I survived! Day 1 of fitmixer bootcamp is under my belt… just 11 1/2 more weeks to go!

I’m feeling GREAT but am a little bit tired. Fitmixer has set up a weekly conference call for all of the participants to call into on Thursday nights at 10:00. (Since they’re based out of Salt Lake City, it’s only 8 PM there!) I generally am fast-asleep by that time, since I get up so gosh darn early, but really wanted to participate this time. And I’m glad I did! It was really great- and very cool to her from the girls and some of the participants! Luckily, school is over in a few weeks, so I’ll be able to stay up later after that and participate every week.

Rewind a bit…

I started the day with a good attitude and a smile. Sorta.

(I don’t have a full-length mirror, so I stand on my tub!)

Let’s talk about the fitmixer boot camp nutrition plan, shall we?

Here’s the personalized plan that Candice sent to me:

I’ll be honest- when I first saw this, I got a little freaked out. I thought that eating between 1300-1400 calories would be a big challenge. I eat anywhere between 1,500- 2,000 calories per day on average now… but obviously this isn’t working for me. It’s funny (well, not really- it actually kind of sucks) but when I was tracking in My Fitness Pal before, my calorie suggestion was 1,500 per day. And I would “earn” calories back based on exercise. I generally ate around 1600-1700 on most days, and due to the calories I burned through exercise each day (anywhere from 500-1200, depending on how many classes I was teaching that day!), I would get a little message from My Fitness Pal at the end of the day stating that “if every day were like today I’d love x amount of lbs. in 5 weeks!” And that amount was anywhere from 5-15 lbs. less than what I weighed. Well, obviously that wasn’t true for me- which is why I’m at where I’m at.

Let’s face it- pretty much any other person in the world could eat 2,000 calories a day and work out like I do and drop weight like crazy. But for me, eating that much makes me slowly gain. It’s time that I ACCEPT that, stop feeling sorry for myself and do something about it.

Hence, bootcamp. I’m going to try to just trust the experts this time.

As you can see from the plan, you are required to eat six times a day. This keeps your metabolism revved up, because it takes 3 hours for your body to digest food. After three hours, your metabolism slows way down to hold on to whatever it stored. When you eat again- it speeds back up! (I learned this on the conference call last night!) I should aim hit the goals for the percentage of carbs, fat and protein each day (and for each meal). That’s something I really haven’t paid much attention to before. It will definitely be hard to stay under 29 grams of fat each day too- since I’m such a nut and avocado freak! I emailed Candice about this (and a billion other questions- God bless her for dealing with Type A people like me!!) and she said it was okay to tweak it a bit- as long as my fats are “healthy fats” and I get enough carbs.

I also asked about the calorie count- making sure it was not too low. Candice assured me that she took in every consideration when calculating the numbers for me- and is well aware of my exercise/dieting history. She also told me to listen to my body and if I am feeling extremely hungry, tired and low energy all the time, to add a few more calories (but not go above 1500). I will definitely focus on being in tune with my body and hunger signals, but will try my darndest to stick within the range that she gave me. I know that my issues with food are much more mental than physical anyway, so my body really shouldn’t feel “starved.”

For my first day “on the diet” I actually didn’t really plan it out much. I had already prepped a lot of my meals for the week a few days ago, so I decided to stick with what I’ve been eating for breakfast and lunch and see how it stacked up to the plan. I’ll have much more time to plan things out and grocery shop this weekend, so meals next week will be a bit different.

So how did my first day go? Check it out.

(Lemon-Blueberry Protein Muffin, plain Chobani, sliced banana, peanut flour)

Celery sticks + 2 T homemade hummus

Mixed greens with avocado, 2 hard-boiled eggs, fuji apple

Workout: I couldn’t do the prescribed workout on Wednesday because I was already teaching Spinning and Bodypump, so I added the one from Wednesday on to Thursday’s. Each workout is no more than 30 minutes long, so it’s definitely manageable to do both! I printed them off, grabbed my Amino and iPad and let Robin kick my butt.

YUM.

Wednesday’s workout was crazy! It’s pretty insane that a 20-minute workout can kick my butt so much more than an hour or two of cardio! And Thursday’s workout was no joke either- it was a real booty burner- literally! (I’ll talk a little more about the workouts soon!) Both workouts together took less than an hour to do and I was beat! But I still had a smile on my face.

After my workout, I refueled with snack #2:

1 scoop Sun Warrior Vanilla protein powder, 1/3 c frozen peaches, ice, guar + xanthan gum and water, 2 T granola

About two hours later, we had dinner:

This was a repeat from last week (because it was SO DARN GOOD): Taco salad with roasted veggies, 3 oz lean grass-fed beef, avocado salsa, chobani and a few crumbled up Beanitos.

I could eat this every single night for dinner (and it’s SO filling!)

The plan requires that we also have a snack after dinner. Okay… if I must!

This is a cocoa/pb microwave muffin (made with 2 T cocoa powder, 1/2 T coconut flour, 2 T egg whites, 1 T pumpkin puree, 1 packet stevia and peanut flour + water swirled in). When I grabbed it out of the microwave, I noticed that it looked odd- I forgot the baking powder (which makes it get really big and fluffy). But, it ended up being really dense and fudgey- and really good! I don’t know the exact stats, but based on the ingredients I used, it’s around 60 calories.

I stopped eating for the day around 7:45 pm, because I hate to go to bed with a full stomach- it totally messes with my sleep. I didn’t take a picture of every single calorie I took in- there were also a few glasses of flax milk, an Adora calcium disk and maybe one other thing… I don’t remember. All in all, I did pretty good and stayed right under that 1400 calorie range.

Not too bad. I need to increase my carbs a bit though (oh darn!). My Fitness Pal automatically adds in the extra calories that you “earn” from exercise, but those are not factored in on this plan (they create a deficit instead).

How I ate yesterday is pretty similar to how I eat on a daily basis- the difference is, I probably also eat an extra 500+ calories from mindless snacking, which I was SUPER aware of yesterday. And most of that occurs in the evening, leaving me feeling icky by the time I go to bed and full and bloated in the morning.

And you know what? At the end of day one, I felt awesome. I didn’t feel hungry or deprived- I felt like I had some small sort of victory. Now the key is to keep it going. I’ve got a pretty long journey ahead of me, and I’ve got so much support going on, it’s crazy (and wonderful). I can’t wait to see where the next 11 1/2 weeks lead!

I’ll be getting my Fitmixer protein delivery at the beginning of next week, so I can start using that as a protein source for some of snacks and meals after that. I’m also going to do some very careful shopping over the weekend based on my nutritional needs- and I’m excited about that. Let’s just keep this excitement and motivation going…

PS- Thanks so much for your kind comments and support on yesterday’s post. It means the world to me!

**

If you are trying to lose weight, Would you rather eat all pre-made foods or continue to cook your own food? I would prefer to cook my own, hands down. But, it is nice to a have a few quick and “convenient” things on hand when you’re super busy or in a hurry.

Before I got talking (or more likely, rambling) about Boot Camp, let me share some fun stuff that arrived in the mail yesterday!

I got my latest iHerb order:

This shipment contained Adora Calcium supplements (which, let’s be honest- is just an excuse to eat chocolate), Dandy Blend (probably my #1 favorite hot beverage!), CLA (which over time, is supposed to reduce fat storage around the belly- though I’ve been taking it for about 3 years and haven’t seen the effects yet…), some VERY TASTY cocoa powder, peanut flour, and my two freebies thrown in the box. One is a measuring tape (which I actually needed- how did you know, iHerb?!) and the other was a packet of various samples of natural sweeteners from Wholesome Sweeteners brand. Amongst them were a bunch of different flavors of Agave nectar:

I am definitely looking forward to mixing these into my yogurt or oatmeal!

