Pilates in my best elf pants

I had a busy line up! So I decided to get my workout done right away after my Shakeology (hence the last blog post). I had Isometric and Pilates. WOW. I haven’t done pilates before and my booty was sore after! and yes, I wore my Christmas elf pants.

I met with to clients I will be working with very shortly. I am very excited to get to know them and work with them! We went to a cafe in Uptown I had never been in and I was pleasantly surprised to see they served almond milk. Almond milk latte for the win!

I picked up a few produce items before heading home. I got a bit of work done before getting ready for some girls night! I reconnected with one of the wives who’s husband is on Matt’s ship. It was good to chat! in fact we chatted for over 3 hours and had a lovely dinner at Cactus Club. Just what I needed. I didn’t get home until 9:15. What a party animal I am. Oh, and no alcohol to be clear. I just don’t drink during training season…I do ….CARB though!

This wasn’t the plan but man. I love their prawn spaghetti so I went for it and don’t regret it one bit! Originally I was going for the Rob Hunter chicken dish because it is just one of my faves but nope. Had to carb it up. Delish. Then I slept hard to only be woke by a fire truck and an alarm going off in the building across the street at 3 am. Oh well.

Shopping with my Momma

I am back home visiting the family as I said in my last post. I ended up getting my work in first thing in the morning and then talking to my Mom for hours before I got my sweat on. What? I haven’t been home since Christmas! we needed a catch up even if we do talk basically every day if not every second day…

I got my Agility X from P90X3 in. I didn’t have tape so I ended up using my imagination which was fine. I got a mega sweat in!

 

I was explaining to my mom that I needed to pick up more Nespresso…Hi, my name is Jennifer Jones and I am a Nespresso addict. So we got ready for a little shopping. So I decided to go all out and put makeup on, jeans, and curl my hair. Who is this girl?!

It is bizarre. This mirror makes me look way shorter than I am. I am 5 foot 7! also, I am experimenting with booties. I find I rarely know how to pair booties with clothing and I have a few cute pair I want to get more use out of. These are a Chelsea boot knock off from Old Navy.

At Nespresso I picked up a few sleeves of my favourite Roma capsules, and also ventured with Arpeggio capsules. We decided to sit down for a little espresso before we continued on our way.

We decided to leave Pacific Centre and walk out onto Robson. I went into the new Old Navy on Robson and Granville. I have been LOVING their fitness clothing. I picked up a pair of crops that are a creamsicle colour, a top that says “running wildly” and a grey warm up top. Oh and a pair of my favourite skinny jeans for 12 bucks. Whoop! Since all my jeans are too tight or don’t fit at all now because my quads and booty have grown as it seems.. I am happy to replace a pair at this price.

I also wanted to check out Victoria’s Secret. I love that store way too much. I went into the PINK section and scored a new pullover sweat top for $13. Holla! It may be a bit too big but what ever. It is a sweat shirt right? Then I wanted to see a few pairs of their VSX sport line pants. Really happy I did because the ones I almost ordered online were not as cute as I thought in person. So I ended up buying another pair of my beloved stirrup pants in a grey colour. SERIOUSLY. I love them for yoga and pilates! I may or may not be sporting them as I blog!

On our way home, the sun was peaking out. Since it was Wednesday, that is my scheduled “ez run” day so I hit the road.

Since I left around 5 pm, the sun was coming down quick. I am not a bit ran of running at dusk alone. Especially around UBC since there is a lot of forest around. I also don’t have my reflective coats around when I am visiting. But it wasn’t completely dark by the time I got home. I just acted like no one could see me so I was pretty cautious. Oh and bonus? I found $5 in the middle of the sidewalk on my run. Is this what it feels like to be a sponsored runner? no? well I am easily amused.

Came home to a beautiful dinner made by my Momma. Pork chop, onions, salad, roasted carrots and sweet potato. Oh yum!

