Random things that are pretty awesome

 Hi all! Sorry if you saw a janky post earlier today. I was loading the pictures and accidentally hit Publish instead of Save. Ooops.

Anywho, I wanted to talk about a few things I'm loving lately. First up, this BB Cream and powder from Smashbox. Let me tell you, I am a terrible creature of habit when it comes to make-up. I find what I like and stay with it, FOREVER. I seriously wore the same Clinique Superpowder Double Face Powder since I was in high school and only in the last 2 years have switched to M.A.C Studio Fix Powder plus Foundation. FYI, that's a really long time.

I've been hearing a lot about BB creams and I wanted to give one a try. Let me say, I LOVE this one. Smashbox beauty cream is a moisturizer, it controls oil and it has SPF 35 sun protection. It's tinted, goes on smoothly and provides great coverage. I got this sample kit so I could try it along with the Halo powder which I also LOVE.

 

According to Smashbox, this powder can reduce the signs of aging. I'm all for that, so let's slap some on. Seriously though, the combo of the BB cream and Halo powder is fantastic. Great coverage and it lasts the entire day of me putting my hands on my face.

 

 

Next up, Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Crush.I picked this up a Kroger. Yes, Kroger and I'm in love. I think my lips are pale and I'm constantly putting on gloss or lipstick all day. I've been to Sephora and Ulta and the department stores looking for s lip stain that will last. I couldn't find anything I liked at any of those places, but go to get some cat food and there it is.

 

Fantastic wear and it doesn't get cakey over the course of the day. Put it on and it's there all dang day. Love.

 

Boot Camp! Yesterday I went to a Boot Camp Class at the YMCA I was auditioning. I was impressed by how strenuous it was. We ran suicides at the end. I didn't play sports in school, so that was pretty new to me. I wasn't the last person to finish, and I was in the front of the pack for the running portion. Well, everyone else was jogging and it was a run for me but hell yeah, front of the pack!

 

 

ICE CREAM - I mentioned that I was following a IIFYM program. So far so good, but I'm having trouble getting in all the fat for the day. That's where the ice cream comes in. Full fat, delicious French Vanilla Ice Cream (hands down the best flavor ever). It has to be French Vanilla. I love the yellow so much.

 

 

I can knock out some carbs and fat with a serving of ice cream and that's awesome.

 

This is one of my cats, Titus, he's a douche and totally owns it.

 

 

 

He's too fat to sit on the arm of the chair so he has half his girth on there and the rest on the seat. Note the fantastic stank eye.

 

These Cookies. I've been seeing a lot of people talk about Raggedy Robins which are apparently No-Bake cookies. Who knew there were different names? Regardless, they're no-bakes to me. I decided to whip up a batch for my team meeting on Tuesday and gave Kev some to take to rehearsal.

 

 

 

Such a hot delicious mess of peanut butter and chocolate. 

 

Looks like dookie, tastes like awesome.

 

 

No-Bakes - GF Too

 

1 stick of butter (use unsalted or salted, whatever you have)

1/3 cup Coco powder

2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup milk (I used Almond)

 

Put it all in a pan on the stove top on Med High / High. Let it melt and stir regularly until it comes to a hard boil. Here's the trick, let it boil HARD for a full minute! If you don't, they won't set up properly. Hard boil means that you can't stir away the bubbles. You still want to stir while it's bubbling because otherwise that -ish will burn.

 

After a minute take it off the burner and add:

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

Stir until the PB melts, it won't take long.

 

Then add 3 cups of uncooked oatmeal. (I used TJ's GF oats)

 

Spoon onto waxed paper and wait for them to cool. Or don't. Eat it warm with a spoon and burn your tongue. All the cool kids are doing it.



 

 Nutritional Stats:

 

Enjoy!

Raggedy Robins or No-Bakes? This is important!

Wednesday Confessions, kinda.

Hey all, it's Wednesday again and you know what that means, time to link up with Vodka and Soda for a little hump day action. I don't think I've really mentioned how much I love vodka. I really, really do. Hands down, my drink of choice. Mmmmmm booze. But I digress.

