5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

Happy Friday, my dears! Time for a little countdown for the weekend.

5. The number of days until I fly to VISIT SAN DIEGO TO SEE JOE. I'll be there for the majority of July hooray, hooray, hoorayyyy.

Tough Mudder, November 2013. Paint, not blood.

Ohh, the differences in our lives...

4. The number of songs I'm currently obsessed with.

Please note: My blog is a judgement-free zone, thank you very much. And with that...

Skid Row - from Little Shop of Horrors (just smile and nod)
Love Runs Out - OneRepublic (little late on this bandwagon...)
World Championship Finale (2) - from Pitch Perfect 2 (the Bella's winning number ;) )
Platinum - Miranda Lambert (I'm brunette)

3. The number of pairs of shoes purchased recently.

New Balance 775s (left), New Balance Fresh Foams

I'm loving both of these pairs of shoes... which is nice, considering I had a near mental breakdown hoping they were good choices. The 775s took some runs to get used to, but the Fresh Foams felt as if I had been running in them my whole life (in a good way)! Also, I like how this picture makes them seem smaller... cough-I-wear-a-size-10.5/11-cough.

$8.50 from Old Navy, say whaaa!?

And the above are my other current loves. I don't run in those...

2. The number of salad pictures taken this week.

Spinach, tomatoes, onions, almonds, eggs, Sriracha.

Spinach, peas, corn, green beans, carrots, cottage cheese, tuna, BBQ sauce.

1. The number of months left until I start graduate school.

This has been a very weird time in limbo for me, and I'm ready to be done. If you recall, I graduated from undergrad with a BS in math, worked in DC for two years, then quit my job in May so I can start grad school (sport and exercise psychology, woop woop!) in August. For the time between, I have moved home to live with my parents. I guess in my mind I had this picture that coming home for this summer would be like coming home for some sort of break during college - all of my friends from high school would be around, and we'd play and laugh and la-dee-da forever and ever. Yeah, no, they aren't here. I've had travels to visit family, and I have my aforementioned long ass visit to California, and I've had occasional encounters with some other friends and acquaintances from my past, but I'm so ready to have structure again. Give me classes! Give me papers! Give me tests, exams, stress!

On second thought, keep the stress.

Pick a number and give me a fact! Please.

10 Pescetarian Points to Ponder

It's been about a month and a half of pescetarianism (word?), and I'd like to share some insight.

But first!

Shifting your diet is a big move, and I highly recommend doing so with a flexible attitude. Just know that you don't have anything to "prove" - if you choose to give up meat but then decide a few days/weeks/months later it's not for you, you didn't let anyone down, you aren't a failure, and no one can or should judge you.

That being said, allow me to enlighten you on a few things to remember before shooing away the furry and feathery protein crowd:

1. Realistically assess your favorite fast food restaurants. Chick-fil-A has the word CHICK in it for a reason. There is a void in my life that only a char-grilled sandwich can fill. Alas.
2. Have a conversation with the members of your household and their olfactory preferences. It's a new rule here that after I make my meals, all the trash goes into the street trashcan, not the kitchen one. 

   

   Mmm, dat smell.

3. If asked, you're a vegetarian. It's much easier than saying "pescetarian" and requested to explain.
4. However, although verbally you're a vegetarian, you can stray from veggie menus. Sometimes those menus won't have shit, but if you look at the normal one, it'll have some delicious seafood option that you can enjoy!
5. But on the flip side (again), Finding Nemo takes on a whole new meaning when trying to agree on a restaurant.

   

   We found food options for BOTH of us!? Totally excited.

6. Contrary to popular belief, you are NOT what you eat. I have yet to find any scales, fins, or gills on my body.
7. Your wallet will be a little lighter. $ seafood > $ deli. 
8. Beg ask your boyfriend not to boast about his new and improved buffalo wing sauce that you won't get to try on buffalo wings (not to say spicy tuna isn't a thing).
9. Obviously, you can get your protein from sources other than fish (cough - eggs, beans, and almonds - cough). 
10. Lastly, however you choose to classify yourself, don't let others classify you! 

    

    Nomz.

