It's that time of year!

There's something so comforting and refreshing about returning to Hopkins for my second year. I was so anxious and excited to get back. Unlike last year, I have a much lower chance of getting lost on campus, I know if not recognize almost everyone I pass walking down St. Paul Street, and if anyone needs to know a good place to grab a good bite to eat and an amazing tea latté--I know just the place (Carma's!). Needless to say, I am thrilled to back at home sweet Hopkins and can't wait to start the new year.

The past couple of days have been filled with last minute family time, traveling, and now the hustle and bustle of getting situated before the school year really starts. As usual, I'll fill you guys in on my workouts and food consumption from the past 72 hours, but there won't be many pictures I'm afraid (I keep forgetting to bring my camera with me).

Monday Eats: 
Breakfast- Bowl of berries and a baggie of Kashi Go Lean Crunch (on the go breakfast!)
Lunch- 3 corn cakes with Light Swiss cheese wedge and a salad with black beans, kale, quinoa, and sun dried tomatoes. I also had an apple with a little almond butter spread on top
Dinner- Clearly I was craving black beans that day because I had a smaller version of the salad I had at lunch, as well as a cup of black bean veggie soup (low sodium). Also had a big fruit salad and a few too many low-fat graham crackers for dessert--funny how tastes change. I used to really not like graham crackers for whatever reason, but I tasted them recently and realized what I'd been missing out on. They're addicting...

Monday Workout: 
I had doctors visits galore on Monday so I squeezed in a quick morning workout before the appointment mayhem began...

30 minutes on the treadmill running 4 miles total (first 3 miles fast paced, last mile slowed down)
12 minutes on the bike doing 4 rounds of 3 minutes sets where two minutes are at a moderate-fast pace and the third minute is basically a sprint.
5 minute abs (one minute vertical leg crunches, one minute russian twists, one minute bicycles, one minute reverse crunches, one minute plank)
2 minutes of foam rolling!

Tuesday Eats: 

Breakfast- A little more normal for me..warm grapenuts heated up with unsweetened vanilla almond milk with raspberries, muesli, and flax seed on top!
Lunch- A little trail mix (composed of peanuts, almonds, dried cranberries, dried cherries, and even some dark chocolate chunks) that I packed in a baggie to munch on during the plane ride. I hate flying so any distraction is welcome..especially food. Flying makes me so nervous that my stomach gets into knots so I wasn't really hungry again until it was just about dinner time!
Dinner- Sushi in Baltimore at a restaurant called Geisha! I ordered two spicier rolls that were good, but maybe a little too spicy for me. I ended up hungry 4 hours later so my midnight snack (more like 10pm) was a few carrots with hummus and more trail mix!

Tuesday Workout:

My mom and I hit the gym early because I had to get home to finish packing and high-tail it to the airport.

32 minutes on the treadmill- 4 miles total averaging a nice 8 minutes/mile
6 minutes of abs on the standing bosu ball
6 minutes working arms and back with resistance bands (I'll have to do a post about these soon)
4 50 meter sprints (in the gym parking lot)- after the first two sprints, I walked back with alternating lunges, after the second two sprints, I did side shuffle squats back to the starting line. This was a killer and quick leg workout!

Before I go I have to give a shout to my amazing Big in my sorority- Jordan (teheh same name)! She is currently studying abroad in Paris for the semester and has started a blog! I love it already--definitely check it out to read about all of the fun stuff she's doing in one of the greatest cities in the world... and be prepared to be jealous :)

Click here to see it!

Miss you already Jordan!

Great Home Eats and Workouts

Hello, Hello!

Let's get right too it because it's almost family dinner time :)

Friday Eats: 
Breakfast-  I was up and out early on Friday so I stopped at Starbucks for breakfast. Perfect oatmeal with nuts and dried fruit, also a soy green tea latté (no sweetener). I missed this breakfast (it's one of my go-to's at school), and it hit the spot.

