Weekend Recap + Upcoming Blog Stuff

So... holy crap. What a weekend. 

It is Sunday evening, and I am exhausted. I still have to shower and prep food. I really don't want too so I am delaying the inevitable and writing a blog post instead. Well, this weekend was 100% different than it was supposed to be. Initially I was supposed to be at an outdoor, all weekend concert that I paid a LOT of money for with a girlfriend of mine that I have not seen in a long time. I even had tomorrow scheduled off of work so we could really make the best of it. I am not going to get into it, but it definitely did not turn out that way at all. But you know what, with the curve balls life has been throwing at me in personal life, I have become a champion at plan b, accepting what has happened "it is what it is", and moving on. I could tell you guys all about it, try to make y'all feel sorry for me, and self pitty, but that is not my style. It all ended up working out and I am not taking tomorrow off of work. I have a crazy week coming up so I need to be there. It is going to be awesome, I can't wait. It feels good looking forward to going to work. 

I lost 2 pounds last week - and 3.4 pounds of pure fat mass. I picked up the pieces from a bad week before and pushed on. It felt awesome. Friday after work, I decided to use that as my off day from the gym instead of Saturday. I ran so much Thursday evening that all day Friday my thighs and hips felt like they were going to pop off at any given moment. Thus I spent the evening doing a little shopping; and I would like to say "New York and Company" has become my new obsession. Friends, I think I am turning over a new leaf. After I shopped until I dropped I came home, had dinner, cleaned, and watched stand up comedy on Comedy Central. 

Saturday morning I slept in a bit and then I forced myself to the gym... but I was not happy about it. I was so fatigued; I think mostly due to plans falling apart with the concert and because I was so freaking bloated. So Friday night as I was relaxing and watching TV, I snacked on my favorite sweet potato tortilla chips. I have not had them in forever and when I was grocery shopping I picked up a big since it had been a while. They have this type of seasoning on them that I can't put into words, it's just so delicious! Well it was stupid of me - worst mistake I made all week. Saturday morning I was miserably bloated from the sodium in take. I was dealing with that then when I got to the gym, it was freezing. I hate it when I am working out, sweating, and it's cold. Cold sweat is the worst. I was in a horrible mood at the gym and truth be told, I would have rather been punched in the face than be in there, but I pushed through and got it done. 

After the gym, I took a shower and got ready. I wore my brand new outfit from "New York and Company" - I felt so classy. I like feeling classy more than I do "feeling sexy" so I think your girl here may be revamping my entire wardrobe. I bought the necklace on clearance for $2.99!

After I got ready I met my girlfriend Alexis at the movies finally see "Divergent". It was SO good. I like it better than "The Hunger Games". I can't wait for the others to come and can't wait to get the movie on DVD. After the movie, Alexis and I met her husband at a local bar beside of my apartment for dinner and cocktails. Since it was so warm, I was craving something fruity. I ordered a "Cherry Sparkler" and it was gross. I really need to stick with wine, but I don't like drinking it when it's hot outside. I'm weird like that. Ha!

I slept like a champion last night so late this morning when I woke up, I packed my bag and drove up the mountains to go hiking. I had 11 miles on the agenda and it was an awesome hike. Last weekend I told you guys how I was struggling, and today I bounced back with a vengeance. It was a beautiful and warm day, I had plenty of energy, I ran some hill intervals, pushed hard, and a bird even shit on my arm. Ha! It was an awesome day. 

After I finished I hiking, I drove back to Charlotte and went to New York and Company... again... hehe. Now I am finally home, exhausted, dirty, and need to get my things done so I can veg out to the last part of the Atlanta housewives hot mess reunion, "Total Diva's" and "Revenge."

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** So, at my other full time job (besides Fitness Blondie, ha!) I have a lot going on this week. I have planned a huge event for my entire company at a gorgeous hotel. It has been exhausting and a lot of work, but tons of fun. The event is all day Thursday. Thus I have a ton of last minute meetings, shopping, and other things to do Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday I will be out of town working with the executives at an off-site location. All of that being said, "Fitness Blondie" will be taking a little bit of a backseat. 

