June Report Card

If it's possible, June flew by even FASTER than April or May!! 2017 will be over before we know it. Or maybe it will slow down after I turn 40 in August. LOL.

Week in Review - 6/25

This week was all about YOGA!

After 8 weeks of the Bikini Series, I needed a break from running and regular strength training. I still kept up with the RW Run Streak, but kept each run to 1 mile in order to focus more on yoga.

Workouts:

M - 1 mile run + Healthy Energy Flow (36min)
T - 1 mile run + Power Yoga: Lines, Angles and Loops (49min)
W - 1 mile run + Yoga for Core (and Booty!) (28min)
Th - 1 mile run + Hatha Yoga Happiness: Gratitude (35min)
F - 1 mile run + Compassion Yoga (58min)
Sa - 1 mile run + Power Yoga with Crista Shillington: Up, Down and All Around (1h 13min)
Su - 7 MIN Pre-Run Yoga + 1 mile run + Post-Run Cool Down Yoga + 6-Min Yoga for Hips + Perfect Stretching Routine

I tried to get in some longer yoga videos this week. Saturday's was particularly good. It was really tough and I had to do some modifying, but at the end, I was so happy.

I really love the heat; it's one of the reasons I live in Las Vegas. It's been over 110°F this past week. While I think it feels fabulous, I've been doing my runs before work. The thought of running in the sunshine and heat after work just didn't seem very smart. :-)

Highlights of the Week:

Moon Valley Nursery
I played hooky from work on Friday (pre-approved, of course), and we made a little visit to the Moon Valley Nursery. Jeff had gone earlier in the week to look at their lemon trees and discovered they have a lot of tropical birds, so he wanted me to see some of the wildlife at the nursery. It was really fun!

There was a toucan that was pretty noisy and a ponds full of turtles.

I think there were some koi in the pond as well. :-)

There were quiet a few other birds in cages throughout the nursery. My favorite was Cool Whip.

This is Cool Whip. He was so fun. He kept flaring his head feathers. <swipe for a video> Of course, immediately after the video, he started talking to us. "Hello. Hello."

A post shared by Clarinda (@enjoyingthecourse) on Jun 23, 2017 at 3:20pm PDT

It was a fun little excursion.

Stanley B Spring Trail
Today, we headed up to Mt Charleston to beat the heat and cross off June's new trail.

I think this is one of my new favorite trails! There were lots of interesting things to look at - trees, caves, bushes, etc. It was a pretty easy trail to navigate with quite a bit of shade (compared to most Vegas trails).

The views were spectacular!

There is a spring at the end, but we didn't make it all the way. Sallie was getting too hot and too tired, so we decided to turn around.

I'll try to write a whole review post on the trail. It's definitely one that we want to do again.

How was your week?
Do you ever just take a break from your regular workouts to focus on one thing?
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I'm linking up today with Tricia & Holly for the Weekly Wrap.

Week in Review - 6/18

Today marks the end of the Tone It Up Bikini Series. It's hard to believe it's been 8 weeks already! It went by pretty fast. Probably because I was working so hard. :-D

Goal Check-In:
NO Fast Food ✔
Starbucks 1x per week ✔
72 oz of water a day ✔
Stick to the workout plan ✔Well, I did skip one workout this week due to time.
Sub 10:00 min/mile - Current avg pace: 10:24
Lose 10 lbs - ↓ 11.8 lbs

Zucchini Matcha Muffins

Do you love muffins? I know I do!

But they don't tend to fill me up. I can easily scarf down 3-4 normal homemade muffins with my morning coffee. And then need to force myself to stop. the. madness.

I wanted to create a muffin with a little more oomph! aka. protein.

It was about time use up the leftover shredded zucchini in my freezer and I found this recipe on Pinterest that looked like a promising place to start for my concoction.

Week in Review - 6/11

I can hardly believe that I just finished week 7 of the Bikini Series! It's gone by so fast, though I will admit that this past week was a little difficult to focus. I'm kind of ready for a break after working so hard.

One more week to go!

But I need to start thinking about what's next, so I'm ready to go when the series comes to an end next Sunday. I definitely want to keep up with strength training but include more yoga. I'm sure I'll come up with something throughout the week.

Goal Check-In:
NO Fast Food ✔
Starbucks 1x per week ✔
72 oz of water a day ✔
Stick to the workout plan ✔
Sub 10:00 min/mile - Current avg pace: 10:27
Lose 10 lbs - ↓ 9.4 lbs

Portion Control Made Easy

Disclaimer: I received a Precision Digital kitchen scale complimentary from EatSmart Products in exchange for my honest review.

If you read my Week in Review post this past Sunday, you'll know that I recently broke a pretty big weight barrier. So exciting!!