Then? big brother Josh came by with my birthday gift. He did some traveling in the states the last few weeks and found the runners I have been looking for. You guys should know at this point. I am a Mizuno girl. LOVE my waverider 17s, and have been in waveriders since the 13 model. He found the navy coloured pair with sea foam/minty details. I like a dark pair of shoes since I live in a rainier climate. My white ones are already starting to brown. No bueno. I am such a girl aren’t I? Some road runner I am! 😛 Anyway, best gift! Josh is the best :). Plus the Mizunos are a heck of a lot cheaper where he bought them.

QOTD: Do you like running at dusk/in the dark?

 

 

 

My new Erin Condren planner

 

You know what is rare for me? waking up SUPER hungry. Sure I will be a bit hungry when I wake up but yesterday..nuh uh. I was hungry. Guess marathon training season is in swing for sure! Decided to make my protein powder-less protein pancakes.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup oats
1 egg
1 tbsp plain greek yogurt
few frozen blueberries
1 tbsp flax seed
1/2 banana
stevia
baking powder

Directions:

Blended the oatmeal in my vitamix to create oat flour.

Mixed everything together except for the banana.

Made me some pancakes. Topped with half a slice banana and a little maple syrup drizzle.

After letting that digest, I went out on my run. I really didn’t want to. My bed was so cozy and I was finding every reason as to why I don’t want to go. It looks like it will rain. It looks chilly. My usual running jackets are in the wash…and so on. But you know what? If I listen to those voices, it just makes it easier and easier to put it off each time. Making myself do things I don’t want to do sometimes will kick me into the proper mindset and get things done. Plus? San Francisco is hilly. That’s what. I wanna be prepared! So I ran 6 hills and a mini warm up and cool down.

I then had my Shakeology, finished some work and then got into my P90X3 workout. Accelerator! I decided to wear one of my new shirts from Old Navy. Love this thing.

I showered up, grabbed some grub and got ready to hit the road to Vancouver. I haven’t seen my family since Christmas so I wanted to pay a visit. Plus, my Dad went and picked up a parcel I had waiting at our cabin in the states! So happy my Erin Condren planner arrived! I shipped it there because shipping to Canada was just OUT OF HAND. Very lucky we have that American address.

I love it. Basically I get super picky with how things are laid out within a planner. One reason why I use DailyMile instead of an actual written running mileage journal. I like things bright and open.

I love that it has sections for goals and it splits the days up into morning, day and night. Love the positive affirmations through out it. Ah. I love it so much!

QQOTD: Do you use a planner and do you get picky with how the format is as well?

Doing one thing a day to get out of my comfort zone

Oh Mondays. Usually I am all refreshed and stuff, but I had to wake up a bit early so to get my work done before a few appointments. I got in my P90X3. I switched my week around as I do with marathon training and did Dynamix. It was PERFECT for post long run day. It was basically dynamic stretching.

I vlogged yesterday, where you can see my exciting day. But I went to meet my good friend Haleema for coffee. We lived in residence together in UVIC and were born in the same city. Soon we will be neighbors which is pretty sweet! We talked for HOURS and then I walked home.

On my walk home, the bridge went up. They are doing some construction and it seemed like most of the day they were raising and lowering it. I had to wait for about 30 minutes and talked with a stranger. One thing I am trying to do is get out of my comfort zone once a day and being a bit shy at time, talking to strangers is not my forte! But hey! I talked to a very nice lady and made a business contact out of it! Things happen for a reason, am I right?

Because I left eating lunch to last minute, my cravings were out of control. Pretty happy I didn’t go in with my original craving plan. When I am STARVING, I crave sweets…more specifically, chocolate covered almonds. UGH! Its so horrible. But I didn’t give in. I walked past Bulk Barn and went right home to eat some clean food.

Gabe and I had our usual Monday night girls night hang out. “Watched” Bachelor. The quotes are because we basically talked the entire time. That is how we do!

QQOD: Do you find your cravings get crazy out of hand when you don’t eat at your proper times/are at the point of starving?

