Random Weekly Rant 3.0

• Halifax was fan-tast-ic!
• I want my nails done so I feel like a girl again. sigh
• I think I'm gonna make almond power bars this weekend (I really want to take a complete weekend to bake - Old lady, yes)
• I listen to Timbalands song 'Scream' and it has a few lot of sexual noises in the chorus .. and though I listen with my head phones in .. I always look over my shoulder to see if my boss, Scott is chiming in .. cause I feel 'naughty' listening to such music in the workplace
• ^ isn't naughty the funniest word, ever? Laughing out loud typing it
• I had my first red bull in weeks last Tuesday. I was bouncing off the car walls. Loves it
• I think I'm growing out of my 'lets-drink-our-faces-off every Saturday/Sunday' mode. (Am I though? hmm)
• I'm o so very excited to give David some surprises from my trip <--uh oh .. someone is starting to sound sappy..
• GUESS WHAT?

kidding .. it's just crystals.
Fun to role play though, right?

• I gave a 'begger' on Spring Garden a Cliff bar and he declined. And was snotty. KJSHFKSJFDDS! Ugh

who would turn this down?

• I think I have an exciting post coming up within the next 3-weeks (stay tuned! Life changes)
• I'm not doing the NLABBA (post coming on this one, also)
• I am doing a fitness photo shoot as a personal accomplishment
• Monday I am doing a 24-hour fast
• I found this clipped in my sweater last week... not sure how to take this?

• I'm attempting a 7-day juice cleanse this week (I think) because I've read so so many great things on juicing
• O, I'm buying a juicer this week
• I've recently starting noticing the posture of others. I was recently told that I really need to work on my own. This is something I'm working on
• I want your love by Royal Wood is my new favourite song. My goddd, please listen to it!
• I started using crest white strips last week. Hello white perligans .. mama has been waiting for you

*some pictures should never make it onto this blog*

• Is a love letter really a love letter if it doesn't have hearts on it? Thoughts? Carpool votes no
• I worked out 4 times in 3 days while in Halifax (of course I'm going to tell you this .. I'm pretty much loving myself at the moment)
• I went to my first olive oil tasting shop this past weekend. And bought a lot of oils
• Over Christmas I shall be catching up on the following shows:
• • Breaking Bad - Haven't watched it since Season 2
  • Sons of Anarchy - Haven't seen it since Season 5
  • Dexter - I only have the last season
  • Chicago Fire - Only saw 8 episodes but Shaneen is in love with it and I loved every episode I did see
  • Grey's Anatomy - Haven't watched it since Season 5
• Nothing makes you feel cleaner than NO make-up
• Mark from work said that his boxing coach always told him "It's ok to lose to the opponent, it's not ok to lose to fear". Absolutely love that quote. I think it's one that will definitely stick with me for a long time
• As of last week, I am in the 170s in weight
• Do you know anywhere that sells a pumpkin flavoured coffee? Holy yum
• New Love (ate this all last week, once on the weekend and blogged the recipe here)

• I am going to lose at least 15-lbs in the next 7-wks. Watch me!
• I have 2 roommates (Hi, Robyn & Kyle) .. between us 3, I counted 19 bottles and 7 razor blades in our upstairs bathroom last week. Crazy
• I'm going for a tan this week to get beau-ti-ful

• I have a new blog that I really think you should check out .. http://lizziefit.wordpress.com/ 
• I can do push-ups (well, 5)
• I have almond brittle from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory on my dresser .. my little shneaky fingers really wanna dig in (my love handles do not)
• latest day 1 to day 9 progress shot (taken Tuesday last week so I'm due for another)

Guess who's got her fall boots ready?

 

 

 

Tis all.

If you missed my previous rants, you can find them here:
Randomly Weekly Rant 1.0
Randomly Weekly Rant 2.0

Halifax Getaway - Day 2

Happy Saturday, guys! Hope you enjoyed my Day 1 post from Halifax. I sure enjoyed enjoyed writing it and I definitely enjoyed living it!

Before heading out last night, we all got quite the little head rush on to start our night off.

My travel companion :)

After a few drinks at the apartment, we headed to My Father's Mustache for a late supper and drinks.

