Taco Sliders

Happy MLK Day!  Today I possibly made the easiest brunch ever. Last night, my boyfriend and I made tacos so we had tons of leftovers; if you're like me then you know that tacos can be eaten for any and every meal.

This morning I topped 2 wasa crackers with cheese and black beans (then I warmed them up) after that I topped them with guacamole and tomatoes and red onion. Delicious!

Sticking to Your Resolutions

Are you in full-on New Year's Resolution mode? Me too. My two main goals are to be more active and to eat better, so I've taken some of the most common resolutions and compiled some lists (of links) for us to help keep us motivated and on track! Don't fight it, just click on all the links; open all the tabs.

The Resolution: Eat Better

31 Healthy Versions of Your Favorite Comfort Foods- Buzzfeed

• It's not about giving up the things you love, it's about finding a better way to indulge.

27 Easy Ways to Eat Healthier- Buzzfeed

• A simple list of easy substitutions to make small, healthier choices like using avocado instead of mayo on a sandwich

21 Little Lifestyle Changes that Will Help You Be Healthier- Buzzfeed

• It's a proven fact, big changes rarely ever stick. Take things one small change at a time and build from there.

Recipe Pick: Curried Chickpeas with Spinach from Budget Bytes

This weekend, my boyfriend and I are either going to host a few of our friends at our place or we're going to find a good BYOB place near us. Either way we're going to be having Indian food.

Raise your hand if you like Indian food. I know, me too. If for some reason your life is sad and you have never really tried Indian food then I urge you to go to an Indian buffet near you and try everything. I bet you will like the naan, samosas, and chicken tikka masala at the very least.

Anyway, if we're hosting friends at our place this recipe for Curried Chickpeas with Spinach is definitely in the mix as one of the dishes I might make for them. It sounds insanely easy and it's from one of my favorite recipe websites, Budget Bytes. Even if I don't make it this weekend, I will be making this in the very near future.

Click here for the recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil $0.32
• 1 small onion $0.47
• 2 cloves garlic $0.16
• 1 inch fresh ginger $0.16
• 1½ Tbsp curry powder $0.45
• 8 oz spinach (fresh or frozen) $1.36
• 1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce $0.59
• 1 (29 oz.) can chickpeas $1.89
• 1/2 cup coconut milk or to taste (HealthySimpleSmart's recommendation)

Update: I finally made this recipe and it turned out so good! I added more curry powder to taste (because I wanted mine extra curry-ish and added about 1/2 c.- 1 c. coconut milk. The coconut milk really set it off! I highly recommend! I've added it on to the recipe.

Recipe Pick: Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumpling Soup from Budget Bytes

It is officially cold today. Ugh, I hate it. And with it officially being cold- it is officially cold season. I saw an adorable toddler on the bus today sneeze snot all over herself. Kids are gross. Anyway, I made this slow cooker chicken and dumpling soup before and it was SO GOOD I knew I would have to make it again, especially around cold season. This recipe is super easy and very delicious. The recipe makes it more into a stew than a soup so if you want a more soup like consistency instead of a hearty chowder-like consistency (my fave) add and extra cup of water.

This recipe is from Budget Bytes (one of my favorite recipe websites!)

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumpling Soup

DIY Fall/Winter Projects

Fall always makes me want to do some type of DIY project. I'm not sure why because I'm not a very crafty person, but for some reason when fall rolls around my brain goes, "I'm left-hand, I'm creative; let's do this!" This is why at home I have a couple hundred dollars worth of jewelry making supplies and crochet supplies. I figure, "Hey, you know what's cheaper than buying jewelry and scarves? MAKING jewelry and scarves." Somewhere in the back of my head I convince myself that this will become a lucrative hobby that I enjoy.

So far, my skill level has not left beginner. But, once again, the weather is cold and I find myself taking on new projects. Fingers crossed that I actually stick to them, because I would really like to be one of those people who go, "Oh this? It's just something I made when I was bored." IN YOUR FACE!

Here are the four projects that I am going to undertake. The links take you to the DIY:

Awesome Ropey Scarf  (I want more ropes though!)