 

A day at the Victoria Health show

Sunday Runday! I woke up slightly later than intended due to my later night the night before. Which is totally fine. I was a sleepy runner this morning! It was mighty foggy for the first part of the morning and something about fog creeps me out. Luckily my twitter buddy James Koole reminded me what the fog monsters really are:

After a good laugh and a yummy breakfast, I hit the road. This run was much better than last week. I finally have broken in my Mizuno Waverider 17s. Thank goodness! I was starting to think I didn’t like them because my left foot would get a blister on one toe, and 3 of my toes would be numb. Not cool. But after 75 km on them, they seem to have stretched to my foot a bit better.

Little to no soreness on this run. Last week my hip flexors and IT bands were TIGHT. Wow. I was limping around for a few hours after my run, but I think my body is coming around. I have been very on it with my flexibility work and relaxing properly. My body is getting used to my running schedule again…whooo!

After my foggy run, the fog lifted. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It is days like this, where the blue sky takes over, that makes me fall in love with Victoria all over again.

I had an appointment with one of my coaching teammates, Dana (go check her out! she is awesome. She has a youtube too!) . We always have great talks! Love that girl!

Then my good friend Gabe (also a super awesome individual. Seriously. Check them both out!) and I went off to the Victoria Health show. We went last year and it was great!

Ignore the horrible shadowy photo. We planned on taking more photos outside after the fair..did we? nope! Instead we hit up Winners and Old Navy. Priorities!

Back at the show, I picked up my all time favourite thing. I always buy Kombucha when I go to Whole Foods in Vancouver or the Market here. I LOVE Kombucha and this company is really was awesome. It is Canadian based and the flavours were great!

Of course  the show had a couple really gimmicky things. As per usual with health shows am I right? To be honest, it scares me to see that people will be so interested in the quick fix to weight loss problems. I will be blunt here, wrapping your body in wraps is not going to help you long term. Sorry but the results are from you most likely sweating it up in some cellophane and therefore losing water weight. Easily gained again in less than a day.  I am not one for bashing peoples choices when it comes to health and fitness, but this isn’t health or fitness. This is literally getting tangled in your kitchen cellophane while you are wrapping up left overs and calling it a weight loss plan. Don’t get me started on the various weight loss pills or formulas. You want to find a way to get yourself really sick? try taking some off the shelf “weight loss magic pill.” Seriously. I don’t care if your Aunt Pauline and friend Sally are doing it. It is a quick way to hurt not only your metabolism, but your health.

Anywho, back in your cage ranty Jenn. *scurries*

We were there mainly to see the man of the hour. Gabe and I both love Tommy Europe. I had a chance to workout with him at my Can-Fit-Pro Certification conference back in November in Vancouver. It was amazing! I used to be addicted to his TV shows “Bulging Brides” and “Last 10 lbs Bootcamp.” He really tells it to you straight, makes you think and be true to yourself, and gives you some great tools. He NEVER lets you get away with excuses which I love. This man is one of the reasons I am very proud to be in the health and fitness industry. There are a lot of people and products out there that are horrible examples of the health and fitness industry, but Tommy? nope. He is a prime example. He is professional, encouraging, positive, understanding of struggles but helps you overcome them, he is knowledgeable. I could go on. He also matches his shoe laces with his shirts which is a big score in my books. Serious. I’ve done it too!

As I mentioned, we hit up Old Navy and Winners after the health show. We picked up flavored coffee because we both have a problem. It is just too delish. I went with salted caramel (YUM!), pumpkin spice, and toasted maple nut (yeah, eh?). Then I went a little crazy with comfy clothes and workout clothes (cuz I SO need more of those ..not) from Old Navy.

After an AWESOME girls day, I got into my sweats made up a yummy meal since I was ravenous. Then what? uh watched Sean and Catherine’s wedding. Yeah, I don’t watch the Grammy’s. I hate award shows. They bore me!

