MIMM: Hibernating

I realize I've been kind of MIA lately. I took kind of a mental rest weekend and opted to, as I call it, "hibernate" due to another round of snow and frigid temperatures. I could have easily taken this time at home to blog, but I didn't. I was kind of wiped from all the shoveling I had to do between Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. I need to learn how to use a snow blower for next year.

But it's Monday and I'm linking up with Katie for some Marvelous in my Monday action! 

Marvelous is...this Napoleon Dynamite Valentine's Day picture I sent to my family. Don't ask me why we find Kip to be so hilarious.

Marvelous is...dedicating several hours of my Thursday evening to watching Olympic curling On Demand and a attempting to interpret the rules and scoring of the game. It's really kind of fascinating. There is a place in Cranston that has a curling club and they run open houses to learn about the game. The next one is in early March. You know I plan on being there.

Marvelous is....when my dogs get haircuts and act like divas.

Chloe is so grumpy and cute!

Marvelous is...staying in all weekend marathoning almost the entire second season of Parks and Recs. I got my mom and I hooked. Ron Swanson cracks me up.

Marvelous is...playing a few intense impromptu games of Rummikub on a Saturday night during a snowstorm. Something about bad weather and board games. Kind of like peanut butter and jelly. Although I prefer peanut butter and fresh spinach sandwiches. Don't hate.

Marvelous is...winter clothing clearance. I've had my eye on this one particular sweater and I scored it for $15 on Saturday! I also made out like a bandit at K-Mart yesterday, with no intentions of buying anything. $35 well spent.

Marvelous is...finally beating level 382 on Candy Crush. I can't stop playing when I'm stuck on a level for over a week. The feeling of accomplishment I get from this victory is so wrong haha.

Here's to looking forward to a week full of yoga, rising temperatures (I hope!), and not feeling the compulsion to play so much Candy Crush.

MIMM: Low-key plans with high entertainment value

Let me preface this post by saying that American Horror Story this week gave me the serious creeps. I can't deal with that butler, or all the blood. Ugh.

Now that that is out of the way, onto more marvelous things. Like the weekend. I'll do my best to keep descriptions brief despite all the amusing and awkward details. Honestly, it's too much to share, and I'd have no idea where to begin. 

Friday night I finally got together with another girl who works for the trivia company after several reschedules. We were going to check out Justine's, but we ended up at The Avery because it was easier to locate. No complaints there. I would have snapped a picture, but it's always super dark in there. We happened to end up seated next to this group of completely insane group of people ranging from what I guess would be late 20s to late 40s. Long story short, they convinced us to go with them to Lili Marlene's on Federal Hill, and we stupidly offered them a ride. Weirdest mile-long drive in my life. It took like 20 minutes to fully get out of the Avery parking lot haha.

Lili Marlene's was not what I expected from a bar on Federal Hill. It isn't exactly easy to find unless you know you're looking for it. I actually wasn't even sure it was open when I looked from the street. Upon walking in, all I could think of was a speakeasy. Again, too dark to take a picture. I loved the vibe of this place, and definitely want to go back. My grapefruit martini was amazing and for only $7.50 for a drink on The Hill, I have no real excuse not to. Our experience at Lili Marlene's was filled with just as much surreal and random interactions, even after our drunk/crazy "guides" were cut off (no surpise) and left.

Saturday is better explained in pictures, I'll leave the details up to your imagination:

Marilyn Monroe themed bathroom at The Scurvy Dog in Providence.

The usual yoga on Saturday and Sunday mornings left me feeling a little better about all the alcohol I consumed. All in all, a solid weekend that deserved the entirely unproductive Sunday I had. I'm also a little bitter that I have to work today despite it being a holiday. At least I won't hit much traffic.

Linking up to Katie's Marvelous in My Monday!

