Gratitude

Happy Workout Wednesday! Mine isn't so happy right now since I'm starting it by spending the night at LAX :(

The 2 hour bus ride from Santa Barbara unexpectedly took 4.5 hours, so I missed my flight to DC, missed standby on the last flight out by 1 spot, and won't be able to get out until tomorrow morning. 

While this is definitely straining my efforts to avoid being an asshole, I'm still trying to keep up with the thanksgiving spirit by focusing on everything I'm grateful for. 

I'm super grateful for all the friends that have kept me company doing non-physical activities during my injury, especially since I didn't think I had any friends outside of volleyball! I also really appreciate all the support from my blog friends.

And, even though I'm still pretty mad I can't be as active as I normally am, I'm still really thankful that my body is able to do all the things it does for me every day. 

Q: How do you practice gratitude instead of getting super annoyed at everything? What are you thankful for this year?

Now on to the party!

Welcome to this week's Workout Wednesday (WOW) Link Up!

Brought to you by your hostesses

Diatta Harris | Femme Fitale Fit Club and Sheila Simmons | The Frugal Exerciser.

Joining us are our co-hostesses:

Amanda | Eat Hard Work Hard and Heather | Divas Run For Bling

Amanda | Blog | Twitter | Instagram

Heather | Blog | Twitter | Instagram

Be sure to stop by BOTH of our co-hostess' blogs as they are really cool and full of their fitness and running adventures so read some posts, leave some comments, share and subscribe so you receive regular updates. We are very happy to have them as co-hostesses.

How to Participate:

1. Follow, Like and/or Subscribe to your hostesses and co-hostesses:

• Diatta Harris (Femme Fitale Fit Club)| Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
• Sheila Simmons (The Frugal Exerciser) | Twitter | Facebook |subscribe via GFC or email.
• Amanda (Eat Hard Work Hard) | Blog | Twitter | Instagram
• Heather (Divas Run For Bling) | Blog | Twitter | Instagram

2. Post our badge on your site so folks "hear" about our weekly link up 
3. Leave no more than 2 links to your blog, Facebook or YouTube post or video using the link up tool/button below 
4. Invite your like-minded friends! We love finding and reading new blogs so spread the word so we can increase the size of our parties every week til we make the walls sweat!!!! I told ya we party hard! :-) 
5. Use hashtag #wowlinkup when you comment on someone's post so they know how you found them 6. Last but definitely not least, HAVE FUN! This IS a party.

GRAB OUR BADGE CODE

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<a href="http://femmefitalefitclub.com/?page_id=5741" title="Femme Fitale Fit Club"><img src="http://femmefitalefitclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/10411245605_4348135958_m.jpg" alt="Femme Fitale Fit Club" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

 

An InLinkz Link-up

All Upper Body Strength Training Plan

Last Workout Wednesday I posted an awesome new weight training plan along with big words about sticking to it. And then on Friday I found out I'm not supposed to do ANY lower body stuff, including strength training for 4-6 weeks. Oh well. Onwards and upwards!

(Image Quote)

The good thing about not being able to use my lower-body is that it gives me an excellent excuse to finally fix my super sad lack of upper body strength. Since it worked well before, I went back to the awesome Greatist article I used to make my last plan, and took all the upper body workouts from the 5 days a week plan. I had to modify things a little to take out any lower body stuff and to be able to do everything at home with just dumbbells. 

Day 1 – Chest/Triceps

1) Dumbbell Bench Press

2A) Incline Dumbbell Press
2B) Dips

3A) Dumbbell Chest Fly
3B) Tricep Extension
3C) Plank

Day 2 – Back/Biceps

1) Bent over row

2A) Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
2B) Dumbbell Reverse Fly

3A) Dumbbell Pullover
3B) Dumbbell Bicep Curl
3C) Supermans

Day 3 – Shoulders

1) Seated Clean and Press

2A) Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
2B) Dumbbell Lateral Raise

3A) Dumbbell Front Raise
3B) Shoulder Push Ups 

Here's hoping the above plan, plus some yoga and at-home pilates, is enough to keep me sane!

Q: How do you keep from going crazy while waiting for an injury to heal?

Now on to the party!

Welcome to this week's Workout Wednesday (WOW) Link Up!

Brought to you by your hostesses

Diatta Harris | Femme Fitale Fit Club and Sheila Simmons | The Frugal Exerciser.

