check in time.

hello and happy waffle wednesday!

today is the second to the second to last day of the month.. so, i am going to check in on my april goals and see how i’ve done!
goal #1: blog goal: create more “meals” aka recipe pages.

my goal was to add 4 pages. one for each week of the month. so, let’s see. here are the recipe pages i’ve created in april are:

• apple cinnamon protein coffee cake
• mighty maple chocolate protein oats

looks like i need to publish a couple more before friday! eep! i have plenty of photos and recipes, so this should be attainable.

meal 1: flax waffles & egg whites @ 9:00 AM

310 calories, 12g fat, 31g carbs, 23g protein

i finally managed to buy some freezer waffles so i could celebrate waffle wednesday even when i didn’t have much time to prepare breakfast. yes, it was one of those mornings.

two natural organics flax waffles topped with 2 tsp mighty maple peanut butter.

four egg whites topped with 1 TB heinz reduced sugar ketchup.

the power went out at work right after i took this photo. so.. for the record, it went out at work twice yesterday, went out at home last night for who knows how many hours (i went to bed) and then it went out again at work today. it’s been windy here in the SLC.

pretty sure me and my little dog are going to blow away to OZ here in a minute.

goal #2: blog goal: create more “moves” pages.

well, my goal was to create four “moves” pages. i have plenty of material but haven’t published all of it. i did a moves post earlier in the month and i intend to make an individual page for each move. i will try to get that done by friday! for now, here are the ones i’ve added this month:

• 3-2-1 heartrate blastoff HIIT
• 4 x 5 HIIT

this will be tripled by friday, i hope.

meal 2: cottage cheese & hummus wrap + veggies & laughing cow cheese @ 12:45 PM

315 calories, 6g fat, 26g carbs, 27g protein

for the wrap, i used one tumaro’s garden wrap and filled it with lettuce and a mixture of 1/2 cup cottage cheese and 2 TB cedar’s tomato basil hummus.

the veggies are pretty self explanatory. i was feeling frisky and added a laughing cow wedge of cheese to the mix.

yum.

goal #3: financial goal: put $500 into savings.

hmmm.. well, the $800 vet visit last monday put a bit of a damper on this goal. but i was still able to tuck away about $350.. so i am calling it a victory. i’ll take what i can get!

goal #4: wedding planning goals: find a printing press for the invites, book the cake baker, order the bridesmaid footwear, complete the gift registry, get engagement photos taken, work out furniture rental and linen details.

uhh. wedding planning is overwhelming, dudes. and dudettes. i have found a printing press, we have an appointment with the cake guy tomorrow night, i need to send my maids the link to buy their flip flops, there is no way in hell i’ve had time to register, we get our engagement photos taken friday and i have the table sizes for the linens we need.. so that is a halfway one there.

all things considered, i think i’ve done just okay on the wedding plans this month. but july 17 is coming up quick and i really need to get to work on sorting things out. serious business, folks.

meal 3: super random snack @ 3:45 PM

well, that looks disgusting, doesn’t it?

i promise, it tasted great. it was 1 alternative brand english muffin (toasted) topped with 1/3 cup oikos (it was all i had left) and 2 tsp sunbutter (that is sunflower seed butter, for those of you just tuning in)

210 calories, 6g fat, 21g carbs, 18g protein

goal #5: fitness goals: work out 6 days / week, three days of cardio and three days of strength training.

check! i have not missed a day of working out this month. and to make a good thing even better, i have stayed fairly active on my rest days by going snowboarding,  on walks with the dogs and to the dog park :)

goal #6: eating goals: reduce BLTs (bites, licks, tastes), reduce sugar intake, increase variety.

the number of BLTs i have taken in has reduced dramatically. and the BLTs that i am guilty of have been of the better variety.. like fruit instead of handfuls of cereal or one of allie’s or lizzy’s super healthy protein bars instead of the roomie’s bag of chips. i am still struggling with a few too many BLTs~ but i would say this goal was a success.

as far as reducing sugar intake, i have done a great job with this. i have been eyeing sugar grams in the foods i eat and i like to keep it around 5-7 grams per serving, but try not to go over 10.  it is nice to be more conscious of my sugar intake. i am surprised to see the ridiculous amounts of sugar in foods you’d least expect to find it. i like keeping an eye out.

increase variety. well, i think this is a victory for sure. i have been cooking with new items like tofu and bok choy. i am relying less on chicken breasts and protein powder and finding alternative protein sources to spruce things up. i’ve also incorporated a wider variety of starchy carbs~ like tumaro’s garden wraps and alternative brand english muffins.