I gotta say, I got so much second hand embarrassment watching this. There was so much CHEESE it was ridiculous. Really happy Matt and I didn’t compare our love to butterflies or sprinkles at any point. I mean I can make one up if you want?
Matt.. my love for you is like my love for a big party platter of sushi after running a marathon. No? Doesn’t work? works for me! (If you don’t know the story or the reference. After my last marathon in 2012, Matt proposed to me. We also ordered a TON of sushi to pick up later that afternoon. When we went to pick it up, they packed it in a party platter and said “big party tonight?” and I just pointed to my tummy and said “BIG PARTY FOR ME TONIGHT.” Best post marathon meal ever…)

QQOTD: Did you watch Sean and Catherine’s wedding or the Grammy’s?

Super party animal Saturday night!

Oh Saturdays, how I love thee.

I took it nice and easy getting up! I slept like a rock. Something about the first sleep in fresh sheets. I tell ya man!

So to kick off my relaxing rest day, I made a big almond milk latte. I added cocoa powder, cinnamon and stevia to make it kind of cinnamon bun like. Yum!

I did my best to RELAX and not work. Since I love my job, I can find myself working on days I have scheduled to RELAX on. So I did have to pull myself away from the computer a few times. I got my boring old chores done. You know. Laundry, cleaning, that party animal grind you know?

I filmed a new video and edited most of the afternoon before heading off to church.

I have been wanting to practice my faith a bit more lately. Ever since the stresses I had gone through at the end of 2013. I had been craving to enhance myself spiritually. So I looked up the closest Catholic church and went to the Saturday evening Sunday vigil. I was really nervous to be honest. I have never just gone to mass by myself, usually it is with family and my husband. But it was so good. I really connected with the priest and I want to make this a consistent thing. Father spoke after reading the Gospel on something that really just spoke to me. It was almost like a sign.

As I have spoken about before. This year is my year to come out of hiding and do things for ME. Doing things that make me happy and not caring what others will think. He spoke about darkness and how we often will hide behind it. How we can conceal all our flaws and imperfections and with the rise of social media, this makes it that much easier. Sometimes we feel we can’t be ourselves completely. He spoke of coming forth and embracing those imperfections because we all have our own insecurities or flaws and it isn’t something we should be shameful of.

Ah! I just really connected with myself spiritually in mass yesterday and I really feel great.

A little while after that, it was GIRLS NIGHT. We went wild and crazy on the sushi! I have one indulgence (sometimes two!) a week, and I went crazy for sushi! Introducing: Gyoza, California roll, spicy scallop, and spicy tuna roll. Just a few of my favourites!

My sister in law, Steph, was in town for a course for the weekend. So we grabbed a Starbucks on the walk back to my place. I went with an old time favourite: Steamed milk and vanilla. I had a little sweet tooth so this was a nice treat.

I transferred a bunch of out wedding photos onto a USB for my in-laws. Unfortunately I could not give them all of the photos since there were just SO many and the files are big! However, some of the photos I figured wouldn’t be all that interesting to them. Photos of just my dress, the bridesmaid dresses, the shoes, my rings I was wearing, me doing my makeup etc. Then Steph went back to where she was staying and I called it a night! I fell asleep as soon as my head hit that pillow.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend ❤

Not every run will be a good run

 

Friday is my fourth and final run of the week before my much needed rest day. Generally I do not put a set distance to run on my weekday runs but I have a minimum to reach which is usually about 7 km.  But I do let myself have one run in the week where it is under that minimum. Especially this soon into the training season. So yesterday I went out and man, I was not havin’ it. Sometimes we have those runs. I mean not every run will be great, right? that is a given. I just felt out of breath, couldn’t get into the groove of it and I did not want to be out there running, even though it was a BEAUTIFULLY sunny day out! Usually my rule of thumb is, if I am not “getting into the groove” of that run within 15 minutes, I will call it a 5 km distance day. Hey! I did something right?

I find I get way too hung up on how much my pace has changed. I was able to run sub 5 minute kilometers a year ago. Now I am over a minute slower than I was. I know it is so “duh Jenn, obviously that will happen” type moment, but it sucks. Pitty party for one? …and know what I realized I forgot? how far I have come. The old Jenn could barely run a few blocks and I was running for much longer than that. I get ahead of myself sometimes!

