Of Awkwardness and Speed Skaters

Hello lovelies:

lol I’m back with another random blog title! It will all make sense in due time I swear!

I do hope all of you peeps have had a wonderful week thus far. Mine has actually been pretty nice. I haven’t been massively overworked which has given me plenty of time to be able to enjoy some quality puppy and Fiancé time – not to mention get my P90X workouts in!!!

 

“Operation Bring it!” – Day 4 – March 23rd, 2010

Now if you’re quick on the draw you noticed that I skipped a day. That’s because I was horribly exhausted on the 22nd (long court day) and couldn’t bring myself to do YogaX. I just wasn’t feeling it! So I made an executive decision and moved my rest day from the end of the week to the middle instead. My body was begging for a break and truth be told I think it allowed me to face the rest of the workouts that were to come.

Come the 23rd I was ready for my P90X so I popped my YogaX DVD into my player and got ready to ruuuuumble! Yogi style!

I had previously done this DVD in my hotel during my most recent travels, which meant I knew what to expect. And that was some serious awkwardness and borderline boredom. I really hate to say it but this is the only P90X DVD thus far that I really haven’t liked.

This workout is an hour and a half; which is a particularly excruciating length of time when you’re not down with what you’re doing. For about an hour you do the usual sun salutation type movements. Funny thing is I feel like there’s a ton of repetitive flow patterns and not enough power. I do Power Yoga (using Rodney Yee’s brilliant DVD) on a fairly regular basis and YogaX my friends isn’t power yoga. Yes I managed to feel uncomfortable but I don’t think that was due to some power style moves in there. Rather, I think the flows just don’t work sometimes. And then there are the times when you want to tell Tony Horton to move on already! But nope. He repeats things over. And over. And over. Again.

After an hour of flow type movements he tells you the worst is over. Then you move into half an hour of poses that you hold for long periods of time. I’m not used to that type of yoga so it’s an adjustment and it will take me a bit of time to get things working like clockwork. In the meantime my dancer will look none too graceful. Most of the movements are pretty Kosher and I managed to play along. That was until we hit about the last 10 minutes. That’s the time period where all the lovely DVD people get on the floor and proceed to contort into something I’d previously only seen done by Cirque de Soleil gymnasts. I tried to find a picture to show you what I meant but couldn’t – despite my creative Googling terms! lol Point is it feels uncomfortable on my neck and I don’t want to push it without supervision.

Overall I didn’t love this workout and I’m tempted to just do Power Yoga with Rodney Yee, on YogaX days!

“Operation Bring it!” – Day 4 – March 24th, 2010

This day was devoted to Back and Legs plus the now very familiar AbRipperX. Thankfully we were back to hour long workouts – and this one seemed to practically fly by!

I really enjoyed this DVD! It included a ton of variations on squats as well as lunges. I’d like to think they’re going to make me super bootylicious! lol It just so happens that my Hispanic genes managed to miss my butt region all together! lol

Seriously though this workout pushed me to keep on going and in the case of the evil wall squats to hold them as long as the peeps on the DVD. And by the end of it I felt really proud of myself!

One of the fantastic moves on this workout was called Super Skater. In it you attempt to mimic a speed skater by maintaining a quasi lunge in one leg and simultaneously moving your other leg back while moving your arms. This guy on YouTube does a pretty good of demonstrating the move. Although, really you should be aiming to have no toe tap in the back:

Before doing this move I had no idea that the speed skating motion could be so painful when repeated over and over again! Don’t believe me? Try it out for yourself! It hurts!!! And you can feel it working!!! One of my new favourites, pain notwithstanding. Bottom line on this move? Apolo Anton Ohno, I salute you! lol

Now before you say “But I have a bad knee! I can’t do this DVD!” let me tell you my background. Sure I’ve suffered many injuries in my day but amongst the worst are my knee and ankle injuries. I’ll probably share more on those injuries with you in the future but let’s just say my past fractured kneecap and my 2nd degree ankle ligament tear haven’t stopped me from doing this workout. Which is my way of saying “If I can do it, so can you!” Just make sure to rehab ahead of time.