    Did I miss anything? ;)

All Kinds of Crunchy

Crunch [kruhnch]:

1. verb. to crush with the teeth; chew with a crushing noise
2. noun. one of the most common abdominal exercises

1. Used in a sentence: MK loves to crunch almonds.

From my Instagram.

Typically, I'd choose the Sriracha as my favorite flavor, but I honestly think all four of these are really, really good! The Honey Chipotle are a bit more subtle than you'd expect but still excellent. The Wasabi have the most flavor dusting, so if you choose those, be prepared with napkins. At least they don't leave your fingers orange like Cheetos... ;)

Pre-wrapped wrap: spinach, cottage cheese, Wasabi almonds, curry powder.

2. Used in a sentence: MK still wants abs, but she has read that crunches aren't the best way of getting there.

Conventional wisdom says that crunches bend your spine incorrectly, yadda, yadda, yadda. With all of my recent hip problems that are starting to go away, I really want to err on the side of caution with anything I do.

I found this 30 day ab challenge, but I'm making some modifications. I'm replacing the sit ups and crunches with side planks and keeping the leg lifts and regular planks. Sunday began the challenge with a 2:00 minute plank, 1:00 right side plank, 1:00 left side plank, and 20 leg lifts. I also found this site listing alternatives for sit ups and crunches!

Ultimate goal, amirite? I'll let you know how this goes...

Fun (and Debatably Weird and Unnecessary) Facts About Me

Random ramblings - kind of like two truths and a lie, but these are all truths.

1. I really like to eat in the shower and/or bathtub.

And sometimes I look this creepy doing it.

I'm not sure what it is - maybe the combination of two comfort activities - but I rather enjoy it. Tip: Try to finish your food before you clean yourself, else you're kind of countering the goal of bathing.

2. I'm a fan of cutting open bananas, stuffing some sort of chocolate item inside, and microwaving.

I realize this looks less than ap-PEAL-ing. Ha! Get it!?

And then BuzzFeed decided to try to one-up me on my genius-ness.

3. I hate beets.

How about 0 ways to eat NO beets, Suja? That didn't make sense...

4. For about 6 years, my favorite TV show was Survivor. Then they sort of changed the rules, the girls started wearing jewelry to challenges, and my childhood fantasy of people actually cast away on an island was ruined.

Outwit, outplay, outlast? More like outprimp, outflirt, outscript.

5. I once burned my leg pretty badly trying to use Veet.

This has scarred me for life; I will not use anything but a razor now.

6. Every year for Christmas, my mom gets me tampons as stocking stuffers.

7. I wear Chanel No. 5. No, it's not an old lady smell.

Timeless. And classy. My middle names.

8. My boyfriend and I have matching freckles near our eyes, which is sort of strange.

9. I have a "Read-the-Bible-in-2-Years" Bible, and I just got to Revelation. I'm stoked.

10. I have a tattoo of the symbol for pi on my foot.

I was a math major in college, but it has deeper meaning. Pi represents something seemingly perfect - the unit circle - but it itself isn't perfect; it goes on forever. It's kind of like us. We can try to represent something perfect (Jesus), but we will never be perfect ourselves.

Tell me something random!

Kitchen Triumphs

The day I had my woe-is-me moment, I opened one of the coolest books ever and read the following:

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen." - 1 Peter 5:10-11

I needed that.

Anywho. Onto the kitchen!

Many of you have been posting about your June goals, and it reminded me that I had a summer goal myself regarding the poaching of pre-birds.

Well, I did it!

I'll spare you the details, considering you all probably know how this is done. I'm a late bloomer.

The stringy whites separated themselves... beginner's luck?

I let the egg sit for about three and a half minutes before scooping it out.

See!? It's own separation. Such a smart egg.

And the finished product:

Sandwich thin, spinach, and of course, Sriracha.

And another culinary concoction - black bean burgers! Doing my best on this pescetarian thing!

Ingredients:
1 can of black beans
1 egg
A sufficient amount of crackers (I used 34 baby saltines)
Garlic powder
NOT PICTURED: Tabasco 

Pulse the crackers in a food processor or blender, and then separately pulse the beans until gooey (but not like a sauce). Combine the crackers, beans, egg, garlic powder, and Tabasco, and mix.

