Green Smoothie Fix

Hello, Hello!

You know what I am really loving lately?  Green Smoothies.  I’ve had one to kick start my day everyday this week and they are keeping me full and satisfied!

My go-to recipe as of lately, and this is a rough estimate, is:

1 banana

1 cup fresh spinach

1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I’ve been rockin’ the Sun Warrior brand)

1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/2 cup frozen pineapple

1 tsp. cinnamon

A pinch of frozen blueberries (not too many or your smoothie will turn brown!)

It is so good and so easy to whip up right before I rush out the door for work.  I do get a couple of stares on the CTA from people who are all, “what in the world is she drinking”.  Little do they know, it is absolutely fantastic.  Suckaas!

After a long work day, I headed over to the gym to work on my fitness.  3 miles was slotted on the training plan, but once that was over I was not ready to sit on my mat and stretch.  Instead, I decided to hop on the stationary bike for 20 minutes to give my muscles a different kind of a push.

The bike was a lot of fun, not only because it worked different muscle areas in my legs, but because it is a great place to people watch!

When I got home, I had a special package waiting for me…

My first Stitch Fix box!

Haven’t heard of Stitch Fix?  Basically, it’s a clothing styling service that delivers to you.  You schedule your “fix” whenever you want to and pay $20 up front.  Then you take a styling survey so that the stylist can figure our what you like/dislike… they even show you different outfit pictures that you can ‘love’ or ‘hate’ so they get a better understanding of your style.  Once your fix is scheduled, they send you 5 items for you to try on!  You keep what you love and send back what you hate – they give you a prepaid USPS bag to send the clothes back in.  Plus, your $20 initial payment goes towards a credit to any of the items you decide to keep.

Here was my first fix:

Daniel Rainn Lindsay Silk Sleeveless Blouse

Sanctuary Black Ponte Pants $88

Three Piece Fan Necklace $28

The outfit all together looked really nice, however, I was not about to drop $88 on a pair of skinny black jeggings when I already have a pair and since summer is winding down I don’t think I would wear the sleeveless top as much.

Under Skies Geena Tab-Sleeve Belted Tunic $48

The tunic was adorable and I loved the color, but it was WAY too big on me.  😦  If it had the right fit, I would have definitely kept it.

The last item in my box was a Faux Leather Black Ponte Dress $98

I was not really felling the dress.  The fit was not quite right and it extended all the way down to my knees which I was not a fan of.  Plus, at $98 I better love it if I want to keep it!

Overall, I ended up keeping the necklace because I did not want to lose my $20 credit.  I wear a lot of gold so I’m sure I will get a lot of use out of it!  Will I schedule another fix again?  I’m not sure.  It was super convenient to get clothes shipped to me, but overall I was a little disappointed that half of the clothes didn’t really fit the way I wanted the to.  Plus, I love shopping in stores.  The feeling I got when I received my first stitch fix box did not live up to the feeling I get when I walk into Nordstroms 😉  Maybe when it is freezing out and I don’t want to leave my apartment I will give the fix another try.   That’s the beauty of the service – you can do it whenever you want!

After my fashion show ended, I whipped up a quick spicy chicken and quinoa stirfry…

And devoured it.

Happy Hump Day, Friends!

Long Runs in the Rain

Good Morning!  I hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day festivities!

My Sunday and Monday were very relaxing.  In fact, Sunday I really just spent time with Bailey at home and recovered from all of the Bachelorette activities.

Yesterday’s weather was not what I had hoped it would be, but I seem to always remember Memorial Day being rainy growing up.

I started off my morning bright and early to prepare for a long run I planned to run with friends.  About an hour or so before my run, I ate two pieces of peanut butter toast and two large glasses of water.  When 8:00 a.m. rolled around, we were off on our city adventure!  7 miles was slotted as a part of Hal’s training plan, but I told myself not to push it in case I started getting foot pains and because it was raining.

