Like, OMG! Fashion!

FASHION! HAH!

While I definitely think I manage to make myself look at least somewhat presentable most of the time, I’m certain I rarely warrant a, Oh my gosh, you look so cute!  Totally guilty of having a “uniform” and sticking to it. Religiously.

Behold.

+

+

+

or

Yeah. I am pretty much guaranteed to be wearing some combination of this outfit 8 times out of 10. It’s partially because it’s amazingly versatile — it can work for almost any season, and you can mix and match everything in your closet. But it’s also because it’s what I feel the most comfortable wearing…Cardigans, if picked out and worn correctly! — can complement curves and hide….lumps? Haha.

My favorite spots to score cardis and camis are LOFT, Banana, Gap and J. Crew. All known for their plain — albeit adorable — styles. Eeep.

My work “dress code” is very casual, so while it’s totally acceptable to show up looking super adorable and dressed up — just as it’s totally acceptable (but still unfathomable to me) to show up in ripped jeans and old sneakers — I’m looking to strike a happy medium using clothes I can also wear on the weekends.

BUT.

My other problem is what I wear when I’m not trying to look good and simply aiming for not homeless. My day off/working from home/pre- or post-gym/it’s-Saturday-and-I-have-things-to-do-but-don’t-want-to-shower-because-I’m-going-out-tonight-and-don’t-feel-like-showering-twice-in-one-day … *INHALE* … look is going out in my “nicer” gym clothes (aka Lulu) with brushed hair and some makeup on.

I totally look like this when I hit the gym. NOT.

Are you guys guilty of this? I feel like I’m totally copping out by admitting this, but it’s totally acceptable because it’s all, “Hey! I’m active and physically fit! I ran 77 miles before you even woke up this morning so it’s totally legit to walk around in my gym clothes! Why YES, my hair DOES always look this perfect after I work out…why do you ask?”

Don’t you guys love me? Haha.

Should I just stick with what works? Or try and branch out with some new styles? But I don’t know what to wear. What do normal people wear every day!?? WHAT THE HELL IS A JEGGING? OMG LIFE IS HARD.

(For the record, I totally have a bunch of dresses that I regularly wear in the summer, but haven’t yet mastered the winter dress and tights look, and can’t seem to find a single skirt that doesn’t make me look 1000x ridiculous, so that’s not really an option).

Also, sometimes I wear this.

This was fun.

Please help me.

Love you all.

I did it!

2.5 miles down the hatch, plus abs, shoulders + biceps :D

Flip flop

I’ve been doing just that…flip-flopping…a LOT lately. But it’s all gonna stop today. Take a deep breath and prepare yourselves, ladies..

…cause the gym clothes were packed and brought to work today.

Yeah.

What’s that? You’re not really impressed? Well, hmph. I know Carrots ‘n Cake and FoodFitnessFashion are talking about signing up for marathons, but can’t we just be the tinest bit excited that I got my ass up off the couch?

Please?

In slightly more exciting news, I hit up the new Trader Joe’s on Diversey yesterday. I figured the crowds might have died down after being open for a little while, but the 15-deep line at each register proved me wrong.

source: Nibbles of Tidbits

Trader Joe’s Begins Tradin’ in Lincoln Park – Now Open – Racked Chicago.

Regardless, having my beloved purveyor of all things goat cheese in a much more convenient (and bus route-friendly) spot made me a happy girl. I walked out with just shy of $100 in loot, and can’t wait to scarf down every bite of it.

Well, except for the package of organic strawberries that had mold on them when I opened the package at home! Have you guys ever had that happen? I never know what to do, because I often throw out the receipt, or forget to bring the stuff back before it’s pointless and/or too late. But really, shouldn’t somebody be checking this stuff? I don’t think I should have to make sure the fruit I buy isn’t moldy, but maybe I’m wrong…

I also picked up some of these:

source: Girl with the Red Hair

In case it wasn’t obvious….these are. so. good. Omigod.

I have a pseudo-date tonight with my aforementioned fella. We’re still seeing each other, but have yet to reach that ever so elusive “title”… yet we talk every day, have confirmed we are seeing each other exclusively, and see each other very regularly. I don’t understand men. What the hell?