As I’ve posted many times before, I love iHerb. I order so many things through their site- from body care products to grocery items to supplements- and they’ve got some really great deals. If you place an order on their site, use the code QIR197 at checkout and get $5 off your order. And shipping for orders over $20 is free!

The mail yesterday also contained the latest REI catalog with the new sale items. I was happy/annoyed that it also contained a 20% Member coupon- since I had just shelled out $72 for a new PrAna dress while we were in Colorado. And just as I was bitching to Greg about that very thing, I opened the catalog and saw said dress- which is now on sale!!

Just my luck! Too bad I didn’t save the receipt- I bet they’d do a price adjustment. Although… since I am a member, they do keep a record of all of my purchases…hmm. I’ll have to look into that one. When I bought my dress, I got it in “gravel malibu,” but also really liked the “coral malibu” version, which is shown here. I might just have to get it…. so that I can add one more PrAna dress to my collection of 1,000…

Something that DID make me happy yesterday after work was finally finding Chobani 2% plain Greek Yogurt!

I’ve been to seven different grocery stores and had no luck. When I went to Safeway (which I never shop at), they had it in the HUGE size only (32 oz), so I bought it. I guess it’s actually cheaper that way- and less wasteful (which this tree-hugger appreciates), but for the sake of convenience, I’m still on the lookout for the 6 oz cups!

Okay. On to BOOT CAMP.

During Blend, I had the pleasure of being introduced to the fitmixer team and their wonderful products. They were extremely generous and donated a full-size container of their amino and a few sample packets to our swag bags! I am completely hooked on the amino and have been drinking it (with water) during all of my workouts ever since. Greg has used amino (a different brand) for a while now, but I could never stomach the flavor of his. This one actually tastes good and I look forward to drinking it. It’s like Kool-Aid… but much, much better.

It’s not very often that I pimp something out like this on my blog, but I really love this product and the company itself. I actually can’t say enough just HOW MUCH I love it! And when I find something so great, I want everyone to know about it! And you can also order their products directly through my blog! Just click on the fitmixer image that’s right below my little bio blurb near the top right of this page and it will take you to directly to the fitmixer store. If you plan to order any fitmixer products- please do me a favor and click that link to get to the fitmixer store.

From the fitmixer website:

Available in a delicious fruit punch and grape flavor, the unique blend in fitmixer® amino® fuels your body with the essential nutrients it needs to give you energy, supports you during your workout, and helps achieve your fitness goals. Whether your goal is increased energy, muscle tone, strength, or endurance, fitmixer® amino® is right for you.*

fitmixer® amino® uses Tri-Flow®, a patent-pending blend of ingredients university tested and clinically shown** to increase nitric oxide 300% more than leading fitness products.* Increased nitric oxide may have a variety of benefits including increased oxygen delivery throughout the body to reduce fatigue and improve muscle recovery.

This stuff is awesome, I tell you. It comes in fruit punch and grape flavors and BOTH are delicious. It’s also only 25 calories per scoop- which I  combine with about 28 oz of water to get my “perfect” flavor.

So what does all of this have to do with me needing Boot Camp?

I heard about the fitmixer boot camp through Janetha when I was at Blend. It sounded interesting, but I’m generally not a fan of any program that gives you a meal plan and specific workouts to follow. Since I teach a bajillion group exercise classes throughout the week, it’s hard to fit in other workouts without overdoing it. I briefly read about it on their site, and saw that the $150 cost also included 2 (huge) bags of protein powder and 2 containers of amino. I guess I just couldn’t swallow the cost because I brushed it off as another “diet” that probably won’t work for me, as I’m just destined to be 15-20 lbs. heavier than I would like and will be wishing that I could have a better body for the rest of my life.

But then something happened. I saw Katie (who is also doing the bootcamp) post a photo on Instagram of her watching the introduction video. I had remembered very briefly meeting the women at the first night of Blend (we were at the same table) but there was so much sensory overload going on that night, that I didn’t get the chance to talk to them much. I do remember being impressed with their rockin’ bodies though!

(photo courtesy of Janetha)

I was standing in my kitchen on Monday night (while Greg was at beer club) chopping up vegetables at the counter with my laptop playing the introduction video in front of me. I listened to Candice explain the dietary (food) portion of the program, and really identified with some of the things she said. She talked about how our bodies are “smart” and if we deplete them by doing too much, they will start holding on to every little calorie we take in. That was something I could definitely identify with from my days over too much exercise and calorie restriction!

And then Robin started talking about exercise and about loving yourself and your body. And then I lost it. It was as if she was talking directly to me. I don’t know why I got so emotional about it, but I did. I was literally bawling like a baby! I guess I’ve just been so frustrated for so long about my weight and really… just hating my body for so long. And the biggest frustration is that no one can “get through” to me, because I just feel like no one understands exactly what I’ve been through. But here, on this video- these women got it.

I started kicking myself for not joining the bootcamp (it started that day and was already full). Through the tears, I emailed Robin and Candice and thanked them for such an inspiring video and explained a bit about my story and how much I thought I needed this bootcamp. I would have completely understood if they wrote me back and said “we’re sorry… it’s already full and you can sign up for the next one,” but they didn’t. Both women wrote me incredibly sweet emails back and invited me to be a late-joiner to the bootcamp. I have to say one thing about this company (fitmixer)- it is clear that they are not just in it for the money and truly love what they do and care about people. And they want to make a positive impact on other people’s lives.

I registered for the fitmixer bootcamp on Tuesday and got the ball rolling. I’ll have to wait a few days until I get my shipment of products, but can at least start on the workouts and get rolling on the eating plan. As for the workouts- I think that right now I’ll fit them in with my current schedule when I can. They’re short and super intense- the whole “train smarter not harder” philosophy. Workouts are available for us every morning at 5 am and contain guided instruction through a video.

I did the first workout Tuesday night, which is the “fitmixer test” and will be done again every three weeks to measure improvement. The test consisted of:

• Burpees – How many in 1 minute?
• Supermans – How many in 1 minute?
• Plyometric Lunges – How many in 1 minute?
• Tricep Push-ups – How many in 1 minute? (Drop to knees to scale down)
• Hover-How long can you hold? (No dropping knees)
• Chest Push-ups – How many in 1 minute? (Drop to knees to scale down)
• Wall Sit – How long can you hold?
• Roundhouse Knees – How many in 1 minute, per leg?
• Jumping Jacks – How many in 1 minute?
• Side Hover Dips – How many in 1 minute, per side?

I did the test on Tuesday evening, after having taught spin class and about 15 minutes of lifting that morning. My legs were a bit fatigued, but I was really eager to jump on in and find out my starting point. I figured it couldn’t be that hard, because it looked like it would only take about fifteen minutes to complete.

Boy was I wrong! This was me after the test:

Drenched!

There are some things that I definitely will look to improve, but overall I have to say that my core has gotten a lot stronger. I can hold a hover for a long time.

I couldn’t do yesterday’s workout (which actually looks like really cool) but I plan on saving it for another time. Since I worked all day and then went right to the gym to teach 2 hours of spinning and Bodypump, I didn’t get home until after 7, and basically ate dinner, got things ready for the next day, and went to bed. So on days like that, I won’t be able to do the workout of the day. (And that’s okay!)

My personalized diet plan was emailed to me yesterday and I’m going to be honest here- it scared me a bit! But I’ll elaborate more on that tomorrow.