Joining us are our co-hostesses:

Amanda | Eat Hard Work Hard and Heather | Divas Run For Bling

Amanda | Blog | Twitter | Instagram

Heather | Blog | Twitter | Instagram

Be sure to stop by BOTH of our co-hostess' blogs as they are really cool and full of their fitness and running adventures so read some posts, leave some comments, share and subscribe so you receive regular updates. We are very happy to have them as co-hostesses.

How to Participate:

1. Follow, Like and/or Subscribe to your hostesses and co-hostesses:

• Diatta Harris (Femme Fitale Fit Club)| Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
• Sheila Simmons (The Frugal Exerciser) | Twitter | Facebook |subscribe via GFC or email.
• Amanda (Eat Hard Work Hard) | Blog | Twitter | Instagram
• Heather (Divas Run For Bling) | Blog | Twitter | Instagram

2. Post our badge on your site so folks "hear" about our weekly link up 
3. Leave no more than 2 links to your blog, Facebook or YouTube post or video using the link up tool/button below 
4. Invite your like-minded friends! We love finding and reading new blogs so spread the word so we can increase the size of our parties every week til we make the walls sweat!!!! I told ya we party hard! :-) 
5. Use hashtag #wowlinkup when you comment on someone's post so they know how you found them 6. Last but definitely not least, HAVE FUN! This IS a party.

GRAB OUR BADGE CODE

<div align="center">
<a href="http://femmefitalefitclub.com/?page_id=5741" title="Femme Fitale Fit Club"><img src="http://femmefitalefitclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/10411245605_4348135958_m.jpg" alt="Femme Fitale Fit Club" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Injury Time Out

Whelp, as you may have seen if you follow me on Instagram, I got some bad news this weekend.

I haven't mentioned it a ton, but ever since I ran the Chardonnay 10-miler in April, my achilles have been hurting and the place where the tendon meets my heels has been swollen. I mean really swollen. The bf sweetly calls it my "gross foot tumors.

For a long time it only bothered me when I ran, so I cut back on running. But then I started to have pain after other activities. And taking a whole 3-weeks off from high impact activities during my work trip didn't help at all.

So I finally went to the doctor on Friday and found out I have achilles tendinitis and am not supposed to do ANYTHING for AT LEAST 6 weeks! Not even low-impact things like lower-body weight lifting or taking a 30-minute walk. Not sure cut out ALL activity, but I'm trying to follow instructions as much as possible. Although I did play an all-day volleyball tournament on Saturday. #dietstartsnextweek 

I'm pretty bummed since I've been trying really hard to be consistent with my workouts. I also realized just how much time I spend on fitness and that I don't really have much sociial interaction outside of volleyball here. Need to find some new non-physical hobbies ASAP. Wish me luck!

Q: What's your favorite non-physical social activity? How do you keep from going crazy during injury recovery??

New Weight Training Plan

Happy Workout Wednesday! It's a week after my trip and I'm still kind of getting back in the groove. Pretty sure I'm past the point where I can blame jet lag for things, but I can still try :)

One thing I've surprisingly been doing a pretty good job at is lifting!

(Image Source)

For some reason, even though it's been on my goal list for months and months, I had a hard time sticking to a consistent strength training schedule. But since I started following the advice and below 3 days a week plan from this Greatist article (modified so I can do it at home), I've been doing a much better job of getting my lifts in every week.

Monday (Day One) 

1A) Barbell Deadlift 

1B) Dumbbell Bench Press

2A) Lunge

2B) Dumbbell Shoulder Press 

3A) Leg Press 

3B) Plank 

Wednesday (Day Two)

1A) Barbell Back Squat 

1B) Chin-up

2A) Dumbbell Row 

2B) Singe-Leg Stability Ball Hamstring Curl 

3A) Side Lunges 

3B) Reverse Crunch

Friday (Day Three) 

1A) Barbell Front Squat 1B) Inverted Row 

2A) Single-Leg Dumbbell Deadlift 

2B) Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 

3A) Reverse Lunge 

3B) Side Plank

While I'm really happy with the plan that I've found, I haven't quite found the perfect system for tracking my workouts yet. When I was traveling I just used my phone's notes app to keep track of everything, which worked but doesn't give me an easy way to see progress. I just downloaded FitNotes and it's ok so far but I'm not blown away.

I've also found a couple cute notebooks like this one, but I tend to lose them or not bring them when I travel.

Q: How do you track your strength workouts? What's your lifting routine like?

Now on to the party!