SO.

after work i went to the mall to try to find a dress for my engagement photos. we are doing two outfits. one with jeans and one a little dressier. i shopped for nearly TWO HOURS with no luck. i hated it. i just wish SLC would get an H&M, it would make my life so much easier.

as i was walking back toward the exit of the mall, i spotted a tiny boutique i’d never seen nor been into before. they had a plethora of cute dresses. score! i ended up finding one that i really liked.

but it was WAY too dressy for the “style” of our wedding/invitations.

and it was $170.

and it was SO not something i would typically wear.

but i loved it.

so i bought it.

happy ending.. and who the hell cares if the outfits in our invitation are way fancier than the super casual invitation? i am fairly certain the answer is nobody.

moving on.

after the mall it was 7 PM and i was clearly ravenous. lucky for me i had a bar in the car! (i love rhymes)

meal 4: peanut butter chocolate simply bar @ 7:00 PM

great stats.

i pulverized this bar in about 30 seconds flat.

my thoughts? YUM! of course, i expected this. the other two flavors i’d tried, i’d loved. i didn’t think i would hate this bar. i knew it would be awesome.

did you ever make rice krispie treats with peanut butter stirred into the marshmallow goop before adding the cereal?

that is what this was like. plus chocolate.

yuuu-um.

goal #7: education goal: meet with advisor at the university.

crap. i promise i am going to make an appointment tomorrow! cross my heart!

goal #8: intellectual goal: read one book this month.

almost done with this book i am reading. you know, the one by jackie warner. more reviews to come, i know i haven’t talked about it in awhile. there is lots of good stuff to say about it! so i will for sure cross this goal off my list. success!

you probably thought i was going to bail on the gym today, didn’t you? after that horrible mall experience, i really thought about it. but then i realized that my body wanted to work out, it was my mind that didn’t want to. i am all for a rest day if my body needs it.. but if i am just mentally drained, a workout is actually a GOOD idea~ as hard as it may be to talk myself into it.. i always feel better mentally after a good sweat session. don’t you?

i can’t run. i wanted to run. but my self-diagnosed tendonitis in my ankles hurts so bad. don’t worry, i have a doc appointment on friday to get that problem sorted out. so i did the elliptical today.

20 min elliptical HIIT:

i increased my resistance every minute and i increased my speed every two minutes. you can adjust the speed range to your ability, but if you try this one, i urge you to keep the resistance levels the same as below. just go a little slower/faster to suit your ability.

minute #	resistance level	speed range (MPH)
0-1	6	6.0-7.0
1-2	6	6.0-7.0
2-3	8	7.0-8.0
3-4	10	7.0-8.0
4-5	12	8.0-9.0
5-6	14	8.0-9.0
6-7	8	7.0-8.0
7-8	10	7.0-8.0
8-9	12	8.0-9.0
9-10	14	8.0-9.0
10-11	8	7.0-8.0
11-12	10	7.0-8.0
12-13	12	8.0-9.0
13-14	14	8.0-9.0
14-15	8	7.0-8.0
15-16	10	7.0-8.0
16-17	12	8.0-9.0
17-18	14	8.0-9.0
18-19	8	12.0-13.0
19-20	6	5.0-6.0

total time: 20 minutes total distance: 2.65 miles

max HR: 178, ave HR: 152, calories burned: 154

hey! i think i will add this to my moves page! here is the link :)

i rode the bike for 10 minutes to polish off a couple more chapters of my book. total workout time today was 30 minutes. and i wore my jazz jersey while working out. i am watching the game right now. GO JAZZ!

goal #9: blog goal: complete all pending product reviews.

um. have you guys noticed a ridiculous amount of product reviews lately? this is why. i typically don’t like to do a bunch of product reviews.. one every week or every other week is a good amount. but i was a slacker and let things pile up~ and i really did want to let you guys know about some of the products i have been loving.

some of the reviews i have done this month:

