Gettin' on schedule

Hello there! Long time, no blog. BUT I've been super busy. I moved back to school, classes started, I'm actually working at my new job and not training anymore. I know, excuses, excuses. I'm sucking at my own resolution just like the damn resoultioners at the gym that I have such ire towards (speaking of, the gym at school is super crowded right now and I'm not okay with it). SO in order to not be one of those people, I'm back and ready for action. I've decided the best way for me to stay motivated is to make a little blogging schedule for myself (it would also be cool if I had a readership, but I suppose that comes with time and effort). I'm going to try and stick to a different theme each day (a la Daily Grace when she was Daily Grace, only probably not as funny and amazing, I'm going to try), and here's what I'm thinking:

Monday: Miscellaneous! I feel like the at start of the week I won't want to feel constrained to a certain topic (I don't want the man holding me down on my blog every day). Also (and more importantly), I like alliteration so Miscellaneous Monday it is.
Tuesday: Cool recipe/new workout day! I'll share any recipes or workouts I've discovered lately that I think are worth mentioning.
Wednesday: What I Ate Wednesday! This is a thing bloggers do, right?
Thursday: Real talk day! I'm probably just going to ramble about my anxiety. I already see a therapist, but why not consult the Internet as well.
Friday: OOTW and more random musings! I'll share my outfits of the week (prepare for mirror pics), and then just chat it up with y'all about whatever.
Saturday/Sunday: Long run recaps! I usually do my long run on Saturday or Sunday depending on my work schedule and weekend plans, so I'll share with you all how it went and how my weekend is going. On the day I don't have my long run, I'm going to take a rest day (this is a healthy living-ish blog, so I can call my off-day a rest day, right?)

Of course, I'll probably share with you my daily workouts and interesting meals whenever I feel like it, but I think these themes will keep my blog interesting, and help me when finding out what direction I want to head in with my blog post.

Right now, I'm at my parents' house. We had Sunday dinner of homemade chicken pot pie, which was absolutely scrumptious.

 I feel like this is the epitome of a home-cooked Sunday meal.

I also ate some berries and watermelon a little later. I never get that when I go grocery shopping (because I'm cheap and buy frozen berries), so it was a nice treat!

Looks like summer, I'm going to pretend we're not getting 2 feet of snow on Tuesday.

Finally, I weighed myself for the first time in a couple weeks. I've been keeping up with my calories on My Fitness Pal, and my goal is set to gaining 0.5 pounds a week. Most days, I don't hit my suggested calories because it still freaks me out to be eating so much. But I doing better, and apparently I'm doing something right because I'm up to 127, and I have three more to go until I reach my goal. In some ways I'm proud of myself for actually doing this, but I can't deny the fact that it is weird to want to gain weight. I feel like society tells me I need to be skinny, skinny, skinny, and even though I know 1. I'm still skinny and 2. this is to be healthy, it's still weird for me. I also worry that I will keep gaining even once I hit the 130. Obviously, as long as I set my goal to maintain instead of gain on My Fitness Pal I'll be fine, but I can't help this weird anxiety.

Well, on that note, I'm heading off to bed! I have my internship bright and early tomorrow morning, and don't want to be completely reliant on coffee to get me through (I mean, of course I'll be someone reliant. I'm very much addicted to that sweet, sweet caffeine).

Please give me any feedback on my new schedule, and let me know if you've had any experience having to gain weight!

Kulie Julie

Yoga pancakes

Hi friends! What have you guys been up to? I've been sort of absent this week because I've been super busy with my new job (I just started as a host at a local restaurant, sadly my blissful days of being unemployed are behind me, until retirement, that is) and asking people to take surveys about their attitudes towards climate change at the bus/train station near my school (it's for my research assistant-type job at school, yes, I'm that annoying person asking you to take a "quick three minute survey," I apologize). I've been keeping up with my workouts (and the cold weather/weird schedule has kept me on the treadmill at the gym with the resolutioners), but obviously not so much with this blog.

