>I’m bacckkkkk

>Hi friends! I am quite relaxed after a nice lil vacay from all forms of communication. Well, not all forms – I haven’t had a phone for 4 days now and to be honest, I have a been loving and hating it all at the same time. I’ve relyed on the phone application in Gmail when I’ve needed to make a call and Verizon’s website for free texting. <—Good tools to know!

This morning I went for a leisurely walk with the pup and usually I’d be checking my phone, calling friends/family, texting, Tweeting – you get the picture. Without my lil friend, I was able to really enjoy the walk, soak up the sun, and be present. Next time you’re out of a walk, jog, etc. leave it home. You have a voicemail for a reason 🙂

So what have I been up to for the last few days? Well I’ve…

– Worked…..quite a bit .
– Shopped….quite a bit (mostly for food and other boring things. Well food is fun but it’s no clothes)
– Rested (!). Got 11 hours of sleep last night!
– Squeezed in some good workouts, including a long run (8.5) miles today
– Am sticking to my “I will lift more” promise

And best of all: Have had a blastttttt with my friends!

Here are a few pics from Saturday night.

(hehehe)

We ate at my favorite Thai restaurant, Mai Thai (affordable, trendy, and deeeeelish food) and enjoyed a few cocktails. I rolled with champagne while the rest savored their signature Mai Thai’s. Pretty tasty, but a liiiiitle too sweet for me.

Thai and Japanese are my favorite food genres before a night of dancing. No one feels particularly comfortable dancing the night away with a belly full-o-Mexican or Italian (or perhaps that’s just me). 

The weather was ahhhhamzing. We went to a local bar in Dupont Circle and danced the night away on their gorgeous rooftop. 

Spring is just around the corner…

 I can feel it!

* * *

With the arrival of this gorgeous weather, I’ve been craving cold breakfasts in place of my usual protein oats, pancakes, cupcakes, etc. Two very quick meals that I love to make are:

#1 Chilled overnight oats

Combine and stir:

1/3 cup cooked oats

1 serving protein powder (*see below)

1/2 c fresh or frozen fruit

1/4 c milk of choice (almond, soy, hemp, low-fat, etc.)

sweetener (1 serving, I prefer stevia or Truvia)

teeeny pinch sea salt

Spoon into glass/mug and throw in fridge

Next morning:

Add 1 t chia seeds and/or crushed nuts (walnuts, almonds) for crunch

Enjoy!

And quick breakfast #2 (I make this one when I have 0.25 seconds of time to spare the night before)

Yogurt & fruit bowl

Night before combine & refrigerate:

1 cup fat-free Greek yogurt

1/2 cup frozen fruit 

sweetener (1 serving stevia or Truiva)

Next morning:

Stir & add 1 t chia seeds for crunch and healthy omega fatty acids

*Attention SunWarrior Protein loverssssss*: The other day I ordered a new bag of vanilla SunWarrior protein from a company called Vitacost.com (was very pleased with price and quick shipping, btw). To my surprise the goods arrived in a shiny gold bag, quite different than the bags I’ve grown accustomed to. 

VS.

Since I was younger and heard about ‘food tampering’ I’ve always been super weary of questionable packaging. For some reason this new bag plus its press on nutritional info labels kind of freaked me out and I was unsure if I actually ordered a legitimate SunWarrior product. Plus the scoop was 1/2 the size of the traditional one. 

So being the nut-job that I am, I sent a quick email to SunWarrior.

Hello,

I recently ordered your vanilla protein through a company called Vitacost (http://www.vitacost.com/) and my protein came in a shiny gold bag. The green product labels were stuck onto the bag (in a professional way) rather than printed on the bag, like your green bags. Do you know whether I ordered a legitimate SunWarrior product? I am nervous to try it. Also, on the packaging it says one serving equals 1 scoop; however, the scoop is 1/2 the size of the traditional one. Does this mean one serving is actually two scoops?