A new approach on eating to gain muscle & a chipotle pumpkin chicken stew

I'm not changing out of yoga pants today, and I don't feel guilty at all about that. Sundays are made for being lazy. Plus, my weekend was entirely overstimulating and chock-full of awkward situations, far too little sleep, and new-to-me people and places. But I'm saving that for tomorrow's Marvelous in my Monday post, so you'll just have to wait for the details.

One thing that I have accomplished this week was doing a little research on putting some structure into my eating routine to gain weight and build muscle. I really struggle with knowing how much food is enough, especially when it comes to carbs. The problem is that I basically cut out most non-vegetable and non-fruit carbs for a while when I revamped my lifestyle in college. My body and tastebuds just stopped craving them. Now, after years of trying to gain back some of that weight, I finally started to become more comfortable with increasing my carb intake and have found some foods I really enjoy. The problem remains that I just don't know how much my body actually needs to repair and build muscle, so I tend to severely overeat at night when I look back on my daily intake and realize I haven't really consumed any whole grains. This usually appears in the form of me eating an entire bag's worth of chips or several bowls of cereal without even necessarily feeling hungry, but eating because I'm panicking that my body didn't get enough fuel and I'll lose the precious little muscle I have been able to build. Kind of a ridiculous notion, I know.

The point of my mini-rant is that I really need to implement some more structure into my eating routine in order to retrain my brain and body to know what it needs. After reading several articles about the benefits of carb-cycling, I've determined that this is probably a good dietary guideline for me to follow. I've found this article on FitnessRX to be very informational.

Basically, there are several ways to structure carb-cycling, including high carb, moderate carb, and low carb days based on my workout schedule, with fat intake in contrast to carbs and high protein intake on all days.

My rough weekly plan is:

Sunday - 9am Total Fitness, 10am yoga; high carb day
Monday - 6pm Vinyasa yoga, 7:15pm hot yoga; moderate carb day
Tuesday - 6:30pm Yoga Fusion; high carb day
Wednesday - 7pm Tone & Crunch (kettlebells and TRX); high carb day
Thursday - off; low-moderate carb day
Friday - off; low carb day
Saturday - 8:30am yoga fusion, 9:45am vinyasa yoga; high carb day

So I'll follow a high carb, lower fat diet on the days I'm lifting weights. I found this meal plan example helpful in giving me an idea of what a day's intake should look like on both low and high carb days, though I'd aim to consume closer to 2000 calories daily rather than 1400. This week I am going to come up with a meal plan for myself to follow and ideally I'll start carb-cycling next week officially. We'll see if I can stick to it.

For dinner tonight, my lazy self was motivated enough to throw some pantry ingredients into a crockpot and call it cooking a meal. I loosely followed this recipe from A Teaspoon of Happiness, tweaking here and there based on what I had for ingredients and quantities.

Crockpot Chipotle Pumpkin & Chicken Stew

Ingredients:

1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
1 15-oz can black beans, undrained
2 or 3 medium sized boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp minced garlic
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4-5 large handfuls of kale (I used about 1/2 the bag pictured)
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced
2 tsp adobo sauce (from the can of peppers)
cilantro
cumin
salt & pepper

Dump all the ingredients into a crock pot over the chicken breasts, adding spices to suit your tastes (I used a lot of cumin and cilantro, but very little salt). Cook on high for 4 hours. Remove the chicken, shred with a fork, and return to crockpot to cook on low for at least 2 hours. Serve with shredded cheese, if you're into that.

Super easy, super filling, and super delicious. #supersoupsunday haha

MIMM: Tis the season to swap gifts, bake cookies, and reminisce

Hello, Monday. I'll get back to you after I recap the weekend.

My friends hosted a $10-limit Yankee Swap at their apartment on Saturday night. I nommed on some chips and salsa, chai almonds, and homemade red sangria, played some Scattergories, and caught up with a few friends I haven't seen in a while. It was a pretty lax gathering with a small crowd, but I totally appreciate the fact that all in attendance share the same awkward sense of humor. Yankee swap gifts were prime.