** There will be no weekly training and nutrition plan and no hump day blog hop - all of that will be back next week!

** I have teamed up with Quest Nutrition and will be giving away three boxes of their sample pack protein bars to 3 winners! I thought that "sample box" would be perfect to giveaway for you guys so you can try every single flavor they offer. That giveaway will be coming to you soon.

**AND another giveaway of a Polar FT4 heartrate monitor will be coming after that.

Tis the season!

** Lastly, I finally have a "Fitness Blondie" Facebook page. If you enjoy reading my blog, please give it a "like". Click here.

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A Springy, Sunshiney Weekend Recap

It has been an excellent weekend! Friday after work I started my weekend by kicking booty at the gym. I did 45 minutes of cardio and an upper body weight circuit. Afterwards I went back to my apartment to get glam then I met my girlfriend Alexis at "City Tavern" for a cocktail. I opted for a vodka tonic and it was so good - it was my first drink in 3 weeks. I have no real reason as to why I have not been drinking lately, I just haven't. I even went to a wine tasting with my family last weekend and didn't partake! I thoroughly enjoyed my drink though. It was a beautiful evening for a cocktail on their patio. 

After, Alexis and I went to the movies to see "The Other Woman". That movie was SO good! If you have not seen it yet, go grab your girlfriends, and make an evening out of it. I was laughing out loud the entire time. Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann are awesome together; and Kate Upton was super cute. Most of all, I loved the story about friendship. Friendship with my girls means everything to me so I was all about this movie. I can't wait for it to come on DVD. Also since I am a cinema junkie, I have a Regal card. I had a ticket for a free popcorn so Lex and I decided to split one. The cashier "upgraded" my free small popcorn to a large and holy popcorn! I have never seen anything like that! Who could eat that much popcorn?! She and I barely made a dent in it, ha!

Saturday morning I went to the mountains to go hiking. I had 10 miles on the agenda for the day. And guys I have to tell you, it was a hard hike. My body felt kind of tight, achy, and just tired. I only had one small cocktail Friday night so I know it wasn't that. Mentally I was ready to go because I love hiking so much, but my body was not in sync. I hiked up the mountain, sweat pouring off of me - because I was tired, the hike was that much harder. Then, when I was coming down the mountain I kept yawning! I tripped like a million times as well. I have gotten good about hiking over the rocks and not tripping over all of the tree roots, but yesterday I was off of my game. However, I did it! I pushed through the whole time and I did my 10 miles. I always feel amazing when I push myself to keep going, even when I want to stop.

I finally arrived back home at 4 PM. I did some things around the apartment then accidentally fell asleep on the couch for quite a while. When I woke up I was still tired and felt soreness kicking in, so I took a long bubble bath, watched a movie, and went to bed pretty early.

Because I fell asleep early, I woke up around 8:30 this morning. Since it was my rest day from the gym and I had a lot of errands to do, I decided to do my hair, makeup, wear a cute outfit, and make a day out of it!

I met my girlfriend Brooke at "Brixx Wood Fired Pizza" for a bottle of Pinot, pizza, and some girl time. Again, it was another beautiful day so we of course had to sit outside. We ended up talking for hours. My pizza was delicious too - spinach and arugula on whole wheat crust. I love restaurants that offer healthy alternatives! 

Once Brooke and I parted ways I had a ton of places to go. I went to Old Navy to use my Old Navy cash, a local produce stand, GNC, Ulta, Michaels, Target, and Harris Teeter. It felt like one of those days where I ran out of everything! I got it done though!

Now I am waiting for my last bit of food prep to finish in the oven then it's another bubble bath for me and my Sunday night shows. How was your weekend?! Linking up today! 

