A little-bitty review and Cave Cereal

Well it has finally happened..... enough snow has fallen that I have to wear winter boots to the gym and just bring my shoes....

Frankly, I am too lazy for that to be a simple "no big deal" kind of thing, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do I guess.

My poor little car is feeling the effects of winter too....

Doesn't he look miserable.... a trip to the car wash is definitely on the agenda... poor thing, such a champ though, let me tell you, Subaru's are the greatest. This car will go anywhere, anytime and the best part.... it heats up so fast. That is the best in the winter, I must say.

:)

So in other news, we were at Meijer's the other day, looking through the clearance section... and we found these little beauties....

Originally priced at $49.99... on sale for $4.99.... I had to ask the sales clerk if this was true because that is an insane discount..... But it was true, we got 2 pairs for only $4.99 each.

Let me tell you about these a bit. It is a blue tooth device that you sink to your phone and it plays music.... such as blue tooth devices do. I have never had something like this before, I just have one of those simple arm bands that you slide your phone into. Don't get me wrong, those are great, but with this little blue tooth thing, you don't have all the clunky-ness that comes along with an arm band. The headphones kind of are not the greatest, they have a short cord which is nice when working out, but the ear pieces hurt.... I really want to invest in a good pair... like THESE... someday I will, someday!

So a couple of weeks ago, I did this.....

The 21 Day Sugar Detox.... This is a diet (well detox, rather) program that is strictly Paleo.... So you go all caveman in your diet, and for anyone who does not know much about the Paleo diet and its wonderful benefits, HERE is a great resource for all you need to know!

I did this in November, well to be honest I only did about 15 days because Thanksgiving landed on day 18 (I should have thought that one through a little more) but after the holiday's I plan on doing to whole 21 days.... and then keep going, hopefully.

Even only doing 15 days, it made me feel so much better. You cut out all processed and glutenous foods, you eat purely a whole foods diet but you don't get jipped out on the good stuff, because this whole program IS the good stuff.... can we say BACON? yeah, a lot of bacon you get to eat :) I slept so much better and found that my body adjusted to its changes SO FAST. That was the best part of the whole thing.

I learned a lot about creating much healthier versions of my favorite foods, such as cereal, I am a complete cereal addict, however,  even the "healthy" cereals tend to be a bit misleading on their true nutritional benefits, but I created this little gem after doing this detox, so I can satisfy that cereal craving, but still stay Paleo :)

Cave-woman Cereal

-Handful of mixed nuts (I used pecans, walnuts, and almonds)

-1-2 Tbsp. Almond Butter (or other (non-peanut) nut butter)

-1 cut up Apple or Banana

-Almond Milk

Combine the nuts, nut butter, and fruit. Add your desired amount of Almond Milk, and Voila, Paleo Cereal :)

It's mighty delicious if I do say so myself.


DRIVE SAFE!


"If you want to be happy, be" -Leo Tolstoy





Everything stated here is purely my own opinions, nothing is affiliated with the 21DSD creator. 

School is to blame....

Hello all.....

I promise I'm not a stranger..... School is the one that keeps me from my little boggy blog....

However.... It's holiday break which means lots of blog time!!!

So here is a brief post to begin my month of them :)

This is what I've been up to.....

My family and I went to the annual Christmas tree party.....

.....and I bought home mine and my guy's first REAL Christmas tree :)

isn't it darling.... it's the same size as our love plant (we planted this plant together on our first date...)

this was it in the beginning.... it got mighty big, hey?

This weekend I also when on a date with my favorite oldest nephew....

I told him we could go wherever he wanted to go..... he is an outdoors, grizzly man type who hunts deer and shoots BB guns.... so of course he chooses Cabelas... (although I may have put a bug in his ear)

It was a blast....

we went on a safari....

and grabbed dinner..... Just kidding.... well we did actually get dinner.... but not freeze dried eggs....

and then we went bowling and he owned me.... really.....he is so good!

