The Sometimes Healthy Living Blog

WIAW: I Got a Schedule, Yo!

9 October, 2013 7:32 am \ by Jamie

I have an “autumn resolution:” stick to a schedule.

I’m an early riser – up with the dog at 6 AM and on-the-go from there. However, despite my best efforts, I rarely stick to the schedule that I have planned in my head. Inevitably, I’ll get carried away in writing way too many words in a blog post or scribbling way too many notes on the latest chapter in my NASM Personal Training Course. I also tend to underestimate the amount of time it takes to get from Point A to Point B (which around these parts “in the sticks” is never less than 20 minutes). Oh, and I have no idea how Rachael Ray coined the whole “30 Minute Meals” deal, because I’ve never actually cooked a meal that takes less than 30 minutes.

When I first moved to NYC and was working at a giant PR firm, I had a bit of trouble balancing all my client priorities throughout the day. So, on yet another midnight fiasco at the office, I made a resolve to never leave the office without plotting out my exact schedule for the day, from meetings to client work, meals, errands and even touchbases with my friends from home. And, there were no fancy-schmancy planners for this girl. Nope, I simply used some computer paper, some markers and taped it up next to my computer. I did the same for any weekly and monthly tasks as well.

Worked like a charm.

So, as I cram like a madwoman for my NASM test, while also trying to balance some other important commitments, I’ve decided to implement this “sophisticated” scheduling methodology again.

As you can see, there’s not much slotted in the master schedule for my blog post, so I think it’s best that we hop into yesterday’s eats for What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW), don’t you?

Once again, I was up at 6 AM to feed the pup yesterday morning. Before settling in for an hour of study time, I created this autumn-centric breakfast:

Baked apple n’ honey, leftover sweet potatoes (from Monday’s dinner) and greek yogurt, topped with dried fruit, pumpkin seeds and pumpkin pie spice. It checked off the box in many food groups and left me full, happy and ready to learn about “Energetic Metabolism and Bioenergetics.”

Continue Reading →

Posted in: WIAW \ Tagged: Acorn Squash, Anniversary Gifts, Baked Apple, Clif Kid Z Bar, Cobblestone Muffin, Cooking Light Recipe, Halloween Trail Mix, ice cream, M&M's, Panera, Pumpkin Seed, Spiced Apple Pork, Sweet Potatoes, What I Ate Wednesday, Wheatberry Salad, WIAW

5 Workouts You Can Do Anywhere

7 October, 2013 10:08 am \ by Jamie

As I type this post to you my arms/abs are still a bit sore from a new workout I tried at my gym on Saturday! I don’t know about you, but I love this feeling! It’s a surefire indicator to me that the new workout challenged my body, and I know that it means I am building muscle. More on this new class later in the post.

Workin it at AGX!

The workout inspired me to share my 5 go-to workouts that you can do anywhere (well, almost anywhere). Most of my friends have children, so whenever I create a workout, I’m constantly thinking about whether or not one of them would be able to do the workout while their child is at school or napping. I know that the busier life gets, the easier it is to let go of our workouts. But the bottom line is, all of us most likely have 20 to 30 minutes to spare a day. It’s just a question of motivating ourselves to get off the couch and do it.

Yesterday, at our Girls on the Run event (where we raised tons of money for the organization!), I was talking to one of the mothers who actually competes in Ironmans on a regular basis. She said that she has gotten herself into the habit of doing workouts while her 3-year-old watches tv. It was hard at first, but once that became her routine, she didn’t even think twice.

Guest Bartending for Girls on the Run…we raised a whole lotta money for a good cause!

With a little bit of planning, you should be able to fit any of these workouts into your schedule.

RUNNING

Calories Burned: Approx. 590 per hour*

Equipment Required: Treadmill, track or simply you neighborhood sidewalk Continue Reading →

Posted in: workouts \ Tagged: Circuit Training, Functional Training, On-the-Go Workouts, Printable Workouts, Rowing, running, Tabata, Total Body Workouts

Glam Up Your Tailgate and Countrify Your Workout

4 October, 2013 11:14 am \ by Jamie

I have been looking forward to today’s post all week.

Today, I’m going back to my roots with two of this Nebraska Girl’s favorite pastimes: Football and Country Music.

I’ve spoken at length of my love for country music on the blog, and I’m pleased that it seems to be garnering even more fans in the general population these days. Well, if you like to listen to it in the car with the windows rolled down, you’ll love to blast it during the workout that I’m going to share with you at the end of this post.

But first, the food.