Anyway, this certain fella has several close friends that are ladies, and I will be meeting one of them tonight. She seems to be concerned that he does not spend enough time with her lately (although she has a boyfriend, as I’ve been told). I can’t help but worry that my eyes will be clawed out.

If they are, expect some really awesome typos in my next post :D

Hiatus

Friends, I have a confession to make…

I’m sure you’ve noticed I haven’t been posting much lately. That I’ve gone MIA from time to time. There’s a reason for this.

It has been..gasp…an entire month since I’ve worked out.

Gulp.

I could explain to you how life has been hectic and stressful (it has), with starting a new job and moving to a new apartment. I could explain how I simply feel burnt out, and couldn’t get myself excited or motivated with the usual tactics. I could even tell you about the knee pain that has been plaguing me, with the only solution being a seemingly expensive trip to the physical therapist that I simply cannot afford at the moment.

Unfortunately, these are just excuses. I haven’t exercised (vigorously) because…well, because I haven’t. I’ve chosen not to. There have certainly been days (say, the two weeks I was very sick with a nasty cold/sinus infection) where working out wouldn’t have been an option, or at least a good one, but there have been other days where I simply said, Eh, I don’t feel like it today. I’d rather watch TV and lay around the apartment.

I need to cut this shit out.

I’m running my first 5k in a few weeks, and thankfully I had been training enough beforehand where I feel I’ll still have plenty of time to do just fine, but this is the point where I need to shake some sense into my lazy ass and get it back in gear. I know a huge part of this has been feeling sorry for myself, not being able to fit in all the fun social activities brimming from every corner of Chicago in the summertime AND get my workouts in. Oh, well if I work out after work, I can’t do spontaneous things after work, like beers on the patio or concerts in the park. Well, Laura, figure it out.

I can’t lie to you — I’m freaked out. I’m worried that I’m going to continue to lose my diligence and totally suck at (or even completely bail out of) this 5k, especially after telling almost everyone I know about it. I’m worried I’m going to lose a grip on the progress I’ve made from making healthier portion and food choices, resulting in a ~10ish lb. weight loss. I’m worried I’m going to slip on a bathing suit and feel terrible about myself (again). I’m worried the lumpiness I see creeping up on my thighs is going to get worse.

I don’t like how I feel when I’m not working out, but sometimes — well, I’m a lazy piece of shit. It’s go-time, and I need to keep my eye on the prize and come up with a solution that will work with a) my tendency toward skipping workouts in order to lay on the couch or grab dinner/drinks with friends, b) my busy schedule, and c) my utter hatred of mornings/total inability to wake up early.

I have no idea how to do this. If you’ve been reading for awhile but never commented, now is the time…any and all tips, suggestions, stories or motivators are welcomed….Oh hell…PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO DO THIS, GUYS! I NEED HELP!!

Hmph. Well, that’s that :D

In other news, I’m still totally addicted to Greek yogurt. Seriously, this stuff is my crack — I go through a giant tub per week. It’s so delicious! And ya know what else is in abundance in Casa de Laura?

STRAWBERRIES. Oh. Mah. Gawd. I can’t get enough.

I had some with oatmeal the other day, but it couldn’t hold up against the creamy Fage 0% I usually roll with…There is almost always a healthy sprinkling of cinnamon, Milk + Honey Cafe Mix Granola and walnuts involved as well.

I’ve also been rolling on the salad wagon lately. Below is my unbelievably tasty mustard maple chicken atop some butter lettuce, cukes, goat cheese and Sabra roasted red pep hummus. Despite the fact that I was pretty hungry a few hours later (no carbs, maybe?), this salad was GOOD.

Today I mixed it up a bit with butter and torn-up red leaf lettuce, cukes, some pinto beans, goat cheese, baby carrots and some organic chicken breast that I slow cooked last night with thyme, TJ’s 21 Seasoning Salute, garlic powder and veggie broth. The chicken was insanely flavorful, and all the flavors mixed together perfectly. As a bonus, the added beans really gave this bad boy some sticking power, but because I am a fatty and seriously can’t understand how anyone can eat JUST a salad for lunch (wtf??), I swiped a can of Campbell’s chicken noodle from a friend, watered down half the can with some hot water from the Keurig, and had at it (only 70 calories! nice!). It was a perfect lunch for a wet, dreary day. I love gloomy weather from time to time, but Chicago has been testing my patience recently…

Anyway, I’m off to finish up the work day. I did some seriously ill-advised shopping last week and came home with far too many adorable dresses, so I’ll be sure to share those coming up here. Thanks for reading my nutty rant, and please do provide feedback if you have any, I’d love to hear from you!