In other events.... 

My guy's sister visited us over thanksgiving... we had the most epic sushi adventure and can officially say I have eaten eel and fish eggs :) Delicious!

So here are a few things that I have been loving lately!

This man..... He really is made of iron

This little Scruff...

this little child and my favorite sister

My breakfast pretty much on the Daily following an early morning Gym Sesh.... Green Protein Smoothie, Emergen-C, and Coffee (which is always better in a cute mug to go with the season) 

This Pumpkin Tea.... This stuff is better than a Pumpkin Spice Latte.... and I am NOT kidding!

Things I have NOT been loving lately....

My egg the other morning was smiling at me.... I for one, do not like it when my food smiles at me... unless its a Mickey Mouse Pancake of course...

My favorite all time Christmas Tree Ornament had an accident.... THIS was a sad day....

Alrighty.... that is just a bit of an update... I am putting some things together to load up here, so hang tight....

"Do things with passion or not at all"

My Abandoned Blog and A Waterfall Run!

Well, It's been a while....

Hello Friends,

Lets just talk about the craziness that I call life. This is an average day in the life for me right now:

-5:40 AM: wake up

-6 AM- 8 AM: Gym

-8 AM - 9AM: Eat/Shower/Get ready for the day

-9:30AM-5PM: CLASS

-5PM-9PM: HOMEWORK

-9PM: Hello much needed sleep!

So anyways, things have been hectic, not always the easiest to make time for the little things (Like my abandon blog here), But I am figuring it all out!

Grad School is not easy folks... not easy one bit.... organization and time management are key let me tell you... along with LOTS of Sleep, Exercise, Healthy Eating (with some treats here and there) and down time

It's ALL about Balance! 

And getting time with the ones you love most....

Like this little lady friend of mine

:-)

Or... my all time favorite guy....

:-)

So here are some things that I have been doing to keep up with life....

Grabbing a quick Pre-Workout breakfast at 5:40 AM is not an easy task... no one is hungry that early in the morning... but I learned the hard way that if I don't grab something even little, the work out is doomed from hunger 30 minutes into it... so through experimenting with different things, I have created this... a little Pre-workout Doughnut....

Don't have a doughnut pan? No problem, just make "balls" of about 2 inch diameter instead... I predict 3 little balls or one doughnut would be a serving, that is usually what I grab before the gym! The recipe made about 9 Doughnuts! And they are the perfect pick-me-up!

Because the workouts are before class, I tend to feel rushed, especially if I go there without a plan... That is the best thing I have found, is going with a plan of exactly what I am going to do. I usually start with some sort of Cardio to get started and then end with a nice good lift session... BEST way to start the day.....

I am going to side note a bit... I HATE running on the treadmill... don't get me wrong, they're great and I love the IDEA of them... but when it comes down to it... me just going on a run on a treadmill is pretty close to the last thing I ever wanna do... However... running outside in the middle of a very busy town at 6 AM when it is still dark out and freezing cold IS the last thing I wanna do, so I get over my treadmill dread, and I run!

To make it more interesting, I mix things up, I get creative so I don't get bored, because frankly, that is where my dislike for treadmills come from, sheer boredom.... 

So THIS is what I do....

This little "Waterfall Run" is great... You Start with the 6 min run and end with the 5 min incline walk! It goes by super fast, not too hard, but by no means easy, and great when you just want a bit of a Cardio workout at 6 o'clock in the morning!

It is so easy to increase the intensity too:

-Make the "Runs" longer

-Alternate sprint to run rather than run to walk

-Get Creative!

So that is a little bit of a something... My poor little Bloggy Blog felt so abandoned and I am going to make a strong effort to make more time for this! If I can make time to catch an episode of "New Girl" here and there, I can make time for my blog!

So Friends... I leave you with this....

"Live to the point of tears" -Albert Camus

Just dropping in...

