Ask A Blogger: Fitting It All In

23 Feb

It’s time to get up close and personal with another one of my favorite bloggers, Clare who started her blog, “Fitting It All In” as a way to talk about trying to live a healthy style while starting work in the real world. From marathon training to weightlifting to long distance boyfriends and job changes, let’s find out more about Clare manages to fit it all in and stay happy and healthy while doing it.

Meet Clare!

Why did you start blogging? I had an eating disorder at the end of high school and into college, and I truly think that finding healthy living blogs helped me recover. I saw real, fit women eating big meals and challenging their bodies with exercise. I wanted to be part of the community that helped me so much, so I dove in!

What has been the best part of being a blogger? The worst (if you have one)? What has been the most surprising/unexpected part of being a blogger? The best part is definitely the relationships and the sweet e-mails I get from readers. The worst part is the criticism that comes with making your life public, but you definitely learn to be confident in yourself and develop a thick skin. I think the most unexpected part was getting asked to review products! I really didn’t think my blog was anything important, and it always feels nice to be recognized and useful.

Any advice to those who want to start their own blog? You have to be ready to share it with the world. If you aren’t willing to tell everyone about your blog, it’s just an online diary. I wasn’t ready when I started my first blog in college because I wasn’t confident in myself yet. It took a lot of courage to tell my friends and family about Fitting It All In, but it was also incredibly rewarding to be able to share my life with them.

What’s one food that you couldn’t live without? Sweet potatoes are my favorite food. So versatile, healthy and delicious. But m&ms are a close second.

If you want to learn even more about Clare, check out her “About Me” page!

Get to know more bloggers by checking out past “Ask A Blogger” posts:

….. more!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

22 Feb

The great thing about long weekends (aside from getaways!) is that there’s just more time to do things you love.

I recently discovered Evernote as a way to document and organize the recipes I always see in magazines, online and on other people’s blogs. I’ll save you the specifics, but if you haven’t started using Evernote, do it now!

Moving on-the long weekend gave me a chance to try out a few recipes that had been sitting in my Evernote for a while.

One was a huge fail-

Butter and chocolate, yes. Spinach, no.

It’s not even worth it to go into detail about the recipe, but if you want brownies that are dry and taste like spinach (yep, you read that correctly), feel free to e-mail me for the recipe.

Luckily, I did come out of the weekend with one success.

Muffins are one of those things that I rarely make, always want and never buy from the store because in a best case scenario they just have lots of butter and sugar in them and in a worst case scenario, you don’t know what  craziness is in them. I came across this  Real Simple recipe for a few months ago and saved it to my Evernote.  Weeks later, I finally got around to testing out the recipe and ended up with these-

BEHOLD.

This recipe contains flax seeds, blueberries, whole wheat AND oats. It can’t get much better for you than that! I adapted the recipe a little bit, using apple sauce instead of yogurt, and the muffins were still deliciously moist. The one thing I will say is that if you don’t like flax seeds, then this recipe is NOT for you because they do taste a bit flax-y, but I’m sure that’s something that you could leave those out if you’re not making these muffins to bulk up on your Omega-3s.

So here you go-wholesome, good-for-you muffins. If you don’t believe me, check out the nutrition facts for yourself! Yes, I got through the entire introduction without using one muffin related metaphor. And I’ll keep it that way, thanks.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

adapted from Real Simple

Makes 12 standard sized muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
  • 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup flaxseeds
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 8-ounce bag of frozen blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Coat standard muffin pan with nonstick spray (I like to use the natural canola oil spray from Trader Joe’s). If you’re feeling fancy, line muffin tin with muffin liners.

3. Add flaxseeds to food processor and process until smooth. (I’m not sure if smooth is the right word…but you know what I mean)

4. Add flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt to flaxseeds and process well combined. Set aside.

5. In a separate bowl whisk together brown sugar and applesauce. Add in egg          and continue to whisk, gradually adding in butter, milk and vanilla extract.
6. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and pulse in food processor until just combined-don’t over mix it! Transfer mixture to large bowl and set aside.
7. Place blueberries in a colander and run under lukewarm water to defrost. If you’re super fancy and are using fresh blueberries, just rinse them off for good measure.
8. Gently fold blueberries into dough and spoon into muffin tin.
9. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
10. If you’re willing to sacrifice a bit of the lining on the roof of your mouth, you can eat these out of the oven. If you’re more patient, wait about 10 minutes until the muffins have cooled a bit.

    The cooling phase aka the waiting game.

