A Day In My Life... 7-28-13

First, Some Housekeeping Info...

I follow a lot of fitness blogs, and many of the bloggers post their workout and what they eat EVERY day. I do like seeing what people eat, because it gives me ideas to incorporate into my diet. For instance, I would have never thought of mixing whey protein powder into oatmeal (proatmeal!) on my own. I also like getting new training ideas, so it is fun to see workouts, too. However I have so much more to share with my readers other than EXACTLY what I eat and how I workout EVERY day.

That being said, I think I am going to start incorporating a little of that into my blog. I created a page that will be dedicated to some of my favorite workouts. That gives you a quick place to go to for some workout ideas. Also, every two weeks or so, I will try to post a blog called "A Day In My Life", which will be more like a diary entry. It won't necessarily have a focused topic, like many of my blog posts, but hopefully it will be entertaining.

One more new thing! I changed some settings, so you should be able to comment on my blog even if you don't have a Google account. When posting a comment, click the drop down menu and choose Name/URL. That should work.

Now, onto your regularly scheduled blog...

A Day In My Life... 7-28-13

The only reason I was able to document my day so well is because I had NOTHING scheduled for today. That was fine with me. We just came back from two mini vacations, so I was more than happy to just chill out!

I woke up at 11am. Don't hate. I am usually pretty hungry when I wake up, and today was no different! Time for breakfast...

My husband makes us our own iced coffee at home and we keep
it in air tight jugs. It's much cheaper than running out for
coffee every morning. I only had about a half a cup of coffee.
I added a tsp of this yummy white chocolate creamer.

Then I had some tea! I put 1/2 tsp of sugar in it and 1oz skim milk.

I have been eating this cereal for breakfast every morning
for over a year. 19g carbs, 10g protein per serving.
Find me a cereal with more protein than that, and I will switch!
Or maybe I won't, because I really like this stuff...

Next, I did what I do best in the summer... lounge on the couch with my lap top. We just came back from a vacation where we didn't have internet for 2.5 days, so I had some catching up to do...

This is my summer set up. I have everything I need. Lap top, blanket,
water, phone, calendar, mp3 player, TV remote...
all I need is a kitty cat and I'm set!

I won't tell you how long I sat here, because it is very, very, shameful. But I made up for my lounging with an AWESOME workout! I was very excited to run, because I am working on making sure my plantar fasciitis doesn't come back. So I can't do crazy distances. Today would be my longest distance in over a week- 4 miles!

I wasn't hungry, but I knew I had an intense workout planned, so I ate
two peanut butter energy bites. This is from the SAME batch I madeback in June. 
I don't know what that says about this recipe... but these suckers stay fresh forever! 
It looks small, but that's 120 calories of energy, right there!

I've got my game face on! And I finally mastered
taking a selfie without turning off the camera. Woohoo!

My four mile run was great. I managed a 7:28 pace and my foot didn't hurt at all. Time to finish it all off with a wonderfully horrible driveway workout.

My neighbors must think I'm nuts with all the shit I lugged out there!

Chrissy likes to get a front row seat!

I was halfway through my second time through when I thought I was going the throw up!
I didn't, though, and completed all three sets!

1st set

2nd set

3rd set

I don't know how I managed to get faster with each set, because I'm telling you, my legs felt like lead and I wanted to barf after this! I even needed to take a random weeding break between sets #2 and #3...

As I was working out, I noticed my driveway had weeds coming up
in between the cracks, and then I noticed my front flower bed
was a DISASTER zone! I took a little rest break and did some weeding..
which means of course I got bit by like 5 mosquitoes. They love when I am sweaty!!!!
Oh, and I didn't have time to put the weeds in the compost bin, so I just stuffed them in this flower pot in front of my house. I'm sure that looks way better than the weeds actually being in the ground...

Boy was I hungry after that workout!!

100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Thin w/ Flax & Fiber
2 whole eggs (including the yolks! They're not bad for you!)

That's a plum in my greek yogurt.

Mmmmm chocolate covered coffee beans! I had a small handful!

I bet you think I had something fun planned for the evening? Nope. Nada. Zilch. It was back to the couch. Just wait... months from now, when the school year is in full swing, I will be stressed, tired, and frazzled. So I'm soaking up my coach time as much as I can this summer!

The kitties enjoyed a lazy day as well!

Unfortunately, the longer I sat on the couch, the more my knee hurt. It never hurts during activity, just at rest. It's a good thing I'm going to my chiropractor tomorrow. He will fix it! So I iced up my foot and my knee and watched an episode of The View online and an episode of Crime Time that focused on the Zimmerman trial. I love to hate Loni Coombs.