I almost ended up with this bad boy:

Lil' Raskull. Christian rapper extraordinaire, straight from the dirty south.

Alas (or not), I ended up with my own gift:

Puppy calendar, desk calendar, and planner pack.

Am I disappointed? Hell no. Other gifts in the mix included a pooping reindeer, massaging pillow, Robsessed (a DVD all about the wonder that is Rob Pattinson), a bottle of pomegranate Burnett's (hello, college), a cookie skillet kit, and scratch tickets ($3 of winnings were had, FYI.)

I dedicated my entire Sunday to baking Christmas cookies. Isn't it odd how I'm the one assigned the task of making cookies when I don't eat them? Of course, I recruit the help of indulgers to keep things fair. My mom was none too happy to be given the job of crushing candy canes for peppermint meltaway cookies. I also coerced my sister and her boyfriend into rolling the cookie dough for red velvet cookies. I'm not particularly fond of the sticky batter and lingering red tint that results from baking those cookies. Refer to the picture of Ryan's tainted fingers (bottom right, below).

Red velvet cookies, peppermint meltaways, and egg biscuits

I made the batter for gingersnaps and set it in the fridge to bake on Christmas Eve when I have more time. I also decided to experiment with a sugar-free cookie for myself to indulge in...I have to do something with that stevia I won in a giveaway after all.

Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Cookies!

Not the most appetizing-looking photo of the finished product, but I find all dark brown baked goods are difficult to make pretty. I swear these taste like Nutella brownie cookies. Recipe at the end of the post.

I've definitely noticed myself thinking about my dad a lot and finding myself in conversations that lead to him. For the first year since he died, I'm not feeling that overwhelming sadness when I think about Christmas without him despite his continuous presence in my mind. It's bittersweet. I feel like I am finally coming to terms with the holidays without him, learning to accept the fact that he isn't here and finding comfort in the memories of him. He and my Uncle Bob have been making consistent cameo appearances in my dreams, so they kind of are here celebrating Christmas with me. 

Last night, I took the time to reread a short story I wrote about my dad's death. I hadn't looked at it since I last revised it and read it the first Christmas after he died. It was hard to look at, the wounds were too fresh. I really want to try to submit it for publication in a literary journal soon. I just have to find the right one and write a really good cover letter to go along with it. It's crazy how difficult it is to get things published though, so I'll have to revisit this after New Years.

One last marvelous side note - after a week of overindulgence and lack of physical activity, I was so happy for two hours of yoga on Saturday and Sunday morning. I thought I'd struggle more than I did with balance or lifting weights, but I managed. My mom was the one who really had an awesome weekend breakthrough. The real success of this weekend is how far she's come with her flexibility. I'm so proud of her! Check out how low she is in that split! 

Linking up to Katie's MIMM!

As promised, I'll end this post with the recipe for Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Cookies.

Sugar-free Nut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup natural nut butter of choice (I used Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter, yum!)
• 1/4 cup egg whites, or 1 egg
• 1/2 granulated stevia (or the equivalent of 1 cup of sugar*)
• 1 Tablespoon coconut flour 

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a medium sized bowl until well combined. Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350° F
Roll into 1-inch balls and place about an inch apart on a non-stick baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, removing from the oven when they are still slightly soft to the touch*.
Cool on wire racks, and enjoy!

* These cookies can be made using 1 cup of sugar or splenda, depending on your preference, if stevia isn't your thing.

* If you like crunchy cookies, bake for 10-12 minutes, but watch carefully for burning.

MIMM: Let's not focus on the weather

The weather today was exceptionally disgusting. Snow, rain, slush, fog, and a forecast for even more craptastic weather tomorrow, followed by frigid temperatures through the weekend. The dreaded winter is making it's impending arrival known.

So in an effort to keep in line with the Marvelous in My Monday philosophy, I shant focus on the weather. Instead, I'll focus on the weekend, because it was enjoyable.

My hair had a mind of it's own this weekend. I may not have looked marvelous, but I can laugh at myself and rock it. 