Mmmmm... Maybe this doesn't look good to everyone, but it sure does to me. ALSO...if you ever try this oatmeal, ask the barista to make it with steamed soy milk instead of water. It's no extra charge and really makes it taste a lot creamier and sweeter so maybe you won't need to add any extra brown sugar in there!

Lunch- I was out all day and didn't have time to go home for lunch. I arrived early to my hair cut appointment and conveniently Earth Fare is right across the street so I got a few things to taste real quick. 

Chili tofu nuggets (I think I had 3), a few bites of curry farro salad with raisins, dried apples, and almonds, and then all of that cantaloup because I just couldn't resist it. 

Dinner- Out for a fun girls' dinner with my mom, my friend, and her mom. We went to the new Wolfgang Puck Pizza Bar here in Charlotte. It was pretty good, nothing too special though. I had a beet and goat cheese salad as well as a cup of the corn soup. Like I said, it was just decent and actually a little over priced. 

Friday workout:

Morning Barre class! Intense, but good!

Saturday Eats:

Breakfast- My parents and I got up at 5:30am and drove 2 hours to see my brother run in his first cross country race of the season. I had a banana and a Kashi granola bar at about 7:30 to hold me over until our brunch after the race (where I had scrambled egg whites and a side of fruit). 

Lunch- Since we had a later brunch, I was never really hungry until about 4 so I just had 3 of my leftover chili tofu nuggets. 

Dinner-Out again with family friends! This time we went to a favorite around these parts called Nolan Kitchen . It was delicious! We started with the baked zucchini chips for the table. For my main course I actually had a weird but delicious assortment of smaller plates. I got a cup of the spicy tomato basil soup and a side of whipped sweet potatoes, as well as a side of asparagus. Such a great meal. 

Look at Evan go!! He was running on a semi-healed sprained ankle and still had a great race! I'm jealous of his skills.

Yay! Brother sister reunite at an XC race. 

Saturday Workout: 

My "day off" turned into more of a "light day" so I just went out for a nice 45 minute run around my neighborhood around 5pm so that it wouldn't be too hot out. It was one of those great runs I have occasionally that remind me why I love running so much. I was totally in my own head, thinking about everything going on in my life-- the start of the year, my goals, my friends I can't wait to see... I didn't even realize I was exercising and was tired until I was running back up to my own driveway. It was really just what I needed. 

Sunday Eats: 

Breakfast- Back to my normal Light and Fit yogurt with flax seed, Kashi, and berries. 

Lunch- It looks like a lot, but let me explain. The corn cakes on the side were spread with the "Light Swiss Cheese", then I layered the spinach and wheat berry salad on top so it made like a crunchy salad cracker! Apple and green tea on the side.

Dinner- We're cooking a family dinner (and about to sit down for it now) that consists of grilled seafood kabobs (with salmon, cod, tuna, and shrimp) for my mom and I, steak kabobs for the boys of the family, and quinoa, broccolini, and steamed corn as sides! YUM! 

Sunday Workout:

Another good "thinking" run, but it was only about 2.5 miles. Then I went to a hot yoga class at Y2 Yoga and was sweating my butt off by the end. 

Alright I'm off to enjoy dinner with the fam! See you guys soon! 

I'm going to turn into an egg white-scramble...

You will see that my meals over the past few days have been incredibly redundant. I apologize. I'm just stuck in a food rut. Maybe my stomach is just being lazy and doesn't feel like changing up what it's craving. I promise I'll get some sort of variety in there soon, just bare with me.

Wednesday Eats: 

Breakfast- 

It's hard to see what's in that bowl besides strawberries, but underneath is Light and Fit Peach Yogurt + flax seed+ muesli

 ^ My favorite brand/flavor of muesli! I love the dried fruits in there and it packs extra fiber. Score! ^

Lunch- I made a short trip to Earth Fare just to pick up a few groceries. While there I also got some of their freshly made chili tofu nuggets. I try to get some every time I'm home. They're SO good and super addicting. I had those plus an apple with almond butter for lunch.