Body Image

Good body image is something I have always struggled with. There have always been things that I have been self conscious about on my body, namely my thighs and stomach. As I get older, and my body takes on a more womanly shape, I'm beginning to understand why women obsess over every part of their body. Suddenly I'm more self conscious about my arms and back, my neck/chin, and my chest. I thought as I grew older I was supposed to naturally come to peace with my body, and I would be a confident woman in her twenties, but it's just the opposite. I feel like I almost spend more time obsessing about my body now then when I was a self-conscious teenager. Sure, I know how to dress my body now and I can understand that there are some body types out there that just aren't attainable, but that doesn't stop me from doing a side profile look in the mirror every morning so I can carefully examine the bumps curves and divots of my body.

Five Favorites: Health Blogs

I always love discovering new healthy living websites. I like sites that are a good mix of everything from healthy eating and workouts to humor and style. Here are my top 5 favorite healthy living websites.


1. Eat Simple, Love Yoga

Meg is a busy graduate student living in Boston with her boyfriend. She eats a simple diet of whole foods and is always sharing delicious sounding recipes! She's also a certified yoga instructor!

The Comeback Workout (Week 2)

Last week I posted a copy of the workout schedule that I have been following. You can find week one of the Comeback Workout here.

Here is week 2 of this workout. After last week I already feel stronger (I swear!) 

All yoga is through the Yoga Studio App or is linked
All Pilates workouts are from the Blogilates Beginner's Calendar week 2
All specified strength exercises are from the Nike Training Club App

The Comeback Workout (Week 2)*

         Monday
AM- Blogilates for Beginners Total Body Workout
       The 100 
PM- 30 min run w/ dog
       15 min post run Yoga

        Tuesday
AM-Beginner's Ab Time
      8 min Abs
      10 min Yoga 
PM- NTC Arm Definer
       NYC Ballet

        Wednesday
AM- 30 min run
       15 min post run yoga
PM- Fat Burning Cardio
       Legilates
       Till the World Ends
        Thursday
AM- Quiet Cardio
       Saddlebag Shaver

       Glad You Came Calves   
PM- 10 min Bedtime Yoga

        Friday
AM- Pick Me Up Quickie Workout

       8 Min Abs

       ABC Abs 

PM- NTC Shaped Back

        

        Saturday (Rest Day)
AM- 15 Min walk
PM- 20 min Calming Back Poses

        Sunday
AM- Lithe Method Class- Skinny Mini (you can substitute this class with 60 minutes of cardio bootcamp/circuit training)
PM- 10 min Bedtime Yoga

*All of the stuff on this calendar is available for free through apps or the internet except the Yoga Studio app which costs $3 (worth it!) and the Lithe Method class.
         

Bedtime Yoga

I love doing a quick yoga sequence before bed. It helps me clear my mind and stretch out any tight muscles before going to sleep. You can follow the yoga sequence I do before bed sometimes below. I do these poses right on my bed. Perform each of these poses on both sides before moving to the next one. Hold each pose for about 5-10 breaths.

Stretches your core.

Five Favorites

Here are the things I'm loving and looking forward to this week!

I loved the warm weather (and drinks) at Midtown Fall Fest this year!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! A family friend celebrates which means
two Thanksgivings for me!

I'll be celebrating a friends's birthday this weekend at one of our favorite Mexican places!

Desperately in need of this 3 Day Weekend! I'm hoping to relax and catch up on some fun reading!

I'm going to see the Pennsylvania Ballet perform Jewels next week with a friend! I'm so excited!

What are you looking forward to or loving?

The Comeback Workout (Week 1)

Do you ever get to that breaking point where you're tired of feeling weak? Your're tired of not having enough energy to get through the day? You're tired of not liking what you see in the mirror? That was me on Monday. I hit a moment where I said "NO MORE" to myself. No more skipping workouts, no more cheat meals, and no more laziness. So on Monday I set a schedule up for myself. I wanted to jolt myself back into the game, how do you do that? Two-a-days.

