Category Archives: Breakfast
Unplugging for Spring Break!
As of last night at 5:15pm, we are in official Spring Break Mode.
The next 9 days are consumed with adventures and my very best friends. SO – I’m limiting my “plugged-in” time.
Not much happening on the blog while I go make some memories but I’ll try to share some pictures & some recaps when I can :)
Off to explore!
All About That Healthy Life
Underneath the title of my blog reads: Student-Athlete in love with health & fitness. I have been debating the need to change this. Technically, I quit my collegiate cross country team in November. However I still consider myself an “athlete.” I’m determined to live the healthy lifestyle every day (some more successful than others). The last two weeks I have focused on prioritizing exercise & cooking ACTUAL meals.
Pre-marathon I let myself splurge and indulge on a regular basis. Froyo? Sure! Let’s bake cookies? Okay! You want to go out for sushi and starbucks? I’m down! After a while though I just start to feel…blahhh. Like I know I need my lean & greens. Now I’m back on-board that health train… There have been plenty of socials & snacks in the past week. Hiking Sedona, the Super Bowl, my roommates birthday dinner, and a friend’s birthday brunch. But in true healthy life fashion, I found ways to make all of the above fun & guilt-free.
Hiking Sedona:
Some friends and I drove down to the beautiful red rocks, excited to get a picture on the Devil’s Bridge. We made a pre-hike pit stop at Sprouts. To fuel our outdoor adventure, we filled our backpacks with apple slices, orange slices, mixed nuts, and a whole wheat turkey & avocado sandwich.
Can we talk about that hike for a minute? I had a growing need to get out of my college town. I still have that need. I’ll go back to Sedona every free day I have. But this hike led up to the most gorgeous views, made even more dramatic by the dark gray clouds that threatened a storm (but never conceded). Hiking up the rock stairs out on to the bridge was a glorious celebration of beautiful nature :)
Super Bowl Study Session!
On Super Bowl Sunday, I had a long to-do list of homework and group projects to complete after my long run. I made (yet another) trip to Sprouts for some fresh fruits. Kerri was coming over to knock out a few hours of homework while the game was on. Our study snack for the day consisted of fruit salad (bananas, grapes, blueberries, & strawberries), Hawaiian coffee, and cinnamon soy crisps. BRUNO MARS KILLED IT. That boy’s voice >>>>
Mackenzie’s Birthday Celebration:
My roommate Mackenzie turned 21 while we were all home for winter break. Meaning no party! So we threw her a little birthday celebration last week with her favorite dinner, cute decorations, some games and of course dessert. (The girl didn’t want alcohol…call her crazy!)
Perfecting my chalkboard art this year ;)
However, my roommates’ taste don’t really fit into my healthy lifestyle and food preferences. So I don’t think you should avoid social situations just because they are unhealthy, and I also don’t want to compromise my healthy values to splurge on something that I don’t enjoy. So I made my own dinner on the side and Mackenzie didn’t mind one bit. My Dinner: Spaghetti Squash, chickpea veggie burger, sweet potato and green beans while my roommate’s enjoyed their homemade Cream Cheese Chicken with Rice & Corn. In this case, she really can have her cake and eat it too ;) I can still celebrate without feeling ‘food guilt’ (a whole other topic I’ll get to another day).
Fernanda’s Birthday Brunch:
Another friend also had a birthday recently, so I made her birthday brunch this morning since my Friday class was cancelled. I just like to make things pretty! Whole wheat blueberry pancakes… bananas… strawberries… blueberries… coffee (duh). And THAT is how to start a lovely day :)
I’ll be spending the evening watching the WINTER OLYMPICS with friends and making Valentine’s goodies :) all about that #healthylife!
P.S. Today took an unexpected adventure to GNC with my best friend just to try out the much-talked-about “Quest” bar. I picked the Cookies n’ Cream bar at the suggestion of the GNC worker. Loved the texture & “cookie” chunks :) I could write about the bar, but Taralynn McNitt has already done so quite nicely so I’ll just post a little link to that here: Cookies n’ Cream Quest Bar.
The Ultimate Healthy Breakfast
Today’s healthy breakfast “recipe” brought to you by our very good friends :) My family spent the weekend in the San Diego area (Missy too!) to visit our friends. Since we are all active and healthy, the weekend was full of good food and outdoor exploring.
I can’t wait to recreate the breakfast they made us this morning. It was a fun diversion from my usual oatmeal. Look at this spread:
These were toppings for mini 7-grain pancakes (made with almond milk & apple sauce, cooked with coconut oil). You might want to rethink your butter & syrup combo after this….
So many healthy benefits to this breakfast: Omega-3’s, protein, essential amino acids, protein, antioxidants, magnesium, iron, fiber.
Put them all in a bowl and what do you get? A protein-packed pancake parfait (and yes, I was proud of myself for that alliteration.) Ta da!
That is a beautiful Sunday brunch :)
I did a little research on the nutritional content of the ingredients above. Aside from being vegan, raw, and “clean”, here are some fun nutritional facts:
- Hemp seed comes from the cannabis plant (yes, marijuana) but has miniscule to no THC, and does not contain any drug properties. It does however act as an extraordinary source of all essential amino acids. (Those are good!)
- Cinnamon is a mega-antioxidant that controls blood sugar levels and has been shown to increase metabolism. It also has “warming” properties (freaky!) and in my opinion is one of the best scents ;)
- Flax seeds are full of Omega-3 fatty acids which do wonders for your heart’s health <3
- Greek yogurt. I would say that Greek yogurt qualifies as a “fad” right now but I’m right on that wagon. It’s delicious, filling, low-carb/low-fat/low-sugar/high-protein. Those are good ratios!
- Strawberries are the most popular berry in the United States (potentially arguable statement.)
- Studies have concluded that blueberries can improve memory. They are also highly addictive.
(If you have any other toppings ideas, let me know!)
Time for a hike! Our families climbed to the peak of one of the local San Diego-area mountains. My calves were burning over the steep grade and the views were beautiful, all the way out to the ocean. Love hiking with my family!
Who has heard of geocaching? It’s a GPS scavenger hunt that takes you to hidden containers where players can leave behind objects and messages for future players to uncover. The top of the hill we climbed was a geocache location and Miss Johnna found the metal box hidden in a bush under rocks. Treasures!
I love the idea behind the geocaching game. It reminds me of the TV show The Amazing Race, which is also the only reality show that I would actually consider signing up for. Thanks for such a fun & healthy weekend!
Last but not least, next installment of my marathon training playlist. This week I’m going to have to go with Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down and I apologize for the old dude in his underwear…
A little bit of a throwback… The song is 14 years old and I remember listening to it in elementary school. It’s definitely in my 200-song playlist for marathon training :) There aren’t really any specific lyrics this time that I can relate to running, just love the beat!
T-14 days to my first marathon! Time to get those 8-hours of zzzzz’s…