Clearly I was just having a bit of a negative morning. Pace shouldn’t matter unless I am trying to Boston Qualify..which will come in time ;). FUN FACT: My goal is to Boston Qualify before I am 30.

Moral of the story here, just because you weren’t all smiles during your workout or you were not havin’ it…doesn’t mean it was pointless. I did something. Not every run within my training will go to plan and that is okay.

Anyway, I practiced some TurboKick later on in the day. That always gets my spirit up. It is just such a fun class. My goal is to find a facility to instruct at after my trip to California later in a few months. Then i got my P90X3 AgilityX disk on. I was a sweaty mess after that.

I was feeling so good about my work as the day progressed. I have been a Beachbody coach for a while now, but I only recently in the last 6 months started really focusing on my business. I have been doing my best to push myself out of my comfort zone everyday and I am pretty proud of it. I really love what I do because it makes me strengthen and grow as a person. I also get to reach out to you guys and assist you whenever you feel you need someone to talk to. I am so blessed to be able to do what I do. I LOVE MY JOB!

Since I love work so much, I find sometimes I get ahead of myself and forget what time it is. So I made myself log off around 4 pm to relax and do my own thing. I watched Bridesmaids (one my of my all time favourite movies) and prepped dinner. I had some Avocados I needed to get using so I thought I would make up some guac! oh baby. I also had some kale so it only came naturally to make kale chips. So yummy. I just use oil, salt and pepper on my kale chips. I am so plain Jane.

I ran myself a bubble bath. Found the newest episode of Milliondollar Matchmaker on the “Slice” webpage and watched while I relaxed. How girlie of me right?

Also, I found a place to watch the Toned Up series on Bravo (but online) and have been addicted to that. Seriously makes me want to move to California! I wish!

It was a perfect Friday night if you ask me!

 

Meal Prep Tips

Lately I have been starting my day off with a small bowl of granola, half a banana sliced over top with a splash of almond milk. I make all my own granola now since doing my fair share of research when it comes to store bought cereals. I have been loving making my own stuff! really! it is kinda fun to get creative with it! Plus I can get all “pinterest-y” and put it in an adorable mason jar. Adorable.

I have craved Thursdays the last few weeks. It has been dubbed my “slow down” day. Isometrix from P90X3, as I have mentioned before, is essentially the balancing poses in yoga. Then I also did X3 Yoga and got a good stretch in. Also screen captured this pose that I thought looked cool. Fun fact? I maybe held that for 4 milliseconds! teehee!

I had a few business meetings and met up with my good friend Emily too. It was a great Thursday if you ask me! However, I could NOT turn off my mind before bed. So I was up late just laying there thinking about things. PS. I am missing Grey’s Anatomy HARD. That is USUALLY my Thursday night routine. Can it just come on TV already? like now? I don’t wanna wait until February.

I was asked a bit about meal prep yesterday and I thought I would through out a few of my own tips for what I do. As you guys know, I used to be hardcore about it when I was working with a coach in the summer. However, I hated how I did it then. I think a lot of it had to do with I absolutely hated the actual meals (HA!) but I probably could have been more efficient about it. So this is what I do now, it isn’t super efficient and it isn’t super strict. As you guys may know, I now live a more balanced lifestyle and I feel like it is helping me heal (mentally/emotionally) if that makes sense. 2013 was a rough one!

For me, meal prep means having things readily available in the fridge. I work from home at the moment, so I really don’t have to think too ahead of time.

My tips to meal prep:

1. Make LARGE batches of versatile foods. For example, I cook quinoa as if I am cooking for a family of 8. Seriously. But quinoa can be used in so many ways. It can be a side dish, it can be a substitute for oatmeal, it can be sweet or savory. I ALWAYS have quinoa in the fridge if possible. Hard boiled eggs is the same dealio. You can have them with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper, whole. Or you can take out the yolk, mash and mix with the smallest amount of mayo, pop it back into the egg white and you have a deviled egg of sorts. You can put them into a salad. SO MANY POSSIBILITIES. Have you ever been so excited about hard boiled eggs in your LIFE?! okay, maybe you aren’t. But I sure am. Yum!