Up for Today? KempoX – woohoo!!!

Power Up!

Morning bloggies:

In the recent past you've heard me rave about yoga. Now as big a fan as I am now, it wasn't always that way. In fact I daresay I used to have some misconceptions and misgivings about yoga that I've now moved past:


Misconception #1: How can you call that exercise!? It's only stretching!

Ahhh . . . but it's so much more than stretching. You hold poses (challenging your muscles) and move quickly (at least in the type of yoga that I like) between each pose as well! I dare you to do an hour of power yoga and claim it's only streching. In fact, I'd argue that the average power yoga session has you doing dozens of push ups. Trust me - your abs feel it in the next morning!


Misconception #2: Oh come on! But it's called a "practice!" You don't practice running or weight training. It's for sissies!

It really isn't for sissies.  In fact, it's my frank opinion that those that workout in other ways can greatly benefit from yoga. Anything that makes you stronger and more limber all at the same time is A1 in my book! As for why they call it a practice - I'm not really sure. But in the end it's all semantics.


Misconception #3: Isn't yoga an Eastern religious practice?  You can't participate if you're Christian!

I'll admit that this one was a big struggle for me. Yes, yoga is derived from physical and mental practices originating in India. And yes they are heavily associated with Hinduism. Having said that, there are many ways to practice yoga - including some that bear very little in common with the traditional Indian practices.

While some choose to practice yoga with yoginis that speak of the "third eye" or in quasi-religious retreats there are people like me who choose to practice yoga with very Western teachers whose emphasis is solely on physical conditioning and relaxation. You won't ever find me in the former kind of class. It's just not what I'm comfortable with - so I won't go there.


As for the type of yoga that I particularly heart!? Power Yoga with Rodney Yee - I feel awesome afterwards!



Have you ever tried yoga? What are your opinions on the practice - is it for sissies? Does it kick your butt? Are you curious?

Toronto Girl out West goes on Vacation!!!!

That's right amigos! I'm going to be leaving you for a while for a much needed vacation. :o)

Now now . . . don't cry too much! I know you'll miss me (awwww . . .) but I promise to be back on the 8th of June!

If it sounds like it's a long-ish vacation, that's 'cause it is! And I couldn't be more thrilled!

What will I be doing you ask?

First, the fiance and I will be driving from our Rocky Mountain town to Vancouver (this will take about 10 hours) where we'll meet my mom. It's her first visit to Vancouver AND I haven't seen her since early last October. I'm looking forward to the reunion!!

Then we'll be checking into our swank hotel located near Stanley Park. Remember these views?


Well look for something similar again! :o)

And the whole purpose of my trip to Vancouver? To attend my Call to the Bar Ceremony. You see all of us new calls (new lawyers that is) dress up in our Barrister Gowns and are formally introduced to the practice of law. This is done by presenting us to a Justice of the Supreme Court and having us sign some really old and important books. lol

Want a preview of what I'll look like? Okay! I'll show you one of the graduation pictures I took while wearing said gown. Kind of like an English Barrister minus the wig:

Hahahaha! Yeah that's me rocking the wise lawyer look! :oP I think I got it down to a T in that picture!

After my call, I plan on going out to a wonderful restaurant to celebrate before tucking in for the night and heading to MEXICO!!!!!!!!!!! *Insert crazy Mariachi sound here*

The main reason for our trip is to check out wedding locales. Yup! A Destination Wedding for me! :o) Hence a good chunk of our time will be spent on the beaches of Tulum:

Picture borrowed from here!

I hope to get married on this tranquil stretch of beach hours away from the maddening crowds of Playa del Carmen and Cancun. In fact, I have several meetings set up with some wedding coordinators and hopefully by the time I get back we'll have the location more or less (hoping for more) sorted out.