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A Lovely Easter Weekend Recap

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter weekend, or what is left of it. I know I did! Unfortunately I did not have Friday off like most of my friends did, but I did get to leave work early! I went to my doctor to get my B12 injection and my weight loss this week was 2 pounds. I am thankful for that! Last week my fat mass was down 3 pounds but the scale was up half a pound. I know that is good, but it still irritates me. 

After my doctor's appointment I went to the gym. Holy crap it was one of the best workouts I have had in a long time. I always schedule my leg workouts the day before my rest day. Legs are my favorite to work and I made sure I pushed to the limits. I am still very sore today from it. 

Once I finished I at the gym, I came home to get ready. I went to dinner with one of good friends, Crystal. Since I had a cheat meal earlier this week, I had my last week meal for the week with her. Go big or go home, ha! We went to one of my favorite restaurants, "City Tavern". I had my favorite dinner, their prime rib wheat wrap and we also had dessert, "Banana Foster". We were miserable after eating, ha! After dinner we we went to the movies. We saw the movie "Oculus". I am a horror junkie plus this movie got really good reviews. However I was not a fan. I hated the ending and the story line was hard to follow.

Saturday morning I woke up at 11 AM. I normally never sleep that late but that is what happens when I have those brutal leg workouts. As expected, I couldn't walk, ha. I got ready then took off to Greensboro to spend the night with my mom and grandma. When I got there we went to a wine store to a wine tasting then did some shopping. I found the cutest bag at Target, I love my new purse!

Once we got home, we went outside to enjoy my grandmothers new outdoor room. It is absolutely beautiful and it was the perfect night for it, too. The weather had been awful - very rainy and cold.

My two rocks in this world; my amazing mama and my amazing grandmother.

Also when we got home from shopping, my grandmother showed me her new purse. Can someone please help me figure out who this bag is by so I can purchase one? The bag does not have a label on it so I don't know if anyone will recognize the symbol. I begged my grandmother until I was blue in the face for this bag and she will not let me have it, ha. It matches with her Easter outfit too well. She bought it at a boutique at the beach and has no idea who the bag is by. All I know is, I died when I saw this purse. I want it!

I had a lot of fun, we had a girls night with lots of talking, laughs, and spending time together. Those are my favorite kind of nights - I am so close to my mom and grandmother. Perhaps too close. This morning my grandmother looked absolutely stunning in her new outfit for her Sunday best. Seriously, how gorgeous is she?

She was also excited because her dress makes her have a little booty. She wanted me to take a picture of it, too. She is SO taking after her granddaughter (hehe) and I absolutely love it. If you guys think I am crazy, you should meet the two generations of women above me! They are where I get it from!

I arrived back to Charlotte around 12:30 from Greensboro. I initially planned on driving from Greensboro straight to the mountains to hike, but I bailed on the idea. I did not sleep well last night, my legs are still really sore from Friday, and I forgot a sports bra. The idea of driving 2 1/2 hours to the mountains and being all stiff and sore when I got there, did not sound too great. Plus it rained all freaking weekend. 

I regretted my decision after being home for about 30 minutes. So I thought I would just go to the gym instead. Wrong! My gym was closed. Then I thought about just taking the day off from working out. That did not last long though - I have goals to attain and I am not going to get there by skipping planned workouts. Thus, I improvised. I did a 30 minute full body plyometric workout in my living room then jogged the greenway behind my apartment for 50 minutes. It was an awesome workout. I am so happy I pushed myself to do it, even when I wasn't really feeling it! 

Another great thing how much stamina I now have with running. I am down nearly 47 pounds since 11/25/13 and it is incredible how different I feel. Distance running previously hurt. I had too much weight, and short/big legs. Now that I have lost so much and built so much muscle, I can just run and run and run and run and not stop. That is truly incredible to me. It has been a long time since I have felt this way.

Now I am off to food prep for the week and clean my apartment! The list never ends!

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Weekend Recap: Good Drinks, Good Music, Good Company!