11. Remove from pan and serve!

Fun Fact: When my family moved from New Jersey to Atlanta, my mom had her friends send New York bagels over night (because they’re the best in the world) and she would freeze them and then put them in the oven to defrost when we were ready for a little taste of home-muffins work the same way! Place any leftover muffins in a a plastic freezer bag, remove all of the air and freeze them. When you need to get your muffin fix, just pop them in the oven at 350 until heated through.

Monterey Getaway

21 Feb

Now that I’m back in action, I guess I should give you a little glimpse into what I was up to over the long weekend.

First off, a weekend getaway!

San Francisco is perfectly placed to go from the beach to the mountains in about two hours, so man-friend and I decided to head down to Monterey and cash in on a hotel gift certificate that we won at an auction (no we’re not that fancy…it was a work thing).

But before we hit the road for Monterey, I had to pick up manfriend at work and got to see his place of business for the first time…

"LIKE".

Let me just say, this place is magical and if I worked here, I would probably just frolic around all day in awe.

Although I'm not sure I could walk and work, I like this idea.

After living out my dream on a treadmill desk and taking part in the Facebook happy hour (they have happy hour every Friday?!), we set off to Monterey. We arrived around at the hotel at nine, dropped our bags off and proceeded directly to a cute little Italian place called Il Vecchio. Sorry there are no photos-I was excited to be out of the car and out on an Italian food date.

Despite the dark arrival the night before, in the morning we woke up to sea views as far as the eye could see-

Ocean!

which provided the perfect spot for an awkward photo shoot-thanks manfriend.

Yes. I have a lot of hair. Wind does not make it better.

After walking around the beach, we set off for…food! After much Yelping, we decided on the Wild Plum Cafe, a cute cafe right off the main drag in historic Monterey.

Manfriend ordered the pancakes and I had a breakfast scramble…man-friend definitely had entrée envy because my dish was delicious.

Next, we set off for the hallmark attraction of Monterey-the aquarium! I’ve always heard how awesome the aquarium is, so I was excited to check it out. The aquarium was unique in that it is literally right on the water-perfect place for our only good couple picture of the trip.

Aquarium right on the ocean-perfect!

Aside from the gorgeous views, my favorite parts of the aquarium were the jellyfish displays…

The only situation where I want to get up close and personal with these guys...

AND THE SEA OTTERS.

Baby and mom otter.

I definitely probably pushed a few little kids out of the way to get a good view. But I was really in love-the mom sea otter had just taken in an orphaned baby and was treating it just like her own. I die.

In addition to watching the sea otters for about a half an hour, I even got to pet a sting ray along with the other five years olds. I could show you the thousand photos I took, but I don’t want to scare you away too fast.

After some coffee to battle our intense aquarium fatigue, we walked around Monterey and took a few more photos. This one wins most artistic-

Abandoned buildings qualify as artistic inspiration right?

After taking in a bit more time in Monterey, we headed a few miles down the road to check out Carmel, a cute beach side town. Despite the warm-looking photos, it was cold out and I hate being cold.  Luckily Pat was nice enough to get out of the car to take some great pictures while I viewed the ocean from the car. Yes, I hate the cold that much that I would take in this from the car. Don’t judge.

Stay for a while.

Seaside sunset.

All-in-all, it was a fun and relaxing weekend. Even though San Francisco is a charming city, it’s also great to get away sometimes-glad I did. If you’re ever in Northern California, be sure to check out Monterey!

Break’s Over

20 Feb

No, I didn’t fall off the face of the earth last week. I’ll keep a long story very, very short and just say that I had to take a break. But now I’m back!

What’s even better about me taking a break (besides me not harassing you with posts constantly-sorry that’s over!) is that now I have even more to share with you!

Like this…

Sunsets

and these…

Baking!

and of course, THIS…

Am I making the cut?

But right now, the season premiere of Bethenny Ever After is stealing away my attention, so I’ll catch you on the flip side!

What’s Red and Pink….

14 Feb

I’m kidding. No bad jokes here.

You guessed it-that time of year has come again…Valentine’s Day.

Yep-that about sums it up.

I don’t usually celebrate Valentine’s Day, nor am I a huge fan of it. I’m not bitter, I’m just lazy when it comes to cutesy holidays that involve crafting. But a few weeks ago I was reading “Hungry Meets Healthy“, and fellow blogger Christina proposed a Valentine’s Day Blogger swap where we would be randomly assigned another blogger with whom we would exchange gifts.

My initial thought was that this might result in a stalker or a creepy delivery, but I figured what the heck and decided to dive right in and participate.

Best Valentine's Day card ever. I'll save this one for Ryan Gosling.