You can also bet your bottom dollar that I plan on coming back with some amazing food pictures! It's no exaggeration to say that I've been dreaming about my wonderful Mexican eats for months now! lol

And I promise to try to get my exercise in although I don't think I'll be running miles in the hot Mexican sun. I will however do some yoga in this tropical destination! People travel from all over the world to practice yoga in Tulum and I'm not about to miss out! :o)

The fiance will just have to find something to do while we (mommy and me) work on our warrior two poses! lol

Before heading home from Mexico we'll also take a bit of a road trip to the colonial city of Merida, visit the ruins of Chichen-Itza, and finish off with one night in Cancun.

So there you have it! My plan for the next while. And the reason I'm going to be absent. I promise to be back with a vengeance and in fact I promise to come back with a lovely Mexican souvenir for a GIVEAWAY!!!

That way I can lure you all back to my blog! :oP

Hasta luego amigos!!!!

They're HERE! They're HERE!!!! The Manolos are here!!!!!

Hahahaha - can you tell I'm excited some?

I was thrilled when these little babies arrived. Especially 'cause I wasn't expecting them until some point next week. But for right now I'm going to tease you and not show you the shoe pics. Or you could completely ignore everything else I have to say and scroll down to the bottom. I won't mind! :oP lol


Running Towards a Half - Update

Thursday, May 21st

Today's run consisted of a slightly shorter distance. I did two miles at a nearby park and get this THE FIANCE RAN ALL 2 MILES WITH ME!!! I can't even tell you how happy I was with that development. He's doing so well and he's not even a runner. In fact he usually hates it. But seeing me start to train has motivated him. :o)

Now he's a regular workout buddy - doing weights, 100 sit ups a day (sometimes 200!), running, walking a TON (he loves to walk!). Plus he's eating pretty healthfully too!

I think the reason I'm most excited he's running with me is because that way if I'm starting to fade during my half he can jump in and encourage me to keep going the rest of the way (you know - just like Bobbi's hubby).

After my run I came home and did Jackie Warner's Workout. I LOVE this DVD! I'm going to have to review this one soon. You Jillian purists won't like this but I would rather do Jackie's stuff any day! It's awesome!


Friday, May 22nd

And on Friday . . . I rested! :o) As per the schedule. lol I like Fridays.

Today is supposed to be a cross-training day. I haven't quite decided what that's going to mean. I'm tempted to go for a run but I want to be well rested for my long run (yes it's long by my standards at this point). It's only 4 miles but that's 1.5 more than I've run on any single run this week.

I may just call this a stretching Yoga Burn day. We'll see! :o)


Eats!

Unfortunately I don't have many food pictures from yesterday. I can tell you that for breakfast I had an oatmeal pancake smeared with a tablespoon of almond butter.

Then at lunch I had a rather traumatic customer service experience. It was such an unbelievable and horrible thing to have to go through. I was accused of things I had never done. And it came out of left field. After that I was really upset and ate my lunch without taking a picture. But it was healthy and yummy. In fact it was roasted vegetables and a very small (4 oz.) piece of sirloin steak. I'll have to have it again when I'm in a happier mood.

Dinner was a cheeseburger and some stolen spoonfuls of DQ soft serve stolen from the boy.

As for this morning . . . For brunch I ate a fast food breakfast! :oO lol Actually the only fast food breakfast I like.

McDonald's pancakes with a fruit n' yogurt parfait on the side:


You see once in a while the fiance has to work overnight on weekends. He came back at 10am this morning after having left before 8pm last night. I know those hours are KILLER on him so when those overnights coincide with a weekend he gets to choose whatever breakfast he wants.

This morning he asked for McDonald's and I gave in. :o) As long as it doesn't happen too often . . . in fact I think it may be nearly a year since I last had hotcakes from Mickey D's. They were pretty good but not as good as I remember.