And I received the following response:


Hi Lauren,


Yes, those bags are legitimate. We are upgrading to a stronger bag, and these stronger gold bags are temporary until our stronger printed bags arrive. The new scoop is the correct serving size. The old scoops were too big. I hope this helps.


Thank you,


Jennifer

This means I’ve been getting 2X as much protein as you thought. To think of it, there are 47 servings per bag and I don’t recall my bags everrrrr lasting that long. I don’t have a problem with the extra serving, but this stuff is a lil pricy so I will be cutting back to the true serving size.

* * *

In completely random news, I’m in lurrrrve with Black Cherry Berry Tea (with a splash of almond milk)

Aaaaand, I can eat Chop’t salads any day of the week…

* * *

Alright kidds, I’m off to BodyPump! Have a great night everyone ❤

>30 mins = 3 lives

>Happy Birthday to our little man, Michael! He’s one today!

Lil nugget, only a few weeks old

Who’s blossomed into quite the little yogi

 And still steals my heart, every day.

* * *

The last few days have been rough. I have been out of my beloved SunWarrior for over a week. But alas, yesterday it arrived! Chocolate aaaand vanilla 🙂 

Side note: does anyone else hate the SunWarrior packaging? I applaud the new ego-friendly bags, but mine make a huuuge mess! I end up putting them in larger zip-lock bags.

First up, a protein cupcake!

(Recipe here)

Last night I worked 3-11:30pm and I am not lying when I tell you that for the last 3+ hours of my shift, I was dreeeeaming of a protein cupcake. Filling, healthy, protein-packed, and DELICIOUS! I can’t vouch for how it tastes with other protein brands, but it is ahhhhh-mazing with SunWarrior.

* * *

As I’ve mentioned in my last post, I’ve been working like a mad woman. On days when I work 3-11, my routine is to wake around 10, eat breakfast, savor some coffee (I’d be lying if I had only one cup), catch up on the news/favorite blogs, then head to the gym. 

Since having to be on the unit (I work on a transplant floor at a hospital) at 3pm, I’ve been packing my scrubs and getting ready at the gym. I would be lying if I said that I miss my own shower. Don’t misunderstand, I have a great bathroom/shower, but something about leaving the gym all clean (and often relaxed from the sauna/steam room, in my case) leaves me feeling fantastic and ready for the day. Do those that shower at the gym enjoy it as much as me?

Leaving the gym has one drawback, however. It’s very close to my favorite salad joint, Chop’t!

Love a hearty, healthy, protein-packed salad post-workout!

Spinach, arugula, roasted turkey, avocado, tomatoes, edamame, red grapes, cucumbers, and balsamic vinegar.

* * *

Another reason, I’ve been hitting the gym a lot lately is because it’s been coooooold here! Saturday I ran an 8-mile loop (loop as in circle, as in once you’ve run far enough there’s no turning back). I’m not going to lie when I say that at one point, I started to cry because my body temperature was so low I really believed that I was becoming hypothermic. Normally, I dress much warmer (hello, Under Armour Cold Gear line) and always carry a cell-phone/debit card in case I need to call for a ride or hail a cab. But this time, I foolishly ran out the door in my regular spandex and thin fleece jacket. No hat. No gloves. Idiot.

Fuh-reezing

I completed the 8-mile loop in a sub 8-min mile, and attribute the pace solely to the fact that I wanted to get home FAST.

* * *

After getting my body-temp back to normal, I met some friends at Mai Thai, my favorite Thai restaurant in DC. Fantastic food and drinks. We chatted, ate, sipped some delish drinks then headed out for the night.

Oh, and this lovely lady was there too!

 

* * *

Ok, kiddos, I’m out. Have a fan-freakin-tastic day! But first, please take a moment to consider the following…

You can do this during a lunch break. 

30 mins = 3 lives. Worth it? 

* * *

Have you donated blood before?