WIAW!

Hello allll! Happy WIAW and Leap Day!

Hope everyone’s having a wonderful week so far! The weekend will be here before we know it

My failed attempt at being a little artsy...hahaha

CHECK OUT THE SNOW! It’s barely snowed once since October which is super rare in New England! Snow day tomorrow anyone?

Anyways! Back to WIAW I’m glad to say that I had a bunch of great eats this week! Here are a few of my faves…

Today, I had my usual breakfast- Oatmeal, protein powder, chia, and raisins!

For my “mid-morning snack” I had a Mountain Mix Cliff Mojo Bar. Today was my first time trying these. Verdict? They’re pretty good! I’d for sure get this again

Lunch! I pack a TON of food and usually only eat half of it. So today I ended up having 1/2 a PB& J (not shown), the strawberry Chobani with granola, some of the carrots, and the grapes! (No Emerald breakfast to go for me today )

The afternoon snack and proof that I am, in fact, an oatmeal addict…Oatmeal round 2! Rolled oats, a little chocolate protein powder, bananas, strawberries, and a few raisins! First time trying this recipe..super yummy! For sure making this again!

(Last night’s) Dinner! Organic spinach ravioli with chicken, asparagus, sun dried tomatoes, and olives! A regular around my house…SO good! Not sure what’s in store for tonight yet!

Happy WIAW eats everyone! & Have a great rest of the week

XOXO,

Caroline

GOALS!

HAPPY TUESDAY! Just one more day until WIAW!

So I lugged myself to the gym today and was completely exhausted. I just knew that my workout would reflect how I felt and was so unmotivated. But, the second I hopped on the treadmill, everything turned around! I felt great. I even cut my pace of my 6 miler by 30sec/mile and did tons of weight training! Whoda thought?!

Anywho, back to my original intent for this post… GOALS!

What started off as a way for me to unwind and stay in shape turned into a way for me to compete with myself and push myself on a daily basis. Ever since I started to take it more seriously, I have began setting more and more goals for myself as a runner. I LOVE the rush I feel every time I get a faster time or tack on more miles and my excitement to pass my previous records keeps me going! With running, I’m turning what used to be impossible into tons of possibilities- yet another reason why I love the sport!

My main goal right now is to run my first half marathon by the end of the summer. A year ago today, this probably would have counted as “impossible” for me but my training and dedication has made this a potential reality. I love long distance running (my weekly long runs are my all time faves!) and I feel like now that my racing career for school is over (to my knowledge at least…) it’s time to move on to my next challenge! I haven’t started any concrete training plans yet but I’m kinda in the process of getting my body ready for that next step. Right now, my weekly workout (roughly) looks like this…

Sunday: Long run (8-10 miles)

Monday: 4-5 miles

Tuesday: 35-45min HIIT workout

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: 5-6 miles

Friday: 34-45min HIIT workout#2 or track workout

Saturday: 4-5 miles easyish

WITH PLENTY OF WEIGHT TRAINING IN BETWEEN

Another of my goals is to get my mile time down to 5:50. I’m just a little ways away, hopefully I can get it down!

That would be my mirror...that would be my motivation

Seeing this sucker everyday keeps me on track! (Like the “Things I otter remember” paper? Saw it in a little shop in Maine and had to have it…for obvious reasons). But, back to the point! This sort of thing is how I manage to motivate myself to achieve my goals! Even the smallest things like glancing at a piece of otter paper hanging on my mirror every morning gives me the drive to push myself a little harder or run a little faster everyday. Seeing my goal right in front of me makes all the difference. It is things like this (along with my training, of course) that will get me to my half marathon and get me to my 5:50 mile!

What are your current goals? & What’s your motivation to achieve these goals?

XOXO,

Caroline

The things that made my Monday a FUNday :)

Hello everyone!

WEEKLY MOTTOS: Don’t over think it & Don’t sweat the small stuff

Aka what I’ll be repeating to myself all week because lately I have been over thinking everything and sweating all of the small stuff making for a stressed & irritable Caroline…

Anywho! I still consider myself new at this so I had a hard time thinking of something really fun or clever to post today! I figured this might work out just as well. “The Random Things That Made My Monday” probably would have been a more accurate title but here we gooo!

1. This text I got from my dad…

Yes, I get these kinds of texts all the time from him. And yes, I think his nerdiness is genetic.

2. These! My mom and I stumbled upon them in the market the other day and I had the  blueberries and creme one for my mid-morning snack… SO good!

 3. The fact that we watched one of my favorite episodes of Grey’s Anatomy in my EMT class today (the ferry crash one, for my fellow Grey’s fans)

4. MY WORKOUT! I went into it totally exhausted and ended up kicking it on my run and upping my weights & reps! On top of that, I feel great!

