Ready for May

My mother asked me why my feet and hands have veins popping out? It's all the working out. :) So proud of them. Now I'd like to see them in my arms more!

I started my morning with a workout DVD. I did Slim in 6's Burn It Up. It's an oldie but a goodie to try and get into my hamstrings.

Breakfast using the preserves from my Penpal!

Afterwards, I did some grocery shopping for white fish and seaweed. Mom and I went to Costco today for spinach, sweet bell peppers, cans of tuna, and Almond Breeze, which they just started carrying!

I found Earth Balance Coconut & Peanut Spread at Mother's! Can't wait to try it.

Speaking of Costco, here are a few interesting things I wanted to share:

• Costco's business model
• Beachbody's Ultimate Reset?
• Carrots N Cakes' meal planning process

Monday Zumba, TurboKick
work 11-2:30

1. Shakeology
2. Sunwarrior + 1/2 banana
3. smoked salmon & goat cheese rolls
4. steamed pollock + broc + sweet potato
5. Fage 0% w/ instant pudding mix!

Tuesday rest
work 10:30-2:30; 3:30-7:30

1. egg white oats
2. chicken nori rolls
3. frozen yogurt
4. pollack, peppers, sweet potato
5. pizza slice

Wednesday yoga
work 10:30-2:30

1. egg white oats
2. Sunwarrior + 1/2 banana
3. smoked salmon & goat cheese rolls
4. steamed pollack + broc + sweet potato
5. Fage 0% w/ instant pudding mix!

Thursday circuit training
work 10:30-2:30; 3:30-7:30

1. egg white oats
2. Sunwarrior + 1/2 banana
3. smoked salmon & goat cheese rolls
4. tuna salad
5. Chobani strawberry-banana

Friday run
work 10:30-2:30

1. egg white oats
2. Sunwarrior + 1/2 banana
3. smoked salmon & goat cheese rolls
4. steamed pollack + broc
5. Fage 0% w/ instant pudding mix

Saturday TurboKick
pick up dad 8:30

1.  L.A. trip

Sunday 5K run

1. Shakeology

Other notes:

• Read Mockingjay
• Study chapter 5 

And a treat for your ears... I heard this on the radio every 15 minutes on my way to San Diego yesterday! This isn't the best video - the guy reminds me of my friend Greg.


Now for some Sunday night TV before much-needed sleep.

More homemade cookies please (April Foodie PenPal)

Another fantastic month with Foodie PenPals! My PenPal was blog reader Carolyn, who compiled a thoughtful package and sent it so quickly that I've been itching to write this post for weeks!

*My package went to Arielle at Everyday College Girl's Guide to Life.

I wanted to try this granola after hearing about it through the Blend Retreat - I'm not going, but I can dream.

I've portioned out the precious granola. I put a little in my breakfast oats and a little bit in my Fage 0% + instant pudding mix concoction.

Fruity flavors! I used the raspberry & roasted chipotle sauce on top of eggs?

She also sent these delicious preserves. I've never canned/jarred, but it was big when I lived in the South. My family loves orange jam so this was perfect. So far, I've only eaten it from the jar!

 

What I love most about Foodie PenPals, besides shopping for and sending packages, is getting baked goods. These "lime away(?)" shortbread cookies were amazing. There was lime zest and it was tangy.

Peanut butter chocolate brownies were great when warmed up.

And a special thank you for these special chocolate bars. I forgot to mention how much I love local, but she must have read my mind! The cherry flavor is mild next to the dark chocolate.

Thanks again Carolyn for my package and thanks Lindsay for hosting! If you'd like to join in (there are 600 people in the U.S. and Canada), read below:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 
If you’re interested in participating for May, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.
You must submit your information by May 4th as pairings will be emailed on May 5th!

*If you're from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I'll see if we get enough interest this month!

Sunny in San Diego: Bloggers Bake Sale, Cups, Encinitas Street Fair

I've gone to San Diego maybe twice before. Even though it's less than an hour and a half away and roughly the same distance, I end up going to L.A. more.

 

I spent most of my time in the car, shuffling from neighborhood to neighborhood. There are so many communities that I went to: Pacific Beach, Golden Hill, North Park, South Park, etc.

 

First stop was the San Diego Food Bloggers Bake Sale.

I love the blog Kirbie's Cravings and had to snatch up cookies 'n cream cookies when I saw the cute design. 

First thing I snatched up was a cute peanut butter & jelly kiss, a peanut butter filled cookie, from Fruit Maven. It was hard not to just pop it in my mouth.

My cousin devoured this. I haven't had a ho ho in a long time. They were sold at school, wrapped in foil, and always intrigued me. Real ho hos are so fake and stale though. This faux ho from My Burning Kitchen was amazing.