Super Power Pancakes

Sunday is my lazy day. All week long I take pride in scheduling out my week with meetings, workouts, hangouts, and chores, but when Sunday comes around I want to do nothing but sleep in, watch tv, and do anything else that makes me happy. One of those things is eating a big breakfast. There's nothing like brunch to make your day feel lazy and decadent (in a good way.) While I love eating a giant breakfast of eggs, sausage, waffles, and hashbrowns, I don't like how greasy and unproductive I feel for the rest of the day. Enter: these pancakes.

One Week Vegetarian

Yesterday, my boyfriend suggested that we go vegetarian for a week. We both have been feeling sluggish and unhappy with our food choices. It's not that we eat poorly all the time, but eating meat certainly allows us to make poorer choices with food. Going vegetarian for a week is our way to reset our bodies and focus on getting plenty of fruits and vegetables. We both have made the mistake of making meat the center (and sometimes the only thing) in our meals, so starting Monday (yesterday) we decided to skip the meat.

The Gimmie Culture

I'm very guilty of having a terrible case of the gimmies. I've started to notice it happening more and more recently. I want everything. I want so many material things, and it's starting to get to me. I hear myself saying "want" and "need" way too much lately. It's like when you realize that someone says "like" a lot when they speak, and you start to cringe more and more each time they say "like." I know it's started to bother my boyfriend too, because I am easily slipping into this culture of it never being enough. I buy one thing, just to think of all the other things I want. I don't like how much my brain is overwhelmed with thinking of material things.

Balance

I've always struggled with balance in my life. When I get involved or interested in something I tend to shift too far in one direction and end up shifting to the other direction in a constant fight to be in the middle, a perfect medium, of the two. For example, exercising: I will go on a big kick where all I can think about it exercise and trying new exercises and working out every day! And I'll do that for a few weeks and then I'll burn myself out, not workout for a couple of days or even a week or two and then I'll be really hard on myself. I lack balance.

I get so excited about adding something new into my life and making room for it, that I push all other things aside. I'm always teetering between one extreme or another. I wish I could say that I worked out every day, no problem. Or that eating healthy was simply my way of life (why are cake and potato chips soooo good?). And that I always have time to volunteer, and read, and take online courses, and cook dinner, and spend time with my boyfriend, and hang out with friends, and and and... But that's just not the way my life is. I have to schedule things (even with myself) and sometimes I break those appointments.

What I really need to focus on is balancing my thoughts. I need to accept that it's OKAY if I miss a workout sometimes, but it's NOT OKAY if missing those workouts starts to affect how I feel about myself. I need to figure out the difference between needing a rest day and not challenging myself enough. I need to realize that building habits takes a lot longer that 21 days sometimes, and that sometimes, the fact that I'm trying needs to be enough. But I know that changing the way I think about things will take a lot of time. For now, I'm just happy that I seem to finally be adopting a schedule and goals that feel attainable, though I still have a long way to go.

The Sitting Disease

I think we can all agree that sitting too much is bad for us. But I can't shake thinking about an article I read in Runner's World a few months ago called "Sitting is the New Smoking- Even for Runners" It was an incredibly eye-opening article, and I encourage everyone to read it. Basically, it explains that even runners or people who are active for 60 minutes a day are still at risk for sitting disease if they are sedentary for more than 3 hours a day.

I work in an office where I am seated at a desk all day. I can't help but think that my hours of sitting is largely the cause of my (unwanted) weight gain over the past year. The biggest problem for me is that while I hate sitting all day, I also find myself getting lazy and not wanting to get up and take breaks. I push off running errands and instead sit at my desk for hours at a time. I wish I had a standing desk, but that's not an option for now, so instead I needed to come up with a game plan. This is what I came up with:

Sarah's Beat the Seat Challenge:

• Get up for at least 60 seconds every hour
• Stretch 3 times an hour (stretch out legs under desk, twist in chair, reach over head)
• Go for one 5 minute walk (or longer) a day
• Always take the stairs
• If you find yourself alone in a room do 10 jumping jacks, 10 push-ups, or 10 squats (or all 3)
• Drink at least 5 cups of water at work (which will lead to more bathroom breaks)
• Focus on better posture (I'm really tempted to buy a Back Joy has anyone tried one?)