5. This picture! What is my obsession with “Keep Calm &…” pictures? Couldn’t tell ya. But I <3 eating so I <3 this.

What’s your goal/motto for this week? Do you ever have a hard time thinking of things to post? What made YOUR Monday a Funday?

XOXO

Caroline

Protein Galore

Helllooo hellooo!

My day was pretty uneventful so I’ll keep this short & sweet!

Check out what I got today! May have gone a little overboard at the [3] grocery stores I hit today (especially since I probably have triple this at home already..) but hey, you can never have too many protein bars!

And mannnn are these all DELISH!

I may or may not have take 5 free “samples” of the white chocolate macadamia mini lunas that my gym had out today also… added those suckers to the collection.

What are your favorite protein bars?

PS.

Everyone be sure to wish one of my best friends in the entire world the best of luck in her race tomorrow!! Lily from eatingforexcellence will be running the 2 mile in the all state meet!  She’s an awesome runner (and has a pretty amazing blog as well…you should definitely check it out if you haven’t already!) and I’m sure she’ll kick @$$ (as always) Love you, lil!! GOOD LUCK!! 

XOXO

Caroline

FAT Food?

Happy Weekend Everyone!!

I’ve got a great rant to let out for you guys!

So the other day, I was forced (not really, I offered to drive but forced makes the story much more interesting) to drive a few of my friends to Taco Bell for a late night snack meal. Normally I don’t mind or think about it but as I watched them scarf down their tacos (and God knows what else was in that $5 box…) it made me start to wonder. They have NO clue what they’re really putting into their bodies. How fresh are the veggies or meat? What’s REALLY in that mystery sauce?  What kind of chemicals have been used throughout these ingredients?

Now, I can’t say that I’ve never had fast food, so I’m just as much to blame as them. But it made me realize the whole new perspective that I have on food now that I make an effort to stay conscious of what I fuel my body with.

Of course, being the nerd that I am, I Googled the nutrition facts of what they were eating…here’s what I found..

Holy sodium, holy fat, and holy calories.  

Now, I’m not one to typically obsess over calories but let’s face it…we all know these aren’t the good calories we’d find in almonds or yogurt…

Anyways, there’s my rant for the day!

On a happier note, have a wonderful weekend everyone! And best of luck on your HEALTHY eats!!

What are your thoughts on Fast Food? Do you have the same obsession with knowing exactly what’s in your food like I do? 

XOXO

Caroline

A Few of my Favorite Things! (at the moment)

Happy Thursday everyone! 

FIRST…check out the breakfast I had today! Clearly I was craving strawberries… Whole wheat bagel thin, organic crunchy peanut butter, strawberries, & chia seeds on top! Yum yum yum.

Anywho! I got inspiration for this post from one of my favorite blogs, Julianna Bananna :)

Here are some of my [current] favorite things! 

Vanilla Almond Luna Bars

Eos Chapstick

Horizon Organic 1% Chocolate Milk

CUPCAKE WARS! One of my favorite/most addictive shows right now!

CH-CH-CH-CHIA SEEDS!

LOVE GROWN FOODS!

Check them out!!! They’re AMAZING!

PS. I’m so happy to say that I haven’t had any sweets or junk food and haven’t even glanced at my phone while driving! YAY LENT! Let’s hope I can keep this up

What are some of your favorite things right now? & How’s Lent holding up for you? 

XOXO

Caroline

WIAW (so far..) & Lent!

Happy WIAW! (AND first day of Lent!!)

This morning after sleeping in a little ( ) I had a yummy pre-run snack of a banana and a mini Nutz Over Chocolate baby Luna bar (not shown). Then I ran a new 5.5 mile route that I stumbled upon over the weekend. Went pretty well but holy hills were some of the (many) hills steep! These views for sure made up for them though..

Such a pretty run!

Anywho, back to the eats! After my run, I sped home to my most recent favorite breakfast… my delicious oatmeal! I’m a notorious oatmeal-aholic and could literally eat this every meal of everyday!

MMMM just looking at it makes me excited for tomorrow's breakfast!

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup water

1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp brown sugar

Raisins!

Super easy and so yummy!! And the fact that I microwave the oats & water makes it that much easier (hehe).

Then, I snacked on some Back To Nature Vanilla Almond Agave granola. SO GOOD! I found this on my Whole Foods trip the other day and highly recommend it. I’m not a huge fan of really overwhelming flavors so the hint of vanilla & agave in this really hits the spot.

After running a few errands, I came home and wasn’t that hungry (the oatmeal keeps me full & energized for so long!) but I had some Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt spinach & kale greek yogurt dip with some crackers. If you haven’t had this, TRY IT. It is truly amazing!!

