Hey Guys!
I can finally share my big blog news with everyone.
I love my blog so much that I decided to make it official. And by official I mean I bought the Weightless Life domain.
All of my posts will now be put here:
Check over there now to see tonight’s post, and don’t forget to change your bookmark!
And if you were subscribed before, please subscribe again. That was the one thing the husband wasn’t able to save.
See you on the new site, Blogland!
Hey Guys!
I hope your evening is going swimmingly. Mines been a little rough, but I’m trying to stay positive.
I can’t share the exciting news with you yet. The husband said he needs at least one more day. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be good to go tomorrow night.
I worked, and stayed late, again today, and by the time I got out I was exhausted. So exhausted in fact that I fell asleep around 6 and didn’t wake up until 8:30. To be honest, I probably could have slept through the night.
That means that I didn’t make dinner for the husband tonight. He’ll live I think.
I figured I’d start sharing with you guys our meal plan for the week. Considering that we just bought our first home, and I’m about to start grad school we are on a pretty tight budget these days. Because of that we plan out what our dinners are going to be in advance and then we shop for everything, except fresh produce, on one day. We’re only allowed to spend 100 bucks a week.
I know $100 sounds like a lot of money, but fresh, healthy food is quite expensive these days. And since I’d rather shell out the extra dough to keep the fridge stocked with fruits and veggies rather than chips and soda, we make it work.
I usually just make a list of about 7 meals, and buy the ingredients for all of those. I don’t like to choose a specific day for each meal, just because that way it doesn’t feel like every moment of our lives is regimented.
1. baked falafel pitas: I’ll be blogging this recipe.
2. whole wheat pasta, sauce, and homemade garlic bread
3. grilled sweet potato quesadillas with black bean salsa: also going to blog. I’m craving sweet potatoes like crazy.
4. black bean and veggie enchiladas from here
5. bulgur burgers and parsnip fries
6. tofu and veggie stir-fry with quinoa
7. homemade pizza with veggies on my half, and maybe meat on the husbands half? We’ve never made our own pizza before. So I’m sure this will be an adventure.
So there you have it. Now you know what we’ll be eating this week, but you don’t know on what day! See, there’s an element of surprise. You’ll just have to keep checking the blog to find out.
Check back tomorrow to see if we manage to stay on budget, and maybe I’ll be able to share my exciting news.
Goodnight, Blogland!
Questions for you:
Do you make a meal plan? How far out do you plan?
Evening Mates!
I’m busting out my thesaurus tonight to call you guys something other than friends. I hope you don’t mind.
There are some very exciting things coming up in the next couple of days, and it has to do with the blog. Let me just say that the husband has been working very hard the past couple of days, and I think you’ll like it.
As promised tonight I’m going to share with you some of the blogs that I find especially enjoyable to read.
If you’re ever bored check out Healthy Living Blogs for an A-Z list of healthy lifestyle blogs, as well as blogs arranged by location.
But here are some of my favorites. These are the blogs that inspired me to start my own blog. The ladies contained in these links always have interesting topics, and I admire their ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Those are the main blogs that I hit on a regular basis. I encourage you to give them a look. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Sorry I don’t have more for you tonight. But check back tomorrow and maybe I’ll be able to share my exciting news with you. I can’t wait!
But for now I’m going to go snuggle with this thing:
Is that not the coolest dog of all time? She puts up with a lot living with me and the husband.
And I’m also going to snuggle with this thing:
I say “thing” out of love! I’m not sure he’ll appreciate that I put this up, but oh well. It’s in the blogosphere now.
Catch you on the flip side, Blogland!
Question for you:
Do you have a blog? If so comment and leave your URL. I’m always looking for a new site to haunt.
Hey People!
It’s been a productive day. I woke up with the husband this morning and set out to accomplish as much as I possibly could.
I realized while I was drinking my morning coffee that today was my last real day off. Every day after this is going to be filled with school, my internship, work, or all three. I’m a little bummed. I feel like this Summer has flown by.
In the spirit of getting things done I ate a hearty breakfast to fuel me for my 8-mile run. I decided to try something a little different this time around, and instead of eating toast and peanut butter I had rye toast and a hard-boiled egg.
It worked pretty well.I left later than I usually do for my long runs and because of that the heat was pretty brutal. I took walk breaks when I needed them.
I took my Gu Energy Shot at the 4 mile mark, and I think it helped.
