>…back to reality

>Heyyyy bloggerzzz,

How’s your week going? Mine has been pretty slow. Getting back into the swing of things after a vaca is pretty rough. Ya think?

Last night I dragged my butt to the gym for a 45-min spinning class. Although I took the weekend off from working out (minus the dancing, dog sledding, etc.), I had zippo energy. Once the class got going though it wasn’t so bad. I ran a 1-mile warm up on the treadmill and I think that also helped. Also anticipating warm weather and sleeveless shirts, I’ve been getting back on the push-up train. I *try* to do 25 push ups before and after most workouts. For minimal time investment, push-ups are a great way to strengthen your arms and core. Get er done! ha

After the gym, I went grocery shopping (always a bad idea when starved) and whipped together this concoction:

^Spiralized raw zucchini, diced (medium firm) tofu, steamed broccoli (something about the hot/cold combo is bomb), and topped with Trader Joe’s Spicy Peanut dressing and peanuts for crunchiness. Ha, ‘crunchiness’. Do you add food/flavors for consistency???

Hungry shortly afterward I made my favorite night time snack:

^Diced honey crisp apple w/ mesquite and cinnamon (cinnamon swirl PB for dipping, not pictured)

And hot tea:

^Decaffeinated black tea w/ soy

This morning I woke ravishing and warmed up some overnight oats I prepared last night:

^1/3 cup oats, 1 cup H20, 1/2 scoop Sun Warrior Protein (see below), 1 tsp cinnamon, raisins, 1 tsp Cinnamon Raisin Swirl PB, Stevia, pinch sea salt. Yeee-UM. Hit the spot.

FINALLY bought this and LOVE it! Seriously get this stuff:

I also tried this guy for the first time:

^Vitamin Water Zero XXX. Thumbs up.

I recently posted how irritating it is to work at a HEALTH institute and all of the vending machines are filled with CRAP. Well today I found 1 new item, now the healthiest idem in there:

^I gave it a try since I was starving after lunch (Sorry Amy and Gardenburger, your soup and burger didn’t hold me over):

^Grilled Garderburger (Veggie Medley) on top of Ezekiel and organic ketchup/mustard (no pic of soup, sowwie)

Not the most clean granola bar out there, but better than a Snickers. After satisfying my hunger and feeling a little better that we *might* get some healthy alternatives in the future I immediately saw this sign:

Just when Dunkin’s was on the healthy track with their egg white flat bread sandwiches they come up with this…Lol…ah well.

Well I gotta run back to my experiment. Since it’s nice out today I’m gonna run home from lab (~7 miles) 🙂

xoxox, Lauren

I leave you with some more pics from the wedding and reception:

Church:

Gorgeous reception:


View:


Heh, not sure:

Dancing with the Manfriend’s aunts:

And here’s the video I promised of almost killing Seth on the dog sled, haha:

http://www.youtube.com/get_player

>Day-O-Rest

>Hiiii,

How’s your Monday going? Mine was splendid–we had a SNOW DAY in the DC area! I haven’t had a snow day since HS, I think. Even in Boston during undergrad, we neverrrrr had classes cancelled! So…..Wooohooo!

So what’s a girl to do on a non-work ‘work’ day??? Well for starters, I slept in til 11:15 of course. I woke up to a delish breakfast cookie:

I made a power smoothie, then later sipped on an always delish coffee + soy while watching a little boob tube and read a few science-y papers (to brush up organic chem, if you’re wondering). Anyone watch Jersey Shore? Those kids a redic. Do those people really exist?

Later in the day I ventured out (aka slipped n’ slid) my way to meet Ally for some cardio/weights at da gymmm. Here are some pics from my trek.

My soaking Uggs, poor freezing feet, and the nicely shoveled sidewalks in Georgetown.

You can see that some cars got out…..and others did not:

After the gym, I came home ravishing and made some garlic pepper talapia from Trader Joe’s. I swear that store can do no wrong.

(I added a little lemon juice + salt/pepper and grilled over medium heat)

After that I made acorn squash, again.

I am definitely in a squash rut lately. I just want it all the livelong day.

So, what’s in store for the rest of the night? Cleaning, packing for NH (!), cleaning, cleaning, reading about reactive amino acids, and cleaning. And some Monday night TV of course. Back to scienceland in the morning. Hopefully I arrive in one piece w/o falling on my bootie!

I leave you with a great video of my friend Jake and the manfriend’s cross-country trip from LA to Boston (the MF is moving to DC in February…..yeeeeeeeee!) I made a few cameos 😉

Have a great night!

L

PS….What are some creative stocking stuffers?? I need some ideas 🙂