We are also required to log our food intake through My Fitness Pal, which I was using for a while, but decided to take a break from a few weeks ago and try to trust my hunger signals and focus on intuitive eating (which didn’t really happen). Even though the thought of tracking my food irks me a bit, I know it’s for my own good.

We have to take “before” shots wearing a sports bra and tight fitting shorts and email them to the fitmixer team. Yikes. I’ve seen some of the other participants shots who already have bodies that I think look close to perfect- and mine is not even close to that. Really, I would kill to look like some of those “before” shots for my “after!” Again, I’m just going to bite the bullet and do it, because I know it’s all for a purpose.

The final thing- weighing in. I had to get on the scale to get my initial weight (which I did yesterday morning) and it wasn’t pretty. I had not weighed myself in about 3 or 4 weeks and was up three pounds. Those were the three lbs. that it took me since last November to lose. And they came right back on in no time at all simply because I slacked in my eating a bit, despite never slacking in my exercise. Life is totally fair.

We have to weigh in each Monday morning and send the data to Candice, who will make adjustments to our diets as necessary.

What I really, really like about this whole process is that there’s a great sense of community and support. This is possible because the number of participants is kept to a small number and everyone is encouraged to participate in discussions through commenting on the website. There’s also a weekly conference call on Thursday nights at 10 pm, which I sadly don’t know if I’ll be able to participate in. That’s a little tough for someone who wakes up around 5:00 am! When school’s out in a few weeks, it will be easier.

I’ve got a lot of planning to do. I’m really excited to share the details about the diet with you guys tomorrow- and hoping that it gets my pumped! And I’m fully aware that there will be a lot of “suck it up, buttercup” for me in the coming days as well. But, damnit- I’m determined for SOMETHING to work! (and I know that it will only work if I work hard and stay committed- but can I do that?)

Maybe this will finally be it.

Expect a few posts about bootcamp coming up… it is going to be a big part of my life for the next 12 weeks!

Things were pretty happy around dinnertime in our household last night because this was on our plates!

I’ll get back to that in a minute.

It’s no secret that I adore my fellow healthy living bloggers. I’ve even been lucky enough to meet many of them in person, like here, here, here and here. It’s kind of crazy that I didn’t know that this whole healthy living blog world existed until a year ago- and how important it is my life. If you’re not a blogger, or even if you are, and you haven’t met up with any of your “blends” (blogger+friend) in real life, you might think it sounds strange. But, I can tell you- it’s absolutely wonderful and not weird at all! I have built a strong bond and connection with so many other bloggers without meeting them in person. And for those that I have met, it feels like we’ve been friends for years.

One of those bloggers that I love is my soul sister, Kelly.

Kelly did a wonderful guest post for me a couple of weeks ago, and we got to meet in person at the Blend retreat. We bonded immediately before we even met, and our friendship has grown even stronger since the Blend retreat. Needless to say, Kelly will be a life-long friend (which will be much easier when we move to Colorado… whenever that’s going to happen…). I admire many things about Kelly, and one of them is her beautiful collection of recipes (not to mention her food porn- her photos are gorgeous!). I’ve yet to make any her fabulous Chobani recipes (mainly because I suck at baking- unless it can be done in a microwave), but they’re on my list!

When Kelly posted her recipe for Parm Chicken CousCous (using the Whole Wheat couscous that we got in our Blend swag bag), I knew I had to make it asap! I mean, who doesn’t love chickie chickie parm parm?

(Don’t you just love Parks & Rec??!!)

In true Lauren style, I didn’t follow her recipe exactly, but was inspired by it. Instead of using bread crumbs, I toasted a piece of whole-wheat bread and ground it up in the food processor. I also added Italian spices and some Parmesan cheese to the mix. I also beat one egg to coat the chicken breasts with before dipping them in the coating.

(There was quite a bit of egg left over, so I nuked it and gave it to the doggies. They were very appreciative.)

I put the chicken breasts in the oven, and upon flipping them over half-way through, I added some Mozzarella style rice shreds to melt on top (“real” mozzarella would have been great too, but we didn’t have any on hand).

I’ve never made Israeli couscous before, so I wasn’t even sure how to cook it. I’m used to sticking with the standard 3:1 ratio when cooking grains, but this only called for about 1.5 to 1 (if that)! And it cooked up a lot quicker than the package stated. Since I don’t generally buy pre-made marinara sauce, I mixed in some salt-free crushed tomatoes and added my own spices. It reminded me of Spaghettios!

I only cooked two chicken breasts (a larger one for Greg and a smaller one for me), so they were ready right around the same time that the couscous was. I love it when a plan comes together like that!

I also roasted some squash to serve alongside the Chickie Parm, which I ended up mixing up with the couscous after I started eating. It was a perfect combination!

A little fresh basil (from my herb garden!) for a finishing touch and voila!

From start to finish, this took all of 25 minutes to make.

Winning!

(Haven’t heard that for a while, have you?)

It was delicious! Greg’s only complaint was that he could have eaten two chicken breasts instead of one.

**

Maybe I’ll tackle one of Kelly’s baking recipes next.

Maybe.

Do you ever make your own bread crumbs? What’s your favorite grain?

Ever since I discovered the wonderful world of healthy living blogs a little over a year ago, I’ve been hearing about how great Sun Warrior protein is. But, since I have never been able to find it in stores, I didn’t purchase any. (Obviously) I’m not vegan, but I like to have both plant-based and whey protein powders on hand for making smoothies and baking. I have a few vegan protein powders that I really like, namely Vega and Plant Fusion (and of course, peanut flour!). I really love Vega, but it has a pretty strong flavor that doesn’t lend itself to baking very well (unless you’re just looking for that Vanilla Chai flavor). I wanted a really good-tasting Vanilla plant-based powder, so I bit the bullet and recently ordered a big bag of Sun Warrior from Amazon. I sampled it immediately upon arrival, and it tasted great! I definitely get the hype.

Early last week, I decided to switch up my breakfast routine a bit. It’s much easier to make the same thing for breakfast every morning during the work week, since I have to pack both breakfast and lunch to bring to work. I had some Chobani yogurt with fruit, granola and either part of a bagel or muffin for breakfast both days at Blend, and it really filled me up. Since I’ve been in an oatmeal rut lately, it was a good time to switch it up. So last week, I started making a big fat protein muffin for breakfast) along with some yogurt, fruit and peanut flour “butter.” I had gotten some amazing lemon-blueberry granola at Blend made by Nature’s Indulgence. The granola was delicious- and reminded me of just how much I love that flavor combination. So, I thought: why not take that flavor combo and put it into a protein muffin? And this past weekend, I used the same recipe to make lemon-blueberry protein pancakes! I got some NuNaturals Stevia in both lemon and orange flavors and have alternated between the two for this recipe (both versions are awesome!)

I’ve been eating this for breakfast every morning  since I got back from Colorado.

This breakfast is especially good on mornings like today when I don’t really get to eat until after I’ve taught a super intense spin class at 5:30 in the morning! The muffin is topped with some 0% plain Chobani that is mixed with a little bit of NuNaturals Lemon Stevia. The peanut flour butter is just 2 T peanut flour, a pinch of salt, stevia, chia seeds and some water mixed together. Keeps me full for hours!

I really can’t get enough of these muffins- they have so much flavor and are incredibly filling (for such a low calorie count), high in protein and low in carbohydrates. The secret is the “flour”- which is made of from these two guys:

I used one full scoop of Sun Warrior plus one tablespoon of coconut flour (which is my favorite flour to bake with and makes everything super fluffy!).