Luckily, no stalker situation occurred. I was paired up with Shannon, who probably sent me the best V-Day gift I’ve ever received. She definitely gets two thumbs up for sending me a package full of my absolute FAVORITE treats-

Kryptonite.

which may or may not be gone by now.

She was even nice enough to include a toy for Fiona, which she promptly attempted to destroy…but in a loving way.

Even cats need love.

To see what I put in Shannon’s Valentine’s day package, head on over to her tumblr, Healthy Shenanigans.

Hope everyone has a Happy Valentine’s Day and is able to keep the sugar comas to a minimum!

And You Thought the Shake Weight Was Awkward

9 Feb

First off-yesterday was the biggest day on my blog! Either the visits algorithm is broken or you like me, you really like me!

This was me yesterday. (source)

Sorry I couldn’t hold back on that one.

Either way, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I really appreciate people reading my little ol’ blog. Yes, that thank you goes out to all of the friends and family members I coerce into reading this too.

Onto today’s topic.

From sweat slinging, to stinky fellow gym goers to that guy who always seems to be watching, the gym seems to be rife with uncomfortable situations. Which is why I’d like to use today’s post to discuss a favorite topic of mine, awkward gym exercises.

While I’m willing to try anything once for the sake of getting in a good workout there are some exercises that cross the line, making me and everyone else within eyeshot feel really, really uncomfortable. So without further ado-the top five exercises that make me want to flee the gym.

5. TIE: Squat/Deadlifts

While deadlifts remind me of the “bend and snap” from Legally Blonde (don’t pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about), proper squat form also requires you to just stick your booty out and about.  For both of these moves, it seems like you’re trying to show off your booty, but in reality you’re just trying to tone it.

Awkward Factor: 2.5-Since these two moves are workout staples, I don’t feel that weird doing them. Showing off my rear while toning it? Don’t mind if I do.

4. Clam

Although this is a popular Pilates move, my thought is that anything named after a seafood belongs on a plate, not at the gym.

Up close and personal (source:FitSugar)

In addition to the fact that the exercise requires you pose like you’re Fabio on the beach, the actual motion looks like you’re trying to give the world an up close and view of your nether regions.

Awkward Factor: 4-I reserve this exercise for the safety of my own home.

3. Plie Squat with dumbbells

Although the name suggests grace and poise, this move is anything but. As if squats aren’t weird enough already, spread your legs and put a weight in between them and you have the plie squat in all of its awkward glory.

Effective, yes. Graceful? No. (source)

Awkward Factor: 3-Once again, even though it looks funny/lewd, I’ll do it because it works.

Although it might be a bit awkward, the move above works wonders and is from a GREAT lower body workout from Fitness magazine, which you can find here.

2. Hip Thrusters

Yes I did these at the gym yesterday. Did it feel awkward? Absolutely. Although, I have never been a fan of this exercise because of what it brings to mind (ahem), it is a really great toning exercise for your hamstrings, back, abs and behind, so I just grin and bear it.

Awkward Factor: 4.5-If it weren’t so darn effective, I’d save this move for other places.

Pretty much. (source)


1. Frog Kicks

I thought hip thrusters were the epitome of uncomfortable gym exercises. Until I tried this “new to me” move that was part of yesterday’s “Making the Cut” workout. For each new workout routine, I write down the exercises and often include little illustrations so I know what the heck I’m doing. I’ll let the illustration explain my thoughts on this move:

I think my description is pretty apt.

Oh, and if my illustration isn’t doing a good job conveying how awkward this move is, here’s a video.

Frog Kick Video get ready. (source)

Yeah. I said it was awkward.

Awkward Factor: Off the charts-I did just one of these and bailed. I think everyone around me was thankful too.

If you’re not uncomfortable enough, check out Fitbie’s list of “9 Seriously Awkward  Exercises”. I don’t know about you, but I’m not really sure how they didn’t include the frog kick. I’m still cringing.

Are there any exercises that make you feel super uncomfortable (in the awkward sense) at the gym? Any that are deal breakers that you just won’t do? Please share below!

Making the Cut-Halfway Report

8 Feb

Welcome back to part two of today’s double dose of Jillian Michaels! I knew you’d be back for more, but here’s part one if you missed it.

About two weeks ago, I started “Making the Cut” in an effort to form a more regimented lifting schedule and because I’ve seen results from following a Jillian program before, but this time I’m determined to see it through to the finish.

Here are my measurements from the start:

Starting Measurements

Bust: 34.5 in.

Chest: 31.5 in.

Waist (1/2 inch above belly button): 28.75 in.

Hips: 32 in.

Right Thigh: 22.5 in.

Left Thigh: 22.75 in.

Right Arm: 10.25 in.

Left Arm: 10.5 in.