Side note from food- I saw JEF from the bachelorette in Earth Fare!!!! Emily (the bachelorette) is from Charlotte so it makes sense for him to be here since he won. I was routing for him the WHOLE show and then I saw him IN PERSON! I almost passed out. I looked a hot mess so I was afraid to talk to him, but he did smile at me .

Dinner- Night two of the egg white scramble + spinach and non-fat cheddar. I also had the remainder of my chili tofu nuggets from lunch. Fruits for the night included an apple and cut up strawberries.

Wednesday Workout: 

I went to my favorite yoga class at my favorite yoga studio in Charlotte--"Hot Vinyassa Fast"at Y2 Yoga. It was a great workout and I was thoroughly sweating and well stretched by the end of it. Just what I needed considering I was mad sore from the day before. I also went on a nice 30 minute jog that evening. I think I probably only covered about 3.5 miles.

This picture just sums up my day. Everything with me piled in the front seat. Purse holding water bottle, headphones, and makeup. Yoga mat, running shoes, and an Ulta bag left from running errands.


Thursday Eats:

Breakfast- The exact same as the past few days...yogurt+fruit+flax+muesli.
Lunch- 1/2 whole wheat wrap with hummus, spinach, wheat berries, and a little cheddar cheese sprinkled on there. 1 cut up apple, and a few carrots dipped in hummus.
Dinner- I wasn't feeling too hungry, but I wanted to eat something before it got to be too late. Enter third night of egg-white scramble dinner.

Grapes, yogurt, and a few corn cakes went along with the scramble.

My brother Evan had a Panera feast. Mmmm...he takes after his sister

Thursday Workout:

I went to the gym later today and ran 6 miles on the treadmill. First three miles were around an 8 minute pace, while the last three were closer to an 8:30 pace. Then I did this quick circuit...

15 push-ups
30 second plank
20 tricep dips
30 jumping jacks

Repeat 3X^

Then I did 5 minutes of abs and called it quits.


Alright I'm off to do some packing for school and then hit the hay. Early morning tomorrow! Night!

Finally Back!

It's been a week to the day since my last post. I won't bore you with the details of this past week--let's just say it was busy busy busy. I'm so glad to be back at home in Charlotte (even if it's only for one week) just to relax and recharge my battery before heading back to HOPKINS!!

This post would be WAY too long if I tried to include all of my eats and workouts over the past week. Just know that physical activity consisted mostly of quick morning runs (the only time of the day I had to workout) and food was just all over the place. So I'll start with what's been going on since I got home.

Monday Eats: 
Breakfast-

Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and berries + flax seed sprinkled on top. Light and Fit yogurt on the side!
Lunch- I let myself sleep in so breakfast was later and I went to workout at 2pm so lunch was just half a Kind bar to hold me over until dinner.
Dinner-

Sorry this is a tad blurry. I heated up some tomato soup and added spinach to it. Then I made a concoction of steamed corn, chickpeas, and farro (an ancient grain cooked just like quinoa or wheat berries). Apple on the side!

Monday Workout: 
I went to a small local gym near us called Just Workout. We've been going there for a year and it's great because it's not crazy crowded or anything and you can change channels on the tv's and turn the volume up as loud as you want! Hence-entertainment while I ran 5 miles on the treadmill.

A quick 2.5 minute cool down after to make it an even 40 minute run.

Then I did some abs on the tall standing bosu ball.
2 rounds of...
20 center knee lifts
20 left knee lifts
20 right knee lifts

Then...MORE ABS!

50 crunches
50 reverse crunches
25 leg lifts
50 crunches
25 leg lifts

Finally I finished with one minute/leg of lateral leg raises with a resistance band.


Tuesday  Eats: 
Breakfast- Just a banana and a handful of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal because...
Lunch- I met my grandparents at a restaurant called Nolan Kitchen for an early lunch just to see them and catch up before I leave again. We started with some zucchini chips and then I had a small salad with a piece of grilled salmon on top.
Snack- Lunch was so early and I wasn't going to have dinner until later after I worked out so I had a Light and Fit yogurt with fresh cut strawberries.
Dinner- I was going for a vegetarian friendly yet protein packed dinner...

