Pausing the Party

As always, I partied a little too hard this past weekend, but in my defense it was my last weekend preceding a work-less week for the rest of my entire life!  Work officially starts this coming Monday, and it's work training so it will be even more brutal than actual work.  So after a wild weekend of clubbing Sat night and day drinking the NYC marathon on Sunday (lol) it's time to pause the party for a hot sec

So I'm going to try really hard to take it easy this weekend in preparation for the real world, and guess what? Real people make real meals, so I give you the dinner that I prepared for myself on this lovely hump day evening.

Sauteed yellow bell peppers and sweet onions with black pepper and cumin:

PLOPPED those on top of a whole grain sprouted Ezekiel Tortilla that was slathered in Amy's refried beans:

Topped off with some Daiya aka really good vegan cheddar cheese!

So that recipe was stolen from my favorite food blogger: The Fitnessista, and not only did I make her recipe, but I also did not one, but TWO of her workouts today!  And am in the mood for some dessert so will probably go to her blog right now to find something sweet to make!

Peace out partiers, and am telling the world to have a CRAZY weekend for me while I rest up before the first day of the rest of my life.......

Falling off the Wagon

Everyone "falls off the wagon" and I definitely did this past summer/these past few months.  I started only practicing yoga (which is amazing for my spirituality and strength) but it resulted in a huge decrease in cardio, which is essential for burning fat.  I also have been eating way more calories than I need.  So I'm writing this post to help me get the f*** back on the weight loss/healthy/exercise wagon.

I'm going back to eating high-protein mini-meals.  This worked fabulously for me so why I ever decided to stop is ludicrous (will definitely post this regime in the near future).  I like having a plan.  Which brings me to working out, my work out schedule will start looking more like this (when I start my job there will be changes):

*MILL = treadmill

Monday- 45 min-1hr of cardio (predominantly running on the MILL)

Tuesday- 30 min speed interval MILL run + night yoga class

Wednesday- Kristen's intense yoga class + easy 20/30 min MILL (this will turn into a cardio+strength training day once i start working, which sucks because i'm obsessed with Kristen's class)

Thursday- same as monday (cardio day)

Friday- 30 min cardio + total body strength training

Saturday- either Loryn's EXTREMELY TOUGH 8 am yoga class OR cardio day

Sunday- active recovery- do a short/easy yoga podcast/walk on the MILL for a little

Since I haven't strength trained in awhile (even though yoga really is strength training in my book) I'm going to start with one day per week (Fri) to get back into it, and then when I become a real person in 3 weeks, I'll up it to 2 days (Wed and Fri).

It really helps to write out a plan for yourself, which is why I'm posting this.  Now I have a tentative eating and work out plan scheduled out for me which I can change at any time!  I also would like to post about treats (aka alcohol) but for now this is a good start to my climb back onto the wagon.

Not to contradict everything I just said buttttt can't wait to PARTY for halloween this weekend!!!!

xx,
Party Girl

What's Your Number?

Some food for thought....

Every single girl in their college years/early 20s has a forbidden "number."  If you're above a certain range you're subsequently coined a slut or will have rumors spread about you.  Either way, as "slutty" as this may sound, I think that this secretive number that we all have is analogous with the number we see on a scale/the number of our pant size....IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!!!!

The number of men you have slept with is as trivial as the number you see on the scale.  What's most important is how you feel about yourself.  If you have sex with a different guy every night, aren't safe, enjoy the slutty "image" but always feel shitty about yourself then maybe you should rethink your sexual decisions.  Same thing goes on the other hand, if you are stick skinny, look like the airbrushed models in magazines, but starve yourself and rely on drugs/unhealthy methods for weight loss and thus always feel shitty/cranky/hungry then maybe you should rethink your nutritional decisions.

On a more positive note: if you have had some one night stands and random hook ups in your wildest days, yet have been completely safe and do not regret these decisions than Jay-Z says it best: "LADIES IS PIMPS TOO, go brush yo' shoulders off"  And if you love the way you look and love your body, then honestly, who cares what the scale reads/what number pant size you are?

A healthy mind is the only way to achieve a healthy body.

I am finally getting back into blogging and will continue my normal nutrition/fitness posts ASAP, just thought this little analogy is important for girls in my age-range to keep in mind these days...

PS- the new blog name is more fitting for me these days ;)  I'm still toying with some other titles, but until then this will suffice.  Who says you can't be healthy and party hard at the same time? Isn't that what being a 22 year old single girl is about anyway? :)  

Party on!

Vegan Fro Yo

I used to eat fro yo every single day, so obviously i crave it once in awhile.  I've made banana soft serve (blended frozen banana) before but was never obsessed with it because i'm not a huge fan of banana-flavored things, so i jazzed it up a bit:

-frozen banana
-unsweetened vanilla almond milk
-amazing grass chocolate protein powder

all thrown into my pseudo magic bullet to create this delicious cup of vegan frozen  yogurt:

topped with raw cacao nibs! it was soooo delicious!

