This mornings breakfast is a fave of mine, Breakfast cookie dough cereal.

In the Bowl:

- 1/3 Cup Oats

- Half of a scoop of Designer Whey protein powder

- Cinnamon

- Tbs Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter

- Topped with a banana

Last night The Mister and I decided to go to the movies and see The Fighter.

(source)

We had heard really good things about this movie and it did not disappoint. It was really an incredible story I got teary eyed a few times and Christian Bale is phenomenal actor he gets so in to character he make you believe that he is that person. The movie was a times hard to watch because of the violence but I would totally recommend seeing it! The movie made me want to learn how to box! I would actually want to box a person though, maybe just a punching bag!

I am off of work today so I got some much needed sleep. Getting up five days a week at 4:00AM really starts to making you crazy by the end of the week! I slept in until 8:00AM and put on my running clothes, took a step outside and immediately came back in when I felt how freakin’ cold it was! It’s been around 60* and sunny here lately so I really wasn’t expecting it to be so cold!

I really wasn’t too sad since I am so not a morning work-outer (I really wish I was and I am trying harder to be!) and I got to eat some warm oats instead!

Oats on a super wrinkly napkin! Yummy!

In the Bowl:

-1/3 C Oats

-1/3 C Water

-1/3 C Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

-Banana

-Pinch O’ Salt

Topped With:

-1 Tbs Peanut Butter

-Mini Chocolate Chips (Sometimes a girl needs some chocolate in the morning, maybe this just girl…)

Now I am off to attempt to run, hopefully it has warmed up because I really do not want to run on the treadmill!

To everyone who is reading thanks for sticking around and for your e-mails and comments I really appreciate it!

Before dinner the Mister asked me if I wanted to go on a bike ride and of course I would never turn down a chance for a good bike ride. One reason I love the city I live in is you can pretty much get anywhere in the city on the bike path and it’s right behind my house so it takes me literally a few seconds to get to. It’s a great ride, the bike path is right by the river so the view is nice and it’s always much cooler down there.

I had some pre-bike fuel

Zucchini bread my mom made for me

The Mister wanted to go for a short bike ride but I wasn’t ready to be done so I took him a way he had never gone and we ended riding for about 45 minutes with lots of hills. Sam never works out so he was pretty tired when we were done!

When we got home I showered and made some dinner. All I wanted with a whole lot of veggies!

I had some sparkling water in my Marilyn Monroe glass

Bowl o’ Veggies

-Broccoli

-Cauliflower

-Carrots

-Brussel Sprouts

-Sweet Potato

-Grilled Chicken

I roasted all of the veggies in the oven with some EVOO and garlic and cut up some chicken and threw it in and I had myself a meal!

Well I’m off to squeeze in an episode of Big Brother I missed last night (if I can stay awake). Have a good night!

This morning I got up at the usual 4:00AM to get ready for work. Usually I’m totally fine getting up that early because I do it pretty much everyday, but when I went out to the living room Sam was still awake watching a movie and eating popcorn! It was a little disorienting smelling popcorn in the morning and it was also a little depressing knowing that it was still night time for him but morning for me .

I was really craving some pancakes this morning but I was short on time so I opted for the fast and delicious yogurt bowl.

-1/2 Cup Trader joe’s Greek Yogurt

- A whole lotta strawberries

-1/4 Cup Coconut Almond Granola

How it really looks when I eat it all stirred up

This the best lighting I get at 4:00AM!

On my shift at work I snacked on a carrot cake scuffin

and an Iced Americano with cream

When I got off of work around noon I made myself a wrap and some roasted brussel sprouts and eat it them on my classy chipped plate

My wrap was made with Trader Joe’s egg white salad, spinch, on a low carb La Tortilla. Hit the spot for sure..

I gotta say that I am ready for fall (don’t shoot me summer lovers!). I am ready for some nice Oregon rain, cold days, and hot coffees! I love fall and winter, I think that’s why I love Oregon so much, we only get about two months of summer and it’s over, I can enjoy a few hot sunny days and then I’m over it. I’m weird I know..

Question: What is your favorite season?

This morning I awoke to the sun beaming down in to my face from the window at about eight o’clock, which was annoying at first but then I thought about how I would rather be awoken by the sun than an annoying alarm!