**

Last weekend I decided to take this recipe and turn it into pancakes (because weekend mornings just scream “pancakes!!” to me)- and it worked out beautifully! I mixed up the batter and let it sizzle away in a nonstick pan with a little bit of coconut oil.

I love when you flip a blueberry pancake over and you can see the berries just ready to burst!

And a few minutes later… perfection.

I heated up some fresh blueberries with a little bit of Xagave and nuked it for 30 seconds to make a quick blueberry syrup. A little sunflower butter also made its way onto my plate.

Lemon Blueberry (Mega) Protein Pancakes

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1 T coconut flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1/4 – 1/3 c almond milk

1/4 c liquid egg whites (or 1 egg)

about 1/4 dropper full of NuNaturals Lemon Stevia (if you don’t have this, you can use lemon extract and sweetener of your choice)

handful of fresh blueberries

In a small bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together. Stir in the wet ingredients until well -incorporated (and make sure there are no lumps!). Fold in the blueberries. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and divide the batter into two pancakes. Cook for approximately four minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Flip over and cook for three additional minutes. 

The whole recipe has approximately 180 calories, 3 g fat, 9.5 g carbs, 4 g fiber and 25 g protein!

**For the muffins- use the exact same ingredients listed above, but also add 2 pumpkin puree and 1/2 T chia seeds. Place in a medium-sized microwave safe bowl and nuke for 3-4 minutes, until fully baked. (You can also bake it in the oven.)

**

I also experimented with a chocolate flavor last night, which was almost just as good. I think I’ll stick with the lemon blueberry (or strawberry!) combination for now.

How do you get your protein for breakfast?

Hello and Happy Monday! As much as it saddens me to write this, today’s post isn’t about Blend. But don’t worry- I’m sure there will be another one about it in the near future.

This post is about my fabulous weekend! (And warning- it’s an Instagram photo explosion! I didn’t even touch my DSLR all weekend. Horrible, I know.)

Saturday morning means sleeping in- which is exactly what we did: until 7:30! Wild, I tell you (hey- when you wake up between 4:30 and 5:30 during the week, 7:30 is a dream!). After finally getting out of bed, Greg and I made some breakfast and headed to Home Depot to buy some gardening supplies. I saw these whiskey barrels and wanted one so bad- it would be perfect for a little herb garden!

But, I didn’t get one. Greg suggested that I email our friend that works at Flying Dog Brewery first to see if they get rid of barrels there. When we were standing at the checkout, there was a little flower garden sitting in a fire and ice bowl, which I thought was also a great idea- and we already have one of those at home.

We bought a bunch of soil, mulch, flowers and a tomato plant. (And paper towels + tp, since it’s cheaper there!)

After Home Depot, we headed over to the Farmers’ Market, which just started back up last weekend! (Yay!!) One of the vendors had these two little kittens at his stand! I’m not a cat person – at all – but even I couldn’t resist these two.

I bought eggs, strawberries, salad greens, kale, bread and some herbs to plant- including this!

I’ve never actually seen a stevia plant before. I don’t know what I’ll do with it- but wanted to get it anyway!

After leaving the farmers’ market, we went home to quickly unload the car and grab the boys to head up the mountain for a hike. It was a beautiful day and the weather was perfect. I grabbed my fitmixer amino (LOVE THIS STUFF!!) to fuel me up for a little hiking.

At the trail head, we ran into my good friend Brie, who had just finished a bad-ass trail run!

Brie and I are so much alike, we even buy the same shoes!

Greg and I headed out on the trail, which was remarkably easy. I don’t know if it was the trail itself (it was one that I haven’t done much) or the fact that our last hike was at a much higher altitude (and much more strenuous in general. I always feel like a super athlete when I come back from Colorado, since everything is more intense out there.). Regardless, it was a good hike and nice to be out with my favorite guys.

After our hike, we came back home and enjoyed a nice lunch on the patio.

I toasted a piece of Naan bread with ham, cheddar and roasted red peppers for Greg (along with chips, celery and hummus) and I had an awesome salad with an egg from the farmers’ market, avocado (I’m a little obsessed with the egg + avocado combo lately) and some crushed up Beanitos from my swag bag.

Salsa was added after the photo was taken- and man, this combo is DELICIOUS.

Jackson watched over the yard for us while we ate.

I had to go run a few errands in the afternoon, so Greg got started on some weed whacking and mulching in the yard. When I got back, we planted some begonias in the flower bed behind our tulips (which are now all dead)

and some petunias around the mailbox- which I’ve been wanting to do for over a year now!

And I made my little herb garden, which contains dill, oregano, stevia, sage, basil, cinnamon basil (yum!) and cilantro. I am horrible at raising plants and herbs, so I hope these don’t die. I just have to remember to water them!

A little later, we enjoyed another nice meal on the patio (I never get sick of dining al fresco!). I bought some Gardein veggie burgers at my co-op that afternoon and was eager to try them. I made a little fresh guacamole to put on top, along with some baked kale chips and sweet potato.

Dinner was great- but I was more excited about desert! I had been reading (the adorable) Amy’s blog earlier that day and came across a photo of chocolate banana “ice cream.” Of all of the times I’ve made banana ice cream (which is just frozen bananas blended up into a creamy consistency), I’ve never thought to add chocolate protein powder! Genius! Luckily I had a ton of frozen bananas in the freezer, and had bought a pack of this so I was all set.

For two servings, I threw 3 small frozen bananas, the protein powder and a little almond milk in the Vitamix and blended away.  It took all of 60 seconds to make- and was totally decadent.

Toppings were a crumbled up (vegan) cookie, peanut butter and a few carob chips. Unintentionally vegan- and super delicious.

Greg and I ended the night by watching Goonies. It was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and I practically have it memorized (and couldn’t help but talk along with it several times). Greg had only seen it once or twice and it had been decades- which I couldn’t believe! It had been a little while since I had seen it last, but was as AWESOME as I remember.

**

Sunday morning started super early, since my Spinning class was changed from 8:30 to 8:00. I like to get my Bodypump workout in before  I teach on Sundays (since I’m just doing it by myself and not teaching a Bodypump class that day), so I was at the gym by 7. It felt REALLY GOOD to work so intensely and sweat like crazy that morning!

When I got back home around 9:30, I was greeted by two puppies running around, one of which had a card in his mouth (and was hard to photograph!).

How cute!

The boys also got me some flowers.

Apparently they picked them out themselves and just needed to borrow some money from dad and get a ride to the store.

(Yes, Greg and I celebrate both Mothers’ and Fathers’ day, since we are the proud parents of Jackson and Lance!)

I love these little goobers.

Greg headed out to meet a friend for some mountain biking, and I made myself a delicious protein-packed breakfast.

A mini Vega smoothie and some SUPER protein lemon-blueberry pancakes. Oh man. These pancakes were so good- I might just have to make them for dinner tonight (recipe to follow, I promise).

I spent the next few hours trying to clean up around the house a little bit and finally unpack my awesome Blend swag bag. Greg, the dogs and I headed over to my mom and stepdad’s house in the afternoon. The boys all stayed behind while my mom and I ran out to a nearby nursery to look at some trees and flowers that she wanted to buy.

There was SO much great stuff there- and I have to say- the quality was much better than what I had seen at Home Depot the day before. But of course, the price was much higher as well.

When we got back to my mom’s, I whipped up a fabulous dinner of crab cakes, grilled grouper, roasted squash and some multi-grain rolls that I had bought at the farmers’ market.

We also had a delicious salad, with greens I bought yesterday from the herb guy at the farmers’ market.

Greg cracked open on of these, which I have been dying to try since I first saw them at our beer store in January!

