Time To Live

Hey everyone!

I really need to start beginning my posts with something different than, “hey everyone” every. single. time.

Workout: 

Hit up the gym this morning some speed work!

Here’s how the workout goes:

3 minute warm up

6 minutes at tempo (7:30 min/mile)

3 minute recovery jog

5 minutes at tempo

2.5 minute recovery jog

4 minutes at tempo

2 minute recovery jog

3 minutes at tempo

1.5 minute recovery jog

2 minutes at tempo

1 minute recovery

1 minute at tempo

.5 minute recovery

3 minute cool down

This is one of my favorite workouts to do because it reminds me of tempo runs when I used to do cross country… Which just so happened to be, along with ladders, the workout that we all dreaded! When coach told us that the next day would be tempo day, we would spend the entire school day before practice freaking out! Obviously, we ran them much faster than I do now… Which kind of makes me feel crummy, but it also motivates me to really up my game with speed work and get back to where I once was!

Breakfast

You may need to sit down for this… I did something kind of crazy this morning.

I had something other than an acai bowl for breakfast!

And guess what? That’s not a bowl of oats that you’re looking at either!

Can you guess?

IT’S CAULIFLOWER!

I happened to be out of frozen acai packets, so I figured that it would be a good time to force myself to deviate from my usual breakfast routine (I am the very definition of a creature of habit) and try a recipe that I have been eyeing.

I first saw the idea for this grain free cauliflower-based “oatmeal” or, as they have been dubbed, cauli-oats, over on To Her Core  the other day and I have been thinking about it ever since.

It’s no secret that I love cauliflower… I mean, how can you not? It is probably one of the most versatile veggies out there. You can dip it, roast it, make it into pizza, make it into mashed potatoes, and now… You can even make it into a sweet breakfast!

If you think about it, we should all be inspired by cauliflower. It is the true physical embodiment of your ability to be anything that you want to be as long as you are willing to think out of the box and try.

Woah… Getting real deep over here on Snaps ‘n Flats…

Aside from the whole inspirational experience that is cauliflower… This breakfast was absolutely delicious! Mine didn’t come out quite as creamy and I had hoped, but it was still sweet and comforting and filling. You also definitely don’t taste it as cauliflower at all! I’ll definitely be making it again and am excited to try new flavor combinations. I kind of want to make chocolate cauli-oats… But the idea of chocolate and cauliflower together kind of turns my stomach.

Some other new things happening over here:

I attempted to cut and dye my hair and it kind of sort of came out as a disaster.

I think that since the color was a pale mint color, I was supposed to bleach my hair white… But I wasn’t willing to do that to my hair so I just kind of went for it and now it’s all patchy and weird.

Yay.

Last night I also forced myself to leave the house (I have been having a hard time doing that lately) to meet up with my family for dinner on the beach.

Going out to eat, especially when it is with a large group of people, is always difficult for me. I have never been one to really enjoy going out to dinner, and now it’s at a point where it just makes me anxious. Part of my anxiety and food issues is control or a lack-thereof, and not having control over exactly what is going into the food I am eating, the portion sizes, and how the food is prepared just really makes me uneasy.

That being said, I am always super proud of myself when I do go out and eat without any issues. It shows that I really have made some progress, even if I don’t feel like I have!

We started off our meal with steamed mussels as our appetizer. We got two orders, one with red sauce and one with white and they were so flipping good! The mussels also came with bread (my favorite thing ever) for dipping and I think I ate a whole loaf.

Whoops…

For my meal, I opted for the Manhattan clam chowder with a side of steamed veggies.

Any restaurant that gives you a plate of vegetables that is larger than your head is a winner in my book. The soup was also just as good as it looks.

 

I also had a taste of my mama’s food (she got sesame tuna tacos with sweet potato fries) and I don’t know if it’s just because I don’t know the last time I had a sweet potato fry or what… But those fries were probably the greatest ones I have ever tasted. They had absolutely zero grease (greasy things sit in my stomach and make me feel sick) and had some pepper on them which contrasted so nicely with the sweetness of the… well… the sweet potato.

Fresh ahi tuna is always a winner in my book, so that was great too.

Also, we ate outside, and I guess the view wasn’t too bad.

Something that I am really trying to work on is actually living my life.

I have always been an introverted person. I cherish my time alone and am ok with not always going out… But my already introverted personality has been amplified by my anxiety to a point where it is crippling.

I actually have a whole post about introverted personalities vs. social anxiety in my head that I need to post because I feel like all too often people think that they are one in the same… But that couldn’t be less true.