It's always nice to have a drink while watching Crime Time...

2 oz water
2 oz vodka
1 oz cranberry juice
1/2 oz lime juice
12 mini ice cubes
Confession: I forgot to add the vodka and drank 1/4 of the drink before realizing it!
I just thought I didn't mix it up good enough! Finally I figured it out and added the key ingredient.
Geez, I must be losing my mind!
(Notice the cat hair on the nice black dining room table... hahaha!!!)

Time for dinner! I had just bought some lettuce from Aldi that I could tell needed to be eaten soon, so I vowed to have salads for dinner until it's gone. Here's what I made:

Lettuce, grilled chicken, sliced almonds, dried cranberries, crumbled blue cheese,
and lite raspeberry vinaigrette!

Dessert... 11 almonds and this yummy vanilla fudge swirled ice cream cone.
I love ice cream!

It's always around this time of the night when I start to crave diet sodas and things of that nature... and tonight was no different. I was really craving a Pepsi Max, but instead, I had this wonderful drink:

That's water. 

It was getting pretty late, but I wasn't tired at all. The cats looked a little bored, too, so I got out some cat nip and sprinkled some on their scratch pad and their cat condo. Cat nip gets them pretty hype. It's their version of Pepsi Max.

Basey getting frisky on the condo!

Jelly lays claim to the scratch pad. He likes to eat the cat nip.

Christmas went nuts!

Then he crapped out.

A pre-bedtime snack for me... Cheddar Party Mix, Hummus, and some milk!
I get weird cravings at night...

I always log my food on a website called MyNetDiary. I highly recommend it if you want to track calories or macro nutrients. I'm not trying to lose weight, just keep myself in check. According to MyNetDiary, today I consumed 1833 calories and burned 2055 calories. That is a small calorie deficit but I didn't really do much today besides lay around, so I think it will all even out. Plus I called that ice cream cone 1 cup of ice cream, when, let's be honest, it's probably more like a cup and a half!

Well, that was my day! It was pretty exhausting to document everything I ate, and what I did. After actually typing it up, I'm not sure how often I'll do another post like this. I have to do at least once more and make sure it's a day I don't spend on the couch. Seriously. I think the only productive thing I did today was that tiny little bit of weeding.

Do you think it's weird that those Peanut Butter Energy Bites lasted this long? I can't stop thinking about that...

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (No, I am NOT pregnant!!!!)

I have been thinking about this decision for awhile and I have gone back and forth on it. However, in the past few days (today in particular) I have decided why not now? What am I waiting for? This is my life, I only get one!

I decided to become a certified personal trainer!

This probably does not come as a shock to you. You're thinking, "She loves working out, of course she would want to be a trainer." But it's more than that. I want to help people. I want to teach people. I am a teacher, after all, and when I am passionate about something, I want to teach it.

Growing up, I loved music. I sang, I danced, I performed in musicals and band and choir... I did it all. I wanted to share that love with others, so I became a music teacher.

It makes sense that now that I am passionate about health and fitness, I would want to motivate, teach, and help others. It drives me nuts when I see people who are misinformed. Girls think they will get "bulky" if they lift weights. There are people that literally starve their bodies by eating only 600 calories a day, hoping to lose weight. Others just don't know how to get started or what to do.

I want to help! I want to teach! It's the teacher in me that wants to do these things. There is a part of me that wants to serve and help others.

Of course I will still teach music. That part of my life is not going anywhere. I love my job. I am lucky to have it. Personal training would be a part time endeavor.

I am still researching what organization is right for me to get certified. I am leaning towards ACE, but if any of you trainers out there have any other suggestions, let me know!

I've also been scouring websites about qualifications and characteristics of a good personal trainer. Because honestly, anyone can get study, pass the test, and get certified. I wanted to make sure I had the skills to actually DO it. I found this list, which I thought to be interesting:

• Speaking skills
• Teaching skills
• Patience
• Confidence
• Dedication to learning

               (Source)

Hmmm... looks like some of the characteristics I have to display every day in my classroom! Am I right my teacher friends?! It's more than just "I like to work out, I want to be a trainer." I truly want to help and motivate others.

I'm very excited about my decision and am ready to study, study, study. But first, I have to pick the organization, buy the materials, and all of that stuff. This will be at least a six month process, because I want to be very prepared for the test when I take it. Like all tests, it's pretty expensive, and I want to ace the test on the first shot!