Hello all,

I have been away for a LONG time, but things have been a little crazy around here. We went on a trip to a beautiful wedding and school has started... well silly little me decided not to order any books until after classes started to see which ones I would "really" need... turns out I "really" need all of them... it also turns out that ordering them online (not through amazon), really can take up to 2 weeks for you to get them... it also turns out that grad school has no mercy when it comes to assigning readings immediately, and every day, so I have been playing the reading catch up game for a while and my mind is feeling it!

I know I am doing the post by the letter thing but today I am just going to do a quick post just to drop in since it's been a while... I will continue with the letter "J" in my next post!

SO today is going to be just a few of my favorite things lately!

Road trips to the U.P. .... for a wedding :)

My guy caught the guarder and I caught him running away with the little lady who caught the bouquet.....

Cute little backyard weddings....

Getting pictures of cute little babies :)

ICED COFFEE and lots and lots of time spent in front of this computer...

and I'm learning Braille!!

Those are just a few of my favorite things that have been going on in my life lately... as far as exercise goes, since I am so busy lately, I make a strong effort to get up early each morning and get to the gym before classes start.... this is a must for me both mentally and physically. It starts the day off to a great start. It gets my metabolism going and I feel like I have plenty of energy to get me through the day (along with coffee)...

but it is important mentally as well... since fitness has become a complete part of my lifestyle, when I skip a day that isn't a rest day, it is all I think about throughout the day... it's really a mind game, but it keeps me motivated to get up in the morning and go.... Having my man work early mornings helps too with the whole waking up process...

well that's all for today, I promise I will have more workout things and recipes up soon!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts"

-Winston Churchill 

Bananas for all things I!

Happy Wednesday! or... Happy Hump day? hm... I don't like the way that sounds tho... so I am going to stick with Happy Wednesday!

I had an amazing weekend I must say.. It was filled with cuddly babies and my favorite equine friend...

I am one proud auntie...

I also got to spend my weekend with my Tari...

We took a trail ride every morning....

What a beautiful way to start the day! I love this!

We went and visited this GIANT tree

This picture doesn't do it justice, but let me tell you my friends, this is no twig....

:)

Okay... So lets talk about a bit of fitness....

I want to stress the importance of the Individualization of your workouts or anything physical you do for that matter! 

I is for INDIVIDUALIZE!!

YOU are the only one who knows how your body feels when YOU do any sort of physical activity so when it comes to the way YOU feel, YOU have to listen to what your body tells YOU is okay. 

It is also good to make your workouts fun to get the best results...

because with fun comes motivation....

for some people, fun may be simply plugging your headphones in and doing your routine with the weights, to others it may be running bleachers until you can hardly walk anymore and to others.. it may be playing basketball with a friend, what ever it may be, it is what YOU like as an individual....

So that is my little fitness clip for the day, nothing too excited but it is something I very much believe in, finding what is best for YOU!

My Love :)

So now for some foodieness!!

I is for ICE CREAM (of course, what else would it stand for)

Unfortunately, I failed to get any pictures of this little creation, but I will post some later in time, I just really wanted to get the recipe itself up!

"Banana 'Ice Cream' "

1 whole Banana

1 Tbsp. of Peanut Butter

1/4 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt

1/2 Scoop Chocolate Protein

1/2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

Handful of Dark Chocolate Chips (Optional)

Mash the banana really well, mix in all remaining ingredients. Place in the freezer and freeze for 15 - 30 minutes. Remove from freezer and stir it a bit... and boom delicious and healthy ice cream :)

This does need a picture, I promise one will come soon!

This recycled one will do for now :)

Now just for a little random something about me....

I is for Iphone

I have an Iphone.... I have never updated it in the 2 1/2 years that I have had it....I can't download aps because it is so far behind. It is quite slow and the home screen button only works sometimes. It often "forgets" what it is doing and will close down everything that is open all on it's own, without any warning... its lovely.... on the other hand.... In the 2 1/2 years that I have had it.... I have dropped on the floor it a bagillion times, dropped it in a sink of running water, lost it in the snow for a couple hours and let it roast in a car all day... (all of these things have happened multiple times) but... it still works and has no cracks in it... so although it has some flaws, I must say that it is a champ for everything it has been through. 