That's what happens when you start eating low carb, low fat, good for you stuff. The other stuff just doesn't take the same anymore.Not yet sure whether to be sad or happy about that! :oP lol


Manolos for the Bride

Alright - I know you've been patient. So here is what I discovered when I opened my box (EEEEKKK!!!):


I'm such a tease! :oD


*gasp* You can bet your stilettos I was crazy giddy by this point! In fact I had completely forgotten about my horrible incident earlier on in the day.

Once I tried on the shoes and figured out they fit perfectly (sorry Mara ;o) ) I decided to take my new favourite toys on a bit of a photo shoot for the blog!

Hello LOVER!!!! :o)


Nearly a four inch heel and easily the most comfortable pair of stilettos I have ever worn in my life.

Clearly Senor Blahnik knows a thing or two about shoes!


And the jeweled buckle FTW! :o)

Le sigh . . . I am a happy girl with these babies! Super excited to wear them when I go out to celebrate my call to the bar ceremony! Oh and I have some yummy food plans for that evening. I'll be sure to take pictures and post them when I return from vacation.


Cool Things you Should Know About

Mara's talented father has designed a line of food blogger jewlery. You can enter to win one over at both Eating Bender and What's For Dinner. Should you not win you can also order them directly through Mara. :o)

Costco is currently selling a Garmin Forerunner at a deeply discounted price. Now I'm not at the point where I need one yet but I have been wanting to know what my heart rate is when I run. I'm tempted.

One of my friends from elementary school has recently begun blogging. She's been detailing her workouts (amongst other things). And I'm loving reading her musings. Follow along with Espirit d'escalier here!

For all you runners - ever wondered how to fuel up on your long run? Amy will tell you how!

The very talented Zesty is giving away a blog makeover!

Ever suffered from chafing while working out (trust me it's NOT fun)? Danica will tell you how to treat it and avoid it for good!


Woooo that was a long one! I'm off to run some errands and enjoy my weekend!


Catch you later peeps! :o)

First Outdoor BBQ of the Season!

Hola bloggies:

I got home late yesterday and I didn't get a chance to blog or read/comment on your musings. Needless to say as a result my Google Reader is just about ready to pop at the gills! :oP

Let's play catch-up!!!

Running Towards a Half - 20th of May

Yesterday's schedule called for 30 minutes of cross training. Apparently this is to allow you to recuperate from your run days and to diversify your workout. Given that weight training is covered off on other days, I decided instead to do some yoga!

As some of you know, Rodney Yee is my main man when it comes to that department! :o) So I did a half an hour workout courtesy of Power Yoga: Strength and Flexibility. It had been a while since I had practiced yoga on a daily basis and boy could I tell! I was TIGHT!!! I'm going to have to keep this up if I want to be limber for my runs.


Today's Adventures

Today has been a l-o-v-e-l-y day! The sun has been out, the sky has been blue, the birds have been chirping. The whole works! Just the picture of early summer beauty!

To start off my day I made one of my delicious oatmeal pancakes. These are completely delicious but I have to admit one is not enough to last me through to lunch. It either takes two pancakes or one with some yogurt on the side.

My morning pancake was plain with a bit of agave syrup but I'll show you the fiance's since his was prettier:


An oatmeal pancake, plain Oikos yogurt, and some thawed mixed fruits (we buy them frozen in bags because they're cheap and there when you want them). Let's say the Oikos yogurt has been a HUGE HIT in the Toronto Girl out West house. In fact I may have had multiple servings yesterday. Yes, that's right - breakfast was yogurt (2) and dinner was yogurt (2). lol But I did have a normal non-yogurt lunch.

What can I say!? Oikos and I have decided to become secret lovers! :oP lol

Half-way through the morning I tried a new product and Odwalla juice which I have to say turned out be a good Green Monster (rawr!) substitute:

Want to see the stats on this bit of LifeFood?

Overall Review on Odwalla LifeForce juice? It's yummy and a good substitute for Green Monsters! In a pinch I'd totally consider buying one again. Still I wouldn't run out to get them BUT I would recommend them!