The night before I did some research to prep myself for my run in the rain… here were some of the things on my checklist:

1. Longer Socks – To prevent blisters!
2. Wicking Layers – (I had a dri-fit tank and a dri-fit long sleeve – this was perfect, I didn’t get too hot!)
3. Hat – To keep the rain our of my eyes
4. Chafing Balm – You know why!

Luckily, my two friends are quite the talkers because I didn’t bring my iPod with me in fear that it would get wet!  Our route weaved in and out of the Lakeview/Lincoln Park neighborhoods which was beautiful with all of the lush trees and flowers everywhere.

We made a couple pit stops including… The Lincoln Park Zoo!

Not many animals were out, but we did manage to catch a glimpse of the Zebras, Rhinos and Seals!

Before we knew it, we had hit the 7 mile mark and I felt great!  It’s always so much more fun running with friends, especially ones who don’t need to stick to a strict pace or path.

After I got home and stretched for quite a while, I whipped up a delicious Pineapple Banana Protein Smoothie.  Into the blender went:

• half a banana
• 1/2 cup frozen pineapple pieces
• 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
• enough unsweetened vanilla almond milk to get everything moving!

I garnished my smoothie with a few extra frozen pineapple chunks… so refreshing!

Brian and I had made plans to go to my parents house for a BBQ around noon, so I jumped in the shower, got Bailey ready and we were on our way to the burbs!

The BBQ crew consisted of my parents, Brian and I and one of our good friends so it was really fun and relaxing.  Earlier in the week I had suggested that my dad make one of my all time favorites – BBQ chicken and he did not disappoint!

We had so much delicious food including jalepeneo lime corn, black beans, salad and of course the chicken!

The table was set inside due to the weather outside, but someone paid no attention to the the rain and enjoyed running around my parents backyard!

For some reason her favorite “rest” area was this bush of ivy – she’s special…

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend.  Back to reality!

Balanced Food & Festivities

It has been quite the eventful two days around here!

Friday

As I mentioned in my last post, Brian and I both took off work on Friday so that we could enjoy an extra long Memorial Day weekend.  My day started out bright and early with a delicious breakfast.

Scrambled egg whites over hummus and toast – topped with turkey bacon and a side of fresh strawberries.  This was just what I needed to get the weekend going!  Brian and I lounged around the apartment most of the afternoon before deciding to take a walk outside since it was BEAUTIFUL out.  At the end of our walk, we were hungry again and made our way over to ‘Kuma’s Too’ to grab some grub.

Kuma’s is a very famous burger joint in Chicago and they just opened their second location in my hood a couple months ago.  The atmosphere there is awesome – lots of great funky artwork and loud metal music draws a very eclectic crowd.  Needless to say, I went in with the mindset that this would probably not be my healthiest meal of the day and came out pleasantly surprised!  All of the burgers feature the options to sub the meat for a grilled chicken breast or a veggie burger.  I decided to get the Lair of the Minotaur burger, but sub the beef with a chicken breast.  The sandwich came with brie cheese, bourbon soaked pear and caramelized onions (I omitted the pancetta) and I chose a salad as my side – which was huge!

The sandwich was delicious!  What a killer combo!  I only managed to eat half of the sandwich and was very happy that my meal was not too heavy to spoil the rest of my day.  Balance win!

After lunch we made one more pit stop for a quick alfresco drink…

And then I took a nap with my favorite to prepare for the long night I had ahead.

One of my good friends is getting married in June and this was her bachelorette weekend!  We started Friday night out at her apartment for fun games, drinks and food.  Afterwards we headed over to The Violet Hour for the first round of drinks.

The Violet Hour was amazing and the staff there made us feel like VIP.  Complimentary round of champagne for the table!

We stayed there for a quite a while and sipped on a very delicious gin based drink entitled the “Romeo and Juliet”.  Once we were nice and buzzed we headed over to Vertigo Sky Lounge where we danced the night away with an amazing view of the city!  It was a great night.