(source)
I definitely felt like the last half of my run went by easily. The flavor was a little weird though. It didn’t taste like a blackberry at all. But I look forward to trying out the other flavors. The gel didn’t sit heavy in my stomach like the protein bars did, which is a definite plus.
I also stopped to stretch at the 5 mile mark. I have to say it really made my legs feel better. I didn’t realize how stiff they were getting. Do you ever stop to stretch during your runs?
I finished my run in 1:48:46 with a 12:58 pace. That’s a little slower than I would like, but it’s still decent time.
Speaking of running, I have officially registered for the ING Hartford Half-Marathon.
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I’ve put money on this puppy now, there’s no turning back. Although I was able to get the student price, so I saved a little bit. I made the age cut-off for the student price by one week. Good thing I wasn’t born early.
The mailman brought me a present today:
My diploma!
It’s only fitting that this would come on my last day off before school starts. It all seems so final now. I’m a graduate student. Scary.
After the husband and I stared at our diplomas for a few minutes we headed out to run errands. We stopped by the library so I could drop off my overdue books and fork over my fine money. I owed them $1.20, but I figure that’s what keeps the library so nice.
Do you use your public library?
I also picked up a book that I’ve been dying to read.
(source)
I’ve seen reviews of it everywhere, but I couldn’t justify spending 25 bucks to get it since it’s a new release. I’ll let you know how I like it. Have you read it, did you like it?
As you know, today is Tuesday and that means I had my Weight Watchers meeting tonight. I’m happy to report that I lost weight this week. This tells me that I’m moving in a positive direction. I definitely noticed that I felt better physically this week just by adding in more fruits and veggies and steering clear of junk. Why does junk food have to taste so delicious?
The meeting topic tonight actually focused on eating filling foods. The idea is that if you fuel yourself with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains you’ll consume fewer calories but still be satisfied.
It’s funny because that’s how I felt this week. It’s like Weight Watchers is inside my brain! I know that I stay fuller longer if I’m eating those healthy staples, but it never hurts to be reminded of it. Have you noticed a difference in how you feel if you eat more fruits and vegetables?
Oh and one more super awesome thing:
My blog is now listed on the Healthy Living Blogs website. I really like this website because it’s a source for tons of healthy blogs. Check it out!
It’s come to my attention that this blog post is turning into a novel, so I’ll leave you here.
I’ll see you tomorrow with a post about some of my favorite blogs to read.
Thanks for reading people! It’s greatly appreciated.
Question for you:
What’s your favorite blog to read? It doesn’t have to healthy living, it can be any topic. I’m always looking for new stuff to read.
Hello friends!
Sorry for the late post. It’s been a crazy kind of day.
I woke up bright and early to get to work, and ended up having to stay late. This is become a frequent occurrence at work these days. To be honest, it stresses me out when my schedule gets changed at the last second. I’m working on becoming a “roll with the punches” kind of person, but I’m not quite there yet.
Staying late at work made it so I had to rush to Manchester to meet up with my sister. She agreed to help me pick out clothes for my internship. It is pretty fast approaching. Orientation is next week, and I need to look the part of a teacher.
Turns out my sister is a shopping machine, and we spent a solid 3 hours walking around the mall.We hit up Old Navy, Delias, JCPenney, Sears, and Macys.I think I got a pretty good start to my new wardrobe.
I am exhausted.
Clothes shopping always scares me a little. I never know what’s in fashion, or what’s going to look good on my body type. Do you like to go shopping for clothes?
I’ll post pictures of my haul tomorrow. Right now I want to go spend some time with the husband. We haven’t seen each other all day!
Stay tuned tomorrow for a long-run recap, and weigh-in post. I’m also working on some good things for later in the week.
Goodnight, Blogland!
Question for you:
What’s your favorite place to shop?
Good Afternoon!
I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday.
The husband, Kena, and I woke up nice and early to get to the race this morning. The 9 miler started at 7:30 and the 5k started at 7:45.
I ate my usual race breakfast of peanut butter toast, and tried to find my lucky sports bra. What’s that you say? You don’t like to wear the same sports bra for every race? I guess I’m just weird. I found it only to realize that it was broken. Boo.
Undeterred I found a different bra and went to put on my contacts only to find out that one of them was ripped in half. How does that even happen?