A bit premature?

I hate to jump the gun, especially because I have a tendency to hop back on the bad habits bandwagon every time I see a hint of progress, but I jumped on the scale Saturday after having ignored it for weeks, and voila! I appear to be about ten pounds lighter.

I’m not sure if this may be partially due to my lack of gym time recently (aka muscle turning to mush), my crazy-busy schedule, my tiny (and therefore barely usable) kitchen or just the fact that I am eating less (both intentionally and accidentally), but I find it interesting nonetheless. A huge change has been my conscious effort to watch portion sizes. In a truly un-Laura-like fashion, I’ve been cutting my beloved hamburgers in half and taking the rest home to enjoy as another meal the next day. This is in direct conflict with the little voice in my head screaming, “Eat this entire plate of foooood!! It’s so tasty!! It will make you feel GREAT!”

Does anyone else grapple with this little voice?

(I swear I don’t have beef-induced schizophrenia.)

Great, now I really want a burger. Shouldn’t have looked up that picture…*facepalm*

Anyway, I titled this post “a bit premature” because I don’t want to get ahead of myself. This new “journey,” if you will, is all about creating small, attainable yet challenging goals for myself and achieving them one at a time. Next on my list is to get back into my exercise routine — no easy feat, considering I’ve been out of commission and permitting my extreme laziness in an effort to get over this cold. I know without a doubt that I could have been back at it several days ago, if not far earlier. I am human, however, and let it get away from me. This doesn’t mean I’ve been “bad” or that I’m an awful person…it simply means my mind and body wanted a break for awhile, took advantage of the livin’ made easy, and will need a little extra push to get back into the habits and routine that I know makes me look and feel the best.

The question is — what will this “push” be?

Still too broke to buy some cute new Lulu gear…although I’ve been eyeing this bad boy for quite some time…Not sure how I feel about calling the color “toothpaste” though :/

A few random thoughts and images to occupy your brains on this loverly Monday afternoon…

• There is a rather interesting debate/comment thread going on over at The Frisky right now. I’ve been a reader for quite some time, and, as many other regular readers may have noticed, their content appears to be going through a transition right now. The site was bought and has been shifting writers, strategy, tone, etc., and their readers have been letting them know in the comments. The site editor, Amelia, wrote a letter from the editor to address some of these issues, and the conversation going down in the comments is really heated. If you’re a regular reader, or even if you’re not, you might want to check it out! The conversation is centering on the expectations of writers/bloggers in regards to nasty comments, criticism, constructive vs nasty, and feminism. Interesting stuff!
• I like to make silly faces:
• I spent a good 15 minutes last night packing my breakfast and lunch for the day. This morning, I forgot the best part — the salad! :( Sadz.
• Tina over at Carrots ‘n Cake is doing a blogger bake sale. Even if you, like me, are not a big sweets person, I’m sure you’ll still find something to drool over — I’m eyeing the soft pretzels!
• Before moving the other week, I caught Molly snuggling with my teddy bear. Too funny!! (insert crazy cat lady joke here)
• I’ve spent a day back “home” at my parents’ house the last two weekends — one for Mother’s Day, one for an ill family member (happy times, sad times). While I was waiting at the train station to head back into the city, I had a lovely view of the adjacent park and the river. Excuse the poor photo quality, but it was still lovely!
• I bought some cute organic mini peppers the other day. And lots of cucumbers. That is all.

  

Have a great rest of your day, lovelies!!

This…

..is what I’m doing right now:

Snugglin’ with this goofy lookin’ guy and catching up on blogs. Aren’t we quite the pair?

