Five Friday Faves

Friday is here! I have many things to be grateful and thankful for this week. However, I have to talk about what a wonderful day it has been so far. For starters, this morning, Santosh and I were able to run on the national mall together. Something I would have not thought we would have done when we first started dating. We are both healthier and in better shape now then when we met! Here are pictures from our run this morning:

Following our run, I walked from the Lincoln Memorial to Open City through Rock Crrek Parkway where I had the best breakfast ever! It is one of the greatest places in the city and they make the best lattes! Here’s my view along Rock Creek Parkway and my latte from today:

From Open City, I walked home, in which I reached over 18,000 steps for the day.  What a day and it’s not even over!

On top of this wonderful day, I have the current favorites this week:

1. Hal Higdon’s Half Marathon Training. I used this training when I ran the Rock & Roll 1/2 in Philly last year and it helped so much! Having a laid out schedule and plan is really up my alley.
2. The Crow Girl. If you’ve read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Series and enjoyed them, this book is for you!
3. Boom Chicka Pop Popcorn. I LOVE popcorn. These bags come 6 in a pack so that you can take it to work with you like I do and get to enjoy popcorn all day everyday.
4. Think Thin Bars. I have a big sweet tooth and these help to taste so good without any of the sugar or guilt I would have in eating them. They have 20g of protein in one bar and are Gluten Free.
5. Orange is the New Black. The new season is back! I cannot wait to watch it with Santosh. Last time we watched the whole thing in 3 days.

 

 

 

 

June is in Full Swing!

Hello! I am back from my hiatus. It has been quite a month! I got to visit with my friend Sarah, I went to Jamaica,Turned 30 and my boyfriend threw me an amazing surprise party! May was an amazing month. Turning 30 hasn’t made me feel too different yet, however it has forced me to really think about what is important to me and what I want to continue to do. One of those things is this blog. I made up excuses daily as to why I shouldn’t write/what I had to say wasn’t important/etc and was the sole cause of there being no posts until now. 

And now I’m back! This weekend I ended up teaching for the first time in three weeks (due to work, travel, bday events). Saturday we took care of some errands, went for a run (in addition to me teaching) and purchased air purifiers from Target, which are making a big difference already. I’ve been experiencing a lot of issues with the air quaility and the air conditioning. 

Me in my Saturday errand/workout attire. 

Sunday I taught as well and we went to visit Santosh’s parents in Springfield. Sunday night is meal prep so of course I prepped and measured our food for the week while Santosh did the laundry. Here is the end result:

What’s in there? From left to right:

1. The Oatmeal Cranberry Bars I make all the time. Recipe is here but I alter the recipe by using 3 eggs instead of 2 and closer to a cup of canola oil.
2. Cashews measured and bagged. 
3. Babybel cheeses portioned off. 
4. Cottage Cheese (new favorite)
5. Alexia Southern Sweet Potato Blend (They come in the frozen aisle and only take 5 minutes to heat up!)
6. Earthly Choice Southwestern Quinoa (They also are in the frozen aisle and take 4 minutes to heat up!) 
7. Chicken breast (I buy a rotisserie chicken from Giant and portion it out with the quinoa for the week)
8. Brown rice seasoned with garlic and onion powder cooked in the Rice Cooker. 

Does meal prep make a difference? For us I think it does! It allows us to save money and it also allows us to both make healthy choices. For me, it’s a lot easier in the morning to grab the containers out of the refrigerator and just go. Everything I eat now is high in protein, lower in carbs and mostly gluten free. 

Originally, we both did gluten free for health reasons. However, I’ve found with recent foods I’ve tried to eat (homemade NY style pizza in NYC) that my body cannot process flour and I have a sensitivity to it. My father, sister and cousin also all have gluten sensitivities and allergies so it’s not just something I can chalk up to my stomach not agreeing with something. 
At the end of the day, I feel better with the food choices I make now which has also attributed greatly to my weight loss. 

Do you meal prep? What do you find works best for you during the week?