Mmmm. Yum.

Form into patties! Mine made three. They were also very slimy and slippery (probably could have used more crackers, but they turned out amazing, so I'm not complaining).

I let these puppies go for about three minutes on each side, then I stood them up to get around the edges.

Nom nom nom.

I prefer salads to sandwiches, so a salad it was!

The insides were still soft, but it held together nicely. I was very pleased.

What's your favorite thing to cook?

6-6-6 & Pesky Pesce

Wednesday night, I was stuck on my floor because that's where I was sleeping for a week before my move in bed thinking about the workout I'd do before my drive. First world problems?

I was debating between time on the stationary bike or a makeshift cardio workout, similar to the one here. I was thinking something along the lines of six exercises for six minutes (one minute each) six times.

I still couldn't decide when I woke up, so I went to Panera to hash it out over some yogurt and coffee. Turns out, at the particular Panera I went to, a medium coffee, banana, and parfait cost $6.66. I took that as a sign.

No, I didn't take this picture. Yes, this was a Google image search. And yes, he does look like he's trying to tempt the photographer with deformed poisonous bagels.

For the past three-ish weeks, I've been on a pescetarian diet. Prior to this decision, I really didn't eat much meat (other than fish) anyway, and the main non-scaled protein I did consume was in the form of fast food chicken or processed deli. Since I was 99% of the way there, I figured I might as well try a pesce diet!

I'm usually not one for deleting food groups or parts of them. I personally think that can lead to a feeling of deprivation and thus backfire, but I'm going in with the understanding that this is just for fun, and I can change my mind anytime I want.

So far, so good.

Then one day, I realized I couldn't eat Chick-fil-A.

I used to live off of their market salad.

So much fruity, cheesy, CHICKEN-Y goodness.

No problem. One meal gone. Fine.

Then I realized I couldn't have my go-to driving snack. Beef jerky.

I almost cried was disappointed yesterday as I was staring at the dangling delights in the gas station.

But here's the kicker, guys...

I moved SOUTH. 

If you're familiar with the area, you will know my pain, as I cannot consume the greatest fried chicken the world has to offer.

Needless to say, this pesce thing may not last long...

Any diets you've tried?

Any diets you've failed?

This is as much a reminder for me as it is advice for, well, me.

"Will it ever stop?"

This is one of the most frequent questions I've heard throughout my physical therapy stint. Frustrated, desperate patients would implore their therapists to tell them, "Yes, and here is the date."

It doesn't work like that.

I always love theBERRY's inspirational quotes.

Recovery is unpredictable, and we can't hold our therapists to their guesses or estimations.

I truly believe everything happens for a reason, even horrible sports injuries. I think the time it takes to heal, recover, get over, *insert verb here* depends on the time it takes us to learn whatever we were meant to learn from the situation. If we're not done with the circumstance, we haven't learned all we needed to just yet.

We should also focus on the journey, not the outcome. One of my favorite quotes is painted on a piece of wood I own:

"Happiness is not a destination. It is a way of life."

I'll be the first to admit I'm the guiltiest when it comes to wishing for endings. I want to hurry up and get to "the good part." Well, the adventure there IS the good part!

Past break ups have taught me to "smile because it happened" (I know, that's so cheesy). Lame jobs have taught me what I do not want to do with my life. My IT band issue has helped me learn to listen to my body, how to strengthen my core, and how to rest. I've learned to love yoga... and I've sort of gotten good (maybe?) at it!

I don't want to wake up one day when I'm 60 years old and realize that I was constantly wishing my life away.

Enjoy the now! Every bitter, horrible, beautiful, intense, happy, scary, worrisome moment of it!

...HOWEVER.

There are instances where I am quite the opposite, where I do not wish to be done with the process, and those instances are when eating.

I think we can all agree that THAT journey is ALWAYS enjoyed, and the end sucks.

Like my voyage through these boiled shrimp and delicious salad!

Or the conquering of this oatmeal with jalapeno cream cheese and peanuts. Mmmm.

Do you ever find yourself wanting to be through with something?
What's your favorite dish you wish would never end?

Oat Affair

I was really excited when I saw this post on BuzzFeed about healthy tips - POACHED EGGS!