I love all 21st Amendment Brewery beers- and this was no exception! And really- can you think of anything more refreshing than watermelon beer?

Joe (my stepdad) mocked me photographing  my food by shooting his own!

Ha!

The boys loved playing with their “Uncle” Brady, who is my mom’s favorite child.

He turns 13 this month- and has no problem keeping up with the boys’ crazy energy!

I tried to get a photo of all three, which was nearly impossible.

You can see that Goldens run in the family!

Whenever I eat dinner at my mom’s, she follows it up with a fabulous dessert. Last night it was frozen custard and cookies that are made locally at an organic farm’s market that she shops at. (I devoured it too quickly to take a photo of course.) My eyes were a little bigger than my stomach and I feel pretty squishy today. But- this motivates me even more to clean up my eating a bit (namely, cutting out the mindless eating and added sugar). I’ve been a little relaxed on that for a few weeks, and it’s time to kick that butt back into gear!

Awesome weekend overall- the countdown is already on for next Friday (do I say that every Monday?).

What did you do this past weekend?

By now you may be sick of reading about the Blend Retreat. Well, I say this as politely as possible: too bad! I need to get everything out there before I forget it! I promise I’ll resume with business as usual next week. But for now, here’s a re-cap of how I spent the rest of my Sunday after leaving the fabulous cottages of Chautauqua Park.

And just in case you missed it, you can catch up on my Blend re-caps here and here.

After some very sad goodbyes to my girls on Sunday morning, Greg and I decided to take advantage of the fact that we had the rest of the day wide open. Our flight wasn’t until 6 am Monday morning (ugh!) and we had planned on staying at my cousin’s house that night in Stapleton. Since we were already at one of the best spots for hiking in Boulder and the weather was so gorgeous, we decided to leave the car parked at take one more hike up to the Flat Irons.

My legs and butt were super sore from 3 days of hiking plus 2 boot camp workouts, but I knew that my rest day would just have to wait until Monday.

I mean, come on…

How could we pass this up??

Since there’s so many different trails to choose from, we could do a completely different hike than the one that we did Saturday. Greg had wanted to hike up between Flat Iron 1 and 2, so that’s what we did. We’ve done this trail a few times (I think it’s also the first trail we ever hiked there), and it’s funny what you remember, like these rocks.

I tried to set up the camera for a self-timer shot, but it didn’t come out too good.

It was hard to run across the rocks in time, plus… you wouldn’t want to fall down there. It’s STEEP.

Again, I tried to savor every single moment and beautiful view during this hike (especially knowing it was our last of this trip!).

And yes, we made it to the top.

I look pretty content, don’t I? Like I belong there. (I feel like I do!)

I set up a the camera to take a photo of me and Greg against a big rock, and he caught me by surprise right before it went off!

Awwww…. (don’t puke… we rarely get moments like this!).

Our whole hike only took about two hours- and it was totally worth every moment. When we got back down to the car, we were a little hungry, but had to make an important stop first.

Another REI! This time, we went to the one in Boulder. And we really only went for one thing:

That would be an extra suitcase. For all my swag. We had both actually left room in our suitcases to bring stuff home, but would have been way over the weight limit. I really needed a nicer carry-on bag anyway, so it was a good excuse to buy one (even though we checked it this time, due to all the liquids). And this one is awesome, I might add!

It was time for some lunch after that- I couldn’t believe my ears when Greg suggested just getting it from Whole Foods! And of course, I was not one to complain! We had passed this particular Whole Foods the day before on the way to Avery, and I knew we had to hit it up before we left. It’s practically the size of a shopping mall (not that you can tell from this photo…)!

We headed straight for the salad bar/dining area, and it was massive! There were about 5 different salad bars and tons of different places to order hot food. There was also a gelato stand.

I, of course, got a gigantic salad with everything on it.

Greg got a salad too- but it may have been a little less colorful. We both agreed that this was the best Whole Foods we’ve ever been to. After eating that wonderful salad, I scanned the store for anything else I had to buy before we left. It was almost sensory overload though- and I had to remind myself that I had a 50 lb. (slight exaggeration) swag bag full of goodies already. But this Whole Foods had everything- even Toms!!

I was tempted to buy a pair… but I didn’t. I wanted those red ones.

Since there were a few hours left before we were supposed to be at my cousin’s, we headed back over to Pearl Street to walk around for a bit. One thing that I really wanted to get in Colorado was a hoodie, and I had seen a bunch in Breckenridge that I was kicking myself for not buying. Since I have such a great love for Boulder, I tried to find one that said Boulder somewhere on it. After going in and out of a few shoppes, I found the perfect sweatshirt at Jackalope & Company.

I put it on and said “Now I look like a local!!” Greg rolled his eyes in embarrassment.

I was joking, of course.

I’ve been living in this hoodie- I LOVE IT. Best $20 ever spent.

After leaving Pearl St. with fantastic sweatshirt in tow, we headed to Stapleton to stay with my cousin Seth and his wife, Jenny. They cooked us a fantastic dinner and she made homemade ice cream for dessert! It was so nice to sit and talk with them all night (especially since they got married a month before we did last year!) and they shared their big news with us that they are expecting their first child in November! I’m so happy for them.

We stayed up too late- but it was worth it. Our flight was at 6 am, so we got up to leave at 3:30 am, which was not cool. When we got to our gate at the airport, we quickly realized that about 2/3 of our plane was a group of teenagers going on a big trip to DC. And they were LOUD. And they were all in group A and B (this was Southwest) and Greg and I were in group C! I thought it would be the worst flight ever, but miraculously we got seats together in the second row, and the teens had started in the back and filled in, so there were a good 10-15 rows between us. Thank God!! It was a quiet, peaceful flight.

I tried to sleep on the flight home, but that didn’t really happen. I started writing a blog post and looked back through the zillions of photos I took instead. I forgot how much quicker the flight home is than the flight out- a full hour faster!

And four days later, my body still feels like it’s on Mountain Time.

My plan this weekend is to catch up on sleep…

Have a great weekend!

I know you’ve all been on the edge of your seats to read about the rest of Blend- so here it is! And I promise- it’s a lot shorter that part one.

I woke up Sunday morning with mixed emotions.  I was really excited to get the day started with another boot camp, followed by breakfast and a hike. But I was also really sad that in a few short hours, it would all be over, and we would all be saying our goodbyes. I was also really glad that I took it easy on the drinks the night before and wasn’t waking up to feeling like I wanted to spend the day with my head in a toilet.

Sunday morning started with another fabulous boot camp, let by Tiffany and the fabulous Chobani Fit team!

This workout was a lot different than the one that we did the day before, but both were equally awesome, butt-kicking and fun! After some warming up (more running, squatting, lunging, etc.), we were divided into different teams. Each team rotated to different stations and did 50 reps each of two different exercises.

There was a lot of leg + glute work and my booty was burning up by the end (and my quads!!) but it was all good. We finished with a much-needed stretching session, which felt amazing.

After the quickest shower + blow dry + change of clothes in history (12 minutes!) I headed over to eat our delicious Chobani sponsored breakfast. Of course, there were lots of containers of Chobani yogurt:

Hard-boiled eggs and fresh fruit:

Assorted bagels with peanut butter, cream cheese, and jelly:

And some boxes of Love Grown Foods granola that we all couldn’t keep our hands out of!

The little single-serve packets are the best. I may or may not have filled my purse with them.

YUM.

(I also had half a bagel with peanut butter- I had to fuel up for one more big hike after breakfast!)

After breakfast, it was time for the three amigas to raffle off some prizes. The sponsors sure were generous, and there were some really great stuff!