Egg beater scramble with non-fat cheddar and spinach. Sautéd tofu, and greek yogurt add even more protein! Raspberries, grapes and apples (unpictured) too! And perhaps a handful or two of Kashi cereal for dessert...Heart to Heart is addicting...

Mmmm raspberries

Tuesday Workout:

Charlotte has this great new spin studio called Fly Wheel that is conveniently just up the street from me. The spin classes are a lot of fun (with strobe lights and loud music included), but they also offer Barre classes (also with loud music), and that's what I went to tonight. Here is how their website describes Barre:

"FlyBarre provides a revolutionary form of body sculpting. It combines the disciplines of yoga, dance, circuit training, pilates and strength building with the Flywheel touch."

"A full-body workout based on high repetitions at low weights, FlyBarre is designed to lengthen, tone, and sculpt. Classes are highly energetic, fast-paced, and challenging. We use a wide range of props to tighten muscles and keep things interesting."

Barre is such a great workout. It doesn't necessarily make me sweat a ton, but man do I feel a good burn in literally every part of my body by the end of the 60 minute class. You can tell your muscles are getting stronger by the minute.

Fly Wheel studios are all over the US so if you have one near you definitely try the spin or barre classes out. Trust me, you will be sore the next day...not looking forward to not being able to walk or lift my arms tomorrow :)

Alrighty, I'm off to tackle cleaning up the bomb of clothes that has mysteriously exploded all over my room. Wish me luck. Adios!!

The Amazing Truth About Flaxseed.

As you have probably noticed, I love breakfast and never skip it. Something that always goes along with my breakfast is ground flaxseed. I add it to almost any breakfast item that I make. It has a subtle nutty flavor, but doesn't really make the food taste any different in my opinion. It doesn't make it look particularly pretty at all. So why do I do it? Because it's SO good for you and SO easy to incorporate into your daily diet.

Here are the facts I learned about flaxseed that inspired me to add it to my breakfast each morning:

• It is a low-carb, whole grain 
• It is the best plant source for omega-3 fat (good fat!) like those found in salmon and avocado
• It has a ton of fiber (both soluble and insoluble) which helps stabilize blood sugar and promotes healthy digestion
• It prevents high-cholesterol 
• Studies have shown that consuming flaxseed can can greatly reduce breast cancer odds and possibly even promote fertility because of the massive amount of lignans that it contains. Lignans are a type of antioxidant that converts in our intestines to a substance that can balance female hormones.

To use it, you can just mix it in with any other foods you choose. I like to add it to my hot cereal or yogurt for breakfast. You can also add it to smoothies, omelettes, peanut butter, etc. It can even be used as an egg substitute in baking because of it's high soluble fiber content. 

I buy flaxseed already ground up--"flaxseed meal", but you can also buy whole flax seed, which keeps longer. If you buy the flaxseed meal, then make sure to keep it in the fridge or freezer so it doesn't go bad as quickly.

I buy different brands of flaxseed meal depending on what the store has. It can always be found at health food stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joes, but I've noticed that more and more regular grocery stores are starting to carry it also. Check their baking section!

Okay enough about all of that. On to today's eats and gym time. 

Breakfast- 

After a nice morning of sleeping in a little bit, I woke up very hungry and cold (I swear I am always cold). The perfect fix to this predicament? Stovetop Oat Bran made with Light Silk vanilla soy milk, agave, and flaxseed mixed in! Berries and cinnamon on top! I also mixed in some Kashi Heart to Heart cereal for a little added crunch. 

Lunch- My breakfast was later than usual and kept me full all day. I went to the gym and then the beach for the rest of the afternoon so by the time my stomach started to growl again, it was 5pm. A farmers market Key Lime Pie granola bar was the perfect hold-me-over. Here's the link to the website of the woman who makes the bars- The Dinner Belle (such a great name too!). She's a caterer/personal chef. I just think her business looks so cute! I wish I would have known about it earlier in the summer. 