For dinner, i made the portobello mushroom burger from the vegan cookbook: The Urban Vegan.  Since i didn't have any whole wheat buns on hand, i had some whole wheat pasta and a chick pea salad, the chick pea salad went like this:

-chick peas

-red bell peppers (cut into tiny pieces)

-fresh salsa

With the portobello mushroom burgers:

This morning i did day 1, week 1 of The Fitnessista's Summer Shape Up Plan, i really enjoyed it! I needed to switch up my work outs a bit so i'm going to try and follow this plan as best i can for a bit!

Also, i forgot to add Alright by Pitbull to the spin work out playlist, that's a really really good one too! 

PEACE OUT

Would I be out of line, if I said........I miss you

Wow haven't written in this thing in FOREVER.  The end of college hit me hard, with finals/senior week/doing everything "one last time" kept me really busy and, of course, sad.  I really missed writing this blog even though only like 3 people read it lol. So i'm back, as a college graduate! And guess what, i'm walking again! i'm almost completely healed and should be cleared to start running again in about a week or 2.  In the meantime i've re-acquainted myself with the elliptical and SPIN BIKE...seriously i cannot believe i survived 3 months without sweaty cardio.  I'm actually going to be biking 20 miles for the burn unit for a hospital nearby on Sunday with my Dad and have already registered for a 5k race in July.  I'm tellin' ya being crippled for 3 months really makes me motivated to take advantage of the ability to be active! So today i want to show some pictures of my latest creations and talk about an awesome spin work out that i completely made up.

So far i have successfully made: vegan overnight oats, raw vegan macaroons (without a dehydrator!), black bean burger, and vegan chocolate mousse.  there are so many more recipes that i can't wait to try! click the links to try them out for yourself (i think i've made about 4 black bean burgers in the past 2 weeks)

foodography:

vegan overnight oats w/nature's path gluten-free rice crisps and raw cacao nibs:

black bean burger:

raw vegan macaroon (this picture came out kinda weird but i swear it's delicious:

More to come!! one of my best friend's mom bought me a vegan cookbook called "The Urban Vegan" so i'm gonna try out some of those recipes ASAP, and post about it, of course.

OK so for the SPIN WORK OUT, pick a song and every time the chorus hits, up the resistance to support your body weight and do 8 seconds of jumps (8 seconds up in position 3, and 8 seconds sitting in position 1 or 2 but WITH THE RESISTANCE KEPT UP) i do about 3 sets of 8 second jumps then do about 2 sets of 4 second jumps, some GREAT songs for this are:

More - Usher
Somebody to Love - Justin Beiber
OMG - Usher
Pass Out - Chris Brown

You really can improvise, but the schedule of doing jumps for the chorus, fast medium resistance for the verses, and doing something crazy for the bridge (high resistance sitting, or position 3 the whole time) is really fun and INTENSE!

That's all for now, time to go buy some biking gear for the 20 miler on Sunday :)

-Jocey

Need Caffeine in your Bloodstream?

Today I'm going to talk about how to successfully ween (spelling?) yourself off coffee.  But before i do that i NEED to discuss TWO AMAZING INGREDIENTS:

1) GROUND FLAX SEED!!!! Lately, for breakfast i've been having a bowl of frozen strawberries, nonfat plain greek yogurt and GROUND FLAX SEED, you buy flax seed already ground and it LEGIT tastes like bread crumbs.  I just put it on my oatmeal this morning too.  So you're basically eating bread crumbs but getting in omega-3s while you're at it! Seeds are really healthy so go buy some.

2) organic mustard (not yellow mustard though just regular) I put it on my grilled vegetables the other night and now put it in my salads! It adds so much flavor

Anyway, a few months ago i decided to stop drinking coffee.  I always had 1 cup every single morning since high school and didn't like being so physically dependent on something anymore.  Also, it kinda screwed with my digestion.  I was obviously petrified of withdrawal symptoms so i did some research (aka googled it) and found a method that was pretty painless.  I was only slightly fatigued towards the very end of the process but not for more than a few days.  Click here for specific directions on how to do it, but here's the basic idea:

• cut your daily intake in half every 5 days for two weeks
• i wrote out days 1 - 14 on a notecard and circled the days i'd be cutting it down
• i drew lines on my mug (lol) 

I have recently been drinking decaf green tea on occasion for a little boost, but other than that i am no longer dependent on caffeine what-so-ever and i'm really enjoying it! So give it a try if you want!

good song: Sam Adams - Driving Me Crazy

Healthy Cookie for Brekky

- the aussies call breakfast "brekky"

The Fitnessista's breakfast cookie is such a good reason to get out of bed:

(instructions for how to make this - click the breakfast cookie link i just posted)

the ingredients i used:

-steel but oats

-apple sauce 

-unsweetened almond milk

-raw almond butter

-vanilla hemp protein powder

-sea salt

-cacao nibs!

The best part about making a brekky cookie is that you prepare it the night before, so it's waiting for you the next morning!  After eating this i crutched to the gym for a ballin' legless swim workout.  Swimming without legs really works my arms and back (still sore from the first swim), but my senior ball dress was enough motivation to keep me going for 50 minutes. 

Can't wait to make a healthy dinner with my friend Sumaya tonight, she has an actual kitchen so I'm really excited!

Check out this blogger's post about: 3 aerobic myths...so interesting!

current music: anything Chris Brown