As for lunch . . . can you guess what I ate? lol No sillies! Not Oikos! ;o) I met the fiance at a local park and enjoyed a meal al-fresco:


Ah . . sushi never fails me! Of course there's not enough veggies in there so I split a tray of crudites (I didn't have any of the dip) with the fiance:

For dinner we decided it was high time we have the 1st BBQ of the Summer Season! :o) Woohoo for cooking that is healthy and involves minimal clean up afteward. I lurve it!

Of course, with it being the first bbq of the summer we didn't have anything to start the fire with. So as we fiddled with our hibachi my hunger pangs became more like screaming hunger pains. Thus some nibbling was in order:


I ate about half a bowl of butter-less popcorn. Then the fiance busted out the serious crack. I mean snacks! lol :oP


Yes - I may have stolen some of these nuts too. What can I say? The fire was taking a while to get going and by this point I felt like eating my arm. lol :oP TMI? Prolly!

Note the lovely cashews:


YUMMERS! :o)

Eventually with the help of some fire starter we were able to cook our chicken breast skewers which were promptly incorporated into one of my ginormous salads!


I kind of over did it on the snacking so I only ate about half my actual dinner. But it was oh so yummy! I can't wait until the next time we bbq it was such a fun evening! Sitting on our porch bbqing, drinking cold bevys, listening to some music, and rocking my new sunglasses.

Oh what's that? You'd like to see them!?!? lol :oP


That's right! I pan to be styling on the beaches of Mexico!!! :oD I'm pretty well in countdown mode at this point.

That's it for tonight bloggies - now I have to head outside and get in my 2-miler for the day.


Hasta Luego! :o)

I Heart Plantains!

Hello bloggies!

The boys family is visiting for a couple of days but they're otherwise occupied at the moment. Which means I'm free to update you on yesterday's eats. :o)

Breakie yesterday was my traditional Green Monster. I thought I would change things up this time by showing you what everything looks like in the blender.

As you can see I really pile things into my blender. There's so much good stuff in there that I'm always full from my breakfasts! So much more than before I discovered Green Monsters.

Yesterday's lunch was an uber-yummy sandwich on a whole wheat bread. The fillings were tomatoes, red onions, pesto, lettuce, goat's milk feta and avocado. Yummers! After my lunch time walk I sat down to enjoy my lunch and read my Fitness magazine.


Welcome to my office btw! :o) That's a small section of it. It's actually rather large and filled with lots and lots of files. I keep really busy at work which helps me to appreciate my down time and my exercise time all the more!

Dinner was a total change-up. The end results may seem a little strange but I had a serious craving for ethnic food!!! You see I was born in El Salvador where we eat plantains. We wait until they're black on the outside (super ripe) and then we cut them up into long slices and cook them in a little bit of oil. Their ripeness gives them an intensely sweet flavour!

But don't be fooled. They're not dessert. We often eat them with breakfast. I used to like mine with a crusty bun and beans. lol Oh my yummy ethnic food . . .

Here in the British Columbia Rockies I can't find plantains. So I tried the same cooking method with bananas and came up with this:


I paired my wannabee plantains with a slice of avocado, a piece of goat's milk feta, half a whole wheat tortilla, and two poached eggs. It was good but nowhere near the beauty of a real plantain.

I highly recommend it bloggies - just keep your plantain until it's black on the outside and then cook them up. Eat them as dessert if you'd like. They're delicious!

Oh and could you do me a favour? Have an extra piece for me! :o)


Today's Workout

1) I woke up this morning and did A.M. Yoga

2) I skipped my lunch walk but walked back and forth to court several times

3) Unfortunately I couldn't run. :o( My calves have seized up and they feel like two little balls of solid pain! I'm off running until I can get them to release. For now I alternate heat and cold.

4) To try to relax the calf muscles I'll likely do more yoga before bed

A Blogger Bake Sale

Top of the morning to you bloggies! This morning's post will be a quick one and I promise to return later with a recap of yesterday's eats!

But first let's talk baking . . .