Saturday

I spent most of Saturday morning sleeping off my champagne buzz 🙂  Once I was ready to start the day, I made a quick protein berry smoothie and headed to the gym.  I completed my favorite 35 minute tempo run on the treadmill and followed it with some strengthening and stretching on the yoga mat.

Balance was restored to my body!

After my workout, I had a good amount of time to recover and get ready for the second part of the bachelorette weekend!  Around 8:30 p.m. I headed over to Tango Sur to meet the girls for dinner.  As you can probably tell through my blog, I am not the biggest red meat eater – In part because my family has a long history of heart problems.  I do, however, enjoy a good piece a steak every once and a while.  Saturday night was that night 🙂

Tango Sur is a neighborhood BYOB gem located down the Southport corridor.  The restaurant features delectable dishes and is famous for the delicious chimichurri sauce!  The table started out with couple appetizers including the very flavorful spinach and cheese empanadas.  For the main course, the bride-to-be and I split the Filet Mignon (which came with two filets!) and the spinach mashed potatoes.

So. So. So. good.

We ended the feast with a special dessert for the bride and sang her a “bachelorette song” we pretty much made up on the spot 🙂

I had a great time!

There are a lot more activities planned for the weekend and I am oh so happy I don’t have work tomorrow!  Hopefully the weather holds out for Monday and I can take a dip in my parents pool.

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend!

Ta Ta, for now!

30 Minute Challenge

I had a GREAT run last night.

Before I get into the deets of that, let me recap the series of events that lead up to my fabulous run.

My morning went by very fast mostly because it was filled with lots of meetings and busy work.  Once lunch rolled around, I busted out my stellar packed lunch which included leftover chicken and quinoa and a side salad.

Delish.

At 3:00 p.m. we hosted a SURPRISE baby shower for on of my coworkers!  Truth be told, I lied to you all yesterday.  The pasta salad I made was not for a potluck that night, it was for the baby shower!  I couldn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure if she would see it posted on my blog or not 🙂 Sneaky, Sneaky!

There was so much food for our shower – aka – there were so many delectable sugary choices to choose from!

We had 3 sets of cupcakes that came from all different places, plus some light and fluffy homemade angel food cake cupcakes.

Plus, lots of different pastries my boss brought from a famous bakery… including the Polish favorite – Paczkis!

Personally, I went for the mini fruit tarts that were from the polish bakery as well as a bite of one of the black cherry cupcakes that had a really yummy frosting.  There were other savory items people snacked on including my pasta salad, hummus, pita chips and pretzels – but the shining stars were the desserts.

Since I practically had a second lunch, I decided to start my evening run a little later in the evening so that my stomach could settle from the sugar overload.  While I was relaxing, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to turn my scheduled ’30 min. tempo run’ into a 30 minute challenge.  How fast and how far could I run for 30 minutes?

At 7:00 p.m. I hit the trails and started my run along Inner Lakeshore Drive.  I use the Nike Running App when I am looking to time my runs and it is really helpful because the apps voice tells me when I’ve completed a mile and what my pace is.  The first mile flew by – lots of people were out running because of the beautiful weather and I was rockin’ out to Nicki Minaj which kept me motivated.  Once I turned down Fullerton towards the lake and made that turn on the path, I really picked up the pace.  My legs felt good and I knew I was going to rock my 30 minute challenge.

The scenery along the lake was so peaceful and serene.

I was definitely in my happy place.

My second loop occurred at Addison and I ran my final stretch down Sheridan Rd.  The results…

3.63 miles in 30 minutes at an 8:18 mi pace.  PHEW!  I could feel the difference in pace in my gluts but overall finished my 30 minutes in a GREAT mood – I didn’t want to stop!  Although it was fun to push myself, I really didn’t want to cause any injury before my races by running too far at a pace I am not used to.  It is definitely something you want to build up, especially if you want to train yourself to run faster.