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that I close myself off from the world and I am sick of it. I don’t spend enough time with the people that I love and cherish more than anything because I’m too afraid of putting myself into a situation where I may have anxiety.

I don’t know, I just feel like I need to really acknowledge and admit to these bad… habits(?) that I have fallen into and that I need to change. I’m sick of just existing instead of really living.

So I am happy that I went out with my family last night. It sounds small and menial, but it was a large step for me and I am so happy that I did. I got to see my cousins and my cousin’s fiancé and my aunt… Just some really important people in my life.

It was also one of the first days where it felt like summer, which is kind of sad given that I only have two weeks until Summer!

So, I’m going to make the most of these next two weeks =).

Now I have a concert to get ready for. So excited!

I hope you all have an amazing day!

 

 

Guys. Guys. Guys.

I am beyond stressed. It’s actually insane how stressful and complicated this whole transferring schools things is…

Now, I actually feel bad complaining about myself being stressed, because I know that I definitely have it easier than most. I don’t have kids or bills or a full time job.

I woke up this morning and completed Turbo Jam’s Fat Blaster workout for my morning cardio (or as the Tone It Up community would call it, my “bootycall”!). This has been one of my go-to “bootycalls” for over 3 years now. It’s quick, gets my heart rate up without being too difficult, and it’s super fun!

Chalene Johnson is honestly one of my biggest role-models. She’s just fabulous in every way shape and form. Admittedly, one of my goals in life is to meet her/attend a class of hers one day. Her positive attitude is infectious enough just over her social media, I couldn’t imagine how great it would be to be in a room with her!

Fan-girling aside, the rest of the morning, and a large bulk of the day, was spent one the computer/on the phone trying to sort out the million-and-one problems that have arisen with my transferring schools. First, I received notice that my housing deposit hadn’t been received (I sent it in over a week ago), and that I would have to be wait listed for housing if it wasn’t in by today. After hours of sorting that out, I had to take care of holds on my account that prevent my registering for classes (I’m not even sure if it’s all sorted out yet).

Then there was accessing my transfer-evaluation report… It was a nightmare.

According to the report, only 8 of my college credits transferred over to my new college. 

I don’t even know what to do about this! I had 39 credits at the end of my freshman year! I knew that I would lose some… But this is ridiculous! I wasted a year of my life and a sickening amount of money and have absolutely nothing to show for it. After a year of college, I will be entering my new school academically as a first semester freshman. How will I graduate in 4 years?!?!??!!

Ok.. Calming myself down now. So sorry that you all had to experience that little rant.

So, after that whole mess… I needed to de-stress.

De-stressing included:

A wonderful workout of Insanity: Max Interval Sports Training.

(This is my all-time favorite workout in the Insanity program by the way).

Stress-cleaning the kitchen and my bedroom.

(This actually resulted in more stress. Nothing. Is. Ever. Clean. Enough.)

And, of course, some stress baking.

The delectable bread pictured here was actually the result of my being completely experimental in the kitchen. I’m so proud!

I am always hesitant to experiment with my own recipes due to the fact that ingredients are expensive (especially the ones that I want to use, like coconut flour, stevia, etc.)… But I always want to! I find cooking and baking so therapeutic, and I have to say… Creating my own recipe and having it result in something that was actually edible was a great feeling!

What we have here is a gluten-free and low sugar protein pumpkin bread! I will say, the consistency is not exactly perfect (the protein powder in it makes it a mushy kind of consistency)… But I think it’s pretty darn good for my first attempt at something like this!

It’s also under 100 calories per square, but also contains 5 grams of protein per square, so I’m not complaining!

In the mix:

3/4 C Plant-based Protein Powder (I used Rainbow Light Vanilla… I would recommend SunWarrior or Perfect Fit in it’s place. I think the consistency would be better!)

1 C Buckwheat Flour

1/3 C Brown Sugar

1 T Vanilla Extract

1 t Baking Powder

1/2 t Baking Soda

1/3 C Liquid Egg Whites (I’m sure flax eggs would work too!)

1 Can Pumpkin Puree

1 T Pumpkin Pie Spice

Cinnamon to taste

Bake in a 9×12 baking pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until you can stick a knife/toothpick in the middle and have it come out clean.

Cut into 12 squares and enjoy!

Aw. Look at me trying to pretend that I’m a food/recipe blogger.

A girl can pretend right?

Hope you all had a less stressful Monday than I did!