So I got my butt up because the sun was not leaving me alone and made myself another peanut flour breakfast creation.

Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt

1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt

1 Tbs Peanut Flour (you could probably use peanut butter if don’t have the flour)

mix it all up!

I topped my peanut butter greek yogurt with a chopped up Fuji apple, Kashi Go Lean Cereal, and a few shakes of cinnamon.

Sunny yogurt bowl

I really liked the addition of the peanut flour to the greek yogurt! Next time I think I will add two tablespoons of the four instead of just one to give it more of a peanut buttery taste.

Todays to do list:

- Six Mile Run

-Clean the Kitchen (!)

-Have a Pizza dinner with my mom

-Enjoy the last day of my three day week-end

I hope you all enjoy your Saturday!

Question: What is your favorite flavors to have with greek yogurt? I love apples, peanut butter, and greek yogurt or strawberries and dark chocolate chips!

First off on Thursday my sister and I took my Mom in to surgery, we got their early and the doctor was already there so they got her in right away. The surgery was about two hours long right at lunch time and I didn’t think to bring a lunch I actually didn’t think I would get really hungry but I did and luckily I had something stashed in my purse (don’t we all?)

One of Angela’s Healthy Carrot Cake Power Scuffins that I had baked a couple days earlier. These are so good, they remind me of a pastry we had a Starbucks years ago called a Breakfast Cookie they had similar ingredients except Ange’s are much healthier and delicious, I highly suggest you make some. I want to do a little experimenting with some other flavors for these!

Once it was time to try my Mom home she was feeling pretty sick from the anesthesia so they gave her a sick bag to have in the car. Well we made it all the way home car pulled in the driveway ready to go in and she had to use the sick bag. It was not fun, I hate throwing up and I really hate watching people throw so it was a struggle for me to try and stay calm and help her but once she throw up she felt much better! Maybe that was a little TMI haha! I stayed with her until about nine o’clock, my sister lives with her so she was still there and I was starving so I wanted to get home and eat!

I forgot to take a picture of what I had for dinner but just picture a bowl of brown rice with roasted veggies (carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, and brussel spouts) with some grilled chicken mixed it. Simple and easy.

Friday morning I got up early to take my mom to see her doctor and all I was thinking about was some banana soft serve! Seriously I need to add some different breakfasts in the mix I just can’t seem to do it!

The key ingreident in my banana soft serve was some of this new amazing stuff I got a hold of

Peanut flour from Trader Joe’s! The stats of this baby are pretty impressive..

16g of protein in a 1/4 of a cup?! Holy protein batman. I’m still trying to think of ways to use this stuff and I thought it would be good in banana soft serve!

Peanut Butter Cup Banana Soft Serve Overnight Oats

Vegan Overnight Oats:

1/3 Cup Rolled Oats

1/3 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 Tbs Ground Flax

1 Packet Stevia (optional)

Peanut Butter Banana Soft Serve:

1 Banana chopped and frozen

2 Tbs Peanut Flour (or you can use regular peanut butter)

Splash of Unsweetened Almond Milk

Blend a food processor

Top with dark chocolate chips

This was sooo good, the peanut flour in the banana soft serve worked amazingly tasted like peanut butter soft serve but healthier and with more protein!

After the doctor we stopped at Cafe Yumm one of our favorite restaurants in Eugene. Cafe Yumm serves mostly vegetarian and vegan foods, their most popular food items are the Yumm Bowls which have brown rice, avocado, olives, salsa, cheddar cheese, cilantro, black beans, and their Yumm sauce. Everything is organic and recently they added chicken to the menu which is local, cage free, anti-biotic free, all that good stuff. I had a medium original bowl with chicken.

I get the Yumm sauce on the side because they are pretty heavy handed with it!

I decided to take a rest day because I had been feeling a little light headed all day and decided that running in the heat was probably not the best idea. Which was fine because that meant I got to spend a little extra time with the Mister. I made us some dinner while we watched the show Rescue Me, Sam loves Dennis Leary!

I made the Mister some salmon, which I coated in some panko and fried it, on the side he requested some Annie’s Mac and Cheese white cheddar shells and for me I baked my salmon in the oven and ate it on top a salad.