When I got home, I stretched for 20 minutes and had a mini cuddle session with my favorite girl.

She was so happy 🙂

Stretching was followed by a mini circuit that I just made up because Brian was hogging the computer.

• 20 weighted lunges per side
• 20 dead lifts
• 20 tummy tucks
• 1 minute plank
• 20 crunches

Repeat 3 times!

My evening ended with a delicious protein shake with frozen blueberries, fresh strawberries, half a banana, 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder, 0% fat Greek yogurt and a splash of almond milk to get everything moving.  I sliced the remaining half of banana open and stuffed it with all natural peanut butter to accompany my shake.

I was happy and satisfied 🙂

Have you ever given yourself a 30 minute challenge?  How do you challenge yourself during the week?

Sunny Weekend

These past two days have been wonderful… I have so much to share with you!

Friday was a busy, bustling day that ended with an interesting dinner with some of my friends I met through work.  We have actually dubbed ourselves the “Dining Club” because we try and go out to a new and interesting restaurant each month.  This month, one of my friends chose a Korean BBQ restaurant called San Soo Gab San.  It’s north of where I live, kind of by Andersonville, but I’m not sure of the exact neighborhood.  I have never been to a Korean BBQ place before, so I was not really sure what to expect!

When we arrived, we were promptly seated and were so overwhelmed by all the items on the menu!  We ended up choosing, vegetable dumplings, fried red snapper and a seafood pancake to start.  The seafood pancake was my favorite – I know it sounds weird. 🙂

Next, we chose the various “meats” to grill on the fire that was placed in front of us.  Ordering a meat entree meant that our meal was accompanied by a large amount of side dishes – I think we counted over 40?

I was not kidding.  The side dishes pretty much covered up the entire table!  I have no idea what some of them were, but I tried just about all of them!

The meal in general was pretty good.  I really liked the marinated short ribs that we got to grill, but at times it was a little overwhelming.  We were all a bunch of rookies at Korean BBQ, so it might have been a little better if someone was there who could have showed us what to do.

I awoke Saturday morning to a bright blue sunny day with sixty degree weather.  It smelled like summer outside – I was so happy 🙂  Our couch was scheduled to be delivered between 1:30 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. so I was all prepared to go to my usual Yoga class, until I got a call from Crate & Barrel saying they would be there by 11:30 a.m.!  I was rather bummed about missing my class, but oh so pleased with what was delivered to us.

So much better than what was there before!  The couch is called the “lounge” because it has deep cushions that really allow you to spread out and get comfy – I LOVE IT.

Once the delivery men left, I whipped up a quick lunch for Brian I that consisted of fresh salads and some rice crackers.

After my stomach settled, I decided it was time to go on a run and bring Bailey with me – she needs to get into Bikini shape too 🙂  Our run was absolutely beautiful.  We ran through the Lincoln Park and Old Town neighborhoods sticking to the path that ran by the Lincoln Park Zoo and North Ave. Fields.

There were so many people out running, biking, picnicking and relaxing that I felt like it was summer.  Bailey and I covered about 3.5 miles running and about 2 miles of walking – she was a very tired girl!

When we got home, I did the Tone It Up! workout video of the day and added some more of my own tone it up moves to try and cover more sections of my body.  I was definitely feeling the burn!  I immediately made a protein shake after I was done that consisted of Unsweetened Almond Milk, 0% Fat Greek Yogurt, Frozen Berries, 1/2 a Banana and a scoop of Protein Powder.

So refreshing!

Saturday night, one of Brian’s relatives was hosting a birthday party for one of her friends and invited us to come over.  There was a very impressive spread of appetizers as well as a very extraordinary bar set up!  Brian and I only stayed for a couple hours, but it was a perfect way to end the night.

How was your Friday and Saturday night?  Did you manage to get out and be active?