We tried so hard to get a nice picture but Allan was going crazy snapping
them and making us laugh hysterically

This pub-style restaurant had a pretty wide variety but it mostly consisted of bar food. The crowd ordered an appetizer each and split them 4 ways.

Displayed are sweet potato fries w. a cajun mayo dipping sauce, a platter of onion rings/mozza sticks/potato skins, pulled pork nachos and spicy thai bites.

I may or may not ate 9 of the sweet potato fries. Oops.

I went with the blueberry brule salad which consisted of mixed greens, chick peas, cucumber, tomato, goat cheese and a blueberry yogurt dressing. I substituted a house maple vinaigrette for the yogurt dressing to save on the calories that I would later be drinking.

After the chowing down and drinking a little too much, we headed back to catch some shut-eye before day 2 of shopping.

I had big plans of waking up early and having a workout, but as expected, I lay in bed until 10:15-am and clenched my poor head in pain. Terrible terrible terrible. This is why I don't miss drinking (...but I do kinda).

Anyhow, after a quick banana, cup of lemon tea and shower, we headed out to the Halifax Shopping Center and got our starbucks / shop on! Fun!

I got some new American Eagle Jeans, 2 new pairs of boots from Aldo, some make-up from MAC and some chocolate brittle as a treat for David (though I know he's sweet enough) :)

After some spending, we headed back to Tiffany's apartment where I grabbed a quick snack and then  headed out for an early supper/late lunch at RockBottom Brewery.

10 almonds with some craisins to hold me over until lunch

I went with the spinach salad (hold the bacon) and a butternut squash cup of soup. Tif and Allan went with the grilled chicken panini and side salad and Ed went with the pulled pork sandwich with sweet potato fries.

Then it was off to Lulu Lemon for some major Christmas spending.

I bought some clothes for myself (that I'm thinking I may give to my mother as Christmas gifts for me-me-me) and some Christmas gifts for others.

I treated Tiffany to a pedicure back in September and she surprise treated me with a new pair of Lulu Lemon running shorts! Like helloooo ... awesome friends, right? (totally did not expect anything in return)

We were still pretty full after shopping so it was we went for a Starbucks stop (2.0) and a trot downtown to walk off our dinner.

ice green tea (hold the syrup)

some face on that little one, right?

It was getting a little chilly on the harbour front so we trotted back to the apartment. We had planned on getting a cab (feet hurting, breezy air) but we kinda bailed on that idea and ended up getting a little exercise in instead.

After we arrived home, I sat at the computer and began writing this post. I realized I had no substantial amount of exercise to write home about and was feeling a little embarrassed seeing how I drank way too many beer last night and may or may not have picked at some late night chips (shame.) So I headed to the downstairs workout room and punched out a 4.0-mile interval run and 15-minutes of weights. Yay!

I thought I'd have a tough go with running but it actually went rather well.

I started with 1-minute at 4.0-mph, then jogged for 3-minutes at 5.5-mph. I then walked at 4.0-mph for 1-minute then jogged for 3-minutes at 6.0-mph. I did this 3 and 1 right up until I was running at 8.0-mph and then I started to descend.

I worked up quite the sweat!

What your stomach should not look like when you're sat down.
Let the crunches begin!!

I have been debating doing the 30-day ab challenge ever since Kayla sent it to me on Wednesday. My mom has the 30-day squat challenge on her fridge and that's also a workout I've been debating for sometime. It looks like there isn't much to it but I usually bail on small challenges like this. I did some belly-examining while working out tonight and decided to give it a go (because I need to).

Day 1 - Done

Day 1 - Done

Anyways, I think it's time to grab a shower and head out. I am not drinking tonight and I will be making a point to eat something fresh and delicious! I'd like to wake up feeling as great as I feel at this very moment.

Happy Saturday, Friends :)

Have you considered doing the 30-Day Ab Challenge? 

Do you feel like you messed up your morning when you drink too much and wake feeling super hung over?

High Protein Oatmeal Pancakes

Hi guys, just wanted to pop in with a quick recipe for you guys. I'll have a post later today from my second day in Halifax but it's a short one now cause we're off for another day of shopping.