Day 15 Measurements:

Bust: 35 in. (+.5 in)

Chest: 31 in (-.5 in)

Waist (1/2 inch above belly button): 28.25 in. (-.5 in)

Hips: 31 (-1 in)

Right Thigh: 22 (-.5)

Left Thigh: 22.5 (-.25)

Right Arm: 10.5 (+.5)

Left Arm: 10.5 in (0)

Weight: -2.2 lbs from starting weight

And just in case you were thinking, “Wow, I really wish I could get some before and after pictures that are light on the clothes and heavy on the awkward self-timer angles”, I’m about to make your wishes come true! Here are some photos from January 17, right before I started this little experiment and some photos from Day 15.

So there you have it-15 days in and I’m feeling stronger and I’m pretty sure I’m a bit more toned. My biggest apprehension was that I would lose a fair amount of my cardiovascular fitness since the plan doesn’t include extensive cardio sessions in the traditional sense, but my fears were laid to rest last Sunday.

Until next time!

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Shed ‘n Shred:Extreme Edition

8 Feb

When I changed my website to a dot com, I think I should have changed it to JillianMichaelsReviews24-7.com. Something called copyright infringement got in my way though, so eatsweatsmile.com it is.

Today I have two Jillian related updates for you! The first review is below, but you’ll have to check back for the other one later on. Crafty, I know.

First off, Jillian’s new DVD “Extreme Shed and Shred”.

Getting Extreme (Source)

Immediately upon hearing that Jillian hand a brand new DVD out, I went to Amazon and purchased it.

One day when I didn’t feel like hitting up the gym for my “Making the Cut” workout, I figured that this DVD would be an apt subsititute.

Before I get to the review, I thought I’d give you a mental image of what I looked like when I was reviewing this DVD.

I pull off "normal" so well during public workouts. At home, all bets are off.

Good, glad you have that mental image now. It was essential to the review.

Anyway, the DVD is separated into two 45 minute workouts. You can choose to do the workouts individually or as one 90 minute workout. Never one to let Jillian down, I opted for the whole shebang.

The first workout consisted of different workout styles from kickboxing to plyo and even included some capoeira moves. One capoeira move, the joelhada, caused me to yell “I’m in the Matrix! I’m in the Matrix!” because, well, it looks like you’re in the matrix.

The Joelhada. I also look like that while I'm in the matrix. (source: SELF Magazine)

As you can tell from my yelling and the variety of workout styles incorporated into the first half of the DVD, I had a lot of fun. At one point I was thinking, “Wow! This is so much fun! I don’t feel like death!”

Of course, I had spoken too soon.

The second workout is done in true Jillian fashion-lots of peripheral heart action moves a.k.a moves that work your upper body, then your lower body to keep your heart rate up, plyometrics and ab moves that still managed to leave me short of breath. Squat jumps with weights? Check. Push-up plank jacks? You can get those here! Single leg mountain climbers?! Yeah those happened.

Just when I thought Jillian’s workouts couldn’t get any harder, she went and upped the ante with Extreme Shed and Shred. During the workout, I was throwing out a lot of words that deserved a bar of soap to the mouth. Despite the challenging workout, I was pretty proud of myself once I had finished.

Bottom Line: If you want a workout that’s fun, full of new moves and busts your butt (literally), this DVD is for you. I know it will be in my regular rotation.

Check out my other Jillian DVD reviews:

Part two is coming up soon!

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Fun Fitness Find: FitBit Ultra

7 Feb

After hearing so many amazing reviews of the FitBit Ultra, I was contemplating buying one.

Fate happened to intervene a couple of weeks ago when I received one as a part of a special promotion when my boyfriend purchased my new best friend, the XBox Kinect.

FitBit! This was actually after I opened it out of excitement. Then I decided to be a good blogger and put everything back in the box and photograph it.

The FitBit Ultra comes with a charging base, a mini hip holster and a wristband that is used for tracking sleep patterns. As with most electronics these days, the FitBit Ultra is easy to use right out of the box and guides you through the set up process once you plug the USB cord into your computer.

The goods-wristband, hip holster and the FitBit Ultra on its charging base.

Its also very small (about the size of my thumb) and can be worn in a variety of places on your body to track movement. The box recommended that I wear it in my cleave…so I’m pretty sure you can guess where I put it every day.

My FitBit placement can make for awkward social situations.

Now on to the fun stuff.

The FitBit Ultra tracks your daily steps taken, miles traveled, number of flights climbed and approximate calorie burn and you can view these numbers on an easy to read display. There is also a flower that “grows” throughout the day to indicate your level of movement-you have to keep moving throughout the day to keep your flower healthy.