Yes, after six weeks of dedicated hard work during the Bikini Series, I'm starting to see some real progress. I can't give all the credit to working out every day, though.

No, my success is also partly due to watching what I eat and trying to make healthier choices.

I gave up fast food.
I committed to drink at least 72 oz of water a day.
I tracked all my food {most days}.

These small changes helped a lot, but I needed a little more.
Enter EatSmart Scales.

Lemon-Cilantro Kale Salad

This might be the most amazing kale salad ever, and it's just something I threw together before work one day. It totally made me late, but it was so worth it come lunchtime. In fact, I had it for lunch a few days in a row, and I looked forward to it each day!

The key to a great kale salad is to massage it a bit with oil, or dressing, before adding all the other ingredients. It really tenderizes the kale while simultaneously changing the flavor from bitter to sweet and nutty.

It might seem a little weird at first to really get in there with your bare hands, but seriously, it will change the way you feel about kale!

Serves 4.

Week in Review - 6/04

OMG! Guys, when I stepped on the scale this morning, I broke the 160 barrier!! I could hardly believe it. It's been far too long since I'd seen a number under 160. It was definitely a nice surprise to start my day.

Only two more weeks left in the Bikini Series. I'm really excited about how well I've stuck to the workouts and how focused I've been on eating better. I'm hoping that much of it sticks around long after the series comes to an end.

Goal Check-In:
NO Fast Food ✔ technically, I was good this week, BUT I did break last Sunday after last week's update.
Starbucks 1x per week ✔ since I broke on Sunday with fast food, I decided ZERO Starbucks this week. Success!
72 oz of water a day ✔
Stick to the workout plan ✔
Sub 10:00 min/mile - Current avg pace: 10:20 with temps getting hotter and hotter, not sure I'm going to make sub-10 during this challenge. Maybe in the fall.
Lose 10 lbs - ↓ 8.4 lbs

Ultimate Coffee Date - June 2017

I really missed catching up with all of you last month, and I just couldn't let two months go by without a coffee date!

It's getting HOT here in Vegas. I think our high today is 104 F. Yikes! So, I'm sipping on delicious Iced Protein Coffee.

If we were having coffee today... I'd share with you how I made this delicious drink. :)

May Report Card

Is it just me, or did May fly by even faster than April? Lots of changes at work in May, and with that came a lot of craziness. There were plentiful of days that were straight up STRESSFUL!

The Bikini Series really helped to keep me sane. 😊

23 Songs Perfect for Summer

Yesterday was the unofficial start to summer! Are you ready for it?! Hope you did something fun to celebrate the season and the sunshine!!

In honor of summer and sunshine - two of my favorite things - I created a playlist on Spotify that is absolutely perfect for summer.

Black Bean, Corn, Zucchini Salad with Cilantro Dressing

I have been in LOVE with cilantro lately. It's a little unfortunate because my husband is one of those people who HATE cilantro.

Or maybe not unfortunate, because it just means MORE for me. 😋

A couple weeks ago, my phone died on me. It's all good a replacement was sent out free of charge. While I was without a phone, I had to old-school it a bit by digging out an actual cookbook. It was difficult to try to follow a recipe from Pinterest when my computer was in a different room.

It was fun to thumb through my few cookbooks to find some new recipes, though. I really should do it more often.

I adapted the following recipe from 1,000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson. The original didn't include zucchini, but I love raw zucchini and since I had some in the fridge that needed to be used, I chopped it up and added it in.

It's served cold, so if you're headed to a Memorial Day picnic today, this would be a perfect addition to the usual picnic fare. Plus, it's super quick and easy to throw together.

Serves 6.

Week in Review - 5/28

Ooph! This was kind of a tough week. So much more mindless snacking during the workday than in the first half of the series. FOR NO GOOD REASON! But isn't that usually the case with mindless snacking?! :-)

Work is still crazy, but it was a little less busy this week. I think that played into the additional snacking. Boredom. Whoops.

I did create the most delicious kale salad one morning. I'll share the recipe soon, but it was so good!

Goal Check-In:
NO Fast Food ✔
Starbucks 1x per week ✔
72 oz of water a day 😒 - I fell short both Tues & Fri
Stick to the workout plan ✔
Sub 10:00 min/mile - Current avg pace: 10:31
Lose 10 lbs - ↓ 6.8 lbs

Favorite Songs of 2017 (so far)

It's my first time linking up for Tunes Tuesday with Kim, Steff, and Janelle for real (I linked up once before with just an IG pic).

I've been listening to music a bit more on my runs, but the music on my phone has gotten a bit stale.

I needed to mix it up.