• gymboss interval timer
• simply bars (here, here and in this post you’re reading)
• this is why you’re fat by jackie warner
• mezzetta products
• kombucha
• silk almond milk

and i have two more pending. i hope you guys find my product reviews entertaining and informative and don’t get that whole overkill feeling from me talking about products. for the record, i only accept to do product reviews for items i would personally purchase myself and i always give an honest review. and actually, i also give product reviews on items i have purchased myself~ not just ones where the company has sent me items for free.  if i try something and like it, i want you to know about it.. no matter if i bought it or if it was sent to me. i know that some blogs have TONS of product reviews, but my aim is to have a nice balance of recipes, work out routines, product reviews and (of course) my oh-so-witty rambles ;)

goal #10: sleep goal: get 7 hours of sleep each night.

i’ve been rocking this goal. seriously. i have had more sleep this month than i have had in years! granted, there were a few 5 or 6 hour nights in there.. but for the most part i have been sleeping a lot more, which i love, and will continue to do.

meal 5: steamed vegetables & green monster @ 9:00 PM

i wanted two things. veggies and something sweet. this dinner may have been random, but it was exactly what i was craving.

2 cups of kirkland brand normandy blend frozen veggies. lovely.

and a mug of coffee protein shake!

• 1/2 cup silk pure almond milk
• 1 small banana
• 2 cups spinach
• 1 scoop 100% whey protein powder (EAS brand)
• ice
• water (just enough to get the blender mixin’!)

looks like a mug ‘o’ coffee at first glance..

but the smoothie stache tells a different story!

dinner totals: 315 calories, 5g fat, 40g carbs, 32g protein

well.. i don’t have any more goals to check in with! i think that i did a pretty stellar job on most of my goals, and since i still have a couple days to tie up loose ends, i hope to have them even more accomplished than in this post. wish me luck :)

other random things i want to say:

• what a difference 84 days can make: michelle recently posted her 12 week transformation photos on  her blog. this really inspired me and i had asked her if i could share her results with you guys. she agreed and so you all need to go check her out!! click, click, click!
• hayley is having a GIRL! congrats, momma to be!
• april bought a new house! congrats, and hooray for making the tax credit cutoff deadline.
• marshall went to dinner with friends tonight for a birthday (i couldn’t make it, unfortunately! it was short notice and i had too much on my plate) and instead of buying an entree (it was at a pretty expensive steak house) he opted to have a less expensive dessert instead. he sent me an email entitled “dinner” with this photo:

haha. can i just say i love marshall for so many reasons? here are three. one, he sends me photos of his food for the blog. two, he is aware of our financial situation with the home renovations and lots of expenses coming up so he orders a cheap dessert instead of a manly steak dinner. that is thoughtful. and three, he can have mud pie, ice cream and coffee for dinner and still have runway model legs. maybe when we get married i will inherit his metabolism.

hey, i have to take his last name.. i should at least get something else out of the deal ;)

did you guys think i forgot to pick the giveaway winners? never.

i was too lazy to see who commented with an entry and who just commented without an entry, so i ended up just including everyone who commented. much easier.

winning numbers (generated on random.org)

grand prize winner (coupons & chico bag): #102: Whole Body Love

runners up (coupons): #72: Sarah Carter, #16 ashley

congrats, ladies! please email me your mailing info and i will have you silk almond milk prizes sent out immediately!

gosh, i am good at typing for long periods of time. this post ended up longer than moby dick.

tomorrow is guest post thursday so i hope you all enjoy that, i have a great HAPPY post lined up.. i will be back on flashback friday :)

Qs~

1. ATTENTION! this is the goal police! how are you doing with your current goals? does not have to be april goals. just your goals in general. what are they? how are they coming along?

2. what is the most $$$ you have spent on a single item of clothing? i do NOT have expensive taste. this could be a bad thing or a good thing, depending on how you look at it. but i like to consider it good.. i am all about the cheap stores like forever 21 and h&m. spending $170 on a dress today kinda scared me. okay, it really freaked me out. aside from my wedding dress (which was paid for by my mom.. not even me) i think this is the most expensive dress i’ve ever owned. i do spend a few hundred dollars on snowboarding outerwear.. but just for clothes to wear out and about? yeah. today’s purchase wins the prize. i know that it is probably not a lot of money for a nice dress for most people.. but it was for me!

xo. janetha b.