Friday was a long, long day at work. I went to my doctor's office at lunch for my B12 injection and weighed. I lost 1 pound last week. I am thankful it was one pound because I can't lie - I slipped on my eating a little. Because I am losing weight and getting so much stronger, my work outs have become much more intense. It's incredible, but I find myself hungrier. I am going to work on adding a little more fat and protein into my diet to try and cut some of the simple carbohydrates I am constantly craving. My total down since 11/25/13 is now 44.2 pounds. After work, I went to the gym for a leg workout. Because I have been hiking so much, I have not been doing my rigorous leg routines. I was excited for my leg day and I pushed extremely hard. It was probably one of the strongest leg workout's I have ever had. 

After the gym, I came home, got ready - rocked my new sleeveless shirt from Venus and cute wedges for an evening out with my girlfriend Alexis. It was 80 degrees Friday night - so wonderful!

I guess because of Amazon Prime account, Amazon sent me a gift card for a local restaurant called "Tony Sacco's Coal Oven Pizza". I decided to share it with Lex so we had dinner there. We each made our own "personal" pizza's. They were pretty good too. Mine had spinach, mushroom, and feta. That is my idea of a perfect pizza!

After dinner we went to the movies to see "Captain America". I am a Marvel freak so of course I had to see it. The biggest reason? Scarlett Johansson! She is my biggest girl crush ever and I love her as Black Widow. I was excited that Lex and I were seeing it in 3D; I have not went to an actual 3D movie in a long time. However, I have to say, it was totally not worth it. The tickets were $14.50 and honestly there was not much difference than seeing it as a regular movie. We looked fabulous in our glasses though!

Saturday was my rest day from the gym, and I needed it. I have barely been able to walk, ha. It is a great feeling though. I left early to go to Raleigh, NC to say with my sister. It is a 3-hour drive from where I live. When I got my sister's we took off to "Mellow Mushroom" for an outdoor lunch. Once again the weather was absolutely beautiful. We sat outside, enjoyed the sunshine and breeze, and ate mushroom and spinach pita wraps. They were alright, quite bland though.

After lunch we did some lipstick shopping at Ulta, ran a few more errands, and went by a local mall so my sister could get her brows done. She gets them "threaded" or something - I don't know, but it looked so painful. I don't do anything with my brows - I don't tweeze, fill them in, or anything.  And after seeing that, I am glad I don't. I will just let those things be.

Once we finished her torture we went back to her apartment to wait on her boyfriend Dave to get home. We then got cleaned up to go downtown Raleigh, I was feeling especially frisky, ha!

We had dinner at this amazing Mexican restaurant called "Xoco". I absolutely loved the way this restaurant was decorated. It was artsy, unique, and it felt like we were in Mexico eating. When we gave the host our name, he gave me a little baby doll to hold onto. I have NO idea why, but I ran with it. Ha! The food was fresh and not drenched in fattening sauces. I had a passion fruit margarita that also tasted fresh. I have to give that place 4 stars. 

After dinner we went across the street to a jazz bar called "C.Grace". Another awesome place. The atmosphere was intimate but still fun and very alive. Good jazz music can put anyone in a great mood. I had another delicious cocktail - it was gin, cucumber, lemon, lime, and mint. It was naturally sweet too - none of that fake syrup crap that is disgusting. 

I left my sister's around 10:30 this morning and I can't lie, I have been dragging today. I am not hungover or anything, I'm just fatigued and still very sore. Plus the weather is gloomy and chilly. I hate that! Since I have been home I got groceries, cleaned, and now I'm on to do my food prep and laundry. Fun, I know, but it must be done. I have a jam packed week coming up at work and summer is vastly approaching - it's crunch time with clean eating and training! How was your weekend?!