My salad had spinach, cauliflower, corn, carrots, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I also had a few bites of the mac and cheese. It was really good but I think my eyes were bigger than my stomach because I couldn’t finish it!

The mister and I spent the rest of the night on the couch being lazy for a change just watching TV it was glorious!

Whew!! I think that is all! If you made it through this whole post good job! I wasn’t sure I was going to make it!

Thank you all for keeping my mom in your thoughts I really truly appreciate it and so does she! She is already doing so well that I think we are going to head out to the Relay for Life this afternoon!

Anyway this surgery is going to be a pretty easy one and she will be back to work on monday!

For breakfast I woke up craving some banana soft serve vegan overnight oats but I forgot to make the oats the night before so I whipped some up and let this sit in the fridge for 30 minutes. Worked perfectly!

mmm cold swirly goodness

Layered the oats with the soft serve and topped with strawberries

Nothing better! I’m going to miss eating this once fall comes its going to be too cold!

I’m off to get a work out in before I head to the hospital!

This morning I woke up with one thing and mind (and no it actually wasn’t chocolate this time!) berries! I love berries, all kinds, summer to me = berry season. It’s my favorite time of year just for that reason! I like to enjoy berries in many forms, pie, cobbler, by the handfuls, but for breakfast my favorite way to enjoy some berries is on top of greek yogurt!

The best part of these berries is that they were grown locally on a farm just a couple miles down the street from me! Nothing tastes better than locally grown berries!

I promise there is greek yogurt under there!

Bowl of Summer:

-1/2 cup Trader Joe’s Greek Yogurt

-Strawberries

-Blackberries

-Raspberries

-1/2 cup of Kashi Go Lean Cereal

-Sprinkle of Cinnamon

While I was having the photo shoot with my breakfast on the porch my puppy Louie was not happy that I was outside and he was not!

Now I’m off to get a work out in and get ready for a wedding! Have a great day everyone!

Question: What is your favorite part of Summer?

When I woke up I had some vegan overnight oats waiting for me in the fridge, nothing gets me out of bed faster than the promise of a good breakfast!

I made a version of Ange’s Banana Soft Serve Overnight Oats this is probably my favorite breakfast of all time, I think Ange is a genius for creating this!

The Lady’s Vegan Overnight Oats

-1/3 cup Rolled Oats

-1 tbs ground flax seed

-1/2 scoop of Sun Warrior protein powder

-1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

-1 packet of stevia (optional)

When I wake up I blend up some banana soft serve and layer it with the oats and top with whatever your little heart desires.

This morning I chose to top mine with strawberries and some chocolate chippers.

I have a confession to make! Most mornings when I wake up I am hardcore craving chocolate! I have no idea why but I roll out of bed and the first thoughts I have besides “Damn I want to go back to sleep”  is “Give me some chocolate!”. I usually indulge in my craving with a few chocolate chips and I feel better

This is me upon waking grabbing the chocolate chip bag!

Now I’m off for a run before it gets to warm outside! See you all for lunch!

Question: Do you guys have any weird cravings or cravings for chocolate when you wake up in the morning?

In this post Angela got a sharpie, went to her closet and started writing “size healthy” on her clothing tags to show that a number means nothing, it’s about how you feel in your body! My question is where do they come up with this number? So many stores have varying sizes, I can wear one size at American Eagle and go to Old Navy and wear a completely different size, but really the number is changing it’s not the actual size of the pants.

I think a lot of women use the number on a pair of pants to determine their happiness, we think things (or used to think) like “oh if only I could fit in to these size__ jeans then I would be so much happier with myself” I know I have thought that to myself many times in my life. I thought if I could fit in to the smallest pair of pants possible then I would be the happiest person alive and the reality is, when I was fitting in those jeans I had never been so unhappy in my life. It took me a long time to figure that out but once I did and changed my lifestyle for the better I truly feel that some days I am the happiest person. I may not fit in to those jeans but at least my body can carry me through long races and grueling work-out sessions, to me that’s what is most important.

Size Healthy

Size Doesn’t Matter cuz I Love Myself!

Size My Ass Looks Awesome!

Now I encourage all of you to go to your closets and sharpie up your tags because what’s better than seeing an encouraging message every time you put your pants on?! Also remember no matter what size jeans, your ass totally does look awesome!