So Long, Farewell!

Well my friends, it's time for me to part from the blog for awhile. It is now *officially* SPRING BREAK (woohoo!) and I will be leaving for Falls Church, Virginia (population = a little over 50) around 6:30 AM tomorrow morning.

What will I be doing there, you may ask?

Volunteering! A small group of us from school are volunteering all week at an animal sanctuary place to help take care of the animals (emus, no less!), make organic soaps, and other things I'm not yet aware of. The trip is focusing on animal rights and welfare, as well as eating a largely vegan diet, so I'm really excited and I think it will be a lot of fun! I will definitely take lots of pictures to share with you all!

Until I return (March 10, i think), I have scheduled a few posts so the blog won't be completely dead. Make sure to check back for those posts and comment on them! I'll check in when I have access to a computer.

I love you all, and I'll see you when I return!

Much love,

WIAW #21: Fruits & Veggies

Welcome to the last WIAW of February! I actually have been eating more veggies this week, thanks to my lack of sugar and fattening foods. It has been a real challenge to avoid sweeteners of any kind - so I'm think I'm going to give up all refined sugars instead of all sugar. Jenn - you will be excited  about my abundance of fruit and veggies this week! 

{breakfasts} bananas with raw pecan butter, Chobani, TJ's shredded wheat cereal with Cho and blueberries {post-workout snack} almonds {lunch} large salad with hummus, grapes, and marinated veggies {dinner} TJ's Vegetable Panang Curry

 Crappy phone picture of my roasted carrots with garlic, EVOO and lemon juice (and Parma)

{not pictured} Barbara's fruit-juice sweetened bars, garlic hummus, crackers, cinnamon applesauce, Mediterranean pita with veggie burger and tzatziki 

I'm pumped that for March our WIAW posts will be themed green! Hopefully I will remember this and will be able to eat as much green as possible! I won't be here next week though, since I will be in Virginia for a week working for animal rights and welfare :) There will be a brief post explaining this trip on Friday! 

So, I've been continuing my Couch to 5K challenge. I'm trying to pack two weeks into one this week, since I will not be able to work out much, if at all, next week while in Virginia. This week has been really hard for me, and I've had to take a couple brief breaks while running, but I have definitely been working hard and burning more calories than last week. It's the running for five minutes at a time that gets me, with less walking time in between intervals. I know five minutes doesn't sound like a long time, but it's been hard on my legs, and I'm not sure what to do to make them stronger. Any good calf stretches you could recommend? 

I've also been working hard on my abs and arms. I love reverse crunches! They actually make me feel like I'm working my abs. Plus, regular crunches just hurt my neck. I also just started working my triceps today - my biceps are looking good, and hopefully these chair dips I've been doing will tone up those lower arms! 

Have a great Wednesday, everyone!

Much love, 

WIAW #20: The WIAW Before Lent!

Happy WIAW! 

This week, I was hit with the realization that Lent starts today! Even though I'm not Catholic, I enjoy a good challenge, so I decided to give up all sugar (except a little honey and 1 Chobani yogurt a day so I can complete a product review for them!) and all fatty foods. What exactly consists of fatty foods, you ask? Large amounts of cheese (minimal is okay) and butter and dairy, deep fried anything, milkshakes, mac&cheese, potato chips... you know. You guys know what constitutes fatty foods, I don't have to explain it. 

Both sugar and fatty foods is going to be difficult, but I'm so ready. It will definitely make me a healthier person, since I snack on so many sweets and sugar laden things every day! The past two days I've been eating my sugar stash so that it is not there to tempt me, and what I wasn't able to eat, I stored away in the bottom of my drawer until after Easter. 

On another note, I signed up for - count 'em - three 5ks! My first ones! Gotta stay motivated to finish my Couch to 5K program, right? The first is on April 15 and is called the Dirty Days Trail Series at a local park. Apparently it's a 3.6 mile run through trails and streams and such...which I didn't know...ha. Of course, I picked the most intense run I possibly could for my first. Go me. I'm nervous about it. My second is on April 28, and is a walk/run 5k at another local park. The third is the Flying Pig 5k in downtown Cincinnati on May 5. Any advice for how to prepare, especially for the trial run? 

Only 2 weeks until I leave for my spring break trip... I'll be working for animal rights on an emu farm in Virginia! Isn't that awesome? I could not be more excited. 

On to my eats this week! I didn't take many pictures, but what is lacking in pictures I will describe to you below. Sorry Jen, not a lot of veggies! :(

{yogurt with chia seeds} and lots of it. They were on sale, I had to get some! {Rawxies} for an upcoming product review. Stay tuned! {fruit} lots and lots of fruit! Grapes, melon, pineapple, apples, bananas.... {pasta} with sauce, peas, and corn! yummy! 

{not pictured} veggie omelet, cookies, chocolate, ice cream, Luna protein bars, bagels, baby carrots, and more. Basically, lots of crap food. Bad me. That's why I'm super excited for Lent to start and I can start getting healthy again! 

Happy WIAW, everyone!

Much love,