Out of control.

I stupidly forgot the top item on my grocery list this weekend: coffee. We were completely out of coffee at home, which is a cause for panic since my family is caffeine-dependent. To say that coffee is the reason I get out of bed in the morning would not entirely be false. My little oops did result in a wonderful clearance purchase at Marshall's. Smores coffee! It's mind-blowingly delicious.

Out of coffee and I find this for $3? Yeah, that's destiny.

Saturday night, I ventured out the the Celtic Pub for a taste of the Irish dive bar scene. And what luck, a metal band was playing! It was appropriately unclassy and unmarvelously marvelous. Of course, no night of mine is complete without an awkward encounter. That night's uncomfortable situation was brought to me by the girl in the yoga pants with less than the average number of teeth, who decided it was a good idea to let me know that I was "sexy as hell and beautiful" and she's "normally shy, but it was the alcohol talking." Yep, thanks. Now I can feel good about myself.

Both Saturday and Sunday included my morning yoga routines as usual. Man, am I feeling them today.

I also went out in an effort to complete some Christmas shopping both days. Yep, no luck. I did, however, score big time for myself. A shirt on clearance for $5 and yoga leggings for $10! I can't resist bright colors and odd patterns.

If I could wear these everywhere all the time, I would.

Sunday evening was spent slaving away in the kitchen to make pulled pork, wheat berry salad for the week, and a double batch of red velvet cookies for my sister's boyfriend. The cream cheese icing just would not come together. I dedicated about an hour and an entire bag of powdered sugar to get it where it needed to be. My family is lucky I love them so much.

Fresh out of the oven and frosted. I got lazy with the decorating.

As for my actual Monday, tonight's vinyasa and hot yoga classes were tough, but overall relaxing.

I'm currently vegging on my couch with a cup of Celestial Seasonings' Candy Cane Lane green tea in my favorite creepy Santa mug.

Watch out, he'll kill you with warm comfort and antioxidants.

Linking up to Katie's Marvelous in My Monday as usual!

MIMM: Weekend Wrap-Up

My Monday might not be especially marvelous (with the exception of back-to-back vinyasa and hot yoga after work, that is), but my weekend sure was, so let's focus on that, shall we?

I spotted these two gems at BJs on Saturday. The wisdom penned in these two books is, I imagine, insurmountable.

Duck Dynasty cracks me up. And I am a die-hard Anchorman fan. I was anti-Anchorman 2 at first, but the promos and  previews sucked me and I'm anxiously awaiting its release date.

Saturday night was the annual Stoop Christmas party, which my ex-neighbor and dad's best friend decided to take on this year. Everyone brought a dish and a $15 gift for the best version of Yankee Swap in existence. Having multiple opportunities to steal gifts from people and cause arguments is always a great time. 

My contribution to the swap: The Winter Warmer Pack. Warming chamomile tea, fuzzy socks, and nips.

I started the game with this heinous clock and figured I was destined to end up with it. I always seem to go home with the crappiest gift. To my surprise, after three decks of cards and some vicious steals, I scored some lottery tickets. Bonus! I won $35. Not the Hot $1,000,000 advertised, but I'll gladly take it.

Sunday was a super lazy day. I stayed at home in sweats, did paperwork, and made a clean-out-the-pantry type soup. I used this recipe from Spatulas on Parade, with a little tweaking. I omitted the taco seasoning and used Weber's Kickin' Chicken seasoning in place of the chipotle rub, and amped up the spice with chili powder and medium instead of mild enchilada sauce. Pretty delicious. I was lazy and didn't take pictures, sorry.

Linking up to Katie's Marvelous in My Monday!

Saturday Shares

I've been sleeping like shit lately and totally needed a boring day to recuperate. Nothing exciting to report: I went to Saturday morning yoga x2 (feels so good to be back, I haven't been since Monday!), did some grocery shopping, ate all day, and got a little paperwork done for work. Normally I hate staying home with nothing to do on a Saturday, but I've been keeping pretty busy lately and have a lot on my mind, so googling new recipes with a Modern Family marathon is a-okay with me.