I was just reading Julie’s sweet post about how, no matter how foul her mood, she is always cheered up instantly by her Viszla pup, Sadie. While I’ll admit that having two cats can sometimes be a slight (okay, a huge) pain in the ass, I’m still thankful for them most of the time. They are such sweet, playful and cuddly kitties, and they are always there when I need company or just a good snuggle buddy.

Okay, I know — I am a crazy cat lady. Bear with me anyway?

I’ve been very stressed out this week due to my shifting living situation. The apartment that I will be moving into (or would like to be, at least) isn’t 100% available yet (the current tenant is still waiting on word from her new apartment…it’s so complicated!), so I am on pins and needles waiting to hear that my rental will go through. If it doesn’t, I may be homeless in a few weeks!

It is also the last week at my current job, which I absolutely love, so I am stressed and sad and not handling it very well. I’m so grateful and thrilled to start my new job, but it will be hard leaving a place and group of people (I’m looking at you, Kara) that I have grown to love.

Thankfully, though, the gym is always there. After receiving a particularly horrible text message from my particularly horrible roommate, I was furious, stressed out and wanting to strangle someone. So I hopped on the treadmill, turned up my iPod and ran my fastest mile to date! It was awesome. I have never felt my blood flowing through my body like that, and I felt like I could squeeze every ounce of energy from the day’s stress into energy for my legs. After two more, I hopped off feeling lighter — physically and mentally.

Sweat > therapy.

I have been lazy and haven’t been cooking anything exciting this week. I’ve also been eating much less than usual due to stress (this is unusual for me — it takes a LOT to get my mind off of food!), so I don’t have too many exciting eats to share this week! On the way to a friend’s house tonight, though, I did stop at WF and picked up some delicious-looking and in-season strawberries and mangoes! I also grabbed some salad fixins. VERY excited to incorporate those into some meals, ASAP — my body needs fruits + veggies, stat.

While I was strolling the lovely WF aisles, I also snagged a quickie dinner at the hot/cold bar. I had some marinated green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potatoes and carrots, a bulgur + quinoa salad, some rosemary-garlic tofu and some yellow daal. The daal was definitely my favorite! It was so flavorful and creamy, I wished I had gotten more. Next time! I also sipped a guava Kombucha. All was scarfed up much too quickly to snap a pic :D

Thanks for hanging in here with me while I get my life figured out, guys….I hope I haven’t bored too many of you to tears! More fun stuff to come soon, I promise!

It’s been a few days…

…since I’ve been to the gym (due to a cold and plain old indifference) and I am in a slump. Big time.

While I know I will feel 1000x better after a workout, the mere thought of tying on my sneaks and hitting the treadmill is torture. I’ve hit a wall.

What to do, blog friends?

Cheesehead

Hello friends! I am such a bad blogger lately, my goodness! Can you ever forgive me?

I have a good reason for it though, I swear. Well, multiple reasons…one of them I mentioned here :) My, er..romantic life has taken a turn for the interesting. I’m not quite sure how I feel about sharing the details of this little situation with the world (and world meaning the three people that are reading) for fear of upsetting my future lover/boyfriend/fiance/husband (if you’re reading this — sorry future lover/boyfriend/fiance/husband! I love you!…I think), but here goes…

I happened to go out on two different first dates with two different people in the same week…and liked both of them. YEESH! It has been so much fun so far getting to know both of these people (and again, I reiterate — this is not meant to be malicious! It just happened that way!) but it’s hard to tell at the moment where things will lead…so for now, I’m just having fun, and boy, let me tell you — it has been fun!

No, not in that way you perverts…I have remained *chaste* and simply enjoyed some lovely goodnight kisses! :P

Anywho, between spending time with these two gentleman, gym time, work and fun (see below), I feel like I barely have a minute to myself these days! For example, my Saturday was filled with this stuff:

Believe your eyes, that is green beer. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as tasty as it looks (do

esn’t it kinda look like Green River soda??) because it was Miller Light! Blegh, I HATE light beer, and would much rather drink something that doesn’t taste like stale water. Thankfully, a few (or 10..) of these made their way to my belly:

Unfortunately, there were still a few more of these:

Neat can though, no?