I had my eye on the Bob’s Red Mill $50 gift card (which Laura won!), but was definitely happy with my prize: a month’s supply of KIND bars!

Here’s Calee, Kelly and me with our winnings!

(Calee won a nice Chobani Fit gym bag and Kelly got a huge box of Pro Bars and a Pro Bar hat.)

I also got about 10 years’ worth of NuNaturals stevia that was left over from breakfast.

Seriously, I’ll never have to buy stevia again.

I had a great chat with the lovely Emily from Chobani- who is just the sweetest! And it turns out that her mom is an acupuncturist in Frederick – right where I live! We posed for one last group shot before leaving breakfast.

Kelly, Lynne, Emily, me, Amy (who is the cutest little preggo ever!) and Tiffany.

After breakfast, we all gathered outside to do a few group shots. Luckily again, I had my photographer husband to capture it! First, a serious shot:

And then, of course, we had to all flex our muscles!

(I gotta say- my biceps look pretty good!)

And then … it was time to say goodbye.

3…

2…

1…

BLEND!

There were lots of hugs, smiles and tears as well all said goodbye. I went back to my cottage to finish packing up my stuff, and enjoyed a few last moments of company with of some of my favorite Colorado girls:

Megan, me, Lynne, Tiffany and Heidi.

And just one more with ma bitches:

Okay, one more photo… me and Greg.

I forgot to mention yesterday- THIS was the view from our cottage!

Yeah- we will definitely be staying there again (and hopefully next year for Blend 2013)! Greg says that next year he will go away and camp while I blend.

I still can’t get over how wonderful this whole experience was, and how much it changed me as a person. I have made some true friends for life. And really- I am kind of amazed at how close I feel to so many of these girls in such a short amount of time. Some of them I truly feel like I have known for years- and I will know them for years to come! (And this will be a lot easier whenever we make that move to Colorado!)

I’ve never had an experience quite like this- and felt so inspired to be a better person, to live life, and to love me (and stop being so critical of myself all of the time).

(One more thing I learned about myself last weekend? I need an iPhone intervention. Or more specifically, an Instagram intervention.)

I need to give a big thank you and BIG HUG to everyone that made this event happen- from the bottom of my heart: thank you, and I love you all.

Oh, Blend… what do I even say? Really, there are no words to sum it up.

Thanks to these three wonderful women, I can honestly say- I’m a better person.

Katie, Janetha and Lindsay: You’re amazing and I love you so much!

Let’s get down to business. (I’m going to have to break this re-cap up into at least two different posts, or it would be the longest post in history.) And if you’re a new reader, perhaps you should check out my post about how much I love Colorado to get why Blend has an extra-special place in my heart.

The Blend retreat was an idea born in the minds of the three ladies pictured above as a chance for bloggers and non-bloggers alike to get together for a weekend of food, fitness and fun. Unlike a typcial blogger convention, there were no sessions, no lectures… just a few (awesome) organized meals and workouts and lots of free time to hang out with friends. There were no cliques, no judgement and no snobs. Just a group of women that all had a common love for living a healthy lifestyle and a love for themselves. Before the retreat, I have to say I was a little bit nervous. The majority of the women were younger than me- and everyone was SO fit and so pretty! But all of that went away 2.5 seconds after I arrived. It’s the first time in my life that I’ve been in a group of women and not felt judged. In fact, I immediately felt a sense of community and a connection and thought these women are all just like me!

**

It all started Friday afternoon when I checked in and received my t-shirt and name tag as well as the key to my cottage at Chautauqua.

Oh yeah, and there was also a swag bag.

Holy wow- check out what was IN this bag!!

I was completely BLOWN AWAY by the amount of products that we were given! I was really excited to see some things that I hadn’t heard of or tried before that will likely become new staples in my life. I wanted to open up everything right away, but I showed restraint and just dug right into the Love Grown Foods granola (which might just be the best granola I’ve ever had- wish we had it in Maryland!).

Our cottage wasn’t too shabby either!

“Not too shabby” is actually a huge understatement. I was totally impressed and it certainly exceeded any expectations I had. I had registered to share the cottage with another attendee (the fabulous Amanda, who will be starting her blog very soon!) but there were extra spaces, so we ended up having the cottage all to ourselves.

When I signed up for Blend, Greg and I used it as a reason to take a little trip out to our most favorite place to vacation, Colorado. Though we were both staying in the cottage, Greg didn’t plan on attending any of the Blend activities, except the group hike on Saturday. However, Lindsay was nice enough to insist that he come along to any and all of the activities, so he ended up participating in everything except the morning boot camps. I have to give my husband a lot of credit- he was the only male amongst several women for a good portion of the weekend, and he handled it very well. On the flip side, it couldn’t have been too bad- every single last woman at this retreat was strong, awesome and beautiful.

After settling into Cottage de Martin, I got a call from Kelly saying that she had arrived! We had planned to go over to dinner together- and this was our first time meeting in real life!

Kelly is even more gorgeous and sweet in person- if that’s possible! Check out her awesome guest post from last week, in case you missed it.

The three of us headed over to the dining hall for cocktail hour, and then the fun really started!

I was so excited to meet Laura, who’s quickly become one of my blogger BFF’s over the last few months. And I also met one of my new favorites, Heather! After a drink and some socializing, we headed into another room for a fabulous dinner. There I got to sit and chat with two more beautiful women: Calee and Christine! I had been really excited to meet the two of them as well!

Dinner itself was fabulous- and started with a delicious salad.

Followed by grilled chicken breast with huge chunks of garlic, quinoa and perfectly cooked broccoli.

And of course there was dessert, which was (mini) cupcakes.

The PB Pretzel was the best- but all of them were delicious (though I’m still dying to try the avocado sweet potato kind!). I actually emailed the bakers, who told me that the cupcakes are for sale at the Boulder Farmers’ Markets. I’ll definitely be seeking them out when I return in July!

We hung around and chatted for a bit and then all retired to our cottages. It was a long, exhausting, awesome day and everyone was beat!

**

Saturday morning started bright and early with a boot camp style workout, which was led by Lindsay and Tina, who are both certified NASM trainers. To be honest, after two days of hiking (and a pretty hardcore one on Friday in particular) my quads were screaming and I wasn’t too excited about doing an hour of bootcamp – especially since we’d be hiking a few hours later. Plus, I was tired because I was too excited to sleep the night before. But, I woke up and went anyway because I knew I’d kick myself if I didn’t go. And I’m SO glad I did- it ended up being so much fun (and pretty ass-kicking!).

We met a little before 7 am to get our Amino, sponsored by FitMixer. I actually didn’t drink any and was fueled by a half a banana that I had in my cottage. (I have since tried the Amino and LOVE IT, btw.)

We started off boot camp with a little running, and everyone immediately felt the altitude. I’ve run several times in Colorado, so I knew what to expect. After that, we were led through a series of workouts by Tina and Lindsay. Tina showed up some awesome exercises with resistance bands (which we got to keep!).

And then Lindsay kicked our butts some more.

My favorite part of the workout was this:

The tennis balls had various exercises written on them. We were divided into teams and competed against each other. We had a minute to send one member of the team to sprint to the pile of balls, grab one, run back and have the team do the exercise. We recorded the number of reps that each of us did for each exercise, and the team who did the most reps overall won a prize. I loved this. It brought out my competitive side and I put 100% effort into each exercise. And my obliques were quite sore the next morning, thank you very much. I’m definitely going to have to remember this “game” when training people in the future.

