A Day of Meals; Round 2

I thought I might call this post "What I Ate Wednesday" until I realized I already did a post like this called "A Day of Meals" in which I mini ranted about eating what makes you feel good and not conforming to diets.

This time my post was catalyzed by an influenster VoxBox I received... since I didn't think I could write a whole post on thinly sliced low calorie cheeses. I had planned on doing another post like this way back in February anyway, but I just plain kept forgetting to take pictures of what I ate. This week, I totally remembed, and - I have to say - I'm a little pleased with myself.

Breakfast @ 7:00am
Sourdough toast, an egg, and a slice of Sargento Ultra Thin Pepper Jack cheese. I always worry that I overdo it on cheese, but with this, it's just one slice, 40 calories, bam. done.
Pumpkin Spice Almond Milk Latte - 1/2 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, 2 oz espresso, and 1 tsp pumpkin spice syrup

Morning Snack @ 9:45am
Chobani Nonfat Strawberry Greek Yogurt

Solo Staycation

I planned it for months. As the weather warmed up through February and March, and I got out of my car every morning in Malibu, I longed for beach house lunches and late afternoons on the sand.

This was the first year in a long time that I didn't have something planned for the foreseeable future. No parent sponsored trip across the Atlantic, no long weekend in Portland with my sister, no talk of Hawaii in September. 

Tax season loomed and I struggled through the burn out of longer work days, teaching more yoga classes, fitting in my own exercise schedule, and not blowing off everyone I love. Thinking about the day to day sent me searching for my zen place - slow methodical breathing and a little mantra repetition. 

So, I planned some time off. 

A week, if you want to get all picky about it. The week after Easter... because it was the week after April 15th.

Seven Days of Yoga; Week 16

This week was kinda lame. I ended with a brutal migraine on Monday and all weekend I was at my inlaws and couldn't really get away to get in a workout, but when I did workout, it was good.

Wednesday (P90X Day 35) was my rest day. I taught in the morning, did a lot of core and squats and dancing around with my ladies, and then taught again in the evening and did nothing. I didn't demo a single thing. I just walked around and told everyone what to do. Then I came home and ate all the vegetables in the house.

Thursday (P90X Day 36) kind of got away from me. I only had one student in my yoga class that afternoon, so I decided to do most of the practice right along side her. It was a really great little private session. I think we both got a pretty good workout, although I maintain it is way more challenging to talk through a yoga practice than to just do it. Ha. By the time I got Panda and headed back home, it was dinner time and hubs was already home from the gym, so I just made some spaghetti squash and called it a night. I figured even though I didn't do the P90X workout, I still worked out that day. Good enough for me.

Friday (P90X Day 37) I did plyometrics after a lovely lunch with an old friend. Since I had the afternoon off work, I got to workout whenever I felt like it and finished pretty early, which was awesome.

Saturday we drove to San Diego to visit the inlaws, and Sunday we drove back. At least I didn't totally overeat this weekend. I am giving myself so many points for not devouring all the snacks like I usually do.

Monday I went on a hike with my big sis. It was 5 miles and uphill the entire first half. There was no shade, so we were happy we wore sunscreen, but the first half of the hike was pretty brutal.
I ended up getting a migraine that night, so even though I planned on jumping back into P90X, I just was not able to work out any more that day.

and Tuesday I was still in recovery. I spent about half the day on the couch. Hooray for taking the week off work, right?

Lame week, I know. Oh well. I'll have to kick it into high gear this week. ;)

My Freedom From Tax Returns Fix

I'm on staycation this week. Have I mentioned that? I'm in town - living it up in luxury, spending time with people I love, doing things that make me happy... all. week. long.

I scheduled myself a Stitch Fix specifically to arrive the Monday after tax season - before I'd even planned this week. It would be my gift to myself -  a surprise box of joy to arrive on my doorstep the morning after we got back from spending Easter with my inlaws.

It actually ended up arriving on the Friday before Easter, which was lucky because I'd already checked the website and seen the written descriptions of what was coming. I was dying to see it and try it all on.

Kitchen Adventures; Alyssa's Favorite Cheesecake

 When I was in elementary school, my big sister and I contributed to the Chaparral Elementary School cookbook to fundraiser. We compiled this book of recipes and sold copies to raise money.

Big sis chose her all time favorite brownie recipe, and I, well, I was a bit of a cheesecake fiend, so my mom put this recipe in on my behalf.

Which I decided to contribute to Easter at the inlaws this year.