Dinner-

I'm back in Stone Harbor tonight working at a coffee shop. There's a restaurant around the corner called Green Cuisine. They make tons of great salads, wraps, and other vegetarian entré options. I chose the "Stone Harbor Salad" with salmon on top. It was perfect! I also had a hazelnut coffee from the coffee shop and an apple to accompany my salad. 

Today's workout: 

It all started with a fast 4 miles. 

And then I slowed way down for the next 3.48 miles so that I could read some of my addicting book.  7.5 miles total! Not too shabby!

Then I finished things off with a quickie circuit: 

Complete cycle 3X through!

50 jumping jacks

5 pushups 

20 sit-ups

20 mountain climbers

30 second plank

10 burpees 

Try and do each exercise back to back with no rests in between. I took a 30 second rest in between each cycle. 

Hope everyone is having a good week! Enjoy!

Never Sitting Still

Since I've been back from vacation, I feel like I have been all over the place. The past two days were spent in Philadelphia because Coastal Vibes had a gig there, and I'm a big scaredy cat so I there was no way I was going to stay behind at the beach house and be all by myself.

The next week is going to be even crazier with the guys having their last gig and then moving out, helping Joey get moved into his apartment in Baltimore, and then getting my self all packed up to go home for a little while before getting all packed up again to go back to school! Phew! So I apologize in advance if the blog takes a little hit during all of this moving!

Saturday Eats: 
Breakfast- warm and delicious stove top oatmeal with flaxseed and agave mixed in. Berries and a cut up peach sprinkled on top!
Lunch- whole wheat wrap spread with hummus and filled with carrots and spinach. I also had one of the peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars that I bought at the farmers market last week.
Dinner- SO GOOD! This is such an easy meal and so delicious. I definitely plan on making it regularly at school.

Okay so I started by heating up some Pacific Creamy Tomato soup (make sure to buy the low sodium version whenever you get soup). Then I made some wheat berries (don't be scared! They're really easy to make!) They're an ancient grain very similar to quinoa but a little bigger and chewier. You also cook them just like quinoa. Heat them up with water in a pot until the water boils, and then turn down the heat to low and cover for about 15 minutes. I also added some spinach in with the wheat berries for the last 10 minutes of cooking just to get some greens in.
When I took this picture I was just planning on eating the soup and wheat berries separately, but then I had a brilliant beyond brilliant idea (Parent Trap quote!! ....anyone??) to add the wheat berries into the soup. It. Was. Delicious. The creamy soup mixed with the chewy wheat berries and spinach was just a perfect combination.
Chobani greek yogurt and grapes went along with my soup masterpiece.

Saturday Workout: 
5.10 mile run on the treadmill.
12 minutes on the elliptical
PBR stability, core, and strength circuit for runners 

Sunday Eats: 
Breakfast-

This was my breakfast the past two mornings spent in Philly. Cheerios with almond milk, a cut up peach, and flax seed sprinkled on top. Banana and raisins on the side :)
Lunch- Bryn and Danes! MMM. I had a salad with cranberries, blueberries, pecans, and mandarin oranges. 1/2 a berry smoothie too!
Dinner- We came home from the guys' gig at the local park to a big home cooked meal. The guys' had baked ziti, salad and bread. I was spoiled with a big piece of salmon to go along with my generous portion of salad. The ziti was meatless though, so of course I had to have just a bite. Perfect!

Sunday Workout: 

4.6 miles on the treadmill
20 minutes on the elliptical
abs and back on the hyper-extension machine
a nice 5 minutes rolling around on a foam roller (I really need one of these). It felt so good on my sore muscles.

Concert in the park! 