 

I had to buy one of Averie Cooks' baked goods. I rolled with the cream cheese chocolate cake bar. Super sweet. I appreciated the chunks of chocolate in the bottom.

 

I bought one cupcake in anticipation of a cupcake run later. This was the last green tea cupcake from Flavor Integrations. I wasn't a fan of the buttercream frosting, but the cake was light and fluffy and had a great green tea taste.

I forgot to take a picture of the maple bacon cookies from At The Patisserie. My family ate them all before I could take a picture. They liked the mild saltiness from the bacon and made it their dinner. Seriously.

I, on the other hand, was hungry after TurboKick and driving. I expected to eat right away in San Diego but didn't get lunch till later. I devoured half of each dip bite from Do You Know the Muffin Pan? Dip bites are mini muffin tin-sized bread bowls with spinach, queso, and buffalo cheese inside. So delicious!

Lunch at 1:30 P.M. at Bronx Pizza

I chose the Whitestone with pepperoni as suggested.

I made it a point to go to Cups after seeing it on Fitnessista's blog.

La Jolla was nicer than downtown. Parking was easier at least.

  

I picked a full cup PB & J (gluten free) and mini cups of churro, creme brulee, and orange ricotta. No surprise here: PB & J was my favorite, but all of them were good.

I decided it was time to head north and closer to home. But first, a stop at the yearly Encinitas Street Fair. Thankfully it was still happening and I got uber lucky with parking! Four blocks of vendors and amazing shops along South Coast Highway? Awesome and reminiscent of summer already!

I was mostly glad to have a place to shake out my legs after all the driving.

First time getting Dole Whip. I asked for a smaller size than small.

Dinner at home, finally.

Shout out to my car for making the trip. I put you through a lot today. Also shout out to my bottom for dealing with all the driving - it hurts to sit that long!

Have you been to San Diego? If so, where do you suggest going next time? Next time, I'm getting a Stone Brewery tour and going earlier to find parking for the Little Italy Mercato. There was an art event going on today downtown too so parking was ridic.

Turning 30... someday

In commemoration of my 25th birthday in July and thus, halfway through my twenties...

I found this list of 30 Things Every Woman Should Have And Should Know on Huff Post Women.

By 30, you should have ...
1. One old boyfriend you can imagine going back to and one who reminds you of how far you’ve come.
2. A decent piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in your family.
3. Something perfect to wear if the employer or man of your dreams wants to see you in an hour.
4. A purse, a suitcase, and an umbrella you’re not ashamed to be seen carrying.
5. A youth you’re content to move beyond.
6. A past juicy enough that you’re looking forward to retelling it in your old age.
7. The realization that you are actually going to have an old age -- and some money set aside to help fund it.
8. An email address, a voice mailbox, and a bank account -- all of which nobody has access to but you.
9. A résumé that is not even the slightest bit padded.
10. One friend who always makes you laugh and one who lets you cry.
11. A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra.
12. Something ridiculously expensive that you bought for yourself, just because you deserve it.
13. The belief that you deserve it.
14. A skin-care regimen, an exercise routine, and a plan for dealing with those few other facets of life that don’t get better after 30.
15. A solid start on a satisfying career, a satisfying relationship, and all those other facets of life that do get better.

By 30, you should know ...
1. How to fall in love without losing yourself.
2. How you feel about having kids.
3. How to quit a job, break up with a man, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship.
4. When to try harder and when to walk away.
5. How to kiss in a way that communicates perfectly what you would and wouldn’t like to happen next.
6. The names of the secretary of state, your great-grandmothers, and the best tailor in town.
7. How to live alone, even if you don’t like to.
8. Where to go -- be it your best friend’s kitchen table or a yoga mat -- when your soul needs soothing.
9. That you can’t change the length of your legs, the width of your hips, or the nature of your parents.
10. That your childhood may not have been perfect, but it’s over.
11. What you would and wouldn’t do for money or love.
12. That nobody gets away with smoking, drinking, doing drugs, or not flossing for very long.
13. Who you can trust, who you can’t, and why you shouldn’t take it personally.
14. Not to apologize for something that isn’t your fault.
15. Why they say life begins at 30

Every year I make my own list of twenty-something things to do before I'm twenty-something. Here's my list for 24.

1. Become a certified personal trainer. 
2. Find a job in the education field.
3. Try Physique 57. 
4. Take a baking class. 
5. Take a cooking class. I have a Groupon for tspoons!
   