Needless to say, I left the house feeling a little pessimistic about my race. I tried to get rid of the negative thoughts before I got to the finish line though. I believe that how well you run has a lot to do with where you are mentally.
We got to the start line with barely a minute to spare, and I didn’t have the time to worry about anything else. I knew we should have left a little earlier, but at least we made it in time.
Naturally, Kena was off like a rocket.
The race had a special category for Police Officers. We were running with teams from North Haven, Woodbridge, and a SWAT Team.
I told Kena not to run too fast because I didn’t want her to get a ticket. I’m not sure the cops got my sense of humor.
I was not too far behind her.
Why is it so hard to take good race photos? Have any tips?
The course was pretty challenging. There was a lot of hill climbing, and at one point we were actually running up rocks. Well, trying to run up rocks anyway. I didn’t want to twist an ankle. The weather was perfect for racing, slightly overcast, and about 65 degrees.
About half-way through I got to this flat section, and this is where I found the water station.
I tried to speed up a little here to make up for the slowing down I had to do to make it up the hills. Kena and I had talked the night before about how neither of us wanted to make a time goal because we had never done a trail run before.
She’s blurry because she runs so fast! She told me at the end that she matched her pace to the guy in the red shorts. He was one of the Woodbridge cops.
And then I brought up the rear. This picture makes it seem like I was all by myself, but there were definitely people in front of, and behind, me.
Here’s Kena making it to the finish line:
She came in 31st (out of 59) and finished in 29:12. I’m so proud of her. She rocked it just like I knew she would. She did really well on a challenging course.
I on the other hand took a tumble just after the two-mile mark. I fell, but I was determined to finish strong. I bounced right back up and took off running again. Except then I tripped again. I was able to catch myself that time, but I walked for about a minute to pull myself back together. Then I took off running again, and made sure to pick my feet up a little higher. My sister says it’s called lazy legs when you get to the end and aren’t picking your feet up quite as high anymore.
About a half-mile from the finish line there was this crazy steep hill that you had to climb. It was definitely a sadist who planned out the course, but Kena and I both loved the challenge. It only makes you stronger, right?
Here’s me finishing:
I finished in 50th place in 33:37. Not a bad time. In ideal conditions, meaning no rocks and roots jumping in my way, I can run a 5k in under 30 minutes so to only take an extra 4 minutes is a pretty sweet deal. I told Kena I’m catching up on here. Each race our times get a little closer together.
Here’s the damage:
Left leg.
Right leg.
I’m a little sore, but the husband says I’m hardcore now.
It’s not a race until you see blood. (Thank goodness that’s not true.)
They gave out a pretty sweet swag bag for this race too. I wasn’t even expecting a t-shirt but we got this:
I love that it’s a reusable shopping bag.
The Bear was really intrigued by all of my goodies.
There’s a moisture-wicking shirt, a nutri-grain bar, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a post-it pad, tea sampler, water bottle, coupons, pens, an anti-microbial telephone pad, 3 Gu packets, and a loaf of ciabatta bread.
Pretty random, huh?
I’m going to have some of the bread with dinner and then freeze the rest. And I’m excited about trying the Gu out on my next long-run. It’s the Jet Blackberry flavor. Have you ever tried it?
All in all I’d call the race a success. I definitely met my goal of finishing, and I feel like I finished strong.
We spent the rest of the morning at the beach with family. I love days off like this.
Sorry for the crazy long post. With the husband around I had someone to take pictures for me. (Thanks Husband!)
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Blogland!
Question for you:
How are you doing?
See that title?
That’s what my cousin Kena and I are going to do to the West Rock Challenge tomorrow.
We are going to dominate.
Well, she’ll dominate, and I’ll bring up the rear.
I got the all clear from my eye doctor this morning. He said I must have contaminated my contacts somehow, and advised me to be a little more careful. He was really cool about the whole thing though, and I’m excited to have a clean bill of health.
After getting the good news I worked for a bit and then came home to make a feast.
I wanted to make sure Kena and I had proper fuel for tomorrow, so I made a nice pasta salad. I find that adding a bag of broccoli slaw to my pasta salads provides a nice crunch as well as a serving of veggies. How do you fit all of your fruits and vegetable serving in?
After dinner, we took a 2 mile walk around town, and then somehow found ourselves at Coldstone Creamery. Or as my Dad calls it, Coldstone Mountain. I think ice cream makes an excellent fuel, don’t you?