Monday Eats:
Breakfast-Same as yesterday!
Lunch-

Salad with leftover wheat berries, blueberries, and cranberries. Apple and grapes on the side!
Dinner- I still had wheat berries leftover so what better to do with them than make the same tomato soup creation all over again! It was just as good as the first time. I also had red, yellow, and orange peppers and celery all dipped in hummus. Oh grapes and a Light and Fit yogurt too!

Monday Workout: 
I contemplated taking my day off today, but when 7:00 pm rolled around... I just couldn't take sitting around anymore so I went out for a 30 minute run that turned into a 50 minute run. It was cool outside, the sun was setting, and my legs felt good!...what more could I ask for?
Then I came inside and did the P90X Ab-Ripper X video. It's only about 14 minutes long, but it really gets your abs burning. Just what I needed!

Alright I'm off to watch some more HGTV and then get to bed early. I need all the sleep I can get these days. Night!

Back in the Swing of Things

Coming back from vacation is always a little bit of a downer, especially when you're coming back from such a nice and (mostly) relaxing place. But there is also something to be said for getting back home. The beach has been home for me this summer and since my time here is coming to an end, I should try and appreciate it a little more in my last 9 days at the shore.

With that being said. Last night was a lot of fun. The guys made chicken parm for a fam dinner while I heated up some vegetable soup (made by Select Harvest-low sodium), and cut up an apple for my own meal. In addition, one of the guys made a delicious kale salad. Definitely try it out. It's really easy and really healthy. 

Kale Salad: 

several bunches of fresh kale leaves
carrots

red peppers
broccoli

feta cheese
combine lemon juice and olive oil to taste for the dressing

Easy as that! 

Today's eats started off with a bowl of Oat Bran for breakfast that I made over the stove with light vanilla soy milk t. I topped it with ground flax seed, cinnamon, and a cut up peach. I also had a bowl of berries and a green tea with it.

You may be wondering what the difference is between Oat Bran and oatmeal. I never really knew this either, but I did a little research to find out. Basically Oat Bran has 130 calories for 1/3cup, where as oatmeal has slightly less coming in at 100 calories for 1/3 cup, but Oat Bran has twice as much fiber, as well as more protein and iron content so it will keep you fuller longer. The texture of Oat Bran is a little different than oatmeal in that, if you make it on the stove with milk (as opposed to making it in the microwave with water), it's creamier--almost like a cream of wheat. The flavor is, in my opinion, pretty much the exact same as oatmeal. Sweeten it up just like you would oatmeal with agave nectar, brown sugar, or cinnamon! Give it a try!

Lunch was a small salad, a few carrots with hummus, and a farmers market granola bar (orange pistachio cardamom fig). 

That dressing is one of the only store bought ones that I really like. You can find it at most grocery stores so definitely give it a try if you like raspberry vinaigrettes. 

It was back to working for hours in a local coffee shop tonight so my dinner was packed to go and pretty unsubstantial. I really need to go to the store tomorrow. 

Workouts: 

Yesterday (Thursday) I woke up early to get in a run around the island because there is just such pretty scenery there, and I wanted to give my legs a chance to work off some energy before sitting down in cars and planes for the rest of my travel day. A nice and easy (= pretty slow) 50 minute run in Georgia's "cool" morning air.

This morning I woke up to pouring rain and I'd say I've had my fair share of rain this week (kayaking flashback...) so I headed to the gym to workout indoors. I was only planning on doing 4 quick miles on the treadmill, but my body felt pretty good so I did 3 more and finished with a total of 7 miles. Not my fastest day, but not too bad. 

I got in another ten minutes of abs and a little stretching--which I'll be doing more of later--before hurrying home. 

I promised to tell you guys about what I learned from the chef/nutritionist lady who I met with during my spa day. Some of it you guys would probably already know, but a lot of it was really useful! 

This was a really cool visual that shows a perfectly balanced meal with examples for each of the three categories-fruits and veggies, protein, and complex carbohydrates. It's pretty self-explanatory and makes it easy to see what/how much should be going into each meal. 