As some of you may know a couple of months ago Meghan of "The Inner Workings of a College Graduate" held an incredibly profitable bake sale with the proceeds going to her efforts towards the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training.

Well it's that time again - Meghan has announced the bake sale is back!!! Woohoo - I missed out on participating in the first one as I was new to the whole food blogging thing back then. But there's no way I'm missing out this time.

And this time Canadians can participate too! In fact the sale will be sectioned off for Canadian goodies and American ones. That way there will be no worries of baked goods unable to cross the border. It seems last time there were a lot of disappointed Canadians.

Won't you consider participating? All it would involve would be a donation of time and baked goods. It would benefit a great cause and support a fellow blogger!

And if you're not into baking you could always bid on a baked good. Yummy eats for charity! Sounds good to me! :o)

I intend to participate but my question to you out there is: What would you like to see in the bake sale?

I can try to modify a recipe or bake a classic. I'm quite proud of my baking skills but tend to avoid baking too much because it tempts me so. Any ideas?


And in parting, yesterday's workout:

1) I woke up and did A.M. yoga (calves began to tighten)

2) At lunch I went for a short walk

3) I did Day 1 of my circuit training

4) I attempted an interval run but by this point my calves were crazy tight. I could barely stand up straight. So I had to pull up and call it a day.



PS: I made those Linzer cookies two Christmases ago

Raw Almond Macaroons - An Oven Variation

It's that time bloggies - raw almond macaroon time! Woohoo!!

So how about we quickly cover today's eats so we can get to the good stuff?

Breakie this morning consisted of a Green Monster with the usual suspects (mixed berries, yogurt, almond breeze, spinach, kale, banana, and flax seeds). I accompanied this yummy drink with two coconut macaroons. Oh how I tease! :oP lol They were yummers though!

I then headed to work fully revitalized by both my morning eats and my A.M Yoga session with Rodney Yee. In fact even I was surprised by how chipper I was amidst the mountains of files.

Halfway through the morning my co-workers came into my office and invited me out for Crackbucks for a Tall Soy London Fog. Super yummy but kind of an expensive habit I need to break before it gets too serious!

Lunch was a total highlight today! I had a selection of veggies (think tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, cauliflower, and broccoli) with a little bit of dressing for dipping. All accompanied by a low-fat Alpine Grain whole-wheat roll. It was yummers!


Wasn't my lunch ridonculously colourful? A little later in the afternoon I snacked on a banana and two strawberries.

Dinner starred one of my new loves - Soyganic Smoked Tofu!!!! :o)


Review: This stuff is amazing! It has a slight smoked ring that makes it super tasty. To be honest it kind of tastes like meat but without the heavy feeling afterwards!

My favourite way to eat it is sauteed with some wilted spinach, tomato, and sometimes mushrooms. I only add a little bit of salt and pepper and we're good to go!


Since the boy is away on vacation I took some "me time" tonight and really enjoyed my meal. I laid out a lovely table and even lit a candle. After I finished dinner I made it a point of reading the last couple of chapters of Sophie Kinsella's "Remember Me?" Total chick-lit! No thinking involved! But totally enjoyable!!


Dessert was . . . you guessed it! A coconut macaroon! And on that note . . .

Raw Macaroons - A Blondie and a Brunette

I first saw this recipe on the Fitnessista website. I googled a bit more and then discovered that it's originally from "Raw Food, Real World" by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis. Apparently the book is supposed to be awesome (so awesome that I ordered it from Amazon).


Here are the ingredients for my adaptation:

3 cups of dried unsweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups of finely ground almonds (use your food processor to grind them)
1 cup of E.D. Smith Sugar-Free Syrup (variation - real maple syrup)
1/3 cup of non-hydrogenated margarine, melted (variation - coconut oil, melted)
1 tbs of vanilla
1/2 tbs of almond extract
1/2 tsp of Sea Salt

You will note that my version doesn't include coconut oil. Initially I did this because I couldn't find any. When I found some I still chose to stick to non-hydrogenated margarine because it was much lower in fat and calories.