6. Go on a wine tasting. Napa Valley here I come! 
7. Fit back into my clothes! This won't happen, but I'm fixing my body!
8. Run a 5K.
9. Bike the LA River.
10. Visit Austin or Portland or Chicago or some other city on my big list. 
11. Take a pole dancing class. 
12. Try Crossfit. 
13. Make homemade bread. Brioche! 
14. Visit Yosemite. 
15. Go to a concert. 
16. See a hockey game. 
17. Watch a baseball game. 
18. Go to the San Francisco’s Ferry Market.
19. Join a team. Kickball maybe? 
20. Go to a food festival. Eat Real Food Festival!
21. Pick fruit.
22. Compile my US history lesson plans. 
23. Make my world history lesson plans. 
24. Video blog. 

I'm not too upset that I haven't done a lot of these items. My goals now are very different from a year ago.

Trilogies: the new "it" thing

I just heard of "50 Shades of Grey" and now it's everywhere! I 'bought' it on audio because audiobooks are the most amazing thing ever and it was free.

I caught "The Ellen Show" today and then saw this video.

I also downloaded the second book since it was free as well.

Another book on my nightstand bed pile: Mockingjay.

I finally made my way around to checking out MeetUp.com to find book clubs and other groups.

Have you ever tried a Meet Up group?
How do you meet people outside of work and school?

No pictures please.

I got an e-mail with pictures of The Color Run last weekend. I found myself and the pictures were terrible.

I've avoided pictures for a long time now, unless I take them myself. I don't look the same. Since my lowest weight, I've gained 30 pounds and on my 5'3 frame, I look and feel terrible.

These are the repercussions of exercise bulimia and anorexia. My hormones were thrown off, my heart rate slowed way down, and my body aches all the time.

Needless to say, I had a tough night.

I'm working on it. I want to live normally and for my body to function normally. It'll happen soon enough. Just keep feeding even if I gain because in the end, it'll even out. I continue to work out but am now limited sometimes.

I woke up bright and early today at 6:55 A.M. SECOND DAY IN A ROW!

I completed, albeit shakily, Bob Harper's "Total Body Transformation." He says it's the hardest workout ever. It's not. It's not even as hard as his "Cardio Rev Conditioning" video. There is more arm work to it.

P.S. My legs are jello. My arms have gotten much better. This has never been the case. Trade offs...

The weather looks nice. I may walk or do some outdoor activity after work. Then maybe yoga at 6. (That does sound like a lot of pushing myself huh, but it's obvious not all of that will happen.)

In more exciting news, I finally ordered PB Crave and they are the fastest shippers ever. I ordered this the night before (late).

Dear Body, I write you a lot.

Dear Body, I hope 7 hours of sleep is enough. Please get through your workout tomorrow. It's a toughie but Saturday will be fun (TurboKick!).


Dear Joints & Bones, You're only 25. I promise to take meds and calcium if you promise to behave.

Dear Hips, We're going to get you open! More yoga comin' at ya.


I was once able to do toe stand and would love to do it again...

 

(source)

Not so intense though...

(source)

Dear Body (again), I don't need to be a fitness model or a yogi. I just want to return to April or May 2010. Its been a struggle for too long.

I'm going to feed you more and work you out gentler. You shed the fat off the muscles. Make me feel confident again.

But remember, I'll love you no matter what. I may not always show it, but it's there.

Dear San Diego, No rain please. Every time I visit, it rains. Change my mind about you. Also, let there be less traffic and good parking.

Firsts & trips

Goat's milk yogurt. First time. A little more watery than Greek yogurt.

Bloated all day. :/ Okay now.

Work xs 2.

Purchased ticket to Austin!

San Diego trip planning: first TurboKick in town, Encinitas Street Faire, San Diego Food Bloggers Bake Sale, & hopefully yoga.

"Bones" before bed.

Tomorrow's workout.

(source)

2 rest days & food!

Discovery: 1 cup Fage 0% mixed with 1 tbsp sugar-free instant pudding mix (vanilla or cheesecake thus far)

Bagels (Perfect 10) & salmon. Lots of it.

Other breakfasts: egg white oats

Downtown Huntington Beach on Tuesday nights is Surf City Nights. I rarely get Tuesday off so we went out for tacos (pollo y pescado).

Afterwards, I hung out with my friend Christian/Gonzo who came to visit from North Carolina. We went to Slaters 50/50 and got free beers... only because his beer was warm and my beer was terrible (Stone Brewing Mixtape - don't get it!). I replaced mine with a hazelnut beer, which I liked much better.

$1 off coupons for thinkThin bars are the best!

My new love: BBQ 'pork' spring rolls from MitAsie 3. I'm off to pick some up for my lunch today!

And yesterday's adventure? Reading and nap time.

Time to shower and head off to work... a little later today!

Post-LiveFit Overhaul & 3 on Thursday

FIRST! There's me, in the bottom left corner at the Blogilates L.A. Meetup.