Like every race before this I only really have one goal in mind. I want to finish, and finish strong. I’m not worried about coming in last this time, because trail races are hard. If I come in last then it is what it is. My potential as an athlete is only growing. If my mom were around she would laugh so hard that I just called myself an athlete, but as time goes on I’m starting to think I might be. I think that’s a post for another day though.
Sorry to keep it short, Blogland, but this racer is going to hit the showers, then hit the hay.
See you tomorrow with a race recap. I think this is going to be my most challenging race yet.
And so you don’t feel like you’re walking away empty-handed here is a completely unrelated picture from our honeymoon.
This is Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. It was definitely one of my favorite places, and I’d love to go again.
Question for you:
What’s the most challenging event you’ve ever taken part of? Was it physically or emotionally challenging or both?
Hey Guys!
I hope this Friday the 13th is treating you well. Growing up my Dad always told me that Friday the 13th was lucky for him, and I guess because of that I’ve never bought into the superstition. And actually Friday the 13th usually ends up being a pretty good day for me. Or at least it has the past couple of occurrences.
That being said, I had a pretty good day today. I worked, and then came home to clean-up because we had some awesome company coming.
I got to go out to dinner with the husband’s family. (Hi Becca and Susan!)
I took today as a rest day. My legs were feeling pretty sore from my run, and I have a hard time getting enthusiastic about exercise when I’ve been up since 4:30 in the morning. Do you have a hard time exercising if you need to be up early?
You should always listen to your body about when you need a break. I know that if I push myself to exercise too hard when I’m already sore, it is only going to make me grumpy, and open me up to injury. I can’t afford an injury 2 months out from my 1/2 marathon. Well, who can afford an injury ever?
When the husband sprained his ankle last November the hospital bills were nearly $12,000! Thank goodness for health insurance.
Can we be honest with each other right now, reader?
I’ve been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately. Between working a full-time job, running about 20 miles (and counting) a week, cross training, arranging everything for graduate school, and keeping the house clean, dog fed, and husband happy, I’m exhausted.
I feel like I never have any time for myself.
Don’t get me wrong, when I exercise that is time that I’m spending on myself, but sometimes exercise feels more like a chore than a fun activity. Do you ever feel this way?
I find myself worrying a lot about what my life will be like once grad school actually starts. I have no idea how I’ll be able to fit my internship, classes, homework, work, exercise, and quality time with the husband into my life. It’s a scary prospect. I feel like I’m losing control of a situation that I am not even actually dealing with yet.
How do you cope with hectic times in your life?
I’m trying to tell myself not to worry about these things now. I really need to not go borrowing stress and just take things as they come. But it’s in my nature to worry.
I think I need to make a schedule of some sort, so that I’ll be able to look at it and know where I’m going and what’s expected of me.
But I’m worried about being able to live a healthy lifestyle and keep up with a hectic work/school schedule.
So I’m asking you, dear readers, for help.
What are your best tips/tricks for dealing with stress?
Greetings Earthlings! (Now I’m an alien. Sweet.)
I finally did my 7 mile run!
I tried a new pair of contacts after work today, and there was no pain in sight so I took the opportunity to hit the road. Ridiculously, when I opened the garage door I was greeted by rain, but I didn’t let that deter me. I was itching to go for a run.
But let me tell you, I must have been channeling my brother-in-law when I mapped out the route I ran today. I can’t think of any other reason the last 2 miles of my 7 mile run would be in the woods, on a trail, climbing steadily uphill.
Needless to say I took some walk breaks, and I’m not really sure what my official time was because my GPS didn’t work in the woods, but it was probably about an hour and a half.
I was sweating, and panting like a mad woman going up that Tower Path, at Sleeping Giant. But when I got to the top and saw this:
It was all worth it. I even found the energy in me to run up to the very top of the tower and take in the scenic views.
Even though it was a little cloudy.
And you know I had to look down.
I munched on a Kashi protein bar while I was up there. I’m trying to get rid of the ones I have, but they’re just so dry, and they sit so heavy in my stomach that they don’t make good fuel.
Then I began my descent, and ran into the husband on the way down. I guess he didn’t want to wait in the parking lot, which is fine with me. I enjoyed the company on the way back down.
Trail running is a whole other beast than road running. My legs burned like crazy while I was doing it, and I had to keep a constant eye on the ground in front of me so that I wouldn’t trip. It’s making me worry a little about the race on Sunday, but I’ll worry about that later. Have you ever done a trail run before? Did you enjoy it?