When the boot camp was over, we were all energized and ready to GO. (and ready to eat)

Check out Laura. She even looks adorable after an hour of sweaty workouts.

Me? Not so much.

Shortly after boot camp, we headed into the lodge for an awesome breakfast, sponsored by Xagave. Check out the spread!!

I had some Chobani 2% yogurt (which I had never had before- and now LOVE) with fruit, granola and 1/2 of each of the muffins (carrot cake and blueberry!). And of course, some Green Mountain coffee.

I was surrounded by these beautiful ladies (Tiffany, Lynne, Heidi, Amanda and Kelly) for a wonderful meal.

It is some kind of coincidence that all of these girls are Colorado natives?

Xagave totally hooked us up with an awesome breakfast and some bottles of agave nectar to take home! And I really loved listening to (Steve?) talk about the benefits of Agave nectar!

After a very filling breakfast, we were all nicely fueled up to go hike the Flat Irons! Apparently all of the cool girls wear black and blue.

I’ve hiked at the Flat Irons a good 10 or so times before, but there are a bunch of different trails that you can explore there and various options to get to the top. The plan was to take the Royal Arch trail- which was great because I had hiked all the way to the Arch before. Our big group started out together…

We ended up being somewhere near the front of the pack, and the group quickly split up into several smaller groups. I started the hike next to Calee, and really enjoyed talking with her. She is most definitely my homegirl.

Most of the hike was pretty steep!

We stopped to check out the view at a few different spots, and of course… took lots of pictures.

Man, there were a lot of us!

We finally reached the arch, and the view was awesome!!

And on the other side, you could also got a great view of the Flat Irons.

At the top, I finally got to meet and chat with Ashley for a bit. I love her blog, and she pretty much creates the best recipes ever (and rekindled my love for buckwheat flour).

Here’s Lee and Lena, catching one of the best views in all of Boulder:

I have to give Lee a lot of credit. Over a year ago, I randomly stumbled upon her blog, and it was the first blog that I started following. And then of course, it all snow-balled from there. If it wasn’t for her, I probably wouldn’t have ever started my own blog or even known about Blend- so thanks, Lee!

After enjoying the view at the arch, we started making the long, steep climb back down to the bottom.

We were definitely that group that annoyed the other hikers because there were so many of us. But people kindly stepped aside as we went by.

It went by super fast, thanks to some great conversation with Janetha! And of course, more photo stops….

(With Janetha and Katie)

I even remembered to get a photo with my photographer husband!

We took a picture in this very spot last year.

What an awesome hike!

There was a yoga session scheduled for a little bit later, but I had brought up the idea of going to get lunch and then taste some brews over at Avery’s taproom- which seemed to interest a lot of the other women. Chicks who are into working out, healthy eating and BEER? These are definitely my people! After some quick showers and a change of clothes a large group of us headed over to Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery. Poor Greg was the only guy in this massive group of women. Luckily that meant he could take a big group picture!

The beer selection was fabulous. I got an FYIPA to start and a few of us split this delicious rosemary white bean hummus (which I’ve already tried to re-create at home).

That was followed by grilled shrimp and squash skewers over tostadas. Yum and yum.

I had great company at the end of my table, including Kelly, Lindsay, Gina, Calee and Heather.

And Greg too, of course.

The staff at Mountain Sun were extremely friendly and didn’t appear annoyed at all by our large group. (Maybe it was due to the fact that a “dispensary” is located next door.

After an awesome lunch, we headed over to Avery (my favorite brewery in all of Colorado). Greg and I have been here a few times before, but the majority of the girls had not. When we got there, Greg finally got to be around another dude. His best friend John (and best man from our wedding) actually lives in Boulder, along with his girlfriend Tiffany.

I hung with ma bitches

We drank beer

and played with two awesome dobies that were at the table next to us.

(I’m pretty sure that Calee and I blew up Instagram taking pictures of them.)

Since it was Cinco de Mayo, we all planned on getting some Mexican food for dinner and hit up Rio Grande on Walnut Street. Since there were about 20 of us, and it was Cinco de Mayo, we pretty much had no hope of getting a table together. But at least we got to enjoy some drinks at the bar while we waited!

Free tequila shots? Yes, please.

I ended up sitting at a table with Lynne, Tiffany and Greg, which was perfect. I can’t say it enough: I love those two girls (but we missed you, Kelly!).

After my one (small) shot of tequila, I cut myself off for the night and stuck to water. I’m no dummy, and knew that any drinks beyond that would cause me to be hating life the next morning.

And hey- since I saved all of those calories by not drinking margaritas, it was perfectly okay to end the night with some GREEK fro-yo from Ben and Jerry’s, right?

Greg and I drove back to our cottage and passed out about 5 minutes after walking in the door. I kinda wish that I had stayed up with the other girls a little longer and hung out in the missions house, but I am an old lady and was pooped.

I gotta say: it was a PERFECT DAY.

Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow!!

Whoa… it’s been a crazy start to the day. After being up for 20 hours yesterday (waking up at 3:30 am to catch a flight and then being way too wired at night to fall asleep) I actually slept through my alarm and missed my spin class! In my four years of being an instructor, this has never happened to me. I feel awful about missing class, but I know that my group will understand. I’ll just make them work twice as hard next time.

So, yeah. We got home from Colorado yesterday… and I’m already just a bag of emotions. It’s so bittersweet to travel to Colorado- because it’s SO WONDERFUL when we’re there, but coming home is so difficult. Knowing the we’ll get to see Lance and Jackson is really the only thing that makes coming home bearable. I don’t feel this way about traveling anywhere else- I usually kind of look forward to coming home and getting back into a routine. But not Colorado… I just want to go out there with a one-way ticket. Alright, enough of this sad stuff. My face has pretty much looked like this for the last five days, and that’s what I need to focus on.

I know you are probably all dying to hear all about Blend… But you’ll just have to wait a little bit longer.

Here’s a little teaser photo in the meantime that I took during our awesome Saturday morning boot camp:

Let me start back at the beginning of our trip. We flew out of Baltimore on Wednesday afternoon and landed in Denver a little before 6 pm (gotta love gaining those two hours when you fly out west!). We checked into our hotel, grabbed a quick bite for dinner at Whole Foods (which was right by the hotel) and called it a night. We had to be up bright and early for some adventure the next morning!
I was so excited for Thursday’s fun! We hit the road and headed out west to the mountains. But first, we stopped at the Whole Foods in Golden, which is always our breakfast spot before heading west. The weather was gorgeous and we got to dine al fresco and soak in that beautiful Colorado air. I discovered these awesome breakfast rounds and had one with some fresh ground almond butter and banana and some Greek yogurt.

Greg had his breakfast burrito, as always.

After stocking up on some trail mix and apples to take along with us, we got back on the road. I LOVE the scenery driving out on 70- it’s almost sensory overload! I get really giddy when I first see the view of the snow-capped mountains.

We finally reached our first destination: Loveland Pass!

It’s become a tradition that we head out there on our first full day in Colorado- we’ve done that four years in a row now! The hike only takes us about an hour and a half (depending on how much time we spend at the top soaking in the views) but it’s STEEP.

And you feel the altitude immediately. My legs always feel like they have big bricks attached to them and my heart rate gets super high. I actually had to stop a few times, including a standard “in the snow” shot.

This is not real. Greg was not really next to me. That’s the magic of Photoshop.

I can’t complain though, and love every second of it- how can you not with this view all around you!?

When we reached the top, and went to do our traditional photo in the rock bowl, we noticed that it was filled with snow!

So our traditional shot IN the bowl was more ON the bowl.

I just stood there and took it all in… I can’t believe the beauty that surrounds me when I’m up there.

