is to avoid it at lease 4 days out the week.
Limit adult beverages to a max of 3 per week, while trying to stick closer to two.
No coffee for the remainder of June, after June keep my coffee max at 4 per week, while trying to keep it closer to three
Continue to eat more raw veggies, lower glycemic fruit and lots of leafy greens while limiting the amount of grains, nuts and soy.
I am planning to do another cleanse in August probably not the Crazy Sexy Diet one but rather a three-five day high raw food, juice and smoothie cleanse. I would love suggestions for one if you have any. I am actually working on planning my own and will see how it goes. Who knows maybe I will try it after my parents head home so I can give my body a break after showing them around to all the amazing food carts, breweries and eateries in Portland.
Have you ever done a cleanse? If yes, what kind and how did you do?
This past weekend we took our first trip to Seattle for a mini family getaway and to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary which is coming up on May 31st. One thing I will say about this trip is that first off we didn’t do enough research prior to going on our trip and making our hotel reservation. Overall I was a little disappointed in Seattle but we’ll be giving it another chance this October when we head up for my first half marathon.
Where We Stayed:
Downtown Westin Seattle– We made our reservations a few months ago for Seattle via Hotwire and got an amazing deal on this hotel. We decided to go with a hotel downtown thinking that it would be the best and most accessible for doing things without having to worry about driving places. The hotel was nice and it was near the monorail that takes you over to the Seattle Center, it is within walking distance to a number of sites including the aquarium, Pike Place Market, and shops. It is also only a few blocks from the bus and train. The hotel had a pool, cardio room and weight room so we were able to stay active.
City Pass Sites:
Since there were so many sites we wanted to see we decided to get the City Pass Seattle to save money on admission, although I think in the end we didn’t end up really saving any money because we didn’t make it to the Pacific Science Center or a second time up the Space Needle due to time or the Argosy Cruise due to the weather.
We did however visit the EMP Museum where Neil was in heaven because there was a Nirvana exhibit going on. It is a really fun museum filled with pop culture/music history as well as fun interactive exhibits. Unfortunately Edith was just a bit too young for most things here so we didn’t get to explore as much as we would have liked to.
Next we visited the Space Needle and a bonus of having the City Pass was not having to wait in line to get a ticket. I have to say I might be a tall building snob because the Space Needle despite it’s beautiful views of Seattle is by no means as impressive as the CN tower, however Neil would like me to point out that if you have never been to the CN Tower that Space Needle is probably more impressive than I think.
We also used the Woodland Park Zoo pass which was really fun because it was the perfect spot for Edith. They even had a spot where she could go in and meet a few goats which she thought was just amazing. We had fun showing her all the animals and enjoyed the zoo as well.
The last City Pass we used before heading home was the Seattle Aquarium. Now let me first say that you want to get here when they open because it gets busy fast and by the time we left at 11:30a there was a line out the door to get in. This museum was fun for all of us because we got to touch some of the sea creatures, we were able to a huge octopus and lots of beautiful fish. I have to say this was my favorite of all the City Pass activities.
Beyond the City Pass:
Besides the City Pass sites we also visited the Saturday University Farmers Market where we had a yummy vegan tamale that was piled up with veggies. We admired all of the fresh produce, wishing that we would take some home with us but alas no fridge at the hotel to store it in until we headed home.
We also visited the Fremont Sunday Market which has one or two produce stands but is mostly food stands, a flea market and people selling their crafts and other goods. We strolled through and found ourselves around the corner at Theo Chocolate sampling all there dark chocolate pieces. We wanted to go on a factory tour but unfortunately we thought about it too late and all the Saturday tour spots were filled.
After browsing around the Fremont Sunday Market and gorging ourselves on free chocolate samples we decided to walk to the Ballard Sunday Farmers Market. Now if you live in Seattle you are probably shaking your head because what crazy person walks from Fremont to Ballard? Well these crazy people do. Honestly it was fine for the first mile or so because you are on a bike path but then once you hit the Fred Myers (for anyone who knows that I’m talking about or plans to try this) you find yourself in a very industrial area which wasn’t the best place to walk through.In the end we made it to the market and were hungry so we went searching for something to eat.
After making a round of the beautiful market we decided to get a veggie sausage with all the fixings and a homemade fruit soda. Once we finished our veggie sausages we decided to catch a bus back to Fremont where are car was and do a little more exploring over there. We ended up stopping into a pub (I don’t remember the name) to have a beer and share a hummus platter before heading out. Now I wish we had stayed in the Fremont or Ballard area because it is just so much more walkable and has lots of cute shops and restaurants.
I should also add that we did go to the famous Pike Place Market which I honestly was not impressed by at all. I don’t know why but I thought it was going to be something more exciting than it was and holy tourist. I mean yes we are tourist too but it was packed to the brim and just didn’t make for an enjoyable experience. We did however find the Gum Wall both impressive and disgusting at the same time.
This is like the best holiday right? Doesn’t it make you want to get out and run or at least get out and buy yourself a new running outfit to celebrate?
Since it’s National Running Day I thought I’d share these fun facts from Brooks Running to hopefully motivate you (and me) to get out of the house and onto the streets to celebrate with a run!
Also did you know that according to a new survey from Brooks, 66 percent of runners believe they have more sex when they run with their significant other? So grab your partner and get out for a run!!
Disclaimer: I was not compensated in anyway for sharing these facts. I chose to do so out of my love for running and Brooks.
Am I the only one who actually enjoys working out more on vacation than at home? I find it really fun and motivating to get up early in the morning and heading the the hotel gym or out for a run. It also helps me feel a little better when I inevitably enjoy a sweet treat or maybe something a little less than healthy.
During our latest excursion to Seattle I did a little research before we headed out and found that our hotel had a huge cardio room, a weight room and a pool. They also had these great little cards created by Runners World that have 3-5 mile running routes near the hotel. On top of that they had workout clothes and shoes that you could rent for $5/day if you forgot yours. Could you really ask for more?
We took advantage of the cardio room which had treadmills and ellipticals with personal TV’s at each which is always a nice distraction. We went to the pool as a family and had some fun splashing around and Neil went on the 3+ mile run on the card in the photo above. On top of all that we did some major walking, about 15 miles over the entire weekend and if you have been to Seattle you know that there were some major hills as well.
On our next trip I will me in the midst of training for my half so I will be researching good running routes in Charlottesville, VA. If you have any suggestions let me know!