Anyhow, I experimented with a new breakfast meal last week and definitely found a recipe I will be eating every day when I get home cause it is O so delish!!

Protein Oatmeal Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1T of coconut oil
• 1/3 - 1/2-cup of oatmeal (I used 1/3 last night and 1/2 this morning. 1/3 was less dry)
• 1-scoop of vanilla whey protein powder (I used NutriWhey <--absolute best!)
• 1/2-cup of egg whites
• 1T of vanilla extract

Directions

1. Grease pan with coconut oil
2. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and mix
3. Add to pan and let cook

*this cooks really quick so you don't even have to leave the stove
**the coconut oil gives the pancake so much flavour that you don't have to use a topping (but I bet syrup would taste deadly)
***I totally would have used cinnamon but I didn't have any at the house

This is the quickest meal EVER! Cook it .. eat it .. love it! I know you will!!

Happy Saturday, blogaroos!

Weekend Getaway in Halifax - Day 1

Greetings from Halifax, Friends! Allan, Ed and I are here in Halifax for the weekend getaway. We landed last night for a little getaway to visit our two favourites, Tiffany & Stephen! Yayy *smile*.

Day 1 started out perfect! I got a wake-up call from Tiffany at 8:10-am for a mid-morning sweat session. We had plans for a day of shopping so it was nice to get our metabolism on kick first thing in the morning.

There is a small workout room in the apartment building so it was ideal to jump out of bed and go! We combined some arms/shoulders, chest/back, legs and core for a 1:04 workout.

After breakfast, we headed upstairs to grab a quick snack before heading to the Mic Mac mall for a small shop. We're heading to the Halifax Shopping Center tomorrow so today we decided to get the MicMac and Dartmouth Crossing out of the way.

Tif and I both enjoyed a post-workout morning shake to replenish the ol' bods! I added 4 ice cubes, 1-scoop of Whey Protein, 1/2-cup of frozen strawberries, 1T of peanut butter and water. Tiffany added a little skim milk to hers and it tasted much better. I also had a nice morning cup of honey lemon tea.

And then we headed out.

Let the shopping begin!

And you know Allan and I have to start our morning off with a morning Starbucks visit!

After coffee, we split up. We didn't end up buying as much at the Mic Mac as we thought but I did end up getting a couple Christmas gifts at Garage and H&M.

After an hour and a half of shopping, we started to get a tad hungry and had lunch plans at Moxie's. We ate there Day 1 of our visit last year and today they seated us at the same table. . . we got excited (it's the simple things)

They offer a pretty wide variety of meals so it was kinda difficult to decide what was best to order. I generally order a salad where ever I go and it's more commonly than not, a classic spinach. All of the salads at Moxie's sounded delicious so I had a hard time deciding.

For a starter, Allan and Tiffany had the mosaic dip to start while Ed and I had a nice cold beverage.
(yup, that beer is mine. And it was good. And I felt it as I walked to the washroom. Whoa!)

I decided on the citrus anugula salad with chicken which was absolutely delicious!

I was the first to dig in and the first to finish!

citrus anugula salad, steak, stuffed potato & veggies, Asian
salad and the signature quesadilla with a fresh spring salad

Moxie's is decently priced, too. It's kinda similar to Boston Pizza (or a little higher).

 I've only had Moxie's 3 times, but it's definitely a place I'd make a point to go if the area offers it.

After lunch it was off to Dartmouth crossing for some shopping at Tommy Hilfiger, Banana Repbublic and RW & Co.

I actually got so many Christmas gifts at DC! I'd show my purchases but I wouldn't wanna get away the surprises!

Now I sit at the kitchen table typing this post and drinking the beer I've previewed below (actually, I'm on my second and that was the first) and now we're headed out for pub grub and more beer (1. I hate that term 'pb' and 2. I will be getting a salad where ever we end up but I'll also be drinking beer <- when in Rome, right?)

Anywho, we're off for night drinks and laughs.

Happy Friday, Friends! Have a great night and an amazing weekend! Love

What are you Friday night plans?
Do you think it's too early for Christmas shopping?
Do you find it hard to eat well while you're out of the city?