Life Lessons

As I was perusing Pinterest, I saw this..

 

It really resonated with me this week. Weary, I am. Rest, I need and crave! You know how I was complaining about being so tired? Well, apparently I was getting sick. (Can I blame the time change for that, too?) Yesterday, I was barely able to drag my butt out of bed for a shower, let alone to work out! So, last night I decided I would get my fitness on! TurboFire - Fire 60, sounds like a good place, right? HOLY MOLY! I officially decided that Chalene Johnson is a former dancer (I don't know her background at all). At one point I was thinking, "I was cheerleader. Pssh... I've got this!" Wrong, Erin. You're oh so wrong.

Legs were flailing, arms were flying (waving them in the air like I just don't care) Sorry, I had to say that. :) After 40 minutes, I decided to stop. I was so tired, I simply didn't have it in me to keep up. My hair was soaking wet, which was good and I was satisfied with that! 

Life Lesson #1: I have to remind myself, rest days are just important to my health as my workout days. This is even MORE true when you are sick. 

Life Lesson #2 (totally unrelated to the above topic): Denial is never a good thing. Don't test your limits to see what you can get away with. Sounds dangerous, right? Well, I guess it was if you consider a nice warm bowl of oat goodness to be dangerous! When I was doing our grocery shopping over the weekend, my inner bargain shopper overtook my gluten free senses.

 $1.24 for old fashioned oats vs. $5 (and some change) for a bag of gluten free rolled oats

You're right, the $1.24 bag won this round. "Oats are gluten free," I told myself. "What are the chances they are contaminated," I asked myself in a deniable fashion. "Do I really need to spend $4 more for oats to be gluten free? It will be just fine." I was wrong on each and every level. The aforementioned $1.24 oats have now been bequeathed to a friend. Enough said. So, I imagine I will feast on breakfast quinoa until I have gluten free oats back in my cupboard.

 

TurboFire - Core 20

Again, I woke up late. I was just barely able to get a 20 minute workout in. But let me tell you, this workout packs a HUGE punch. You better believe if they are making a 20-30 minute workout, they will make each and every move count. "I think I can, I think I can." And I did, for the most part.

Breakfast

Chunky Monkey Peanut Buttery Oatmeal

1/2 Cup of Oatmeal, topped with the following
1 TB Peanut Butter, natural
1/2 Banana
1/2 TB 60% Cacao chips
1 TB Ground flax seed

 

 Hot, black coffee to sip on (YEAH!)

Lunch

Arbonne Chocolate Protein Shake 

Mixed with

Arbonne Fiber Boost

2TB PB2

Dinner

Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie from PB Fingers ( I have to try this sucker out!)

Snack

Arbonne Fruit Nutrition Snack Bar

 

Don't forget the Zevia giveaway! 

 

Best 2013 Half Marathons per Self Magazine

I was reading this Self Magazine article and it really struck me! Running a half marathon is such a growing experience in its own right, but can you imagine running a half marathon on the Great Wall of China?! I'm still trying to wrap my head around even the notion of that experience. There were multiple locations mentioned in the article, Indianapolis, Great Wall, China, Miami Beach, Los Angeles, New York City, Montreal, Oslo, San Diego, and Las Vegas.

Indianapolis
OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon

Great Wall, China
Great Wall Half Marathon

Miami Beach
Allstate Life Insurance Miami Beach 13.1 Marathon

Los Angeles
The LA Marathon

New York City
Allstate Life Insurance New York City 13.1 Marathon

Montreal, Canada
Oasis Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Marathon & Half-Marathon

Oslo, Norway
Rock 'n' Roll Oslo Half-Marathon

San Diego
Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon & Half-Marathon
to Benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Las Vegas
Zappos.com Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon & Half-Marathon

I've never seen the Great Wall, but that would be BEYOND fascinating. I have visited Norway before and it is beautiful! I've never seen more vivid and beautiful colors. 

What would be your favorite half marathon destination?

• P90X - Shoulders and Back session at 4:30 am! :::yikes:::
• Running - 3 miles 1% incline, 30 min (to be done tonight!)
• P90X - Ab RipperX (to be done tonight!)

Breakfast

• Cranberry Almond Oatmeal aka my new (again) favorite :) I couldn't wait to go to sleep last night so I could have it for breakfast. Sad, but true.

• Tropicana Trop-50 (not a favorite of mine, I think I'll stick to a cleaner juice from now on) mixed with Arbonne Digestion Plus (LOVE!)

Lunch

• Arbonne Protein Chocolate Shake, mixed w/ PB2

Dinner

• Arbonne Protein Chocolate Shake, mixed with PB2 

Snack

• Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt with blueberries

Sunday funday

I woke up at 6:30 both days this weekend. After such a stressful week, I was hoping to sleep in some. Oh, well! At least I was up in time to get my oatmeal and coffee before getting ready for church. The service was awesome this morning and it really prepped me to conquer my week!

I guess Jared was in the spirit, because he told me he had too many toys in his closet and he wanted to clean them out to give away. This kid was seriously on a mission! A couple of hours later we had 2 full bags on their way to Goodwill (and a clean room to boot)! What a great kid I have!

Sunday is "our show" night. We are just obsessed with "Once Upon a Time." We always have a special treat during our show. He picked one of those personal size ice creams and I decided to make a healthier version of ice cream! Say hello to Banana Ice Cream. Bananas go with everything and, of course, peanut butter.

Banana "Ice Cream"
1 Banana - frozen
1 TB Peanut Butter (I used chunky)
1 TB PB2 (Extra peanut buttery, but less calories :) )
1/2 TB unsweetned cocoa
1/4 Cup Almond milk

Whipped it up in my Magic Bullet and BAM - a yummy and healthy treat for a good Sunday. 

Magic Bullet Hi-Speed Blender / Mixer System (Google Affiliate Ad)

                                                                                                                            

Back to Training

I've had a bit of a hiatus lately from the blogging world. I've been having problems with Blogger allowing others to view the blog and an illness in the family. As of lately I've REALLY got in to reading food blogs, more specifically, healthy and clean eating blogs. I've found the most WONDERFUL inspirations. My favorite thus far is for oatmeal. OK, well 2 favorites. I only have a picture of this morning's breakfast, though! It is SUPER simple.

Almond, Cherry, Banana Oatmeal

1 cup of quick cook oats cooked in water or almond milk
1 tsp of dried cherries
1 TB of almond butter (I used crunchy, this time)
1/3 of a banana, sliced

It was AWESOME! I've discovered almond butter in the past few months and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Oatmeal is my "thing," now. Since I've learned that I don't have to do the "prepackaged flavors," it has opened up a new world! I've even had oatmeal for my snacks or dinner. :) I can't stress enough how much I love it.

I've started training again for a half-marathon. I'm bound and determined to complete this, injury-free! :) I couldn't wait to start training so I ran a couple of times this weekend. I've been doing some Beach Body programs the past few months. I really enjoy them, but it's nothing like running trails! :) Fueling my body and runs right now is the foremost thing on my mind. Expect to see lots of food posts!!