Hey, hey! Just wanted to share some photos from yesterday as well as a cool fundraiser that I am participating in this weekend and some delicious smoothie and juice recipes from my new book. Ok, here goes!
3:00 AM… Murphy is not a fan of early morning feedings, especially when he’s not the one being fed. Poor pug. His life is so hard.
Pre-WOD eats: Toast with almond butter and banana with a side of baby cuteness.
Yesterday’s WOD was a FUN one… a serious leg and lung smoker! I finished in 18:45.
PSA: Canned tuna is on sale at CVS for $0.88 per can. I also had a $5.00 ExtraCare coupon, so I got 10 cans for $3.80. Booyah. (I know I’m a dork. It’s cool. I just love good deals!)
Post-WOD refueling: SFH vanilla Recovery protein powder + iced coffee + almond milk + water.
Please note the nail file next to my shaker. Q scratched the crap out of his face yesterday. He even made himself bleed (his own blood – Dodgeball anyone?) in a couple of different places, like big, long scratches. Mal says it looks like he got into a fight, so I’ve been filing down his nails when I feed him to prevent him from doing it anymore.
Lunch: Big salad with roasted sweet potatoes, chicken, crumbled feta, and spicy mustard.
After lunch: Dark chocolate chunks + almonds. Mal asked me if I think the chocolate is healthier because I eat it with almonds. Well, yes, obviously, Mal.
Tummy time included kicking Murphy in the butt yesterday. The pug didn’t notice Q’s baby kicks at all… or pretended not to. He’s such a good big brother.
Afternoon snack: Broccoli florets mixed with Light Creamy Swiss from The Laughing Cow, dried currants, and sunflower seeds. Delicious!
Late in the afternoon, I headed to the park with my favorite boys.
The evening concluded with dinner (chicken, roasted broccoli, and rice), a glass of wine, and more dark chocolate and almonds.
The end.
Kettlebells 4 Kids
This coming Saturday, I am participating in an event called Kettlebells 4 Kids with other members from my CrossFix box. CrossFit 781 is joining forces with Horizons for Homeless Children and Reebok to host their first annual fundraising event.
Horizons for Homeless Children is a nonprofit organization that serves over 2,000 homeless children and families each week throughout its three Boston-based early education centers and its 150 Playspaces located in family shelters across the state.
CrossFit 781 will host the following WOD in support of Horizons for Homeless Children:
WOD: 8-81-8
The WOD name is derived from a series of important statistics on homeless children and families:
- 8 = The average age of a homeless person in Massachusetts
- 81 = From 2006 through 2013, Massachusetts has seen an 81% increase in the number of homeless family members
- 8 = A homeless child is 8 times more likely than a housed peer to be asked to repeat a grade
AMRAP 8:
8 Kettlebell Swings
81 Double Unders
8 Burpees
RX: (53, 35), 81 Double Unders or 162 Single Unders
L2: (53, 35), 40 Double Unders or 80 Single Unders
L1: (35, 20), 8 Double Unders or 24 Single Unders
If you’re feeling generous today, we’d love for you make a donation to our team!
Health News & Views
I recently published a book! It’s called The Part Time Vegetarian (PTV) Smoothies and Juices: Boost Your Immune System and Increase Your Energy With a Flexitarian Diet, and it was just released a few weeks ago. Of course, I’m really excited about having my juice and smoothie recipes published in book, so I wanted to share some of my very favorites that most likely will appeal to the fitness lovers out there.
These recipes include nutritious ingredients like blueberries, watermelon, and cherries which may help fight inflammation and promote repair inside the body, which is especially important for overcoming soreness and getting out the door for your next workout. Enjoy!
4 Juice and Smoothie Recipes for Fitness Fanatics
Question of the Day
How’s life? Tell me something cool that happened yesterday!
61 Comments
Great deal on the tuna! I’m a deal freak as well, so I feel ya. Dark chocolate is absolutely healthier when mixed with almonds. Fact. 😉
Is Mal ready for back to school time?
He’s getting there! 😉 He did some back-to-school shopping this week and last, and he’s planning to go into his classroom next week to get things in order. I can’t believe how quickly the summer passed!
Well done on the book! You must be super excited!
Yesterday I organized the nursery closet. It is so fun to hang up all of the little outfits. My husband looks at them and says, “I can’t someone can actually fit into this!” Ha. So fun to prep for the big arrival!
Your salad with sweet potatoes looks delish! So nice to do little random family outings at the end of the summer 🙂
Life is good 🙂 Yesterday I made a Chicken Pesto Pizza for dinner and it was delish! I love making new and yummy recipes for dinner after a long day at work. AND 11 weeks until baby boy arrives…this summer is flying by!
sweet potatoes in a salad = amazing!
Good luck on the Fundraiser! It looks like a great non-profit and a even greater cause. Hope it’s a success!