Today was yoga day. I went to my typical hot, power yoga studio to sweat, stretch, and strengthen. It was crowded AF today. Usually 9 am classes are pretty empty because most people have to work then. Once again, I'm going to blame the full class on the resolutioners. I also brought my friends Elizabeth and Allee with me because they wanted to try  hot yoga. I was really worried they wouldn't enjoy it, though they both are active and do pilates pretty often (which this studio definitely incorporates a lot of). My anxiety about them not enjoying it definitely took me out of the moment occasionally, and I did not feel as connected to my breath/body as I usually do. The worrying was so unnecessary, once we were in class there is nothing I could have done to change their experience. Still. I had a good time, and apparently Elizabeth and Allee did too because they said they really liked the class and planned on coming back! All that worrying for nothing.

Once I got back, it was time for breakfast. As an avid healthy living blog reader, I see recipes for protein pancakes everywhere. I've been meaning to try making some for quite a while now, and I finally had the time and motivation to whip them up today. I feel like a lot of the recipes I've seen online are overly complicated. I used a very simple recipe from Sarah Fit's (my favorite fitness blogger/YouTuber) book Get Skinny Again. I doubled the recipe because the one in the book was only 145 calories, and used one whole egg instead of egg whites (I would post the whole recipe but, like, I think it might be copywritten? Not trying to plagiarize). I also added some cinnamon into the batter because cinnamon is awesome. As far as the results...they were great!

Do you think they have protein pancakes at IHOP?

I couldn't resist satisfying my addiction, and I topped the pancakes peanut butter. I also sprinkled on a little bit of cinnamon as some sort of garnish (I watch too much Food Network, I'm trying to get points for presentation). The two ingredients I plan to add to the batter next time I make these babies are a splash of vanilla and a packet of stevia. Overall, they were really quite delicious. Obviously, they're not light, fluffy buttermilk pancakes you'd find at a diner. They were much more dense, but still pretty soft. They definitely were not dry, which was what I was most worried about. They're also quite filling. I'm always hungry, and I felt satisfied after finishing my plate. This recipe passed the initial test, and I'll report back with how my little tweaks affect the flavor.

So my questions for you lovely readers are: do you ever get anxious bringing your friends to a fitness class you love? Does it affect your workout at all? Also, what are some protein pancake recipes you enjoy? Do you have any ideas for toppings that I should try?

In true yoga spirit, Namaste peepz.

Kulie Julie

Rest day guilt

This speaks to me.

Ah yes, rest day. I've turned Mondays into my new rest days because Mondays are going to be my busiest days during the semester and I won't have time to work out. However, every rest day I find myself feeling a little...guilty for not working out, which is so stupid. Anxiety, man. So I figured as I sip on my Morning coffee, I'd chat with you guys a little about this weird rest day guilt.

Ready for some crazy-eyed coffee chattin'

I work out 6 days a week. I deserve a rest day. My body literally needs a rest day. Yet I can't help feeling like I should work out. At least, like, do a Blogilates ab video or something. The normal, rational side of my brain is saying "you should not work out today, it's a rest day, your muscles are in need of rest." Yet the annoying, anxious side of my brain is telling me "you're lazy, at least do some yoga or something, it's not like you're eating any less today than you are when you work out." Oh, food. That is probably a part of it too. I know I need to gain 10 pounds, but for some reason on rest days I feel bad that I eat pretty much the same amount of food as if it was a work out day. Why do I care?! I eat pretty healthy, and just because I'm not working out today doesn't mean my body doesn't need fuel. I'm burning calories just from sitting at the table, typing these words (woah, meta), and, like, breathing. Not to mention, fueling my body today means that my workout will be better tomorrow. 

Perhaps part of the reason why I'm feeling exceptionally guilty today (as in, guilty enough to write a little blog post about it) is because it's my mom's birthday (happy birthday Momita!). We're going out for Mexican food tonight and then having cake when we get home, neither of which I would consider healthy (especially because my parents are paying, which means I'm prooooobably gonna get a margarita). I know I'm going to be feeling guilty for eating so much when I did not work out.

I should probz look at rest day like this.

It's almost harder for me to force myself to not work out. However, I am not going to let myself work out. I refuse to roll out my yoga mat for an ab video. My muscles need to recover, and I need to be less crazy. Maybe once school starts up again and I have more things to distract me on Mondays (like I said, they're going to be my busiest days), I'll feel less guilty. From a quick Google search of "rest day guilt," I know I'm not the only one who feels like this, but that doesn't stop me from feeling annoyed about feeling guilty (I just have a lot of feelings).

Me.

Does anyone else get rest day guilt? What are some coping strategies you use to deal with it? Let me know in the comments!

Kulie Julie