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A Wonderful Weekend with Weight Loss Milestones

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend, at least what is left of it! Mine has been absolutely wonderful. A little slower than what I have had over the past month, but I have cherished it, especially since the weather was better than I thought it would be. Friday morning it was freezing. I was so bummed because I thought the rest of the day would be chilly. I was wrong though, yay! I went to my doctor's office on my lunch hour, received my B12 injection and weighed. I lost 2.4 pounds last week! My new total down since November 25th, 2013 is 40.2 pounds. I finally hit the 40 pound mark, how exciting!

I wanted to train after work, but I was still so sore. I literally stayed sore the entire week. Which is annoying. Thus I ended up taking the evening off. I went home after work to change clothes and freshen up so I could meet my good friend Alexis for dinner and a movie. I loved my look for our outing. I am finally starting to see big changes in my body. Even though I have lost weight every single week since November, it has not really hit me that I am making big changes. I did not realize how much weight I gained in 2013. I thought I was still the same person on the outside, but I wasn't. Anyways, I wore a brand new outfit, I felt so confident. I wore holy jeans, leather boots, and a pink shirt with black mesh sleeves. I felt rough and tough - all I needed was a Harley, ha!

Alexis and I went to one of my favorite neighborhood spots, "City Tavern". I had a vodka tonic while she sipped on Margarita's and we enjoyed the beautiful evening on their patio. The weather turned out to be so nice. We then ordered dinner and I could not believe how delicious my meal was. I knew their food was good, but wow. I had a sirloin, mushroom, and provolone wheat wrap with a side of sweet potato fries. After our fabulous dinner went to the movies to see "Non-stop". That movie was so awesome, but anything with Liam Neeson is. I definitely recommend everyone to go see it!

Saturday morning I woke up still feeling a little sore but I was not going to let that stop me from my new found passion, hiking! I made cake batter protein pancakes with sugar free, high fiber jam, and chopped walnuts so I could fuel up. I will post the recipe soon!

I left at noon to go to the mountains. I started my hike around 1 PM. Though I was tired, I really wanted to keep my heart rate up and push hard. I seriously love being out on the trails, blasting my music, and soaking up the sunshine. I can not believe how good I did especially compared to last week. I got to the top of the mountain 6 minutes faster, did not trip over any rocks, and  pushed myself hard. My motto is to push yourself to the limit and go even further. That definitely happened on my Saturday hike.

I came down the mountain much faster than usual too. After I finished my trail, I even walked another half of a mile on a different trail. I still finished 9 minutes sooner than last weekend. And last week I just walked my normal trail. That is just crazy to me!

Once I finished my hike, I relished in the drive home. I was dead tired. I literally could barely keep my eyes open. I went by the grocery store and came home. I have not been that exhausted in quite some time. I took a steaming hot bath to help my muscles recover, made a tomato and cheese flat bread pizza, and caught up on the new season of "Bates Motel". However around 10 PM, I had a weird burst of energy so I cleaned out and organized my closet and prepped food. Ha, so random.

Today the weather has been so gloomy and raining nonstop. Ugh! I slept in until 10, made breakfast, then did some shopping. You know I love telling you guys about my steals and I have definitely had some good ones lately. I bought a new pair of Asics to hit the hiking trails with and a cute new pair of wedges for Spring. They were buy 1 get 1 half off, I had a 10% off coupon, and $15 in reward points. I bought both pairs of shoes for $68.17! Old Navy has compression pants on clearance. I have never owned a pair of compression pants so being able to purchase cute blue ones for only $15 bucks was amazing. They have pink as well but I had to order those online since the store was sold out. I love the way they make your booty and legs look. Lastly, my Quest Bars. GNC has them buy 3 get 1 free and I had a $10 off coupon. I bought 12 of those bad boys for $15!

After shopping, I went to the gym for cardio and weights. Then I decided to go see the new "Need for Speed" movie - strapped with my favorite snacks.

Now it's time to clean and shower, watch my Sunday night shows - "Total Diva's" is back! It's going to be a dreary, cold few days this week. Ugh. How was your weekend? Linking up!

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