So, I finally redeemed my coupon code for a free year of Spotify Premium to see if I like using it on my runs. I was going to test out the free version before redeeming, but Premium allows you to download to your phone, and I try to use the least amount of data during my runs as possible, so Premium it is. :)

On the 4th Tuesday of each month, the Tunes Tuesday topic is Current Favorite Music. I'm loving so many new songs this year! I think artists are really bringing their A game right now, and it makes my commute so much more enjoyable.

Here is a playlist of my Top 10 Songs of 2017 (so far). Enjoy!

@EnjoytheCourse shares her Top 10 Songs of 2017 (so far). What's your favorite?

They may or may not be good for running. ;-) I'm testing it out for the first time this morning!
What do you think? Will this be a good playlist for running?
Stay tuned to Twitter and IG to see what I thought.
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If you use Spotify, feel free to follow me - Clarinda Dodson - or leave your name in the comments, so I can follow you. Also, please share any Spotify tips & tricks with this newbie.

Don't forget to head over to our hosts to see what music everyone else is currently loving!

Week in Review - 5/21

I can hardly believe that I just finished Week 4 of the Bikini Series! Halfway done!! It's going by so fast. Must be my hard work and commitment that's making it fly by. ;-)

The workouts have been TOUGH, but I find myself looking forward to them each morning. I like how there's a mix of videos, live workouts (I've only done 2, but they have 2 each week), and Daily Moves.

I meant to take some halfway done pics, but my day got away from me.
Maybe at the end of Week 5.

Goal Check-In:
NO Fast Food ✔
Starbucks 1x per week ✔
72 oz of water a day ✔
Stick to the workout plan ✔
Sub 10:00 min/mile - Current avg pace: 10:29
Lose 10 lbs - ↓ 5.6 lbs (yes, I gained a little last week, but it's OK.)

Week in Review - 5/14

This was a tough week. Work is going through a lot of changes, which means lots of meetings and conversations. It's exhausting.

The cherry, of course, was Wed morning, when my phone decided to turn off and never turn back on. Support was very helpful and is shipping me a replacement phone free of charge. Unfortunately, the timing was the worst. I submitted the order for the replacement around 7pm on Wed and it took until Fri morning to process the order. So, even though it was shipped FedEx Overnight, it's not arriving until tomorrow because overnight from Fri doesn't include the weekend. Boooo.

At least I had the Bikini Series to help keep me somewhat sane. 👍

Goal Check-In:
NO Fast Food ✔
Starbucks 1x per week ✔ (not even once this week!)
72 oz of water a day 😒 -  I was short on water both Fri & Sat
Stick to the workout plan ✔
Sub 10:00 min/mile - Current avg pace: 10:37
Lose 10 lbs - ↓ 6 lbs

The Why's & How's of Foam Rolling

Quick! What are some of your first thoughts when I say Foam Roller?

If you're like me, you might have come up with things like:

Self-massage, Injury prevention, I need to do this more often, but never find the time
Painful, Good for recovery, I know I should, but...

Did you know that today is National Foam Rolling Day?!
I know! There is a national day for everything nowadays. :)

I find the thought of foam rolling to be kind of intimidating. I know there are a ton of benefits, but sometimes I can get caught up in the HOW of it all.

First, let's talk about the WHY.

Once upon a time I tried a Green Tea Latte from Starbucks. I wasn't a huge fan.
It tasted too earthy. Too green.

One of the primary ingredients was matcha powder.

So, when I received a big package of matcha in my goodie bag from the #TIUVegas meetup a couple weeks ago, I wasn't sure I'd like/use it.

I took a shot and experimented with it in a smoothie.

It was heaven!

The other secret ingredients that made this smoothie super delicious were the cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla protein powder. Oh, and the apple juice. These ingredients really helped make the smoothie delectable.

Vanilla Cinnamon Kale Smoothie

Takes 10 min, serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch kale, stems removed
• 2 cups almond milk, original unsweetened
• 1 cube Pop&Cook crushed ginger
• 125 g zucchini
• 358 g strawberries
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp matcha powder
• 8 oz apple juice
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder

Instructions

1. Blend kale and almond milk together.
2. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
3. Divide equally into mason jars. Drink one immediately and freeze or refrigerate the other 3 to enjoy throughout the week.

What's your favorite smoothie ingredient?
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I'm linking up today with Deborah and Sarah for Meatless Mondays.

Week in Review - 5/07

Another successful week of the Bikini Series! I didn't miss a workout and feel like I'm recovering a bit faster after them now. I still get sore, but it doesn't last as long.

Goal Check-In:
NO Fast Food ✔
Starbucks 1x per week ✔
72 oz of water a day ✔
Stick to the workout plan ✔
Sub 10:00 min/mile - Current pace: 10:41
Lose 10 lbs - ↓ 4.2 lbs

April Report Card

Where did April go? I mean seriously. It was 1000x better than March, and it really flew by.

I'm having a very difficult time believing it is May already. :-)