 And that’s my WIAW so far! Not quite sure what’s in store for dinner so that didn’t make today’s post! Unfortunately my day won’t be topped off with a yummy dessert since today is the first day of Lent! I’m usually really bad about sticking to my Lent plans but this year I’m giving up sweets & junk (a little vague, I know..but bye bye girl scout cookies, you will be missed!) along with using my phone while driving! Not only is it illegal (or should I say strongly frowned upon?) but it’s a really bad habit- hopefully giving it up will help me kick it for good! And I’m even more hopeful that I can make it all 40 days!

Do you participate in Lent? And what are you giving up (if anything)? 

XOXO

Caroline

To New Experiences

Helllloooo!

I had a late night last night so I didn’t get up quite as early as I would have liked But on the bright side, I went to the gym and had a great workout on the treadmill today! A workout that is no stranger to my weekly schedule…

1 mile warm up- 9min pace

4 miles- 8min pace w/ 2min pickupsX 4 (6:30 pace)

1 mile cooldown- 9min pace

Not too hard, not too easy. I then topped my workout off with some weight training (which I’m just starting to get back into!) I felt a little sluggish but managed to push through and felt great afterward! So great in fact that I decided to treat myself with a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee (YUM).

When I got home, I had my FAVORITE breakfast (Power Oatmeal) and caught up on some shows on my DVR All and all I had a pretty good day so far.

Yesterday!:

Yesterday, a few friends and I went on a much needed trip to Whole Foods! I got some great snacks and such… keep on the lookout for a future post on those! After, a friend of mine introduced us to Orange Leaf and I completely fell in love! I don’t know if any of you have ever heard of it, but they sell self serve frozen yogurt and let me tell you..it is DELICIOUS. I had a nice mixture of coffee, red velvet, and peanut butter covered in fruits and nuts (AKA treat #1)

 Later that night we went to a mexican restaurant near us called Agave. I don’t think it’s  a chain, but it was delicious! We all shared some nachos (slip/treat #2) then my friend and I split a chicken and veggie quesadilla. Probably wasn’t the healthiest option on the menu but hey, it’s vacation…let’s live a little, right? Right. We then topped off the night by going to an adorable cafe down the street where I sipped yummy green tea and chatted with some friends for a while! Look at the presentation this place has! My mind was blown…

Yesterday I was introduced to so many new things and loved every second of it! Which brings me to my question for you guys. I’m thinking of running  my first half marathon soon and am wondering what you guys think. I want to but am a little hesitant because I’ve never done something like this before and don’t know if I should do it alone or with a friend, this spring or this fall, or even if I should do it at all! Ideas?

XOXO,

Caroline

Hello Hello!

Hi, everyone!

I’ve been an avid reader of health, nutrition, and fitness blogs for a while now and have been inspired to create my own! I have a love for running and a passion for food and would love to share my experiences with all who would like to listen!

I guess I’ll start by telling you all a little about myself. My name is Caroline and I’m finishing up my senior year in high school (a baby health-nut, I know!). I’ve spent my entire high school career running cross country and track and have been running for about 5 years now. I can’t say that I’ve always taken it seriously, though. My relationship with running has definitely had its ups & downs. It hasn’t been until recently (and not-so-conveniently as soon as I completed my last season of track) that I have began to take crack down on my running. I’m feeling like this time it’s here to stay… and that makes me happy! My running is at a personal high and my hard work is beginning to pay off. Do I wish I could pump out another track season? After 4 years of complaining about practices and meets, I’ll admit it… I miss it and almost wish another season was approaching. But, a part of me also loves running on my own time and at my pace.

But, my life isn’t all running! I am also a crazed foodie and a total yogi. With my reestablished love for running came a passion for food and nutrition. And one of my most valued routines is making time to hit my mat. Each run and yoga practice is proof to me that what I put in my body really does influence the output. I’m becoming much more conscious about what I eat and how I nourish my body. I’m actually really lucky and come from a household and a family focused on good food. The bulk of our grocery list has always been fruits, veggies, and lean meats which definitely led me to making the best and healthiest choices as I grew up (most of the time). But, I’m not trying to make it seem like all I eat is health food- I’m completely guilty of slipping! Probably more often than I’m willing to admit (I have a raging sweet tooth and am proud of it!). And the unfortunate periods of my life where I loved fast foods (I could have lived off of McDonalds’ fries if I could) are not my proudest.

But that’s what makes this work. I’m human. I make mistakes. I’ve skipped my workouts, I slip and eat junk..but I also run hard, relax often, and am working to keep my workouts, diet, and life on track. And I would love to be able to share what I learn and experience with whoever would like to listen!

Hope you enjoy!

XOXO,

Caroline