What I love most about the FitBit Ultra is the online dashboard. When the device is near its base, the FitBit Ultra automatically syncs activity to your dashboard, where all of your daily stats are listed. It’s really fun to get a comprehensive overview of your daily activity. The FitBit Ultra also adapts to daily activity levels and sets new movement goals accordingly, so the more you move and log activity, the harder your goals get!

Get all of your information in one spot-on the dashboard!

In addition to tracking activity patterns, FitBit Ultra also helps you track your sleep. Two things I’ve learned so far: When I go to sleep, I pass the you know what out (7 minutes?!) and  the cat licking my eyelids in order to get her food in the morning is indeed having an effect on my quality of sleep.

When my cat wants her food at 5:30 a.m., she wants her food at 5:30 a.m.

The dashboard also has a handy dandy food tracker and library. One of the things I have been working on since December is keeping an honest record of my food intake. Back then, my food tracking, although organized, looked like this…

I think there might be a theme to my food journal notes...

But with the FitBit Ultra, my food tracking looks like this…

Easy food tracking. My snarky notes about my my mood in relation to my hunger are still included.

The food dashboard allows users to quickly enter food items and serving sizes through an online library of nutrition data. Better yet, when you can’t find a certain food in the dashboard’s extensive online library, you can quickly add a new item along with its nutrition information. In addition to easy meal entry, I also like that the food dashboard provides a breakdown of the nutritional value for all of your daily meals.

I'm an active lady. I love my carbs.

I’ve been using the FitBit Ultra for a little more than a week now and I have to say I love it!* I love being able to track my food intake, activity and sleep all in one spot. The only thing I think it needs is a reminder feature that buzzes to keep you moving throughout the day. I, for one, know I could use a reminder to get up and move during my long days at the office.

Bottom Line: The FitBit Ultra might come in a small box, but it is a powerhouse of a fitness tool. If you want to know more about the FitBit or the FitBit Ultra, check out the official website.

If you use a FitBit or FitBit Ultra, I would love to hear what you think in the comments section below. If you have any questions about my experience with the FitBit Ultra, feel free to ask away!

*Just in case you’re wondering, no, FitBit did pay or give me free products for this shiny review-I just love my FitBit Ultra so much that I wanted to spread the word, but hey, FitBit if you’re reading and you need a new brand evangelist…I’m your girl! :)

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A Giant Sunday

6 Feb

First off, go Giants!

Can't spell "ELITE" with out Eli (Manning).

My friend Maddie and I got a little crafty before the game in support of the new Super Bowl champions. Even though my official team of choice is the Carolina Panthers, I’m a Jersey girl, so it’s always good when the Giants (or the Jets!) go all the way.

Anyway, I started off Super Bowl Sunday a bit differently than usual-first of all it started at 6:30 a.m. with a less than stellar breakfast which is an anomaly in itself because in my book weekends are for brunch and sleeping.

Race mornings are too fast for plates..or napkins?

Why was I up so early you might ask? Well, last Thursday I made a last minute decision to participate in the Kaiser Permanente half marathon which made me a bit nervous since I haven’t run more than 6 miles since October, but when race day morning arrived, the nervousness quickly disappeared.  The starting line was filled with people who just wanted to have fun on an uncharacteristically warm San Francisco morning.

To the races!

Okay, the start was chilly, but it warmed up the moment I crossed the starting line, which was a bit packed-I’m pretty sure I added a good two tenths of a mile to my race due to weaving through the crowds. I even ran into Kristine within two minutes of starting!

The race looped in and out of Golden Gate Park and along the Great Highway, which is right on the Pacific Ocean. One of the best things about the course is that it is extremely flat, which is a rarity in San Francisco.

Flat and beautiful? I'll take it!

My loose race plan was to come in under two hours since this was my first half marathon, but as the masses broke up I decided to just have fun, rock out to my tunes* and run based on feel.

My playlist was much longer...but the playlist took top spot.

*Okay, tunes and a “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me” podcast. I’m a nerd.

Around mile 11, I passed a girl in a Tom Brady jersey (boo!) which compelled me to pick up the pace. Kidding. But I did pick up the pace when I heard the official time was around 1:26 and trucked it to the finish line, where I looked down at my watch and saw this!

I'll take it!

I was pretty excited to see those numbers, but more importantly I was shocked that the race was, well….fun! It was great to be with other runners who were just excited and happy to be out running on a beautiful day.

Needless to say that after a great (and healthy) start to Super Bowl Sunday, the remainder of the day was spent with friends, eating good food (anyone else suffer from a guacamole overdose?) and cheering the Giants to victory.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!

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