(source)

I just got home from BodyPump. I was rather nervous because I have not gone in months. I started with 20 minutes on the elliptical before class. BodyPump was great for me back in the day, but now it hurts the wrong parts of my body. Not sure BodyPump will be coming back into my rotation yet.

*I'll discuss more on the LiveFit Trainer I did soon!

I continue to experiment with what's best for my body at any given time. The conclusion after today's workout: hike and use my body weight or lighter weights.

With the LiveFit Trainer, I started to gain muscle. Woo! Now it's time to get back into some at home videos that offer more of what I want than classes. However, I'll continue to go to TurboKick, add in some Zumba (for dancing & relaxing),  run more (now that I like it better), definitely include yoga, and once in awhile, use some LiveFit Trainer workouts as my guide.

My body needs gentler activities after the brunt of weights. With recover, I'll begin to lift again. I just need to change it up so I don't get bored or hurt.

Onto something fun!


Sometimes it's fun to envision packing up and moving to a new city/state. Where are three places that you'd consider living?

Quick recap of my living situation: I grew up in Huntington Beach, California then went to college in Asheville, North Carolina for 6 years. I never visited. My other college options were Eugene, Oregon; Seattle; and Philadelphia. How did I end up in a small Southern town? Beats me, but it was a good 6 years.

Now I'm back home. I squeezed out all Asheville had to offer and thought I'd give home another try.

It hasn't been too bad despite my what-I-consider rocky childhood. I've come back as a different person.

My top SIX places may be places I've never visited but envision as a wonderful place to live.

Austin, Texas. I'm visiting in June! It's a bigger Asheville, according to many. I'm concerned though because I have such high hopes for it.

Portland, Oregon. A hipster place to move to and why I almost went to college in Oregon. I imagine this as a middle ground between San Francisco and Denver.

Atlanta, Georgia. Hands down my favorite city I've visited thus far. More industrialized, but the people are so nice.

Oakland, California. It's the sister of San Francisco. I've only been to San Fran once and it was with my mother and a tour group of old Asian people. My image of it isn't very good. I need to give it another try. I don't expect to live here though.

Denver, Colorado. Three of my college friends moved there and my co-worker ended up moving back after working with me at the "worst job ever" at the preschool. It became the new hip place to move to... after Portland. I'd be intimidated by all the outdoorsy peoplpe since I only hike and I'm not great with nature.

Montreal, Canada. I have family in Calgary so we went several times growing up. I went after high school and a couple of years ago. The pace of life is so nice and all the spreads I see of Montreal are amazing.

Your turn!
Answer the 3 onThursday question.
Also, do you overhaul your workouts? I do every few months. There are staples like TurboKick, but otherwise, I want to... conquer it all?

Can't help you bro (WIAW & LiveFit Day 65)

I forgot to post last Friday. What was I doing? To think back, I was trying to do a lot but never ended up doing much.

Let's reminisce...

PB Fingers' oatmeal cookie dough overnight oats. Half the recipe for oats and chia seeds but extra milk.

Topped with a little granola.

After a tofu and broccoli lunch, I was still hungry after work. I wanted food, healthy food.

New place in downtown Huntington Beach: North Shore Poke Co.

Their special bowl, regular size with cucumbers. Though it looks small, I didn't get rice to cushion it. The fish was fresh and yummy on top but a little too saucy/salty at the bottom.

I dropped in at Forever 21 to grab this nail polish. I got the heads up from the girl working at the frozen yogurt shop. It's minty but not as bright as my mint sorbet color. Why do my fingers look so stubby??!

I took a quick nap before heading to the gym for LiveFit Day 65. It took me almost 2 hours and I only ran half the sprints. My shoulder started hurting. Overall, parts of my body didn't feel as strong as they once were. I'm confused.

Oh boy, I DO remember how embarrassed I was! A 'bro' asked me to spot him. I gave him the I-really-shouldn't look and said "I don't know." He was sure I could help. Okay, I gave it a try and we were fine the first time. Then I failed to help him with the second rep and he couldn't push the 200+ pounds off. Thankfully, there was another guy there to help.

This is the second time I've attempted to help and failed. It's less about the ability than the positioning. 

I rushed to get some spirits (Skinnygirl Sangria - not that great) to meet up with a friend for study night. Yeah, lame, but I was excited to study since I waste away my weekday nights with fun instead of education. I finished a chapter and we chatted with minimal drinking (I drank 1/3 of a beer).

We also ate faux pork spring rolls (without noodles) and soy chicken from MitAsie, a vegetarian/vegan Vietnamese restaurant. Totally filled me up. Not sure if they use MSG though - I was kind of thirsty. No picture this time, but I'll be going back for those spring rolls!

What are some of your salty snacks? Sometimes I hard boil eggs for snacks.

What are your embarrassing gym moments? We all have them!