Truth be told, I’m not actually the biggest football fan (shhhh….don’t tell my Nebraska Cornhusker-loving friends), but I sure do love a good tailgate, as mentioned here. In my 4 years at Northwestern I attended 1 football game and too many tailgates to count. What can I say? I’m a sucker for cheap keg beer, fried food and parties.

You can take the girl out of Nebraska… Continue Reading →

Posted in: Recipes, workouts \ Tagged: 1 song workouts, 2 Ingredient Baking, 2 Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Muffins, Baked Brie, Fancy Tailgate Food, full body workouts, Pumpkin Spice Muffins, Tailgates

WIAW: Celebrating Fall Flavors

2 October, 2013 7:23 am \ by Jamie

I think we are all in agreement here that somewhere in between Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Apple Cider Donuts, fall has officially taken the place of Christmas as “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

Cookies, egg nog and the infamous Christmas ham are fun and all, but really, no season packs in the delicious flavors like fall. There is a reason that we rejoice in the September release of the Pumpkin Spice Latte…it signifies that fall and all of its glorious flavors are coming! Thank you Starbucks for giving us permission to indulge in fall flavors before fall actually starts.

Yesterday was the first day of October and though it did hit 80 degrees late in the afternoon, most of the day was full of that cool, crisp fall air that we know and love. The fact that the season was officially in full swing inspired me, and I decided to try to incorporate my favorite fall flavors as much as possible. So, today’s “What I Ate Wednesday” is a celebration of the NEW most wonderful time of the year! (according to me and potentially only me)

NASM studying has been at the forefront of my mind nearly every day, and since I didn’t fit much studying into Monday, I woke up bright and early yesterday morning to take advantage of the quiet time and engross myself in the muscular system.

Coffee was a must, and per usual, I poured in an extra large amount of pumpkin spice creamer. After about an hour of studying, I took a break to make breakfast with one of fall’s brightest stars: butternut squash.

Yes, you CAN have squash for breakfast

To make this breakfast, I simply boiled half of a butternut squash (cubed) and then mashed it up with brown sugar, honey and cinnamon. I then diced up some apples (still have some left from apple picking weeks ago!) and plopped on a healthy portion of peanut butter. Continue Reading →

Posted in: WIAW \ Tagged: 2 Alices, 2 Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes, Butternut Squash, Chili, Chipotle Turkey Chili, Cinnamon Roll, Cupcakes in a Jar, Easy Pumpkin Soup, Fall Flavors, Iowa Girl Eats, Pumpkin Cupcakes, Pumpkin Glaze, Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Spice Latte, Starburst Candy Corn, What I Ate Wednesday, WIAW

Sometimes Healthy Kitchen Staples

30 September, 2013 11:53 am \ by Jamie

When I first moved to the country from the city, every grocery shopping experience was an exciting adventure.

Finally, I was in stores with room in the aisles to roam around, and I didn’t need to go to 8 different stores to find everything on my list (as I had done in the city).

But, eventually the shiny new experience of shopping at a suburban grocery store wore off just a bit, and then was when I noticed I had a problem…a food shopping problem. Yep, some women spend their hard-earned dough on shoes and purses, but not me. I spend mine on Goldfish and coffee creamers.

To curb my “addiction,” I try to hit up the grocery store with a list and stick to it. The problems arise when I decide to make something for dinner and notice that I don’t have all the ingredients. This gives me another excuse to go to the grocery store, and while there, I usually do a great job of convincing myself there are a couple of extra items that I need.

There are certain items, however, that I allow myself to purchase at any time. These are my kitchen staples, and since each product generally gets a lot of usage, it never feel like a waste when I purchase them.

You never know what you’re going to find in a Sometimes Healthy Kitchen, but I guarantee you each of these items will be there.

Continue Reading →

Posted in: Healthy Living Tips, tips \ Tagged: 2 Ingredient Pumpkin Cupcakes, Acorn Squash, Almond Milk, Almond Milk Cream Sauces, Ancient Harvest Quinoa, Avocado Quinoa Pancakes, Avocado Smoothies, Avocados, Baking with Greek Yogurt, Butternut Squash, Butternut Squash Fries, Cheese Wedge, chobani, Coffee-Mate, Cooking with Laughing Cow, Creamer, fage, Fiber One 80 Calorie Wraps, Girl Scout Cookies, Goldfish, Goldfish Trail Mix, greek yogurt, Greek Yogurt Dip, International Delight, Kitchen Staples, Laughing Cow, Miracle Whip, OOIAJ, Overnight Oats in a Jar, Pepperidge Farm, pumpkin, Pumpkin Brownies, Pumpkin Soup, Quinoa, Quinoa Muffins, Quinoa Pancakes, Silk Almond Milk, spaghetti squash, squash, Summer Squash, Sweet Potato, Thin Mint

Double Dark Chocolate Avocado Cookies and a Sometimes Healthy Workout

27 September, 2013 8:45 am \ by Jamie

There is nothing a healthy living blogger enjoys more than substitution. We’re always in search of the next “big thing” in the world of healthy cooking substitutions. Sometimes, I actually wake up in the middle of the night with wacky ideas of potential food replacements for my next recipe.