Until tomorrow, friends!

Protein Party

Good Morning!

I set my alarm for 5:00 a.m. last night so that I could head to the gym and have a productive start to my day.  I have a lot going on tonight in preparation for our trip to North Carolina, so I wanted to knock out a good workout when I had the chance!  My time at the gym went a little something like this…

If you have never used a foam roller, and you are a runner… I highly recommend you start.  The foam roller is a vital and healthy tool for runners to use during their warm up or cool downs.  It improves your circulation and assists with recovery after a long run.  It basically feels like an intense deep tissue massage, so don’t be alarmed if it does not exactly feel good the first time your start rolling.

Also, if you are new to running and are wondering how to run LONGER and FASTER – you need to start incorporating strength training into your weekly workout routine.  Once you start running at more intense distances you will also find that your body will recover faster because strength training makes your body more efficient.  A lot of people, women specifically, think that incorporating strength training into their workouts will make them look “bulkier”.  I have found this to be the opposite.  If anything, my body has transformed into a more lean shape once I started and I feel 10x more confident about the way I look 🙂

After my cool down, I showered, got ready for work and ordered a protein shake for ‘Protein Bar’.  The shake I got was called the ‘Sears Sucker’ and had vanilla whey protein, Greek yogurt, almond milk, raspberries and a banana.  The nutrition for this shake came out to: 20 oz: 266 calories, 4 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 130 mg sodium, 31 g carbohydrates, 7 g fiber, 20 g sugar, 28 g protein.  This is my go-to shake from protein bar.  It is delicious, filling and really packs the protein punch when I do strength training in the morning.

It’s a protein party in my mouth!

As I mentioned earlier in the post, Brian and I are heading out to North Carolina tomorrow to visit my “little” sister who goes to school at East Carolina University.  The weather near ECU is supposed to be BEAUTIFUL – 85 degrees and sunny!   However, the weather in Chicago is going to be a real problem.  We are expected to have a large storm system move through the area that will last the entire day.  Thee weathermen are predicting 3-4 inches of rain, which would equate to over 20 inches of snow!  Crazy.  Hopefully we aren’t delayed too much, but I have no problem posting up at a bar somewhere while we wait 🙂

Since we are leaving town, Brian and I didn’t go grocery shopping because we didn’t want anything to go to waste.  Last night after my TEMPO RUN TUESDAY workout, I got take out from our favorite local BYOB Thai place – Joy’s Noodles & Rice.  I got the Chicken Pad Prik and it really hit the spot 🙂

I will be heading to my parents place after work tonight to drop off Bailey.  I always feel so sad when we leave her for an extended weekend… but I know she has a lot of fun running around the “woods” of the suburbs.

Happy “Friday” to me and GO SABRES!

PAWS Run For Their Lives

Happy Friday!

This week went by fast… I think it’s because work has just been crazy busy (in a good way).

Last night my company’s coed soccer team had a game early in the evening.  I am happy to report that we are still undefeated! 3-0

I hope I didn’t just jinx us.

The game was great, especially because we had girl subs!  As much as I love a good workout, playing an entire indoor soccer game is really hard.  All the short sprints and constant running… it’s a real endurance builder.

I got home around 8:00 p.m. and was realllll hungry.  Brian just went grocery shopping, so we have all of this good food in our fridge.  To avoid binge eating right on the spot I whipped together a quick protein smoothie to satisfy my cravings.

Into the blender went:

– 2 handfuls of fresh spinach

– 1/2 a banana

– 1 scoop of organic vanilla brown rice protein powder

– 1 handful of frozen berries (can you tell I was not exactly measuring?)

– Enough almond milk to get everything mixed together

Delicious.