Time for a little confession, I've been having a heck of a time going to the gym this last week. Two weeks ago I mentioned how I forgot my pants and couldn't work out and last week didn't get any better. On Wednesday I went to the wrong gym. I was planning on going to spin class but instead of going to the gym on Glenwood Ave, I went to the one on Six Forks. (sorry that this means nothing to anyone who lives outside of Raleigh) Needless to say, it's not easy to get to different gyms at 6pm. Then then next day, no sports bra. That one I did suck up and go to spin class in my regular bra. Finally on Friday I got stuck in traffic and missed Body Pump. I was just so frustrated and annoyed, I decided not to go at all.

Ever since starting my new job, it's been a struggle to get to the gym on time. I have a membership at Fitness Connection and it was great because I could easily get to 4 different locations. 4 locations, 4 class schedules and 2 are pretty close to my house. The new job is a bit farther away than my last and I'm taking a different highway to get there. It means that I have to leave exactly at 5pm to get to 2 of the 4 locations in time for a 6pm class. One of the locations I definitely can't make it there in time and the the other I haven't tried yet. I'm not trying to be a negative nelly but I think we all have these stretches where we struggle with exercise or get bored with our options. I've only really been able to make it to Body Pump or RPM classes and I'm just getting tired of them. It's too damn hot to run outside right now and I just need something new to break up the monotony.

I'm a huge fan of trying out a gym before committing. I've had week long passes to several places, had a month long Groupon for Crossfit, tried Pure Barre and Orange Theory fitness. I'm not a big yoga fan, hate stepping on boxes and don't like Zumba. Yes, I know, I'm only one of the 5 people in the world who don't.

I've been looking for a new gym or something a little closer to work that I could get a 10 pack package or something and I started thinking about all the various work outs I've tried in the past. I thought a trip down memory lane would be fun.

1. Sweatin' to the Oldies.

I LOVED Sweatin' to the Oldies! I used this tape, yes TAPE religiously the summer before my Junior year in college. I still think I could do these routines by heart if I thought about it. Heck, I even represented Richard at a Halloween 5k a few years ago.

Some dude dressed like Bob Ross was nstading next to me in the chute. For me, he won the best costume, hands down.

2. Cher Fitness! Oh yes, Cher had several work out videos back in the day.

I love you Cher but this wasn't good. She did these videos in some of the most ridiculous outfits. One session was in her "If I Could Turn Back Time" unitard. She also did an entire section on "the Pony", which is apparently a dance where you prance all over the place. I can still hear her.. "I pony, you pony, we all love the pony". Over and over again... I could probably still bust out a "Pony" too

3. The Grind!

OK, everyone in the 90s had this video. Eric Nies was on the first, yes the FIRST Real World and he had his own workout video that focused on his abs. I think... My college roommate LOVED this one. He was all over MTV back in the day and I think he had his own work out show on there.

4. Have you ever heard of this place?

I think they've gone out of business now but this was a chain of gyms very similar to Curves (which I've also tried). So, they were in Raleigh a few years ago and I called there to ask about the gym and to set up a time for a tour. Kev and I got there, they showed us around and I asked where they held their classes. The lady took me over to a TV and a pile of DVDs and said, "here". Their classes were a TV and a pile of workout DVDs. seriously.

5. Curves

I've got nothing against Curves. I went there for a year or 2 several years ago. Curves is great for women going to a gym for the first time ever. It's a fantastic introduction to fitness. It's great that they're trying to revitalize the brand but for me, I have trouble breaking a sweat there. And I get bored going in circles.

I'm pretty sure I won't try any of these again but I do need a new fitness challenge. I think I'll peruse some Groupons and see if there's anything worth a try.

 

Also Linking up with Fitness Blondie! Welcome back!!

What do you do to revitalize your workouts?

Any suggestions of classes / gyms I should try?

Ever tried Sweatin' to the Oldies?

Starting Over

As you know, three years ago, I lost 50 pounds following the Jenny Craig diet. It worked well for me and I saw results that I hadn't been able to achieve with other programs in the past. I've been able to maintain it (for the most part) since then.

In February of 2013, I was laid off from my job, thankfully I was able to find a new position in 4 months, but unfortunately, my eating suffered. The next thing I knew, I gained back about 12 pounds. I tried a few different things over the last year but those 12 pounds have stubbornly held on.

I do want to put out a disclaimer that I don't weigh myself anymore. The scale makes me crazy and I refuse to let a piece of metal dictate how I feel about myself. Instead I evaluate how my clothes fit. I know how they fit at my lowest and I know the weight I was when I bought most of them.