I wanted to use this post to share some interesting things that I've come across online this week:

I GOT SIX-PACK ABS IN SIX WEEKS. HERE’S HOW I FEEL ONE YEAR LATER. via greatist.com

This was a great article about a fitness experiment that lead to some unpleasant, unexpected results. I think this is hugely relevant to our society today. We are so obsessed with obtaining the "perfect body," but it really just isn't worth the price you pay. Orthorexia and exercise bulimia are definitely on the rise, especially amongst young American women, and the obsession never seems to end. 

Post-workout meals via skinnymom.com

I really struggle to put together a meal that's nutritious and high in protein when I get home after a long day at work followed by a yoga class or two. Definitely need to keep these options in mind. It takes just as much time to pop a bag of popcorn and snack on random goodies from the fridge as it would for me to throw together a much healthier wrap. 

Quinoa and black bean dinner via lowfatveganchef.com

I'm trying to be more versatile in my sources of whole grains. Rice cakes, lavash wraps, and popcorn just aren't sufficient. I need to switch it up and eat actual meals rather than snacking all the time. This recipe sounds really easy and right up my alley. You bet your ass I'm making it extra spicy.

A guide to 10 different types of flour via jillcoyners.com

Super helpful with the holidays approaching and my intentions to experiment with some baked goods.

Modcloth.com

I am seriously in love with their clothes. I lustfully stare at everything I stumble upon through this site and struggle not to make an impulsive purchase. 

For example:

Cozy Time Cardigan - so cute, but not even available on the site anymore :(

Unfortunately, I'm someone who needs to try clothes on before buying because nothing seems to fit right. For now, Modcloth, our relationship remains detached.

Sunday on a Saturday

Unmotivated. 

I was completed unmotivated to do anything today. 

After 700 abs in yoga this morning, I negated all that hard work with eating an entire jar (and a half, let's be honest) of salsa and probably close to an entire bag of blue corn Food Should Taste Good tortilla chips. 

Damn you for being so tasty and addicting!

I did the grocery shopping at BJ's and Stop and Shop, then came home to do absolutely nothing. I think my mind is trying to compensate for my loss of a Sunday since I'm DJing that party tomorrow night from 5pm-11pm. I needed to catch up on my favorite TV shows / TV crushes anyway.

So I figured, why not share some of my favorite fall TV shows at the moment?

What's not to love about New Girl? This show is hilarious awkward, and Buzzfeed is always blowing up with New Girl posts to back my opinion up. 

Case in point: http://www.buzzfeed.com/erinchack/most-relatable-schmidt-quotes

Yes, Schimdt has been my favorite since day 1, but Winston is really coming into his own this season.

Elementary. Who doesn't love a quirky detective with gorgeous eyes? I have to admit, a good part of my love for this show is inspired by my crush on Jonny Lee Miller.

I never thought I'd like Nashville. I wasn't into country music and I wasn't crazy about Hayden Panettiere in a lead role, but I have to say I'm completely changed my opinion. The acting is amazing and now I'm a country music devotee. Go figure. Sam Palladio as Gunnar Scott is the sexy icing on the Nashville cake, I must say:

My lord, he is gorgeous

By far my favorite new comedy this season is Brooklyn Nine Nine. I love Andy Samberg. His sense of humor makes him so attractive. 

Some of my other favorite Fall TV shows include The Mindy Project (I can't get enough of Morgan the nurse, he kills me), Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, American Horror Story, Meet the Goldbergs, and Top Chef. I tend to let shows pile up on my DVR and marathon them over weekends or at night after work and yoga. I always seem to be behind, but that will probably change as the weather gets colder and I go into hibernation mode. 

Turning the clocks back tonight and crying to myself because winter is just around the corner. I'm not ready for a high in the 40s tomorrow.