For those of you who are curious, the protein powder I buy is called ‘Perfect Fit‘.  It’s the protein powder that was created by the Tone It Up! girls and is by far my favorite protein powder I have every used.  Each serving has 15g of protein, 70 calories, is Organic, Gluten-Free, Raw, Vegan, Non-GMO, Kosher, Non-Fat, Low in Sodium and Free of Sugar, Dairy, Lactose, Cholesterol, Soy, Corn, Wheat and Allergens.  I highly recommend it.

After I chugged my smoothie and realized I was not as hungry as I initially thought, I chopped up a fresh salad and pulled out a piece of light rye bread with avocado spread.  Plus two pieces of dark chocolate 🙂

The rest of the evening was spent relaxing with Brian and Bailey and signing up for the ‘PAWS Chicago 13th Annual Run For Their Lives’!  This year, the race is in June and will still be hosted at Montrose Harbor.

Brian and I have a personal connection to this race, because PAWS is the the no-kill humane society that we adopted Bailey from.  We adopted her less than a year ago (August will be our 1-year) when we spontaneously decided to visit PAWS to see if we saw a pup we had a connection to.  It was seriously love at first sight.

The day we brought her home.

She was so worn out from all the activities on her first day at her forever home!

The PAWS Run For Their Lives 8k is a wonderful race to run for an excellent cause.  Plus, it is ONLY $35 to register!  That has to be one of the lowest race registrations you will ever pay for.  You can either run in the 8k as a participant or walk in the 4k with your dog!  There are also lots of activities after the race is over for you and your pup to participate in such as… LAGUNITAS BEER AND BLOODY MARY BAR (okay just for the owner, hehe), wine tastings, doggie splash pools,  50-yard doggie dash, Dog agility and stunt training, Doggie Spa and so much more!

What are you waiting for?  Sign up and I’ll see you there!

Feel Good Days

Good Morning!

I can’t believe it is already Sunday… the weekends go by too fast.

Here’s the recap:

Friday night, Brian and I stayed in and watched the NCAA tournament.  Some of these upsets have been really killing my bracket…

When I woke up Saturday morning to let Bailey out, it was SO beautiful I decided I needed to get out and run ASAP.  I only ran 5 miles, but it ended up being one of those feel good runs that makes you realize why you love running so much.

There must have been some kind of race going on because there were so many runners!  I ran down lakeshore and curved back up running through the Old Town/Lincoln Park neighborhood.  I am seriously obsessed with this city.  I’ll never leave… you can’t make me!

Post-run sweaty picture.

After my run, I made a quick protein shake to keep me fueled before my Vinyasa Yoga class.  Into the blender went:

• 1/2 a banana
• 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 3/4 cup plain 0% fat greek yogurt
• 1 scoop organic vanilla protein powder

This shake really hit the spot!

Yoga was wonderful because my muscles were really tight after the cold run.  It stretched everything out and I left feeling so amazing.

I made a pitstop at Trader Joe’s on my way home to stock up on groceries for the week… which lead to a fresh and healthy lunch menu.  Salad and fresh strawberries!

Delicious!

I tried to keep it light and healthy for lunch because I knew I was going out with my girlfriends for dinner.  We went to Mercadito which is a trendy Mexican restaurant in the city.  The drinks were amazing!  I got this bad boy called the “Little Market” which had tequila, fresh pineapple, chile guajillo, cilantro and pico piquin.

So refreshing.

We chose to do the ‘sharing menu’ which consisted of 3 different guacamoles, 2 salsas, 4 sets of different tacos (we got shrimp, skirt steak, chicken and tilapia), 2 sides and 2 desserts.  SO MUCH FOOD.

The guacamoles were really good, but the taco’s were just okay.  In my opinion, the best tacos in Chicago are from Big Star… hands down.

After dinner, we went out to a bar close by for a couple more drinks and then I called it a night.  When I go out ,and I know I will be drinking a good amount, I try to drink a glass of water per drink.  It keeps me hydrated and I don’t wake up the next morning feeling completely defeated.

I hope everyone has a nice and relaxing Sunday!