Like Mal, I’m a teacher. I will back in the classroom next week. I have been trying to do one super fun thing every day this week! Yesterday, I went on a solo hike at Bear Mountain State Park, about 50 minutes from NYC. I even took advantage of the great swimming pool there. You’d appreciate the good deal I got- it costs $2 to swim!
Wow congrats on the book Tina!! How exciting!!
Life is great!! Something cool that happened yesterday: I started a blog again!! I use to blog but stopped for a while but decided to start it up again. I’m tracking my P90X3 workouts, life and planning for my wedding!
Nice!!
Wish I liked tuna because that is a good deal!
My nephew used to scratch his face all the time too. Every time he was over we’d file down his nails.
Let’s see something cool that happened yesterday? It was my birthday and I got flowers at work. That surely makes a girl feel special. 🙂
Happy (belated) birthday!!
I received your book yesterday. I LOVE it! Thanks so much!! 🙂
Yay!! Enjoy! 😄😄😄
Here’s something cool for you: Yesterday, I re-signed an awesome personal training client at work, who wasn’t sure she could commit the money, but decided to go for it so she can continue working toward her weight-loss goals. Love it!
Very cool!!
Your throw-together broccoli salad looks so good! Yesterday proved to be awesome… we had our 40-week appointment, and things are happening, so maybe baby will be here soon 🙂 After that, I got a PINK pedicure (since we’re expecting a girl). It was a good day, for sure!
Aww, awesome day! 😄
MMmm that smoothie looks amazing! Nothing too crazy happened yesterday, but it cooled off a bit which was a nice change from being blazing hot. There was this amazing breeze all day long. It made my lunch time walk perfect!
Ugh those baby nails are killer! I remember the little nail files and having to somehow file his nails and cut them. It was like torture for both of us because he hated having it done (and still does lol).
put socks on his hands so quinn doesn’t scratch himself (when you don’t have the wherewithal to file!)
Life is good!! I’m moving to San Diego in a month (from NY) and am super excited, albeit also extremely stressed. Once I make the move I want to invest in a blender or some type of appliance to make smoothies and juices… any recommendations?!
Unfortunately, I don’t know of an appliance that makes both juice and smoothies. People say the VitaMix does both, but it really doesn’t make juice. It makes some chunky juice-like stuff. Haha! For my juicer, I have a Bella NutriPro and, for my blender, I have a Ninja. I love them both and definitely recommend them!!
@Tina: I’ve had the Ninja and now have the Vitamix. They’re both really great — Vitamix slightly better than Ninja (but a lot more expensive.) I agree that the Vitamix doesn’t really make juice, but it does make something sort of close! If you add OJ, coconut water, or almond milk to your Vitamix “juice” you can get a nice hybrid smoothie-juice 🙂
That is so cool about your book! It look tasty 🙂
Yah, staying on top of filing/cutting baby nails is a tough job. They grow like crazy”¦eeeep!
NOBODY makes me bleed my own blood!
Hi Tina! Love the fundraiser! Is it something that’s limited to MA or will it involve other states as well? I’d love for my box in MD to get involved.
I think the event I am doing this weekend is specific to Massachusetts, but the website might have more info about how to host one at your local box! 🙂
You should buy baby nail clippers for Q. My Mom had these baby scissors that were awesome. They were super soft and never cut you. I still use them now.
I ordered my Reebok Nano 3.0 CF shoes from Again Faster. $90.00 ~ no shipping.
Woot!!
Nice!!
Baby nail clippers are super helpful! We did the file at first too (my twins were preemies and one of them was only 5lb when he came home!) because my husband accidentally clipped his fingertip when he was really small, but the clippers were SO much easier! And just an FYI (because I had no idea until I asked other people!) – in the Chicco carseat you should take the infant insert out once they hit 11lb! I left the head protector part in for longer, but took the body part out at that point. Just make sure that when you take out the insert that the shoulder straps are still adjusted correctly – i.e. at or below his shoulders 🙂
The pineapple zinger sounds fantastic! I’m definitely adding it to my smoothie rotation!
Something cool that happened yesterday was… I went to the first ever National Pro Grid League match at Madison Square Garden! It was SO much fun and you should definitely go check out the Boston Iron this year. Rooted for NY Rhinos and they WON! It was a fun environment, the races were exciting and feats of fitness amazing. Awesome to see Games athletes (Annie Thorisdottir, Mat Fraser) and unknown athletes working together on teams. Fast and entertaining! Too bad no more matches in NYC this year. Best thing was Irving Hernandez, an athlete I didn’t know, do 90 DUs in 37 seconds!!! Man, I love this sport.
VERY COOL!!!
Baby’s nails are scary. I am not a mom but I know mom’s that bite their babies nails ,i know it sounds crazy and super hippie sh*t, but its a thing.
you killed that metcon! i have been working on olympic lifting a lot and having such a good time with that.
Someone mentioned biting his nails to me. I wonder if it really works!?!
@Tina: I traumatized myself by clipping my older son’s fingertip once so I was terrified of using clippers after that. I bit his nails instead and did the same when my other one came along. Worked fine for me. Haha.