We started the day off early (9am!!) with some drinks and a walk down to see the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day parade. It was so much fun walking around the crowds with everyone dressed up for the holiday. We have a lot of Irish people here (myself included), so Chicagoans REALLY take the holiday seriously! I couldn’t help but laugh though — the entire city seems to have decided that last Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day…not the actual holiday on Thursday! People were drinking all morning, afternoon and night (my neighbors, for example, decided to start the morning off at 6am with “Come On Eileen” playing at full volume below my bedroom…lovely) and needless to say, this town was toasted.

I can’t say I wasn’t in on the fun…

I spent most of the afternoon swigging Guinness and who knows what else, then planned on heading home around 6 to take a nap. Then my brother called and invited me to meet him at an Irish bar downtown…and I couldn’t resist (he even offered to pay for my cab — what a guy!). I stayed out much later than I had intended, as well as drank far more than I should have. I still had a great time and didn’t get sick, but I was in bed — dead to the world — by 9:30 pm and felt like I had been run over by a car, truck, train and bus (all at once, of course) the next day. It was a plain bagel and 37 glasses of water kind of Sunday…

Buuuut — I still got to watch them turn the Chicago River Green!

After my epic day Saturday and useless day Sunday, I really needed a good workout today. After stopping home for a quick snack and to feed the kitties, I tied mah shoes and headed out the door. Boy oh boy was this a good workout! I can really see the value of rest days (although unlike my tactic, you’re only supposed to take one or two, not like…eight…) if every workout of mine was like the one today!

I felt like I had endless power in my legs that carried me through a 2.5 mile run (far for my pathetic running butt) with lots of super-speedy intervals. I felt amazing! Afterward I mishmashed a strength workout together that seemed to incorporate a lot of what I’ve been learning from Women’s Health lately. I did some upper back schtuff, squats + lunges, bicep curls, shoulder presses and even PUSHUPS! I can do pushups now! It never ceases to amaze me when I can feel AND see myself getting stronger, and it really is the best motivation evah.

Can you tell I’m in a good mood?

Said mood is surprising, considering I was in the foulest of foul moods earlier today. Really, I wanted to rip somebody’s head off…Amazing how a little sweat can turn things around, eh? :)

When I came home, I really wanted something satisfying but loaded with protein since my diet was WAY out of whack this weekend. I came up with this:

It may not look like much, but let me tell you — this bad boy was tasty. I had originally planned on nuking some frozen broccoli, but when I took it out of the freezer, it was clear that that stuff wasn’t going anywhere except for the garbage. I hate freezer burn!

While I cooked a little bit of whole wheat pasta, I heated up and pulled apart some chicken I made last night for chicken tacos (boneless skinless organic thigh meat, simmered with onions, cumin, paprika and cayenne) and defrosted some chopped spinach. When everything was ready to go, I mixed the pasta with the chicken and spinach, then topped it with shredded cheddar, shredded lite mozzarella and a little (okay, not so little) blob of soft goat cheese, then nuked the whole mix for another minute to melt the cheese. After it heated up, I stirred it together then topped it with Garlic Gold.

Ohhhhhh man. Have I mentioned that this girl loves cheese? Yeah, because I love cheese.

Delish and easy, just the way I like it.

Now I’m off to have a glass of Zinfandel then get ready for bed. I have a chiropractor appointment bright and early!

My workout story + the importance of *FUN* in your health/fitness routine

well, hi there!

Naomi from OneFitFoodie had a great post today about doing what you love to achieve your fitness goals. (She says she’s “preaching,” but I’d hardly call it that!). This is something I truly believe in, and will also be the first to admit that it is something I need to be reminded of regularly.

When I first started exercising in high school, I had every ounce of motivation I needed just in going to the gym. I had never exercised (consciously) before, so the results (even with just 30 min of easy cardio a few days per week) were noticeable pretty quickly. I found the new activities fun and challenging, and loved how great I felt for the first time in quite awhile.

But as anyone who has ever attempted to lose weight knows, a plateau eventually came and my body wanted to stay at its “set point.” From what I understand, your set point can change and be budged with some hard work, but after losing a certain amount of weight, your body starts to say, “Nope, I’m done.”