I've decided to change things up and try a new approach. I've read a lot about people counting their macros and using the IIFYM method (If it fits your macros). The idea is that there are 3 macro nutrients, carbs, protein and fat. Based on your activity level, age, and body fat you calculate the number of calories and the macro break down you need to lose weight.

I went to IIFYM.com to calculate what I need to eat.

I entered my age, height and weight, my level of exercise and my body fat. I guessed on my body fat the first time I did the calculation, then on Saturday when I went to the gym I asked to use their body fat calculator machine. Annnnd it was 32%. According to the site, I need to eat 1708 calories today to lose weight, 2135 to maintain and 2349 and up will cause me to gain weight.

I chose the IIFYM plan and opted for one of the highest protein and fat options. Reason being, I know that I have pretty results when I keep the carbs a little lower. You could go with less fat and get more carbs, it just depends on what works for you, as long as you meet your macro distribution.

It then spits out your results. Based on what I chose, I need to eat 87.4 grams of carbs, 144.5 protein and 86.7 fats while keeping my fiber between 34 - 43 grams.

A few key points to remember, you can't eat any calorie you've burned through exercise. The calculation already accounts for that. Also, if you're familiar with a low carb diet, you know that many people subtract the fiber from the carb counts. That doesn't work here. A carb is a carb. When Kev was helping me set my guidelines, he was used to to low carb rules, so we needed to up it a little.

I also went out and bought a new food scale and a measuring tape and I'm using myfitnesspal app to track my food. There's a a code that you can run on your PC that adapts the website to allow you to customize the macro percentages on the page and when you save the updates, it translates to the food app.

Here are my measurements as of 7/12/14:
Waist - 35
Hips - 42.2
Arm - 13
Thigh - 24.25
Body Fat - 32%

Me after a sweaty Body Pump class for the starting pictures.

Time to get started!

Have you ever counted macros?

How do you track your food?


Monday Link up!

Sunday Spotlight #2 - DigestZen

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you're having a fantastic weekend!

It's time for the second installment of Sunday Spotlight! I'm sticking with the Essential Oils this week and today I'm going to talk about one of my favorite oil blends, DigestZen

DigestZen is a blend that according to doTerra, can be useful in improving digestive function. The oils included have been studied for their ability to balance the system and soothe many digestive aliments. And let me tell you, yes, yes it does.

I've had assorted digestive issues for the last few years. In the end I'm pretty sure I have a sensitivity to soy and some gluten. For those of you with food sensitivities, you know it's pretty difficult to find out what's in the food, especially when you go out to eat. For me, If I accidentally eat soy or too much gluten, my stomach hurts and is extremely bloated. It'll eventually go away but noting I've tried over the counter has helped. Except DigestZen. I put a drop or 2 of the oil in a shot glass and in  minutes, the pain is gone and I feel considerably less bloated. 

The oils in the blend are  - Ginger, Peppermint, Tarragon, Fennel, Caraway, Coriander and Anise. And I think unicorn tears or some other sort of magical ingredient. I've also suffered from acid reflux on and off over the years and for a while had to take Nexium and Omeprazole. I also used to eat Tums like candy. I stopped a while ago and have been using the DigestZen when I have reflux and I can honestly say that the episodes have been fewer and further in between.

This is also the first oil that I used on Kev that started him believing in the benefits of essential oils. When he has a stomach ache, he likes to rub it on his stomach where it hurts. It takes about 10-15 minutes for it to sink in and take effect but he always gets relief. It's quicker if you take it internally but can be applied topically. I actually carry it in my purse at all times.

If you're interested in learning more about DigestZen, click on the doTerra link on the right side of  the blog or shoot me an email at larabadanes at gmail dot com.

What do you use to help with an upset stomach?

Five Thing Friday

It's FRIDAY!! You know what that means, time for Lara's 5 things. After Wednesday's confessions you'd think I'd be out of things to ramble on about. Nooooope. That's the one thing about me, I can talk about all sorts of things.

Without further adieu, the 5 things on my mind this week

1. That new badge on the side bar! I received an e-mail yesterday that I'm the newest Sweat Pink Ambassador! I am so unbelievably thrilled to be a part of this community. Sweat Pink Ambassadors are committed to building a healthy community.  I absolutely love their mission statement.