If you choose not to use coconut oil then make sure you use some type of fat or oil that is a solid at room temperature. This is the key in replicating the properties of coconut oil.

I chose Eating Right margarine but you can likely find another brand at your local supermarket.


I began by grinding my almonds in my food processor . . .


I then combined all ingredients in a big metal bowl . . .


With a spatula mix your ingredients until they reach an even consistency . . .


Using an ice cream scoop place your evenly shaped little macaroons on a baking sheet. I like to cover mine with silpat. I get to reuse it time and time again and I don't have to use butter or oil!


For a yummy brunette (i.e.: chocolate) variation I added 1/2 a cup of cocoa powder to half my macaroon batter. For the full recipe use 1 cup of cocoa powder. This will result in an intensely flavour. It won't be sweet so if you wish you can adjust the ingredients accordingly to taste.


And here is the key to this version of raw macaroons - place the pans in an oven preheated to the lowest possible temperature setting. In my oven the lowest setting was 150F - I probably set it slightly above that.


Leave your macaroons in the oven for 7 - 7 1/2 hours. Ideally you want your macaroons to be crispy on the outside but still moist on the inside. Keep in mind that the macaroons will dry out a bit once they are out of the oven!

And there you have it bloggies . . . a RAW Blondie and Brunette Macaroon!

Progress

Today I was a very good girl! I did 20 minutes of yoga, went for a walk at lunch, had a completely meat-free day, and got my butt kicked by Jillian Michaels during 40+ minutes of circuits.

Tomorrow will be a longer yoga and short run day! :o)


In the Blogosphere

Run Mommy is organizing a virtual 4 mile race in honour of a beautiful 3 year-old with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Follow this link to find out more information and register!

The awesome Blender is celebrating her blogiversary with a wonderful giveaway. Follow this link and enter to win a mug, some Barney Butter, and more!

Honey Nut Lo' (I love that name!) is giving away a New Orleans themed lot of goodies. I know I would love to win! If you would too then head to this link to enter!

A.M. Yoga - for my week

Good morning everyone!

I did indeed "bake" my raw macaroons yesterday. I spent my late Sunday evening putting the recipe together and watching the last season of Sex and the City (on DVD). It was a lovely chill way to end my weekend!

But now it's Monday and this week I've decided to change my workouts up a bit . . .

You see lately I've been feeling kind of stressed out. I've been getting some migraines and I feel myself carrying some tension in my shoulders. The Doctor says that it's all related to my work and has nothing to do with my level of health. I'm a lawyer and a criminal one at that. On a daily basis I am faced with all of the bad stuff that most people get to blissfully ignore in their lives. I love my work! But I need to start doing more to release all of the toxins that I accumulate during the day.

So here's the plan for this week:


1 - I will wake up every morning and do Rodney Yee's "A.M. Yoga for your week" - there are five, 20-minute morning yoga sessions that should help to limber me up and get on with my day

2 - I will go out for walks during my lunch - no more nibbling on eats while I work on files

3 - I will track all of my workouts here! If you don't see them then harass me - feel free to keep me accountable!

4 - I will up the intensity of all of my workouts

5 - I will not skip my workouts

So there you have it! :o) Now if you excuse me I have to go downward dog! Make sure to check back later for the macaroon recipe - Happy Monday!

Running on a Sea Wall

. . . that's exactly what I plan on doing tomorrow and the day after and every day until Sunday! :o)

I'm heading to Vancouver for work and I couldn't be more excited!!!

I've lived in the Rockies since last August and haven't been back to the West Coast since. The purpose of the trip is work-related. In reality I'm only busy with work stuff on Thursday which means I have most of tomorrow to myself, all day Friday and Saturday, and then I leave Sunday morning.

I have plans bloggies! I'm going to enjoy beautiful sights like these . . .


And maybe some like these too . . .


Or maybe some like these . . .