That is all for today, I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day! Also... If you haven't already, go like the "Dumbbells and Cupcakes" face book page :)

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time" -Thomas Jefferson

I leave you with this :)

Anyone have a very individual workout for yourself?

Any plans for this day?

H is for Honey

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Just to recap a few things…for the past couple weeks I have been doing my posts themed by the alphabet. I take the letter of the day, write something about fitness, a foodie item/recipe and then a little something of a “get to know you” about myself. I just wanted to put a reminder so that no one is confused. 

My last post was all about I posted about my favorite Chocolate GRANOLA… well ever since then, I cannot get enough of that stuff… it is so delicious… Just in case you all wanted to know J

Okay, so today is a day For H… It really is a great letter, I must say. So first I’ll talk a little fitness….

H is for HEAVY LIFTING…..

(I do kind of have man arms hehe)

The whole “heavy lifting” concept is a great one, I must say… I know a lot of women become quite intimidated by the concept of heavy weights. I have heard so many times “I don’t want to become bulky” or “I don’t want to look like a man”. But it is a myth that a woman would become a man just by lifting heavy things… 

First of all... When you train heavy, not only do you burn calories while working out, but you continue to burn calories while you muscles are recovering from the workout you put it through...

Also... Women especially, will tone muscle without the bulk. Women don't have the hormone content that men do that cause the extra mass gain, therefore the result of women lifting weights is tone not bulk.

And... by lifting weights, you become all around physically stronger and increase your body's health.

And... working out results in better moods, less depression and an increase of metabolism... you just can't go wrong!

Therefore, unless you are going to start taking some mass gaining protein to go along with each high-intensity workout, the only thing lifting heavy is going to do is tone you! Gaining muscle is inevitable, but you’re not going to gain enough to look like a man….

I love lifting heavy. Being sore the day after a workout is a wonderful feeling because you know you pushed your body to be better. Even if you did something little and became sore (unless it’s a medical issue, which in that case please get that checked out!) it is something you are doing to better your body.

H is for HONEY

Honey has many health benefits that I think many people don't know about...

It is Anti-Bacterial, Anti-Viral, and Anti-Fungal

THIS website goes on to explain in much more detail, the benefits of Honey! Enjoy :D

And of course, I have a recipe! 

"Cinnamon Honey Glazed
Roasted Almonds"

2 Cups of Almonds

2 Tbsp. Honey

1 Tbsp. Water

1 Tsp. Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place Almonds in a shallow baking dish. Roast the Almonds for about 12 minutes. In the mean time combine the Honey, Water, and Cinnamon in a small pot and heat until warm and well combined. Pour the Roasted Almonds into the honey mixture and stir until the Almonds are well covered. Spread them onto some wax paper and allow to cool. Then Enjoy :D

H is for Haley!

That’s ME J I believe I was named just because it was a name my parent’s liked… I don’t think it had any significance (maybe I should ask?)

I have blonde hair, Blue eyes, I am about 5 feet 3 inches

My Favorite Color is Orange

I love to workout

I had a favorite Stuffed cat growing up named Thomas

I rode on the equestrian team in high school

and Played Field Hockey

(Lovely)

I have a peanut butter addiction

I am very much a breakfast person and I love taking naps

I love to horseback ride and Hike

I am a Graduate student

I have an older brother and sister

I have 2 nephews and a niece

I love looking at water bottles at the store, and you can tell by looking in my water bottle cupboard (and yes, I have an entire cupboard just for water bottles.

I love to bake

So that is a little about myself… I hope you all enjoy.

Any other women out there do a lot of HEAVY lifting?

Tell me something about yourself?