2. Slow cooker= life saver. I use this things ESPECIALLY on Sundays. After my long runs, I don’t trust myself with cooking. Why you may ask? well not only am I walking about like a zombie.. mentally I AM a zombie. I feel like I would find a way to light myself on fire by accident. Sundays are my run and zone out days! So the slow cooker comes in handy because A) it makes big servings B) I don’t have to think about cooking really C) the house smells delish when I come back from my run!

3. There is no need to do ALL your meal prep in one day. Why you may ask? well if you make tilapia and see/ smell the grossness that is fish sludge, you will see (and don’t forget smell!) what I mean. Not all proteins and produce will last that long.

4. Make a list of possible meal ideas/snack ideas. Do you ever get that “I want something fun and healthy to eat” feeling? oh just me? anyway. I have a little list of possible combination of meal/snack ideas to keep things interesting.

5. Organization. When I used to meal prep hardcore, I would put each meal in their own container that was perfectly weighed out and everything. You could say, my fridge had NO room in it. I suggest putting items in bigger containers and weigh them out as you need. Unless you live alone and no fridge space is fine. Think my husband secretly was tired of seeing the blue Tupperware container lids invade our fridge and having to ask “can I eat this?”

Et voila! Just a few tips I use!

Have a lovely Friday!!

xo J

 

Thirsty Thursday: My tips for drinking more water

I decided to give morning running a chance again. Lately my routine has involved me getting up to do my work first, then do my workouts. But I remember why I used to workout first thing in the morning. I had less going on in my head. So I laced up just before sun rise yesterday morning (so not that early, like 7:45 am) and set off on my run.

It was another easy paced run for me, I need to remember my pace has slowed down significantly and that is okay. That happens after taking a year off, putting on a few pounds and so on. It was pretty overcast when I went out, which I am okay with. Really, Winnipeg gave me a new perspective on weather conditions to complain about. We never get snow like that here. Ever. As I say, “welcome to the island life!”

Topped it off with a yummy vegan chocolate Shakeology with Almond milk, half a banana and a big spoonful of peanut butter. Clearly my signature recipe. I also had a 1 shot Nespresso Americano. Which reminds me, I need to pick up more Nespresso Capsules. Any of you have a favourite? I think I am going to venture away from the flavoured ones. Getting a bit tired of the chocolate. Carmelito one is still pretty good though. Roma is one of my favourites I have tried so far mainly because it is so high in caffeine mwahaha.. okay coffee addict Jenn.. shut your trap.. done.

I had CVX for P90X3 scheduled and I was too lazy to go to the gym with my laptop. I will say that some days I am pretty confident bringing it down there. But there’s some days I just feel awkward. Weird? yep. Yesterday was one of those days, so what did I do? made my own weights with a big bag of almonds, and a textbook filled gym bag. Ha!

If you remember back in August, you will know I have done this before. On the honeymoon I made weights out of our suitcases since the place we stayed at in Vacaville, California only had cardio equipment. I also would do Insanity in the hotel room. Another great reason why I love Beachbody DVD programs. You can literally bring them ANYWHERE.

Today (just for this week anyway) I am dubbing THIRSTY THURSDAY. Okay, okay. I know I am not the only one to say that. Just wanted to for the sake of today’s Facebook post. HYDRATION!

I get asked pretty often how much water I drink. I drink a gallon of water a day (3.8 ish litres) sometimes more. That is just strict water. I don’t consider anything else as hydration, though other people will argue otherwise (eg. teas, diluted juice etc). The minimum suggestion is half an ounce to every pound you weigh.

I am very lucky in that drinking my water isn’t too difficult. I know some people struggle to get enough water in in a day so I thought I would throw out a few tips!

1. Straws. Seriously, when I have a straw in my drink I drink more of it. The last few days was a good example of this. I was using my usual gym water bottle for water and I didn’t drink enough water. Yet, with my little mason jar tumbler, I drink over a gallon EASY.