And did I mention I plan on some fantabulous eats?


I'm completely excited!! While I'm in Vancouver I also plan on dropping by Lululemon (which happens to be a Van-city company) for some work-out gear and I hope to pick up some yoga DVDs to keep my 31 Days of Yoga going!

BUT most of all I'm going to laugh and laugh with my friends! :o)

And on that note please excuse me if I'm somewhat absent in the next couple of days. I'll take my laptop with me but I don't know how feasible it will be for me to blog. Having said that I promise to come back with some awesome pics!

Hasta luego!


PS: All pictures taken in previous Van trips

Pho-yum? Pho-Schizzle!

Hahaha please excuse the cheesy title but I just had to! :oP

Let's review today's eats shall we?

Breakfast (which I had at an un-Godly early hour) was another Green Monster. I've been experimenting with the flavours. So much so that the boy even said "You know what I like about these? They always taste different!" What can I say? I'm in an experimenting mood at the moment. :o) I'm sure tomorrow's will be very different too. Mostly 'cause I'm out of bananas.

But on to today's Green Monster featuring one banana, one fat-free peach yogurt, two cups of Almond Breeze, a handful of spinach, a handful of kale, two strawberries, a small bowl of mango, and a sprinkling of flax seeds.


I added a couple of ice cubes to the Green Monster; mostly just to drop the temperature of the drink.


And out came another beautiful morning Green Monster! My ingredients made enough for three big glasses. I had two of them!!! I needed them this morning - I felt icky and thought I could use all the green power they could muster.


Once at work I nibbled on a lovely Granny Smith apple, a handful of almonds, some dried cranberries, and a couple of dates:


For lunch I headed to the local grocery store and picked up a seafood salad. It came with a dressing but I just used it to dip my fork into. Barely made a dent into the little container! I paired this salad with an alpine grains whole wheat roll.


I have to admit I was incredibly mungry ALL day long! I nibbled on an apple (not pictured) and when I headed to the grocery store after work I picked myself up a little indulgence!


A small little serving of Kinder chocolate!!! Super creamy and uber delicious! I have to admit part of the reason I love it so much is its tiny size. Perfectly adorable. That and it reminds me of Europe - they have a ton of Kinder chocolates that we don't have here! Kinder Harvest is a favourite of mine - full of really yummy grains but not available in Canada.

You'll notice I took the pictures behind the wheel of my beloved Mazda3. I kind of <3 it! And I can't wait until spring comes and it can look super lovely again. :o)

Now for dinner . . . oh dinner! It was the highlight of my day! I was inspired to make Pho (a Vietnamese noodle soup). I threw a couple of ingredients together to create a broth, added rice noodles, a bit of cooked sliced beef, mushrooms, tons of bean sprouts, a couple of slices of tomatoes, and a leaf of lettuce. All topped off with some bits of fresh mint and a squeeze of lime!


I love Pho! It's my default cold wet weather food. And today was a cold wet day so Pho it was! :o) Before I moved to the Rockies I used to head down to my favourite Pho restaurant when I get a yankering (sometimes late at night too - nothing like late night Pho). Here I don't have that option so I make my own!

My tummy is very happy! :o) Now I'm going to clean up a bit and head to the gym to knock out a 40 minute run, and then I'll come back for a bit of yoga.

Have a good night bloggies! See you in the morning!


Free Stuff Alert

1) Head over to Chocolate Covered Katie for your chance to win a whole box of Jocalat bars! Link here!

2) Strawberry Shortstuff is giving away 10 Simply Bars! Link here!

3) The wonderful (and Canadian!) Simply Fabulous is giving away Trek Bars all the way from England! Link here!

4) One Frugal Foodie is giving away a ridonculous amount of yummy stuff! Link here!

5) Oh she Glows is giving away a copy of Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred! Link here!


More Free Stuff

And in case all of that free stuff wasn't enough here's more! Go to this link to get a coupon for a free Kashi frozen entree! Unfortunately this is only open to U.S. residents.