So, when I saw this infographic on Pinterest a few days ago, the mad cooking scientist in me literally giggled with glee:

Source: Greatist

Not only does this handy-dandy substitution cheat sheet provide an exhaustive list of options, but also it tells you what recipes to use the replacements foods in and how they will help improve the health factor of your sweet treats.

Since I’m always on the hunt for these types of things, I was pretty familiar with most of them, but my eyes zeroed in on one: avocados. I’ve written about my love for avocados before and have never been afraid to experiment with them. But replace butter with avocados…in a sweet dish. Now, that’s just crazy right?

Let me get this straight…you want me to add this to my cookie?

Continue Reading →

Posted in: Recipes, workouts \ Tagged: Avocado, Baking Substitutions, Dark Chocolate, greek yogurt, Healthified Cookies, Healthy Cookies, kickboxing, Printable Workouts, Sometimes Healthy

WIAW: A Day in the Life of a Sometimes Healthy Girl Part 3

25 September, 2013 6:40 am \ by Jamie

Am I the only person that struggles with writing an opener every single time I sit down to type a post? I know that blogging is supposed to be more casual, but as a (former) trained writer, my brain is trained to put a lot of emphasis into the whole “intro/conclusion” thing.

Here are my typical “go-to’s”:

Happy Monday, Happy Wednesday, Happy Friday (yes, these are the only days I post…in case ya hadn’t noticed)
Weather Talk (in all fairness, fall is my favorite time of the year, so it seems natural to start that way…)
“Hello From ______ (fill in the blank with wherever I am at the moment)

I usually belabor the opening sentence for a good 30 minutes, and yet, it always ends up being one of the above. Since blogging is supposed to be “conversational,” maybe I should create you all the way I normally greet my friends, with an exceedingly large, loud and drawn out “Helllloooooo,” just to ensure my presence is known. The BF can tell you all about it. He gets it every time I enter our house and just LOVES it.

So, there you have it, a 180 word look into the over-analytical brain of a Sometimes Healthy Girl. But, you didn’t come here to read about my rambling thoughts. It’s “What I Ate Wednesday” (WIAW), and you’re here to check out my eats from the previous day. Tuesday was a bit hectic, so there were a few Sometimes Healthy Snacks on-to-go, plus a dinner full of veggie substitutions and finally a drool-worthy dessert.

You may be wondering how my life is so hectic…considering the whole job thing. I always enjoy reading blogger day-in-the-lifes (and have written some of my own in the past), so for your reading pleasure, here is WIAW: Day in the Life of Sometimes Healthy Girl

5:30 AM: Wake up for no reason at all, so get up to quickly use the restroom.

Dog notices that I am up and decided to take advantage of my early potty break by whining until I let him out for a potty break of his own. Feed him and can’t get back to bed.

6:00 AM: Brew up a cup of coffee and use up the last of my Girl Scout Cookies Coffee-Mate creamer. Feel an unreasonable pang of sadness as I throw away the bottle. Consider mixing some water with the last drop to make it last longer.

Say it ‘aint so!

I noticed it was no longer in the grocery store last time I checked so that means just a week after I discovered this “special edition” creamer, it appears to be off the shelves. How did I miss the boat on this amazing creation? Our time together was short, but oh so sweet. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to drown my sorrows in their seasonal Pumpkin Spice flavor. Continue Reading →

Posted in: WIAW \ Tagged: Blue Diamond Almonds, Coconut Milk, Coffee-Mate, Creamer, Crockpot Recipes, Food Substitutions, Girls on the Run, Iowa Girl Eats, Kale, NASM, Nestle Coffee-Mate, Personal Training Certification, Pop-Tarts, spaghetti squash, What I Ate Wednesday, WIAW

Six Sometimes Healthy Snacks-on-the-Go

23 September, 2013 9:08 am \ by Sometimes Healthy Girl

In the spirit of healthy starts on the glorious fall Monday, I’m going to share with you some of my favorite healthy snacks. Let’s kick off the week on the right foot!

I’ve mentioned before on this blog that I’m a huge snacker. They sometimes replace my meals, so it’s important for me to get a lot of nutrition from my snacks. In general, most of my snacks will have 250 calories and contain at least one important dietary requirement, like protein or fiber. Another requirement is that they don’t involve a lot of preparation and are easy to bring with me everywhere (especially since I’m no longer sitting in an office these days).