Do you have any tips or tricks that you use to stay active throughout your day? I'd love to hear them!

My Current Health Obsession: Salads

My lunch at work last week

Is anyone else loving salads right now? I am! I like to think of myself as a salad master. Somehow I always find interesting and yummy things from my kitchen to throw into my salad (sorry for the humblebrag). As the weather gets colder though, it's harder for me to crave salads because instead I start to crave warm, comforting foods (read: mac and cheese, lasagna, anything with cheese and pasta!). Luckily, my boss and I have started a salad co-op. We each bring in some fixings for salads like nuts, cheese, fruits, and other veggies and then we pull our resources together and make epic salads, like the one above. Having someone else bringing new things and eating salads with me has really helped me stay on track and get excited for lunch every day!

Post Run Yoga Routine

I spent years of my life running and not stretching afterwards. I was always too tired, too crunched for time, or too lazy. I knew it was bad for me, but I never really cared much until I injured my back. If I had paid more attention to my body I might not have ended up seriously hurting myself. Now, I make sure to stretch after every run. I even put together my own 15 minute yoga sequence for post-run stretching. Here are some of the yoga poses that help me the most after a run.

This always feels aMAZing on my tight hamstrings

Five Favorites

I'm always excited about a new discovery or something I have coming up. This Friday, here are the five things that I am loving/looking forward to!

The view of the Delaware River we had during our work retreat this Thursday.

I'll be running the Rescue Run 5k with a friend on Sunday to benefit the Monster Milers, a program we volunteer for which takes shelter dogs on runs. (I got to take that beautiful girl out a couple weeks ago).

This amazing warm lobster roll I got from the Surf and Turf food truck today. Mango butter, kale, cabbage, and jalapeno (with lots of juicy lobster meat???) yes, please!

(Text conversation between my sister and me)

The job I have now is only a 1-year contracted position that is over at the end of November, but I found out that my organization will be keeping me on as a manager! (pay raise!) I'm so happy to be able to continue working with all of the amazing people in my office! 

(My Sweat on the Mat class I created in the Yoga Studio app)

While this week was an amazing one for me, I've felt run down and off-track. I'm looking forward to going home, doing some intense yoga, and maybe watching a chick flick or reading.

The Stages of Running

Running and I have a love/hate relationship. I've been running for 9 years now with few breaks until last year. Last year, while training for the Philadelphia Marathon (and doing a crappy job of it) I injured my back. I was unable to run the marathon, and I took a hiatus from running. Honestly though, I was relieved when I got injured because somewhere among the pressures of training mixed with looming long runs, and a deeply seeded feeling of just being too slow, running had stopped being fun. It had stopped being the thing I depended on, the thing that got me through the day, and the thing that made me feel good about myself. When I took my break I vowed that I wouldn't return to running until I enjoyed it again. Two months ago, I started running again.

But for me, loving running has never come easily. Instead I found that there are stages along the way:

Hate
Running feels terrible. You know it should feel great, and you should glide easily along, but it's just not that simple. Instead it hurts your shins, it makes walking up stairs impossible (I've walked sideways and backwards up many a staircase), and it makes your face so red people think you're going to pass out. Running sucks.

Respect
You begin to respect the sport. You respect the camaraderie, the tenacity, and the mindfulness it has given you. You realize you can run farther than before, longer than before and it makes you feel stronger.

Like
You start to look forward to a run after a frustrating day, or maybe you long for the alone time it gives you in the stillness of the morning. You start to feel like you're a part of something. You begin to realize that you're a runner.

Love
Running has taken you to places you've never been before, and it makes you look at things differently. You're more connected to your body and nature. Running is second nature to you. You imagine yourself growing old with running. You'll be one of those 80 year olds running their 100th marathon. Running gets you.


Right now, I'm somewhere between respecting running and liking running. It's still hard to get out the door and run some-most days. I'm trying to only do it when I want to do it. Have you experienced these phases? Where are you?