She also gave me a list of the fruits and a list of veggies that lists them in order of their nutrient level. 

On the fruit side, guava, watermelon, pink/red grapefruit, kiwi, cantaloupe, and all of the berries ranked at the top of the list. Plums, bananas, cherries, peaches, pears, apples ,and pineapple are still great choices, they just don't pack as much nutrients in them as the others. 

For veggies, leafy greens such as collards, spinach, and kale are at the very top. Then comes things like red/green/yellow peppers, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots, broccoli, and brussels sprouts. At the bottom of the list were corn, cucumber, onions, mushrooms, and eggplant. Again, these last ones are of course still super healthy!

I also got a few easy recipes that sound delicious. I'm going to try some this coming week so I'll post the recipes then! 

Vacation Part 2- Kayaking Adventures

Unfortunately our vacation comes to an end tomorrow morning, but it's been one amazing trip...one for the books.

Workouts on this trip have been a little all over the place, but it's vacation so I'm not sweating it.
Tuesday we went for an hour long bike ride around the island looking at all of the big beach houses and beautiful salt marsh views.
After the bike ride, I ran just over 5 miles on the treadmill, did 10 minutes on the elliptical, and then knocked out a quick 10 minutes of abs and a few squats to get me to about a 60 minute workout. NO ARMS today...they were way too sore from Monday's personal training session.

Oh today's workout was one that I was definitely not expecting. We went for what was supposed to be a casual and fun kayaking trip around the island. Not exactly how it turned out though. After about an hour of kayaking out to a small little sandbar far from the main shore, we went for a nice little walk to find some seashells. As we came back to our kayaks for lunch, we looked up to see huge dark swirling clouds above us....not good. We knew that was a bad sign, but probably should have taken the weather much more seriously. We decided to get back in our kayaks and head on back just in case.

Long story short, we ended up getting stuck in the middle of the storm. Picture my mom and I in a double kayak. I'm in the back trying to steer through rain that's pouring down so hard I can barely open my eyes. Lightning is striking banks around us. And the current/wind is pushing so hard against us that we're barely moving forward.

 My mom thinks it's fun (she's the adventurous one) and an adventure. I'm crying because I'm convinced we will not survive this. The guide eventually has to tie us to his kayak so he can help pull us back.

We did eventually make it underneath a bridge so we could wait out the storm a bit more, and then finally got back on land. I could have kissed the ground. Hey, at least we got a good story out of it!

SO aside from the massive arm workout I got from paddling so hard through the storm (my arms are already sore), I also went to the gym and ran about 3.25 miles just to run off some anxiety that was still haunting me from our...."experience" let's say.

We also tried paddle-boarding! Not sure how I got back out on the water after what had happened earlier, but I'm glad I did. The paddle boarding was really fun, and a workout in itself!

On the other hand, the food we've had over the past few days has been great the whole way through. 

Always delicious breakfast-fruit plate, greek yogurt, granola

Lunch yesterday-mushroom, goat cheese, spinach wrap

Sorry, poor quality pic. Not poor quality food though! This is halibut with caper sauce, summer squash, and black lentils. 

Mom's seafood ravioli, and shared goat cheese and tomato polenta. 

I've gotten something different every morning because it all sounds so good.  Cold cereal with fruit this morning. Little cup of greek yogurt on the side. 

I needed a warm lunch after the kayaking fiasco. White bean and collard green soup and a shared veggie+hummus wholewheat flatbread hit the spot. 

Our dinner tonight was at an extra fancy restaurant as a special treat for my mom's birthday. Holy moly it was SO FANCY SHMANCY. It was a 4 course meal, but each course was super small so that you didn't ge too full too quickly. I didn't want to take my camera to take a picture because the restaurant was just too nice. Making a long meal short, I tried seared tuna, a salad with grilled peaches, triggerfish, and a cheese tasting at the end of the meal that was to die for. 