This is why motivation is HUGELY important, because when that plateau hits, the looser jeans or slimmer face aren’t enough because that’s where it (albeit temporarily) stops. You’ve got to find a way to keep moving, new ways to change up your routine, and new reasons to focus on why making your health a priority is so important to you. And one of the easiest, and longest-lasting ways to keep up that motivation is by making achieving your goals fun. You have to love what you’re eating and thoroughly enjoy (or at least somewhat enjoy!) your workouts. Plain and simple, you will not stick with anything if you can’t find a way to enjoy it.

My workout routine, while still challenging, is beginning to feel somewhat repetitive. There could be a few reasons for this: I do the same thing on every gym day (work, gym, dinner, shower, bed – repeat) and it gets boring at times; the sun still sets before I leave work, so heading home in the dark can be kind of a drag; or perhaps I’m just afraid to shake things up and see where I can push my mind and body to next.

While I’m sure all of these things contribute to my little fitness rut, I’m pretty sure the last one has a lot to do with it.

I’ve never been thin. Save a few childhood years when just about everybody is a beanpole, I spent most of my adolescence as a chubby, albeit sassy kid. The weight loss in high school was hugely motivating, and while it ultimately sparked my interest in food (okay, that interest was always there), fitness and healthy living, I still had a lot to learn. I thought that my newly-slim figure was permission to begin eating whatever I wanted again. Obviously, this didn’t work, and I began slowly gaining weight though my freshman year of college. While I didn’t gain the “freshman 15,” I did arrive back home that summer plumper than when I had left.

The “cycle” began again when I was home for the summer, where a boring summer office job and few friends in town meant I quelled my boredom by hitting the gym every day on my way home from work. I wasn’t aware of any weight loss this time around, but many of my friends commented that I looked thinner when I went back to college in the fall. Again, though, I eased up on both exercise and healthy eating habits, and slowly filled out again.

My biggest battle, therefore, is consistency. Taking care of yourself by eating proper portions of healthy food and exercising regularly is rewarding, but sometimes…well, you just want to throw your hands up in the air and shout, “ENOUGH ALREADY!” I love healthy food, but I sometimes feel I can become obsessive and hyper-focused on what I eat when I’m trying to maintain a healthy diet. And that’s just no way to live.

A hard lesson I’ve had to learn is that you need to treat yourself regularly, but you must build those treats into your overall health and fitness plan. A glass of wine means a little less pasta at dinner, or 3 days at the gym instead of 4 one week means squeezing in a little extra time at the end of each of those 3 workouts. That extra skip day, of course, would be for a manicure or massage :)

I’m still trying to figure out how I can have a big, juicy burger once in awhile though! Alas, a work in progress…

One of the reasons I love blogs like Carrot’s ‘n’ Cake, EatLiveRun, Peanut Butter Fingers and food.fitness.fashion. is because they all focus on living a life with balance and moderation. Julie from PBF has admitted regularly that she is a maniac about sweets and carb-y cereals, Tina and Ali (CNC and FFF, respectively) are both regular beer drinkers (women after my own heart) and Jenna from ELR quite possibly posts the most delicious recipes I have ever come across. These ladies know how to do it right, and I love them for that.

My workday is finally starting to wind down, and I plan to hit the gym with a new goal in mind: try a machine, exercise or routine I have never tried before. I haven’t decided what it will be yet, but I’m hoping a little butt-kicking is exactly what I need :)

Cheers!

Why I love the health & fitness blogging community

I’m sitting at me desk, hunched over and wearing ridiculously warm (but cute!) tweed/wool dress pants. My brain wants to exercise but my body says, “bleh.”

I took a little mental vacation over to Peanut Butter Fingers where Julie has put up a great list of exercise mantras! A few of her (and my) favorites:

• You know your limit and this is NOT it. (Meaghan)
• A body at rest wants to stay at rest. A body in motion wants to stay in motion. (Heidi)
• No hurt, no mini skirt. (Kelly)
• When your legs are tired, run with your heart. (Gabriela)
• You don’t HAVE to exercise. You GET to exercise. (Kimberly)
• Everyone has 24 hours in one day. What you do with those hours is up to you. Make the most of them! (Jessica)
• You are just one workout away from a good mood. (Cynthia)

I love this stuff! Keep it comin’!