Dinner tonight was EPIC!
I transformed this:
Into this:
And then finally into this:
I made the zucchini into noodles (zoodles!) by using this nifty julienne tool from Pampered Chef that my mother-in-law (Hi Susan!) gave me for Christmas.
I topped said zoodles with this Raw Mediterranean Sauce and then with marinated tofu, and a balsamic reduction.
The tofu was marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, 5-spice powder, garlic powder, turmeric, and sesame seeds.
My whole serving was about 5 Points Value, but it was huge. It could easily be cut down.
This was my first experimentation with Raw cooking, even though it was not entirely raw because of the reduction. Is it still called cooking when the food is raw?
This meal was so light and fresh. I loved the way the flavors of the sauce came together, and the zucchini had this awesome crunch. I am thoroughly looking forward to eating the leftovers tomorrow. And the best part is that putting it together literally took 10 minutes. That is my kind of meal.
I was skeptical at first about eating raw zucchini, but slicing it so thin makes it nice and light, and the flavor is really mild.
I guarantee you this will not be the only raw recipe that you’ll see on this blog. Do you eat raw food? Any recipe recommendations?
Okay cool cats, it’s time for this blogger to go to bed.
Goodnight, Blogland!
Question for you:
If you could be in any movie what movie would you choose and why? Originally I was going to ask what horror movie, and then I realized that could get pretty gruesome.
I would be in Harold and Maude. I’d play Maude naturally. I hope I’m an eccentric old woman someday.
Well hello there, lovely readers!
Today was another crazy day in Cyndi-land. After working 12 hours my legs felt like crud and I didn’t have the heart to make them bust out a 7 mile run. But it’s coming tomorrow hell or high water.
Sometimes I wonder if I’m a little burnt out. How can you tell if you’re burnt out from training? How do you recover?
The eye doctor couldn’t tell me what was wrong with my eyes, although he was able to rule out that it isn’t the actual eye itself that has the problem. He advised me to throw out my old contacts, the cases, and the solution and attempt to start fresh with a new pair.
I’m going to give that a shot tomorrow (fingers crossed) and I have a follow-up appointment Saturday morning where he’ll put a fresh pair in, that they’re getting delivered to the office, to make sure it’s not my batch of contacts. I’m relieved that he’s willing to listen to me.
Sometimes I worry that my doctor’s won’t listen to my concerns. Do you ever worry about that?
Anyway, onto what you really came here for:
Summer-Fresh Frittata
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup baby portabella mushrooms, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small jalapeño, chopped
4 eggs
4 egg whites
splash skim milk
2 tbsp grated romano
Salt and pepper to taste
1/8 cup crumbled feta for sprinkling on top
Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat, and spray with cooking spray.
Place all the vegetables in the pan, and cook until golden and delicious looking.
While the veggies cook, crack the eggs, and egg whites into a bowl, add the milk and whisk.
Once the yolks are broken up, add the romano, salt and pepper, and give another quick whisk.
When the veggies are softened add the egg mixture.
Stir with a rubber spatula, and cook until set. Approximately 5 minutes.
In a 400 degree oven bake until fully cooked, approximately 5 minutes.
Then sprinkle the feta on top of the frittata, and broil for a couple of minutes until the top is golden brown.
Cut into 8 wedges and enjoy!
Makes 4, 2 wedge servings.
Points Value 3
This was so delicious! I loved that it came together so simply, but tasted so fresh and light.
The feta added a nice saltiness, and broiling it gave it a little crunch.
I can see myself making this over and over again. Feel free to use whatever veggie is in season, I think asparagus would be amazing in this dish, especially if you roasted the asparagus first. Oh man, I have so many egg-based dish ideas right now.
I promise to share.
Best of all, I get to have the leftovers for breakfast.
In other food related news, I have an amazing idea for a dinner. Hopefully it will come to fruition tomorrow. Stay tuned for that. It could either be a success or a failure. Only time will tell. (Cooking is kind of like a soap opera, huh?)
Here’s a hint: it involves zoodles.
Alright friends, it’s time for me to make some dinner, and maybe do some yoga.
Sleep tight, Blogland!
Question for you:
What are your favorite vegetables to put into egg dishes?
(source)
Journey to a Healthier Me 