2. Ice. This may be personal preference, but I find I can drink water better when it is ice cold!

3. Location of your water bottle. Pssst. It should be located near you all the time! I no joke have water on me ALL the time. I always have water in my purse, at my desk, in the car, everywhere!

4. Set water goals. This may sound silly, but for those of you trying to reach a specific intake of water it helps (eg: have 1 litre down before 10 am).

5. Infuse! Pop some frozen fruit into some water and put it in the fridge for a bit. You can add a little stevia if you want it sweetened a bit.

6. Drink before that “I am thirsty” feeling. Often times when you feel really thirsty, you have already dehydrated significantly. You want to hydrate throughout the day!

7. Replace soda, diet drinks, store bought juices etc with water or infused fruit water. Yes even if it is 0 calories (I am talking to you Crystal Light and Dasani Drops). I don’t want to beat the dead horse but that stuff is BAD.

8. Freeze various things into ice cubes for you water. Lemon, orange, and lime juice/rinds. Berries. Mint. Cucumber…and so on.

9. Drink one big glass when you first wake up. Before coffee or tea! You have been “fasting” since the night prior. You body needs it!

10. Watching TV? make it a goal to finish a glass of water during that 30 minute program!

 

Now drink a glass just because I told you  to.

 

Really.

Happy hydrating everyone ;).

Turkey Pumpkin Chili- JennIsTryingToCleanOutHerFridge Edition!!

I know Tuesdays are usually “transformation Tuesday” in Instagram world, but I don’t share my transformation every week. To be honest, I find it can be overkill and hey! if people want to see the before in after, it has been my profile picture on my Facebook like page anyway! So what beautiful alliteration can we make for yesterday. Titillating Tuesday? I just feel weird typing that. Perhaps now. How about…too many hills Tuesday because THAT describes my Tuesday pretty well!

Started with the P90X3 warrior workout. Always a goodie but it does include a lot of lower body plyometric movements. Hello quads, glutes and hammies! I was worried I wouldn’t be exhausted before doing my drill run. Thank you Tony Horton for making that possible. #sarcasm. Promise.

Topped with a chocolate vegan Shakeology. SO good. I am too hooked on this mixed with almond milk, half a banana and a big tbsp of peanut butter. Yum!

Got a bunch of work done so that I could get my run on at lunch time! Hill drills, yippeee! Ran 5 hill repeats. Two repeats of Gonzales hill (this one I am FINALLY able to run all the way to the top of! Such a killer!), one repeat of St. Charles, one repeat of Robleda and one repeat of Moss st. I was EXHAUSTED by the end. Drills always take a lot out of me.

I had so much to do my on my daily “to do” list, so it was back to work for me. Have a few people I am writing fitness programs for, so I spent the afternoon working on those while I made…..

TURKEY PUMPKIN CHILI -Jenn is trying to clean out her fridge edition

Last time I made this, I used a recipe from Whole Foods online. This time I just put things in there that I wanted to use up. So the measurements and ingredients may be a bit interesting. But hey! it was delicious so I am not going to question why I only put in 2 strips of bacon!

Ingredients:
1 can pumpkin
2 big handfuls of baby tomatoes, blended in my vitamix. Probably could use a can of chopped tomatoes though!
5 stalks of celery, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
3 cups of fresh baby spinach
1 packed of ground turkey, cooked
2 slices of bacon
1 heaping tbsp chopped garlic
coconut oil (for oiling your pans)
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

 

 

Directions:

 

1.  Cook ground turkey completely through on an coconut oiled pan. In a stew pot, cook celery, onion, garlic, peppers, in melted coconut oil until onions are translucent. Add spinach to wilt over top.
2. On med/low heat, add cooked turkey into vegetable mixture.
3. Add canned tomato and pumpkin. Mix
4. Add spices and mix.
5. Let simmer over low heat until you feel it is ready!
6. nom nom nom!

 

I also made a bunch of quinoa in chicken broth so I poured some of the chili over a little bit of quinoa. PERFECT. So good!

Chili is so easy and perfect in my mind. I rarely add beans to mine, but it is good with beans! I tried it the first time I made it.

Have a wonderful day ❤