Click here to learn more about Fit Approach

2. ThredUp! I ordered my first clean out bag last week and I started filling it up! If you haven't heard, ThredUp is an online consignment shop. You can shop online and/or send them your gently worn or new items. The postage is all prepaid and you can either drop it off at the Post Office or at FedEx. They get the bag, decide what they're going to take and give you a credit. I saw plenty of cute things I could use wear to work on there and I'm interested to see what they'll give me.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the size of the bag. I posed it next to 55lb Cleo to show the size and just how much I was able to fit in there. Now to drop it off at Fed Ex today! (So hard to take a good picture of a black dog)

Wanna get $10 free from ThredUp? E-mail me at larabadanes at gmail dot com and I'll send you the code!

3. Spin Class! I took a looooong break from spin class, mainly because it was in a spin class that my SI joint popped out of my back and completely jacked up a ton of things, especially my running, for almost a year. It took 2 rounds of PT and lots of chiropractor and strenghtening before I could run pain free. That's why I was starting from nothing at the beginning of the year. I dusted off my spin shoes and remembered how bad my butt bone hurts after a class.

Not awesome for an hour spin class, I was having a heck of a time getting my heart rate over 150. It was odd. I upped the resistance and still couldn't get it up. (TWSS)

4. Gym Selfies! If you follow me on Instagram you've already seen this, apologies for the repeat.

That's my 70 year old dad, at the YMCA, taking a selfie, in compression socks. He has no idea how trendy he is right now. I seriously love it.

5. WHY IS THIS A THING???

You can go to diedinhouse.com and see if anyone DIED IN YOUR HOUSE. Obviously someone thinks there's a need for this service but as long as any dead people in my house keep quiet, I'm good. The less I know, the better off I am.

I e-mailed the winners of my Melaleuca giveaway! Congrats to McKenzie and Kristen! E-mail me your addresses and I'll get it sent out to you!

Have an awesome weekend everyone and don't forget to stop over for the Friday Favorites and Oh Hey Friday!

 

Would you want to know if someone died in your house?

 

 

Ever had an injury that kept you from exercising? How did you keep from losing your mind?

Wednesday Confessions

Hey, it's Wednesday and you know what that means, it's time to link up with Vodka and Soda. I'm sure you noticed that I've been linking up a lot recently, reason being, it's a great way to find new bloggers and to maybe get a few more viewers. If you've ended up here from the link-up, HI, (waves)

Today I was thinking about a few things that I need to confess, so here goes.

 - Sometimes when I'm at the mall and I'm a little hungry, but not hungry enough to actually order a meal, I do the "Walk of Chicken". You know how all the Chinese / Japanese restaurants wave you down with chicken pieces on toothpicks, yea, I pretend like I'm interested, eat the Bourbon Chicken piece, nod and tell them I'll think about it. I never come back...

During the Walk of Chicken, look for the people behind the counter, they'll give you multiple pieces.

 - I kinda still like Creed. (hides face in shame) I actually have "Higher" on my running play list. I can't even begin to justify it. 

 

 - Sometimes I take Cleo for a walk and it turns into a 2 poo walk but I only have one bag. I just run away. I actually feel pretty bad about this. I take a bag, she poops, I throw it away, we walk more, she poops again, I get scared and run away. I carry 2 bags, she poops one time. Argh....

 - I eat raw cookie dough, cake batter, brownie batter, you name it. I know it might give me salmonella, but it's too delicious. I'll probably stop when I actually get food poisoning, but until then, everything is up for grabs.

I've had food poisoning a few times, once from a burger and it takes me a lot to actually want to eat a burger. Seriously, I might have had 10 in the last few years. I'm sure I'll have the same issue with cookie dough if things ever go bad, but until then, EAT ALL THE DOUGH.

 - I'd rather text than talk on the phone. Ugh I know it's awful but I can text in-between doing other things.

 - I love me some Honey Boo Boo... and Hoarders and People's Court. I seriously can't help myself.

 - I don't trust really tall people. Like really, really tall people. What do they see all the way up there? I think it's an entirely different world up there and I just don't trust it.

 

 

  - I can't decide if Benedict Cumberbatch is attractive or funny looking. In some angles I think, ooooo, yes. And in others, eww.