I know this sounds gross, but I did this for mine. It was actually way easier and faster. I was too scared to use the clippers when they were too young, and the file seemed tedious and like it didn’t last very long. I could bite them off in like a minute and didn’t have to worry about hurting them but cutting too close.
@Tina: yes it does because newborn baby nails are so thin that it’s actually easier to just use your teeth but some people take issues with it because of germs to the baby! I just say do what’s easy😃 Q sure us a cutie!! Your doing a great job Tina!!
Glad to see someone is buying tuna! Did you see this story?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/08/18/how-america-fell-out-of-love-with-canned-tuna/
Not yesterday but this morning, my sister, nephew, and some friends came down today to see the White House and my library. Always happy to show the place off to friends!
Congratulations on the book! I love the concept of Flexitarian- I was a vegetarian for a year and a half and honestly stopped because it was just too much of a hassle. I got tired of other people freaking out about what to feed me, where we could go to dinner, etc. Now I try to do meatless meals a few times a week if possible, and I think I feel much better after skipping meat for a few days. I am definitely going to have to check out your recipes and this book of yours it sounds right up my alley!
Something cool I am doing this week is GETTING A YEAR OLDER! I absolutely love birthdays. Even though most of my friends groan and gripe about getting older every year, I have to say I kind of love it. So cheers to that!
Also I am dying at that pic of the butt kicking. My dog would do the same thing- just pretend nothing is happening so she can get some attention. Love it!
Happy birthday!!
@Tina: Thank you!
hi! I’m a longtime reader but i dont think i ever commented before. love your blog!!!! 🙂 i was wondering about murphy… i notice he is leash-less in this pic (ahhhh he’s livin the good life!). how long did it take before you guys trusted him on walks in public to be off-leash? did you do anything special to prepare him for it? my bf and i are the very proud owners of a crazy, loving, hysterically funny 1.5 year old black pug and i have anxiety letting him off the leash anywhere that’s not gated because he still runs like a maniac! i’d love to hear your thoughts on this. thanks!!
Good question! It was pretty early on that we let him off-leash, but we trained him with treats. Anytime he wandered off or didn’t listen, we’d bribe him back with a piece of his food. We did this less and less overtime and now he (mostly) listens to us. He’s a stubborn little guy when he wants to be!
@Laura:
Hey Laura, sorry to jump in, but I also am the fur-mommy of a 1.5 year old crazy pup so I wanted to share something that worked for me. We taught Frank how to “touch” in one day and to this day, he will RUN to me for touch. What we did was found a treat that he LOVES and every day, a few times a day we would say, “Frank, touch!” — to get the treat, Frank had to touch my hand with his nose and then I would feed him his treat with the other hand. We started out using baked chicken breast, then moved to hot dogs and now we do it with just any treat that we have. We did this A LOT at home and in the backyard before we tried it anywhere else. Slowly, we moved to secluded trails and now, if he runs too far ahead for my comfort, all I have to do is say, “Frank, touch!” and he runs to touch my hand (I always have a treat to reward him with). It’s a GREAT tool we’ve used so much and now he can go out in the front yard and lots of places with us without the leash.
The other key is to trust him! If you feel weird about letting him off somewhere, don’t do it until you’re confident he will stay with you. Good luck!
Ooooh love good deals on Tuna! I get ours at Wegmans and it’s usually around 99 cents per can. 10 for 3.80 is def something to be proud of!!!!
Congrats on the new book! That’s so exciting.
My soon,w ho just started Kindergarten, got his first star on a paper (it’s now on the fridge, of course!) and he was rewarded for being on the “Happy Apple” for the second time. In other words, he was a rock star at school yesterday!
That’s awesome!
Those pictures at the park are so gorgeous! Also, I’m definitely excited to try that pineapple zinger smoothie! A cool thing that happened to me yesterday was that I got to wear some awesome new leggings to my Pure Barre class! Few things beat the feeling of scoring a great deal on quality workout gear and feeling like a million bucks wearing it while you sweat!
Love the crossfit fundraiser- thanks for sharing the statistics. I may have to do the WOD this weekend… modified of course since I will be 37 weeks on Friday.
Congratulations on the book! That is really awesome and you should be so proud! (And you should also be proud of your tuna buy!)
I have to laugh about the tuna. That excites me too and I will definitely be heading there today. After trying the Vegan lifestyle and failing a bit due to my sensitive digestive system, I am back to eating and loving my tuna. Looking forward to buying your book soon!
What a good little pug brother! I’m sure having Q around has totally shaken up Murphy’s world but he seems to be adjusting well! 🙂
I’m not sure if you have nail scissors for Quinn or are just using a nail file, but I thought I’d share my absolute favorite baby nail scissors in case you are interested…
http://www.amazon.com/Tweezerman-Yellow-Baby-Nail-
Scissors/dp/B000G686X6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409004687&sr=8-1&keywords=Tweezerman+baby+nail+scissors
Thanks!!