I don't know how this will all turn out. How much time will I even have to train others once I get certified? The school year is so busy for me, between work and piano lessons. But I guess I will see what happens! After all, if I never venture into the unknown, how can I expect exciting things to happen?

Well, that is my big announcement. Maybe you were hoping I was pregnant, or accepting a teaching position in Donegal, or was picked as Elisabeth Hasselbeck's replacement on The View.

Nope, sorry! They would never pick me to replace Liz. Now Joy, on the other hand...


Who would you want to replace on The View?

"Weekend" Wrap Up – Atlantic City and Ocean City, NJ

This isn't a wrap up of our weekend, because if I told you about our actual weekend, you would be very bored. Instead, I will tell you about or Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday! . We had another mini vacation planned: 1 night in Atlantic City and 2 nights in OCNJ!

Let's get it started!

Wednesday

Wednesday was our day/night in Atlantic City. The drive there isn't bad at all. It's way better than driving down to the Delaware beaches or OCMD. And we only almost died on the turnpike once! (A bus started merging into my lane and I had to slam on my breaks so it didn't hit us.) Luckily, we rolled up to the Trump Taj Mahal just before check in, all in one piece.

A couple of things about the Taj...

1. It's HUGE!!!! We weren't sure how to even navigate around the joint at first. It's more than just a hotel. There are several casino floors, many restaurants and shops, ball rooms, banquet facilities, auditoriums... And everything was so blinky. I mean, one slot machine looked just like another, so it got a little confusing!

The Taj likes to decorate with fake bamboo.

2. The Taj (and AC in general) is a great place to people watch. You had a granny with her afghan at a slot machine, a family with 4 kids walking around barefoot and sandy with all their beach supplies, and then a weird middle aged guy with a ponytail holding hands with a girl who could not have been more than nineteen (gross!!!!). Bottom line: There were lots of normal people (like me and Paul haha!) and then there was the freak show.

3. Our room was GORGEOUS! The wall facing the ocean was wall-to-wall-floor-to-ceiling windows. And we were very high up- the 93^rd floor. Not the actual 93^rd floor. They labeled the floors as such so you felt higher up (I'm guessing!). It was actually more like the 35^th floor. Even so, I was not comfortable standing closer than 2 feet from those windows. It gave me the heebie-jeebies!!!

Crazy windows!  

Christmas would love this room!

We had an awesome view of the ocean!

We were so freaking high up!

Double sinks! SCORE!

Fancy shower!

4. If you ever stay at the Taj, be prepared to WALK. I figure we probably walked a total of 2-3 miles just maneuvering around the building during the one day we were there. That was fine with me! Any excuse to get in some unstructured exercise is a bonus!

So after we explored the property a bit, we decided to get ready and go out for a fancy dinner. We dined at Il Mulino, an Italian restaurant. This is the type of place where they actually place your napkin on your lap for you. We don't go out to eat a lot, and when we do, it's definitely not somewhere like Il Mulino, but I wanted to DRESS UP!

I had magherita pizza and Paul had ravioli. I also had the. most. amazing. dirty. martini. ever. I think it may have had to do with the fact that it was made with Grey Goose.

Next, we decided to take a stroll on the boardwalk. The AC boardwalk is huge. We walked at least two miles and didn't even cover the whole thing. I took off my insanely high Vera Wang for Kohl's platform pumps and slipped my tootsies into flip flops for this excursion. Both shoes are bad for plantar fasciitis in their own ways, but there was no way I was going to wear my running shoes with my cute dress! Beauty, my friends, is sometimes painful!

Note: The hot items on the AC boardwalk this year are knock off Michael Kohrs handbags, shady looking massage parlors, and bongs. Yes, you read that correctly. BONGS. Boy did they have a ton of bong stores. Each store had a sign that clearly stated these devices were “FOR TOBACCO USE ONLY.” Yeah. Right.

Oh, and this was the new graphic tank that everyone was wearing:

Source

If you know what it means, let me know, because we are stumped.

(Other than that it sort of looks like an infinity sign. But what's with the anchor?)

We were so tired from walking the boardwalk that we almost paid one of those rickshaw guys to wheel us back to our hotel but we felt too guilty about it. Most of them were like 60 years old. No way would I feel good about having a 60 year old push our able bodied asses back to the Taj.

Oh my gosh, I almost forgot! Ten minutes after we stepped onto the boardwalk, I got puhpped on by a seagull! Right on my toes! (Remember, I changed into flip flops! At least it didn't get my Vera Wangs!) It was disgusting. Then, on the way back to our hotel, when I was wishing we were getting pushed on a rickshaw, I noticed Paul had got puhpped on too! Right on the back of his new linen shirt from Kohl's! Freaking seagulls puhpping everywhere!!

