Heavenly Apple Juice

Craig and I finally tried the juicer out last night and we went through a whole bag of green apples.

We both had medium sized glasses to drink and were so full! In fact, we could not eat much of our actual dinner because of it.

The weird experience we both had was a buzz in our heads. I had a bunch of energy for a while and then it went downhill.

It was our first experience juicing and despite the messy process, we loved it. The juice was amazing and Craig loves juice, so I am happy if he drinks something more pure once in a while. I can’t wait to try out new recipes with carrots, beets, cucumbers, kale and spinach (not all in one juice, but combined in various ways of course).

I had a case of the Mondays, so after work, I had a big salad for dinner, ate some of this glorious chocolate and looked through the February issue of Glamour that came in the mail today. Aaah, that helped ease my Monday blues.

A short nap and workout after that also helped. Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit got me up to about 18 mph on the bike and it felt great. I rowed and lifted weights too and then called it a night at the gym. My hips are killing me from running and walking on the treadmill yesterday, so I took it somewhat easy. I’ve never experienced hip pain like I had today and it’s not fun. Foam rolling and using a rolling pin kind of eased the pain. I just hope I wake up tomorrow and it’s not as bad.

Do you juice? If so, what’s your favorite combination? My favorite cafe bought juice had beets, lime juice, apple and strawberries. Yum!

Friday Favorites

I’ve seen other bloggers do the Friday Favorites thing, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon.

1. My new Speck candyshell iPhone 4S case. Since I love teal, I picked out the Pirate’s Cove Teal color. I did like the white too since I have a white phone, but that one was temporarily out of stock. I will do a review on the product once I have used it a little while longer.

I found a coupon for 15% off the product (I always search the company name and coupon on google and come up with something most of the time). And, I ordered the case on Tuesday and it arrived this morning. Great customer service–another favorite!

2. QR codes/tags in magazines for entering contests. I like entering contests and sometimes I even win them from magazines (I have had the most luck with Lucky magazine).

I’ve been wanting to try them out for a while and now that I have a smart phone, I can. I used the Women’s Day magazine tag codes and the microsoft tag app that was recommended.

3. The stair stepper and rowing machines at the gym. Love how fun rowing feels and how I get a total body workout. Like that the stair stepper works my butt and leg muscles hard and I burn a lot of calories in a short period of time.

source

4. Taking the bus. I’ve only been doing it for a couple of weeks, but I like how relaxing my commute is now and how I’ve been able to read a lot on my Kindle and magazines during my ride.

Spring 2011 magazine pictured because someone gave me a bunch to read and I am that far behind on them but the bus is helping me get rid of them!

5. This Coconut Creme Pie Larabar. I hadn’t tried this flavor before and I loved it. I am a big coconut fan and I know a lot of people either love it or hate it.

6. A free trial of lollihop. I’ll do a review of the products and the company in a later post. Just got the package this morning and love the concept and the products they include!

7. The movie “The Artist.” Haven’t seen it yet, but I like the concept of releasing a silent movie in 2011. I think we all could use some silence for two hours and let the facial expressions and actions do all the talking.

8. Cottage cheese. Craig suggested we buy some to eat as protein after the gym and I picked up a container today. Rediscovering that I like it is a good thing. I prefer the flavor of the higher milkfat one like this simply Kraft one. I won’t eat it if I buy the lower milkfat. I got accustomed to the higher milkfat flavor while living in Switzerland.

Have a wonderful Friday! I’m off to work in a bit and have to be there until midnight. Definitely not a favorite. I’d much rather be home or going out to eat with Craig on a Friday evening.

Movie day

Today was movie day, in honor of the Oscars of course! We finally got to the theater to see The King’s Speech. I really enjoyed it and so did Craig. I also find Colin Firth to be extremely attractive. I explained to Craig the whole Mr. Darcy Pride and Prejudice thing, but he doesn’t get it that I would like “an old man.” There is something about Colin though–I think his eyes exude kindness and vulnerability. I hope he wins Best Actor tonight! His acting was superb in the movie and I enjoyed learning more about the Royal family.

Breakfast today was french toast! I am not sure if I have ever made it before. I used a recipe off of my half and half bottle from Target. Craig hadn’t had it with vanilla extract and cinnamon before and said it tasted different. I loved it with those ingredients because I don’t think my mom made it with those when I was growing up. It tasted like it was made in a restaurant.

I completely forgot that I wanted to add some Nutella to it until my last two bites, so I added some and it was pure bliss.

I ate a quick burrito with refried beans, cheddar cheese and Frank’s Red Hot before we went to the movie.

For some reason, the movie made Craig and I tired so we napped when we got back. I slept way too long and then got up to go to the gym.

I did 10 minutes on the rowing machine, 16 on the bike while reading about Happiness in Real Simple magazine and lifted weights on a few machines and some free weights.

Dinner was a mango pineapple smoothie with protein powder.

And two pieces of frozen pizza with some added broccoli.

Dessert was a Fit & Active mint chocolate ice cream sandwich.

Ok, time to switch the laundry, look around on the internet a bit and then it’ll be bedtime before I know it!

Hope your weekend was an excellent one.