After taking a bunch of pictures and soaking in the beauty, we hiked back down (which takes about half the time that it does to get to the top!). I really try to savor each and every second at Loveland Pass- its the most beautiful view in all of Colorado!

Our plan after Loveland Pass was to head to Breckenridge and rent bikes to get down to Frisco. However, since it’s the off season, the bike path was closed for construction- and most of the bike rental shops were closed anyway. I really wanted to get a nice bike ride in, but my leg felt like jello from the hike, so I wasn’t really TOO bummed. So, instead, we went to Breckenridge Brewery and drank some beer. It was DEAD! It’s weird- I’ve never been in the “off season” so I’m used to everything being crowded! We weren’t complaining though!

We got the sampler because every single beer is good- it’s nice to have a little taste of each. We were happy campers.

After a nice chat with our friendly bartender, we  shopped around a bit (including a stop in my favorite store, Magical Scraps!) . The whole town was so quiet!

We left and drove to Frisco to get some lunch at a restaurant called the Boat yard. I got a fabulous salad with tofu, chicken, goat cheese and cherries (amongst other things).

After lunch, we walked around a bit downtown (also quiet)

and went down to the water – right where we got engaged two years ago (well, we it was a little further out- on one of the little islands that you have to kayak to).

It would have been nice to rent kayaks of course, but that’s something that we’ll have to do when we come back in July.

We left Frisco and headed back to our hotel to freshen up for dinner. We had made plans to meet up with my friend Brock, who moved from Maryland to Denver last year, and his girlfriend Melissa. We had a reservation at Root Down for 745, but left the hotel about an hour early to h it up the REI flagship store, which I had never been to (shocking!). And it was massive.

Of course I saw a bunch of Prana and Patagonia dresses that I wanted and tried them on (yes, REI actually has AWESOME dresses!)

I ended up buying the third one from the left. I was very torn between that and the pink one, which I might have to go back and get later.

After REI we headed over to Root Down!

I had made plans to meet up with Denver bloggers Lynne and Tiffany at 7 to get some drinks before dinner. I was so excited to meet theses girls, because we’ve read each others’ blogs forever but hadn’t actually “met” before. They were both exactly how I expected them to be, and even more gorgeous in person! It was so much fun to chat and laugh together!

The girls left when Brock and Melissa arrived, and Greg and I enjoyed our second dinner dates for the night. we ordered a few different dishes to share (which make Greg cringe- he Hates sharing food, but he went along with it) and everything was delicious.

“Devils on Horseback” (red peppers stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped with Serrano ham),  Spinach/asparagus gnocchi, Lamb and Duck confit sliders, Strawberry Ice Cream (Bad lighting + iPhone camera + flash)

Greg and I had been to Root Down a few years earlier and remembered loving it then. It was great to hear Brock talk about how much he loved living in Denver, which of course made me want to move there even more! It was also really great to talk to Melissa, who is a Colorado native. They’re planning to visit Maryland in June, so I hope we’re able to get together then!

Our first full day in Colorado was just about as perfect as it could be- and we were pooped by the time we went to bed!

**

Day two also began bright and early, because when you’re in a place as awesome as Colorado you really have to take advantage of every moment! We decided to head into Boulder after we checked out of our hotel and check out the hike at Green Mountain. We’ve never done this hike before, but it sounded great and was supposed to have a crazy view from the top. I read in a hiking book that it would take about four hours, which sounded like a perfect amount of time.

Hello, Boulder!!

Once again, we stopped at Whole Foods to fuel up (this time it was the one off Baseline Road in Boulder). They had an oatmeal bar, so I opted for that.

We also grabbed some sandwiches and snacks for lunch during and after the hike and loaded up our bags. The trail head was just a little past Chatagua, which is where we’ve hiked the Flat Irons several times. We started off on the Gregory Canyon trail.

This hike was so much fun- and SO butt-kicking! And the views were just incredible. They kept getting better as we hiked higher and higher!

Greg and I both LOVED this hike. It’s definitely now my favorite in all of Boulder… maybe in all of Colorado??

After a very rocky and steep climb up, we finally reached the top! At the very top of the mountain is a big rock that you can climb up on, and we had a fellow hiker take our picture.

There’s also a big plaque that maps out the peaks all around!

VERY COOL.  (And we’d love to hike Longs Peak someday!!)

We took a different trail down to the bottom, which was also pretty steep and rocky- but well worth it. When we got to the bottom, we enjoyed a rockin’ picnic lunch.

I know how to pack a picnic, eh?

Upslope is one of our favorite Colorado breweries. Unfortunately we weren’t able to make it over there, but at least we could find some cans at a local liquor store! That and coconut water… talk about refreshment.

When we got done eating lunch, it was about 2:30. We had a bit of time before we were supposed to check in at the cottages for Blend, so we made a quick stop over at one of other favorite places in Colorado: Celestial Seasonings!

If you’re in Boulder, GO DO THE TOUR!! We have done the tour twice and it’s awesome! (We didn’t do it this time.)

We sampled some teas and I bought a bunch of stuff from the gift shop. I actually didn’t buy any tea this time, but got some Alba and Jason skin and hair-care products (who are owned the by the Hain-Celestial group) and some magnets and Kombucha.

After that, it was time for BLEND to begin. After our first two days in Colorado, I really didn’t think it could get any better. Boy was I wrong!

Stay tuned for all of the juicy details tomorrow!

I’m having the time of my life out in here in Colorado… I don’t think I ever want to leave! The Blend Retreat has been such an amazing experience… I can’t wait to share the details and photos with you guys! For now, I have one more guest post, from Tina, who was the recipient of my Foodie Pen Pal box last month. Take it away, Tina!

Hi, my name is Tina and I’m a jack of all trades.  By day, I’m an exercise physiologist at a Physical Therapy and Wellness Center that fixes treadmills, orders supplies and designs programs for the baby boomers of today.  By night, I rock out to bodyrock.tv, play tennis, knit, read and enjoy real food.  The food part is what brings me to Lauren’s Oatmeal after Spinning blog.

Last month Lauren and I participated in our first foodie pen pal exchange.  When I first heard of this, I thought what a great idea.   I love food and I love getting packages in the mail.  Now, if someone else who has a love of food could mail me something that they loved I would be introduced to even more great edible items.  So all you have to do to get your package is go to www.theleangreenbean.com and sign up for foodie pen pals by the 5^th of every month.  Rules and such are on the website.

Mind you, I tried to explain this to the postal service when I was mailing my pen pal’s goodies and he gave me a weird look.  He’s like what if they tried to poison you?  Well, typically everyone has a blog and they wouldn’t want the blogging community to think poorly of them. J

Now for the goodies that Lauren sent me!

Now let’s open our letter….

Lauren just opened my eyes to a whole new world!  There was only 1 item in the box that I’d ever had before: the Ginger Chews.  Even that was different because the Ginger Chew flavor I had before was apple ginger and I love both!  You know what they say about ginger don’t you?  So, I ate one right away

I snarfed down that ginger chew so fast!

It’s been a couple of weeks since my package arrived and there are only a couple of things left to try.  Would it surprise you that the Chocolate Bar was just cracked into today?  Oh the salty chocolately goodness is like heaven in your mouth.

If you haven’t tried being a foodie pen pal, it’s totally worth it.  Thanks Lauren!  I can’t wait to hear what lovely items everyone received.

I’m off to enjoy another cup of my new favorite cup of tea:

**

(from Lauren) Thanks, Tina for that awesome post! Glad you enjoyed the goodies.

Have you ever tried any of the items in the package I sent?