1. SOMETIMES HEALTHY STAPLE: VEGGIES + DIP

Gotta get my veggies yo!

Perfect For: Pretty much any occasion. I nibble on these babies whenever I want, with one important exception: before workouts. If I eat them before i workout, I feel them jumbling around the entire time.

How to Make It: Every Sunday, I chop up a whole bunch of vegetables, which I then throw in a plastic bag and take with my everywhere, along with some dips in small Tupperware. Favorite veggies include tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, carrots, snap peas and green beans.

Combinations: I try to add more nutrition with the dips, and here are some of my favorites:

Greek Yogurt + Honey Mustard (protein bonus)
Greek Yogurt + Avocado (healthy fats, protein bonus)
Cottage Cheese (protein bonus)
Peanut Butter (vitamin, protein bonus)
Laughing Cow Cheese

Continue Reading →

Posted in: Snacks, tips \ Tagged: Blue Diamond, chobani, Chobani Flip, Cottage Cheese, Dip, Egg Cupcakes, egg muffins, Eggland's Best, greek yogurt, Laughing Cow, Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges, Personal Omelettes, Powerfoods, Pretzel Goldfish, Snacks, Special K, Special K Pastry Crisps Clif Kid ZBar, Swedish Fish, Trail Mix, Triscuits, Veggies

A Sinfully Sweet Sugar Cereal Recipe

20 September, 2013 10:18 am \ by Sometimes Healthy Girl

Boy, do I have a treat for you today!

I mentioned on Monday that my friend Molly and I cooked up some delicious Fruity Pebble Pancakes while she was in town, and today, as promised, I have the pancake AND glaze recipe for you.

Prepare to be indulged.

But first, let’s stir up a little controversy on the beautiful Friday morning with this question: Why is sugar cereal food enemy #1 for most mothers of young children.

I present to you public enemy #1.

Moms, please help me understand. You see, when I compare the number of sugar grams per serving of cereals like Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Fruity Pebbles (two of my favorites) to, say, everyone’s preferred brand of greek yogurt, guess what food has more per serving…You guessed it: greek yogurt! 5 more grams in fact.

Granted, greek yogurt packs a mean protein punch alongside the extra sugar, but still. Why is there such a movement against feeding children sugar cereal?

I won’t argue that there are more nutritious items to serve your child for breakfast every day, but still, do these cereals really need to be avoided like the plague?

Perhaps I’m so “emotionally charged” on this particular issue is because of my personal experience with it…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: Recipes \ Tagged: Cap N' Crunch, Childhood Obesity, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Fruity Pebble Pancakes, Fruity Pebbles, Healthy Eating, Sugar Cereal

WIAW: Protein with a Touch of Honesty

18 September, 2013 10:56 am \ by Sometimes Healthy Girl

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope you’re enjoying the fall weather as much as me.

You may notice a bit of a change to the design of my blog today. I was aiming for a clean look, with more white space and an emphasis on the pictures. Please let me know what you think – always looking for constructive criticism!

Anyway, it’s What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW) again, and today’s post features a reoccurrence of one very important part of my diet: protein. I’ve been slacking in the protein category these days, so I’ve been making a conscious effort to up the daily intake. I’m going to finish off this post of mouthwatering eats by sharing with you something that happened to me recently that has affected my life in a pretty major way. Protein with a touch of honesty ya’ll.

My day started a 4:15 AM, because my jet-setting BF needed a ride to the airport. He has been traveling a lot these days, but his schedule should calm down soon. I miss him…but I love having the chance to indulge in foods he hates, like spaghetti squash and tofu.

Getting up at such a crazy hour requires a large caffeine buzz. Enter Dunkin Donuts.

Oh, no you didn’t Coffee-Mate!

Nope, your eyes are not deceiving you. That right there is Girl Scout Cookie Creamer from Nestle. I saw it in the store the other day and literally almost jumped for joy. And guess what? It’s also available in Thin Mint.

The flavor was on-point, evoking the nostalgic Samoa cookie (my favorite) with every sip.

Continue Reading →

Posted in: Life Changes, WIAW \ Tagged: Caffeine, Coffee Creamer, Coffee-Mate, Dunkin Donuts, egg muffins, Girls on the Run, Girls Scout Cookies, Goldfish, Laughing Cow Wedges, Life Changes, NASM, Nestle, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, Personal Omelettes, Samoa, Swedish Fish, Thin Mints, Triscuits, What I Ate Wednesday, WIAW

« Previous 1 … 5 6 7 8 9 … 27 Next »

Post Navigation