I got puhpped on!

So did Paul!

They're coming to puhp on you!

Once we got back to the hotel, I put my Vera Wangs back on and we went barhopping in the casino. For us, bar hopping means going to two different bars. Paul got to try an IPA he never had and I got to enjoy my very first Cosmo and another Grey Goose dirty martini. Now, having more than one drink in the evening is VERY out of character for me and believe me, I paid for it the next morning. When I have more than one (even if it is over the course of HOURS, like tonight), I get a yucky feeling in my stomach and very, very, thirsty. I also develop and aversion to coffee. (Why couldn't I develop an aversion to ice cream!?) Luckily, the yucky feeling only lasts an hour or two and then I'm back to normal. BAM!

You're probably wondering when I'm going to get to the  gambling part. Guess what! We didn't gamble at all! I thought maybe my husband would play poker or something, but we didn't! However, we had a ton of fun, so even if you don't gamble, it's still fun staying at a casino. There is a lot of other stuff to do. Like drink Grey Goose.

Thursday

Thursday morning was dreary and drizzly. It was chilly too! I had my workout all planned out, though. I was going to run 3 miles on the beach and then do two deck of cards workouts. I figured it would be pretty fun to workout on the beach.

Wrong.

The Atlantic City beach is disgusting. That morning, the boardwalk smelled like trash, and the beach was full of cigarette butts. Luckily, I brought a towel, but it was still pretty gross. It was the yuckiest beach workout ever! As I was running along the water and smelling the fresh trash from the boardwalk, I remembered  an awesome beach run I did this past December. I was running on the beach in Delaware with my mother-in-law. It was cold, but the sun was so bright. It was magical. The total opposite of my AC beach run!

Oh well, not every workout is going to be great, even at the beach.

Thursday was our day to head down to OCNJ. We checked out of our hotel around noon, and then made the short drive to OCNJ. We had hoped to get in a beach day, but it was still dreary and only 68 degrees. We settled into our condo, which ended up being pretty lackluster compared to The Taj. (Let's just say I found a toenail on the sofa.) Even though it was dreary, it didn't take long to decide what to do. We headed up to the boardwalk to do some walking, people watching, and grab dinner.

I'm happy to report that for dinner I had the biggest, thinnest slice of cheese pizza that had just the perfect amount of grease on it. It was SO DELICIOUS. The wind was blowing all kinds of yummy food smells towards us but the pizza was drawing us in. Man, pizza twice in two days? I can't even remember the last time I had pizza since this vacation!

We finished the night with some yummy ice cream from Johnny B. Goode's Ice Cream Parlor. Pizza and ice cream... I can't think of a better beach dinner!

Friday

Friday morning was gorgeous! We could tell it was going to be an awesome day to spend on the beach. We went out for breakfast at The Bloomin' Tulip (our go-to breakfast place in OCNJ) and then packed up our cooler and hit the beach! 

I spent the first 50 minutes on the beach doing 2 very difficult deck of cards workouts. All I needed was a towel and my cards! Here's how it went down:

Workout 1:

Hearts- burpees (Have you ever done them in the sand? It adds a whole new element of difficulty!)

Diamonds- sit ups

Spades- jump squats

Clubs- push ups

Aces- run to the bathhouse and back (1 block each way)

Workout 2:

Hearts- run to the fence and back (not sure how far away it was... not too far!)

Diamonds- bicycles

Spades- lunge switches (Also freaking hard in the sand!)

Clubs- mountain climbers

Aces- 15 burpees 

I was going to do some planks after all this but I was too hot and tired! Instead, I changed into my bathing suit and jumped in the ocean! Then, I spent the next couple hours just chilling on the beach with my hubby. It was perfect!

Now, we were supposed to spend one more night in OCNJ and go home Saturday morning, but we decided to hit the road Friday night for several reasons.

1. We would beat the Saturday morning traffic.

2. We're homebodies! We couldn't wait to sleep in our own bed!

3. We couldn't wait to see our cats!

4. It would be nice to have a full day on Saturday to just chill and do whatever we wanted.

We made it home safe and sound. There were 3 kitties who were SO HAPPY to see us!

This an an old pic, but one of the few we have of all 3 cats together.
They did run up to the door when we got home!

I love vacation, but I love being at home, too. It's good to be back!

This was the only picture we took in OCNJ. It's an alligator made out of sea shells.
Our condo had "interesting" decorations...

I hope you all are having a fabulous weekend!