Welcome to this week's Workout Wednesday (WOW) Link Up!

Brought to you by your hostesses

Diatta Harris | Femme Fitale Fit Club and Sheila Simmons | The Frugal Exerciser.

Joining us are our co-hostesses:

Amanda | Eat Hard Work Hard and Heather | Divas Run For Bling

Amanda | Blog | Twitter | Instagram

Heather | Blog | Twitter | Instagram

Be sure to stop by BOTH of our co-hostess' blogs as they are really cool and full of their fitness and running adventures so read some posts, leave some comments, share and subscribe so you receive regular updates. We are very happy to have them as co-hostesses.

How to Participate:

1. Follow, Like and/or Subscribe to your hostesses and co-hostesses:

• Diatta Harris (Femme Fitale Fit Club)| Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
• Sheila Simmons (The Frugal Exerciser) | Twitter | Facebook |subscribe via GFC or email.
• Amanda (Eat Hard Work Hard) | Blog | Twitter | Instagram
• Heather (Divas Run For Bling) | Blog | Twitter | Instagram

2. Post our badge on your site so folks "hear" about our weekly link up 
3. Leave no more than 2 links to your blog, Facebook or YouTube post or video using the link up tool/button below 
4. Invite your like-minded friends! We love finding and reading new blogs so spread the word so we can increase the size of our parties every week til we make the walls sweat!!!! I told ya we party hard! :-) 
5. Use hashtag #wowlinkup when you comment on someone's post so they know how you found them 6. Last but definitely not least, HAVE FUN! This IS a party.

GRAB OUR BADGE CODE

<div align="center">
<a href="http://femmefitalefitclub.com/?page_id=5741" title="Femme Fitale Fit Club"><img src="http://femmefitalefitclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/10411245605_4348135958_m.jpg" alt="Femme Fitale Fit Club" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Meal Prep Monday - Pumpkin Quinoa Breakfast Bake and Roast Turkey Breast

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend! I spent a little bit of mine catching up with friends and playing beach volleyball (in November! I love California!) but most of my weekend was filled with unpacking, cleaning and cooking. Sounds lame but it was actually pretty awesome. You know you're getting old when the most exciting thing about your weekend is meal prep.

Speaking of meal prep, I realized my last meal prep post was on August 4. AUGUST people! That's just crazy talk! So I'm super happy to share everything I cooked for this week with you.

Breakfast

Since I was gone almost all of October, I haven't had a chance to eat/get sick of all the pumpkin things yet. So for this weeks breakfast I made another one of my quinoa pumpkin bakes featuring A WHOLE CAN of everyone's favorite orange squash.  

Pumpkin Quinoa Breakfast Bake

Calories: 251 | Fat: 6 g | Cholest: 31 mg | Sodium: 70 mg | Carbs: 37 g | Fiber: 7 g | Sugars: 12 g | Protein: 9 g 

1 cup uncooked quinoa
3 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 can canned pumpkin
1 egg
2 egg whites
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 tbsp agave necter
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 7 x 11 or 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray.
Mix the quinoa, chia seeds, cranberries and spices in the baking dish.
Mix in the pumpkin, egg, egg whites, almond milk, and agave necter.
Sprinkle the almonds evenly over the top.
Bake for 45 minutes-1 hour or until liquid is absorbed.
Makes 6 servings.

I love quinoa breakfast bakes! (see my other versions here and here) They're super easy since they only take one pan and you don't even have to pre-cook the quinoa. This version is full of fall flavors and is super filling from the quinoa and all that pumpkin fiber. It isn't very sweet, which I love, but if you are craving a sweet breakfast I'd recommend upping the agave or topping it with some maple syrup. Mmm. 

Protein

Going along with the whole fall theme, I made turkey for my main protein. I pretty much followed my old oven roasted turkey breast recipe, but I left out the vinegar from the marinade and added mustard. Still pretty tasty. 

Sides

In addition to the turkey breast, I roasted a TON of my favorite fall squash: delicata, along with some spaghetti squash and zucchini. I also cooked up some dried chickpeas to break up all the squash. Although I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as too much squash.

Q: What's your favorite fall food? Is there such a thing as too much squash?

5 Ways to Have a Healthy and Happy Holiday Season

Happy Friday! I'm still digging myself out from under piles of laundry and emails, and I'm definitely looking forward to my first weekend back in Santa Barbara in almost a month.

