Hey everyone! Hope your New Year has been treating you well so far 
Yesterday morning, I had my favorite Larabar while I ran some errands with my nana:
(Minus the blur, it says “CINNAMON ROLL”)
After we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and the airport, we were ready for some lunch, so she took me to Olive Garden!!
WE DO NOT HAVE AN OLIVE GARDEN IN VALDOSTA! I think that’s official proof that Valdosta isn’t a real town
We both got soup and salad.
I had minestrone (and requested as little pasta in it as possible, since I didn’t eat that part)
Ensalada:
And dessert, when we got back to the casa:
I took a 2 hour nap (I’ve been super tired lately) and then hit up the gym.
I did a light leg workout, including glute blasters, V-glutes, calf raises on a step, hip abductor/adductor machine and plie squats and 45 minutes on the elliptical
After the gym, I went to my madre’s friend Julie’s house –who is really like my adopted aunt.
I had a little plate of hummus, guacamole and salsa (x2)
And a beautiful green corn tamale and frijoles (which I later found out were not vegetarian. YIKERS. They tasted great going down, but after finding that out, I felt a little queasy)
I chilled with Spotty:
We came home and put in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. I decided when the movie started that I wanted some popcorn (air popped in a paper bag like I had it on New Years eve). I put it in the microwave and came to sit on the couch. I started to hear a crackle noise coming from the kitchen. I went running in, and the entire inside of the microwave was IN FLAMES!!! I yelled “Fire! Fire!” and came running out shrieking and my stepdad put it out. It was CRAZY!!!!!!!!
So after that adventure, and the movie (which I really liked), I called it a night :/
I woke up to one of these beauties:
I hit up the gym for upper body and spin.
| Dumbbell upward row | 10 lbs each, 3 sets of 12 |
| Bent over row | 15 lbs each, 3 sets of 10 |
| Overhead dumbbell triceps extension | 15 lbs, 3 sets of 10 |
| Straight bar press down | 30 lbs, 3 sets of 12 |
| Straight bar cable curl | 17 lbs, 3 sets of 12 |
| Assisted chin up | 90 lbs, 3 sets of 12 |
| Spinning | 45 minutes |
That’s right, friends. I left spin class 15 minutes early. My legs could not take it anymore. Today should have been my rest day –I’ve been so stoked by the variety of amazing classes here, I haven’t taken a rest day since Christmas—and my leggies were screaming at me. I decided to listen, peaced out, and decided to take pilates tomorrow and THAT’S IT. No cardio for this girl tomorrow, especially since I have a long run planned on Sunday.
After the gym, I had one of these for a snack:
Then we hit the road for Phoenix!!!
We stopped at DIck’s Sporting Goods and I got a supercute Camelbak. Then we went here:
It was my first time and I adored it! I couldn’t believe the prices, either!!! I went a little crazy in there…
For lunch we ate at the Ikea bistro.
I had smoked salmon, salad, veggies, a wheat cracker and a baby pure OJ:
We shopped it up, went to my Aunt’s house, and then it was time for a BLOGGER MEET-UP with Jenn, Melissa and Heather!
We went to the Green Vegetarian restaurant and I ordered the Diablo Red with Crispy Tofu and Brown Rice
It was AMAZING!! It was perfectly spicy and the tofu reminded me of the fabulous Gliding Calm Tofu we all adore
These girls were just as amazing as they seem on their blogs and we had so much fun! Heather’s husband, Chris came and chilled with us, and also took pictures for our blogs:
(Heather, Me, Melissa and Jenn)
I looooove blogger meet-ups and this was such a fun group to have dinner with! I’m so fortunate to be in this lovely bloggy community
Since my madre (and brothers) drove me to Phoenix, I waited for them to pick me up and meandered around the restaurant since they had some goodies for purchase. I got 4 Glenny’s Brown Rice Crispy treats and one of these:
VEGAN PEANUT BUTTER BAR!
It was like a sorta-healthy Reese’s I shared it with the fam on the way back to T-town.