Happy Birthday Mama!! Hope you had a great day!! <333

Alright I'm off to bed. I'd like to get up tomorrow morning and go for a run around the island before we have to check-out and get to the airport. Back to reality. Night! 

Vacation Part 1!

I'm so exhausted, but I have a lot of updates so I didn't want to miss out on another day of blogging. Bare with me, this post may have more pictures and fewer words.

Special dinner Friday night! Joey made the salmon cakes (see this post for the how-to!), pan seared scallops, and bruschetta (made on the grill)....while I made the roasted butternut squash (with agave and cinnamon on top!), quinoa salad (with cranberries and goat cheese), and steamed broccolini.

Saturday morning workout a fast paced 4 miles on the treadmill incorporating sprint work, and then I dialed things down a bit for another 2 miles. Then I got on the elliptical for a good 15 minutes getting me to just around 55 minutes of cardio. I did a little strength stuff with resistance bands and also got some abs in there. Also did 100 jump squats just for "fun". I tried to get a little stretching in at the end because I've been so tight lately. 

No interesting eats Saturday unfortunately. Same old stuff. 

Sunday morning I was up early to get to the airport for my flight to Savannah. Once I met my mom at the airport in Savannah, we drove to Sea Island where our resort is. I want to get married here/live here/die here. It's so beautiful! 

Yesterday was supposed to be my day off of working out, but my mom and I wanted to explore the spa and fitness area at the resort, and since we were already wearing workout clothes when we got to the gym, I just couldn't resist getting a short 35 minute workout in (primarily done running and walking on the treadmill). 

This is just one of the rooms at the resort spa, where my mom and I spent almost the whole day. Talk about relaxing and just what I needed. 

My mom got a two hour full-body massage as well as a facial. I started my day with a 90 minute personal training session with a trainer named "Ox". He was tough and definitely challenged me to do things that I'm not used to / avoid at all costs (think pull ups...), but it was good for me for sure. Then I did a 30 minute quick cardio session on the treadmill before heading out the beach for a 25 minute stretch with a yoga teacher. That was so so cool. It was so nice to just relax out there and go deeper into some yoga poses than I usually do. 

After lunch, I had a little time so I got in an epsom salt hot tub, sat in the sauna for a bit, and then read. 

Then I got to have a private session with a chef who specializes in nutrition and healthy cooking. She was so so helpful. I'll have to share everything I learned from her in another post...too much to type out now! 

Finally, I got to have a fully body massage that just topped it all off perfectly. I was super sore and tight all in my back and legs so that's what the massage therapist focused on. I can't even tell you how great I felt walking out of there...like a wet noodle. 

Look at all of this amazing food we've been having!! (sorry if some of the photos are poor quality)

Dinner last night was salmon with squash and asparagus. For dessert I had some green tea and little pieces of dark chocolate our waiter brought for us. 

We had breakfast in our room this morning before starting our spa day. I had grapefruit, greek yogurt with agave nectar, and a sliced banana. 

My mom had oatmeal with brown sugar and pecans (I stole a few bites...so delicious). 

 One of the many things that I love here is there green tea! I've never had this brand before, but I am going to look for it when I get home. It's got a really fruity flavor that I love.

Lunch brought to us at the spa was a whole wheat wrap with sautéd mushrooms, arugula, and goat cheese. Small farro salad and fruit cup on the side. 

Mom's shrimp salad for lunch!

They also had these incredible little homemade granola bar bites in the spa that I couldn't keep my hands out of. I must have had 50 of those little buddies. 

I forgot to take a picture of dinner! I had halibut and my mom had swordfish and we both liked each others better. So really I ended up eating more swordfish. 

After dinner we wanted a treat. There's an ice cream/candy shop in the resort so we stopped in and got some ice cream to eat on our beach walk back to our room. My mom had a scoop of birthday cake ice cream (in honor of her soon to be birthday), and I had a scoop of fat-free vanilla ice cream with M&Ms. 

Now we're crashing in bed watching the Olympics! I'll be asleep before 11 I'm sure. Night y'all!