Regarding #5 - I want to try cauliflower pizza crust.

Regarding #10 - I do this ALL. THE. TIME. I also flavor oatmeal with coffee creamer, M&Ms, cheese, Sriracha, veggies, tuna, regular milk, pepper, cumin, Snickers, protein bars (obviously not all at once ;) ). And the list goes on.

Oatmeal is the most versatile food ever. It is the best breakfast in the world. It adds to the best dinners in the world. It is one of the best snacks. It is the best food. All of these are facts.

If I were stuck on a deserted island and could only have one food, it would be oatmeal.

If I had to pick one food to live off of for the rest of my life, it would be oatmeal.

If I could date a food over a man, I would drop Joe in a heartbeat, screw this long distance nastiness, and go pick up some oatmeal.

I wish society would still accept an adult who ate this. Guys, they hatched. Clearly, I have some sort of egg fetish.

Did (does) anyone else eat this?

Gee, thanks a lot... But really. Thanks.

It all comes back to Him.

But first! A look into what I like to call "getting your money's worth."

This morning after an intense Bikram sweat sesh, I dripped my way to the nearest Starbucks for some refreshment. Raise your virtual hand if you are familiar with the Protein Bistro Box. If so, you know that contrary to the picture on the website, the peanut butter comes in a baggie.

Normal people may squeeze what they can from a delicate little corner hole.

NOT I. Exhibit A:

Between this and my poached egg eating habits, I don't know what's more embarrassing awesome.

Hokay, let's get to it.

God. He's pretty cool, and He doesn't hesitate to tell you what's what. A few days ago, I told you all about how I really hope my hip issue goes away now that my IT band is feeling better. It's not (well, it might be, and I might just be feeling post-foam rolling soreness, but that's besides the point).

"Proof of Foam Roll," circa 2015

I'm a sucker for signs, and I truly believe God speaks to us all - we just have to listen and be open to what He has to say. Last night, I was playing around online - whaaa? a blogger online? UNHEARD OF! - when my Facebook feed refreshed, and a friend had posted a lengthy status about why we experience weakness and suffering.

My dears, allow me to point you to 2 Corinthians:

"...but about myself, I will not boast, except about my weaknesses [...] Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me [...] to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am strong."

We are nothing without Him. He gives us our abilities, and He can take them away. We are given sufferings to remind us that we need Him; we need to call upon Him and trust Him. We cannot get cocky with our accomplishments or "personal" achievements, because they all come back to Him. We are not self-sufficient (as much as we'd like to believe so).

Lord, thank You for the gentle reminder that I need You always.

No questions for this one. Just reflect, and happy Monday.

Egg Pros and Workout Woes

Well, I think it's safe to say I have a current obsession with poached eggs (and fruit). It's going to be my summer goal to learn and to perfect the makings of poached eggs.

It's also my goal to perfect the eating of poached eggs.

I have two go-to tactics:

1. Eat around the yolk at first and then shove the final bite into my mouth, thus resulting in a rush of yellowy goodness from my lips (very attractive).
2. Break the yolk on the dish and dab up what I can but eventually just lean in and lick the plate clean (slightly less appalling, but still makes people question why they're with me).

Did I mention that both options require an obscene amount of Sriracha? AKA the nectar of the gods?

Also in need of perfection are my jump rope abilities. After discovering that I own a jump rope, in my never ending quest to find cardiovascular activities that don't aggravate my IT band or hip, I decided to do a jump rope-elliptical-stationary bike extravaganza.

In my mind, it would go something like: 5 minutes rope, 15 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes bike, repeat X amount of times.

In actuality, it went something like: flail for 3 minutes with a rope that keeps hitting the ceiling of the apartment gym, fold to decrease the length of the rope, try again, hit the rope with my pony tail because now it's too short, give up and elliptical, realize the elliptical is broken so there is zero resistance, pedal around for 5 minutes, repeat several times, sigh in frustration, answer some text messages, totter on over to the bike.

Don't get me wrong, I worked up a sweat... But it was an exasperating sweat.

Anyone have any poached egg tips and tricks?

Sriracha fans? WE'LL BE BEST FRIENDS.

Work out fails?

Happy weekend!