Fun at the zoo

Well, I didn’t post yesterday because I felt icky after work and was wiped out. I fell asleep on the couch for most of the night. Craig is sick with something and we were both just homebodies last night.

Yesterday’s food:
Breakfast

Lunch–red peppers, broccoli, Brown cow raspberry yogurt, gala apple and a ham sandwich with cheese. The apple was actually a late afternoon snack.

Aaah, dairy yogurt was so tasty compared to the soy yogurt from Thursday.

Dinner didn’t exist. I literally turned to comfort foods such as ice cream with a brownie instead of real food. Blame it on a bad day at work. I also was not that hungry after I had that apple as a snack around 3:30.

This morning, I slept in (well sort of, the cats woke me up at 5:20, 6:10, 6:20, then 7) and I slept until 8:30 after being woken up so many times by the naughty cats. I skipped yoga because I would have had to rush to get there.

Instead, I had breakfast–coffee with peaches n’ creme oatmeal:

And that fuel was what I needed for a tough workout at the gym. I warmed up on the rowing machine and then did intervals on the treadmill for a half hour. I walked inclines and then ran in between. Those runs really got my sweaty, but it felt good to run and my body felt strong. I also did weights and some of the ab exercises we do in Boot Camp class.

I had some Powerade and protein when I got home from the gym.

The Optimal Protein Diet bar is one that my co-worker gave me to try. I loved it! I only ate half and saved the rest for tomorrow, as it was pretty dense and I also needed to have a real lunch yet. It’s coated in chocolate and the bar itself is not gross tasting like some protein bars tend to be. I will be buying some of these–they have 20 grams of protein and are low in calories compared to other bars.

I got ready for the day and had lunch. My usual–whole wheat tortilla with pinto beans, cheese, tomatoes, Arizona dreaming spice and Frank’s Red Hot.

An apple was my dessert and a Reese’s PB cup.

Then it was time to go to the zoo with my friend and her daughter. It was trick or treat weekend there, so it was pretty crowded and the kids were all dressed up in costumes. My friend’s daughter dressed up as Pooh.

We saw lots of cool animals. These lions surprised zoo visitors by mating in front of everyone!

And some cute Halloween decorations throughout the zoo grounds.

We did lots of walking, so I feel like I got another round of exercise in.

When I got home, I ran back out to get Craig and I Cousin’s Subs. I was pretty hungry, so I inhaled my ham and cheese sub. Craig had more of an appetite today than the last 24 hours or so, but he didn’t eat all of his sub. Poor guy!

Then there was some neighborhood action in the form of a car on fire down the block! Not fun to watch! We think it was parked on top of a leaf pile and started on fire because of that. I didn’t realize that could happen, but learned a lesson from seeing this scary sight.

Well, I am winding down by having a pumpkin beer and snuggling underneath a blanket with Karma the kitty next to me. Time for bed soon! Good night and Happy Halloween tomorrow!

Peppers for immunity

It was just a pretty normal Wednesday for me today. I can’t believe it’s already Thursday tomorrow!

Breakfast was Kashi Autumn Wheat cereal with skim milk and a coffee.

My snack was about 8 almonds and a chai tea, which was from a packet, so it was kind of too sugary for me.

Lunch was basically what I had for dinner last night, minus the tomatoes. That Swiss Rye cheese made the sub taste so good! I also had a Brown Cow Maple Yogurt, which is ultra creamy and dessert like. I know the nutritional label doesn’t display the best stats, such as that it’s higher in calories coming in at 170, but it’s such a nice treat to have a creamy yogurt once in a while.

Last night, I chopped up some green and red peppers and put together a little container of hummus to dip them in. That made grabbing my lunch and getting ready to go this morning so easy! I just had to make my sandwich, which is less complicated than chopping veggies. The peppers really filled me up! While at the gym tonight, I read that red peppers are better for immunity boosting than an orange. They contain more Vitamin C. I feel like I may be getting a cold, so I needed the pepper to help fight off anything that may be coming on in my body.

I left work a little early to go to the eye doc to check on my trial contacts. All clear with the new pair and I ordered a few boxes. Love getting that kind of stuff over with.

Dinner was just an egg sandwich with Swiss Rye cheese on a whole wheat English Muffin. I wasn’t that hungry before hitting the gym. I think lunch filled me up today.

At the Y, I did about 30 minutes on the elliptical and then 6 minutes on the rowing machine. I also lifted arm weights, but no legs. I figured my legs could still use some rest from the pain they have been through this week. I wanted to stay there longer to do more, but then again my workout ended at 7:30 and that was just too late. I need to get up earlier tomorrow and didn’t want to be lying in bed tonight all wired!

Once home, I followed the advice of my co-worker’s personal trainer. My co-worker and I discuss healthy food and habits. She’s 60 something and in great shape and eats so healthy. Today, she gave me a post-it note with the following post-workout snacks recommended by her trainer.

• soy nuts & fruit
• hard-boiled egg whites (3-4)
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese or yogurt
• apple wedges with almond butter
• 2″ square-baked oatmeal (my co-worker is going to give me the recipe for this and I’ll share it with you too)

I had one of her recommended snacks after my workout tonight.

Almond butter and an apple. This was delicious!

I can’t believe it’s already 9:20, I better get off of here and get ready for bed!