It's Monday already?!

 

Yes!! Where did the weekend go??

Anyways, it's Monday and like most of America, I bet you overindulged over the weekend.  So...here's some motivation for you!!

Did it work? ;)  It did for me because I just got done with an intense Total Conditioning class at Lifetime Fitness.  Total conditioning is basically High-Intensity Interval Training aka HIIT.  If you want more information about HIIT or the benefits of it, you can visit this website: askmen.com
Most of my workouts, taking a class or not, involves this type of training.  My essentials for completing a good HIIT workout is a step-bench, one light and one heavy set of weights, resistant bands, yoga mat, and a jump rope.  My home is also supplied with these equipment just because it's good to have an 'at-home' gym.  After I got done with 60 minutes of 'Total Conditioning,' I finished it with lower-ab movements on a decline ab bench: one leg, toe-touches, straight-leg reverse crunches, scissor kicks, and in-between sets, I did some side-plank pushups.  Again, this is all done on a decline on the ab bench.  Try it!! It works! :)

Daily eats:
 
Ok so anyways.. my day started off with green lemonade then prepared this as my first solid meal.  It's a good RAW version of a peanut butter & banana sandwich.  And it's packed with a lot of deliciousness and protein!!

Overnight-oats w/ mashed banana, chia seeds & almond butter

The morning kinda went by quick especially Mondays at a doctor's office- those damn kids! haha jk jk gotta love 'em. ;)  After breakfast, I ate my FAVORITE salad of all time.. it's raw, SUPER green, filling, and oh soooo yummy.

Massaged-kale with Tomatoes, Onions, and Avocado

 

I got the recipe from...surprise, surprise from www.simplyrawrecipes.com

Recipes as follows, if you are too lazy to click on the link:

Recipe for Massaged-Kale Salad:

1 Head of Kale

1 organic tomato (chopped)

Handful of sliced red onions

Juice of half-a-lemon

2 Tbsp. of Cold First-pressed olive oil

A splash of Agave nectar

Dash of coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper

Handful of sunflower seeds

Sprinkle of sea salt

Rinse and pull leaves from stem.  Sprinkle a dash of sea salt to kale and massage until tender and wilted.  Pour olive oil and lemon juice on top and massage more for tenderness.  Squeeze a splash of agave nectar.  Sprinkle seasonings: coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper.  Finally, throw in chopped tomatoes, sliced red onions, and a handful of sunflower seeds.  Mix well and enjoy!  

For a more filling lunch or dinner, I slice and cube 1/2 an avocado on top.

Ok well it's getting late and I need to get to bed because Tuesday (along with Thursdays) are my long days.  Happy blogging!

- Abigail

Happy Friday - Happy "Hunger Games!"

Good morning and Happy "Hunger Games!!"

Well, if you haven't joined the movement yet then you need to!  Hunger Games is a young-adult, trilogy series that's kinda similar to Twilight but not so sappy. Anyways, Aaron and I have been waiting for this movie to come out and we couldn't be more excited.  I even requested a half-day at work today just so I can get my workout in early and then get ready to stand in line for hours. :P I know..nerd-alert!! --I'm 25 btw but today I'll be a 13 year-old screaming fan, ok not screaming haha

moving foward...

03/22/12: Yesterday was a typical day for me except that I started my day with a big bowl of watermelon rather then my usual drink of 'Green Lemonade' (which I will post at a later time).  Following the fruit was this...

 Overnight-oats w/ Almond butter, raw honey & chia seeds

Preparing overnight oats:  

One part organic rolled oats to equal parts nut milk (preferably almond or hemp milk) 

Then soak overnight and fill with any toppings you like.

It was quite delicious and also protein filled!  Thank god I had this too because our boss brought in Chick-fil-a for breakfast and I ALMOST grabbed it too.  WILL POWER!! haha  But to prepare overnight oats is quite simple and easy.  And the reason I soak it overnight instead of nuking it in the microwave or stove is because (a) I'm eating raw until dinner and (b) it doesn't give me that bloated, fullness feeling I get from eating regular cooked oats.  This actual held me over until lunch or until my 5.11 mile run outside.

Workout:

Right before I went to class, I ran 5.11 miles with my usual route of around the neighborhood, around Brooks lake, and back.  Man..I haven't ran outside since the Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 marathon relay which was in the beginning of March.  But to my surprise, I did pretty well.  The only complaint was that it was kind windy at some parts of the trail and it was warm{slash}hot outside.  Usually after my runs, I like to put in a good core workout (which I will post at a later time) but the heat got to me.  So with that said, I think I'll be running either really early in the morning or at least when the sun is about to set.

Here is a picture of me from my run... and my sweaty-self.  Look!! I even got a tan too! haha

After my run, I had marinated broccoli and mushrooms for lunch that I prepared the night before along with a 'Raw meal' shake.  The marinated broccoli recipe was adapted from my favorite 'go-to' website for simple, raw recipes: simplyrawrecipes
This recipe is so good that Aaron even gave it his stamp of approval.  He's my raw taste-tester by the way AND I have convinced him eating raw can be delicious and nutritious too!  The marinate to the broccoli and mushrooms (I added myself) is as follows:

Marinated Broccoli and Mushrooms

One head of broccoli

A handful of presliced mushrooms

Marinate: 1/4 cup of First cold-pressed olive oil

1 tsp. of Nama Shoyu (raw soy sauce)

1 tsp. of Apple cider vinegar

A dash of sea salt 

Dash of red pepper flakes (optional)

First, mix the marinate separately from the vegetables then combine altogether.  Let it marinate in the fridge for 4 hours or more (for me, I like to marinate it over night).  And I sprinkled hemp seeds on top to add some protein.

Ok crap!  I gotta go!! I have to get ready to go watch the Hunger Games and Aaron should be home shortly and my hair is still wet. EK.  Well enjoy the recipes and Happy Friday everyone!

-Abigail

"Welcome back!"

OKAYYYY... I'm back from my two-year hiatus, if you want to call it that.  Before this entry, I was getting used to "blogging," but then I realized how much time it takes to actually post something without having to constantly edit/ save/ edit/ preview/ save/ edit edit..blah blah.  And the reason to that is because I got too technical on my grammar. (and btw you don't know HOW many times it took me to write that one sentence, see!! haha)  So instead of seeing this as an English assignment, I'm just going to write freely and I don't care if you judge me or not. :)

But anyways...back to the subject.

If you've been following me on either Facebook, Instagram, or the occasional Twitter,  you've noticed that I have been eating "raw," or at least "raw" until dinner.  And I KNOW you've noticed me 'check-in' at the gym NUMEROUS times or see updates such as "Abigail is running 2343245358 miles!"  Ha!! I wish!  But you get where I'm going with this.  I like to promote health in anyway possible.  And yea, it may seem like I'm "bragging" or whatever but I'm just INDIRECTLY trying to motivate others to live a some-what healthy lifestyle. ;)  And from the looks of it, I caught the attention of some viewers. Yay!!  Sooo... as much as I can tolerate it (without having to distract myself from work or my studies), I will be posting my daily meals and workouts just for those few viewers and even if it's none, it's still cool to see how I've progressed.

Ok done with this entry.. let's get to it!!

and this is an actual photo of me trying to edit this damn post. I look so annoyed haha