 

This one is a yes.

 

Don't forget there's still a little time left to enter my give away here!

Have you ever done a "Walk of Chicken"?

 

Benedict Cumberbatch, hot or funny looking?

Scenes from the Weekend #2

I can't believe it's Monday already! Well, I can and actually I was pretty excited to head back to work this morning. New job, lots to to and plan and stuff. But we had a pretty nice weekend and I thought, hey, lets share what happened.

I'm also linking up with the Secret Blogger Club. Definitely go check out The Blonder Life and her co-host, See You In a Porridge

Right here should be a picture that directs you to the link-up. However, Internet Explorer doesn't seem to like it and I see a big X. Hopefully you don't. Ugh, I offered IT $1 to load Chrome on my laptop and they laughed at me. He should have countered, I would have paid $3.

Weds I went to the gym and when I got there, realized I'd left my pants at home. I've managed in a regular bra or without socks but there's no getting around no pants. So home I went but I made sure to schedule time on Thursday after work.

 

I got to the gym a little early and had some time to watch People's Court on the elliptical. I LOVE me some People's Court and this guy's sweater was epic. Good for you young Cosby, good for you.

 



I did that for a while and headed into Body Pump where this guy planted himself right in front of me.

 

Mr Olympiad took this class really seriously. Each of those orange weights were 10 pounds and during the squat track he had 57.5 pounds on each side and was grunting like a mad man. He also dropped the full bar at the end of each track. Stong Man competition this is not. Seriously though, kudos to you for all that weight but I just don't associate that level of weightlifting with a Body Pump class. I see him in more of a hard core weight setting.

 

 

I burned not quite 600 calories which is cool. I'm just such a cardio queen, I have trouble reconciling gym time vs caloric burn. I know weights burn more fat in the long run but I still love the numbers.

Friday Morning Kev headed out to our blueberry bush and found these gems. 

 

When we moved in, we had no idea there was a giant blueberry bush in out back yard. It's literally 12 feet tall and 20 feet wide. The berries almost ready to pick so it's time to shoo away the deer and birds!

Friday was a ridiculously lazy day. I'm really embarrassed by how few steps I racked up on Friday. It was almost impressive how lazy I was. I started the day doing a little blogging, then we headed to one of our community pools for the festivities.

I really need to find some sort of adult beverage in cans to take to the pool and hide in my koozie. Instead I had some raspberry club soda.

 

My choice of reading materials at the pool? So far so good and if you have any interest in zombies, definitely check it out. I'm usually a huge zombie fan but this book was written by the super talented Nikki Hopeman who I went to college with and we were in the same sorority. Really a great summer read and I'm a little sad that I've had it for a while and am just now getting to it.

Then I sat on my ass the rest of the day. We watched Transformers on Amazon Prime and it was awful. I swear I needed Cliff Notes to follow along with the plot. I'm glad I've never paid to see any of those movies.

After lazing around all day Friday, I was up bright and early Saturday morning for a run. There wasn't any humidity and it was glorious out. My run, not so much. I'm going to have to suck it up and run on the treadmill while I wait for it to cool off.

After my run we headed to the State Farmer's Market where I ran into these two.

 

I don't know why furries were there. Confession time, I can't stop getting my picture taken with people in costumes. It's like a borderline obsession at this point.

 

 We didn't have any plans for the evening so we headed out to the Durham Bulls Park to watch some baseball. It was Team USA vs. Team Chinese Taipei.

 

 

 

Baseball selfie.

Kev and I both ordered burgers and we split some fries. After a bad case of food poisoning I don't usually eat burgers but this one was supposed to be grass fed and delicious. It wasn't. The texture was just gross. I gave it to Kev and he ate the patty so it wouldn't go to waste but yuck.

After a few innings I stumbled on a taco stand. These... These were delicious! Chicken, some sort of slaw, a little cheese and plenty of salsa, Delish!

And it was fireworks night! It was a great show, we were really impressed. And since we didn't see any fireworks on the 4th, we felt we got our holiday on.

 

 

This also happened. Kev wants to buy a pair of jorts for the show.

 





Those were the highlights of the weekend! Don't forget that my give away is still going on. Click here to enter!

 

 

 How did you spend the holiday weekend?