It also turned into fall while I was away, which means it gets dark at 5:00 but also means that the holidays are right around the corner. I LOVE pretty much all holidays/excuses to eat ridiculous amounts of food, but this can be a difficult time to try to stay healthy. So I'm joining this week's holiday health-themed Friday Five Linkup with Eat Pray Run DC, Mar on the Run and You Signed Up for What?! with my two cents on how to have a healthy AND happy holiday season.

1. Make it fun

Whether it's dressing up as an elf, reindeer or grinch for a fun run or enjoying fall foliage during a walk with your family, there's tons of ways to keep moving while enjoying the holidays. And if you enjoy it, you're more likely to stick with it. 

(Image Source)

2. Eat a little healthier most of the time

If you're like me, there's no way you're going to skip out on all the delicious treats during the big holiday meals. So try to eat a little healthier during all the "normal" non-special meals.

3. Treat yoself  

As you probably know by now, I'm a big fan of being able to eat anything in moderation. Plus, "banning" foods actually makes you more likely to go overboard. So, like I said last year, just eat the darn pie!

4. Fit in fitness when you can

You're probably super busy, so sometimes sticking to the normal workout schedule just isn't possible. But you can almost always fit in a quick 15-30 minute workout video (some of my fav cardio and strength training routines) at home. 

5. Take time to relax

Finally, the holidays can be super stressful so taking time to relax is also super important for staying healthy. Whether it's doing yoga, meditating, or closing the bedroom door, hiding under the covers and pretending not to be home for 15 minutes, a little down time can go a long way.

(Image Source)

Q: How do you stay healthy during the holidays?

I'm A City Fit Girls Ambassador!

Woohoo! I'm happy to report that after an awesome weekend in DC I am FINALLY back in Santa Barbara after 25 DAYS away!

I had a great trip but seriously can't wait to get back to my normal boring routine. Hooray for home cooked meals and sleeping in my own bed!

In other exciting news, I'm also happy to announce that I'm now a City Fit Girls Ambassador!

City Fit Girls is "a movement of thousands of women who love fitness and wellness" and their mission is "to inspire, uplift, encourage, and motivate women to live healthy lives". 

City Fit Girls was founded by two awesome young ladies from Philly, Takia McClendon and Kiera Smalls. The company is based in Philadelphia, and the ambassador program includes local bloggers like Workout Wednesday participant Janelle from Run With No Regrets. I was so excited when the ambassador program opened up to more bloggers nationwide, and I'm super excited to rep City Fit Girls in California!

Stay tuned for more City Fit Girls news, events and content and check out the site, blog, and (super cute) shop here.
Now on to the party!

Welcome to this week's Workout Wednesday (WOW) Link Up!

Brought to you by your hostesses

Diatta Harris | Femme Fitale Fit Club and Sheila Simmons | The Frugal Exerciser.

Joining us are our co-hostesses:

Amanda | Eat Hard Work Hard and Heather | Divas Run For Bling

Amanda | Blog | Twitter | Instagram

Heather | Blog | Twitter | Instagram

Be sure to stop by BOTH of our co-hostess' blogs as they are really cool and full of their fitness and running adventures so read some posts, leave some comments, share and subscribe so you receive regular updates. We are very happy to have them as co-hostesses.

How to Participate:

1. Follow, Like and/or Subscribe to your hostesses and co-hostesses:

• Diatta Harris (Femme Fitale Fit Club)| Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
• Sheila Simmons (The Frugal Exerciser) | Twitter | Facebook |subscribe via GFC or email.
• Amanda (Eat Hard Work Hard) | Blog | Twitter | Instagram
• Heather (Divas Run For Bling) | Blog | Twitter | Instagram

2. Post our badge on your site so folks "hear" about our weekly link up 
3. Leave no more than 2 links to your blog, Facebook or YouTube post or video using the link up tool/button below 
4. Invite your like-minded friends! We love finding and reading new blogs so spread the word so we can increase the size of our parties every week til we make the walls sweat!!!! I told ya we party hard! :-) 
5. Use hashtag #wowlinkup when you comment on someone's post so they know how you found them 6. Last but definitely not least, HAVE FUN! This IS a party.

GRAB OUR BADGE CODE

<div align="center">
<a href="http://femmefitalefitclub.com/?page_id=5741" title="Femme Fitale Fit Club"><img src="http://femmefitalefitclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/10411245605_4348135958_m.jpg" alt="Femme Fitale Fit Club" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

 

An InLinkz Link-up