And now here I am: pajamas, Eclipse, and a b-fast cookie waiting in the fridge. My life would be in perfect order if the pilot were here! SOON THOUGH! (kinda)
Have a wonderful weekend!
xoxo,
Gina
Today’s tip: Try going backwards on the elliptical. I often forget that it’s an option and it uses totally different muscles! My favorite is to go 8 minutes forward at a higher level (7 or 8), then bring the level down to 5 and go as fast as you can for 2 minutes, backwards. Repeat 3-4 times then cool down for 5 minutes for a total of 35-45 minutes.
Hi, I'm Gina. Welcome to The Fitnessista! I love blogging about my adventures as a new mom, military wife and fitness instructor, as well as sharing new workouts and recipes. Check out the About page for more info - thanks for stopping by!
ohhh that crispy tofu looks amazing! wish i lived in a town that had a vegetarian restaurant, boo!
as much as i love everything in this post, that vegan PB bar is making me drooool
mmmm love all the food, love blogger meetups, you all look so cute!
That looks like so much fun
Happy New Year!!
I just got addicted to the Twilight books… I’m on Eclipse now too.
“WE DO NOT HAVE AN OLIVE GARDEN IN VALDOSTA! I think that’s official proof that Valdosta isn’t a real town”
Haha!! That made me laugh out loud
Hooray for IKEA!!
Great tip of the day!!
Saving the best for last…
HELL YES FOR MEETING HEATHER, JENN, AND MELISSA!!! You guys all rock
Glad you guys had a fun meet up! Adorable pic!!!! I can’t believe the popcorn sent the micro on fire, that is crazy! LOVE olive garden
yayyyy for a blogger meetup, i’m so jealous!
I was going to go to that restaurant when I lived in AZ but never got to it…now I’m back in Illinois =P Phooey. Great food and great girls to meet up with!
Love the breakfast cookie as usual!
I have a weight loss question for you Gina or anyone else. I am trying to lose about 10-15 pounds. I eat about 1300 calories per day and I average 700 calories burned in exercise daily (through a combination of walking my dog, running, elliptical and weight lifting). I have not seen the scale really moving over the past 2 months. Do you think that I am not eating enough? Any recommendations?
hey sarah- i’m thinking that you most likely will have to increase your calorie intake, as it sounds a little low to me with how active you are.
in order to keep losing weight you need to find out what your bmr is (basic metabolic rate) which is the amount of calories you’d burn if you spent the day in bed and didn’t do anything (they have estimate calculators online but an easy way to do this is multiply your weight by 10, then add your weight to that number). add the amount of calories the you burn through exercise to your BMR. since it’s safe to lose 1-2 lbs per week, subrtract 500 from this number, since 3500 calories is 1 lb (you want to be at a 500 deficit per day to lose 1 lb = 3500 cals per week) and that should be *roughly* the amount of calories you should be taking in.
calorie counting is definitely more of an art than a science though, so you have to find the right balance between eating enough to keep your muscle, but keeping a deficit to allow you to keep losing weight.
altering the quality of your food can make a huge difference, too. I”m not sure how well you eat right now, but small changes can totally add up.
just make sure these changes are ones that you can keep for the long run (including your activity level) so that you don’t gain the weight back later on.
i hope this helped a little!!
Just wondering why you requested light on the pasta…
hey anon- i don’t eat pasta, unless it’s 100% whole wheat, but even then i rarely eat it
My dad flew into Tuscon this morning for the football game!!
I’m so jealous of your blogger meetup–wish I was there!
wow – what a fun blogger get together!!!!
yikes about the fire but at least it wasn’t major
isnt ikea amazing?
First time at Ikea? I can’t imagine life without that place!
I always order the soup and salad from Olive Garden too.
Yay for a blogger meetup!
I love Ikea!
They closed down most of the Olive Garden restaurants in Canada.
Thanks for the elliptical tip!
Jealous of the meet up!
I agree…not a real town if it doesn’t have an Olive Garden. And I can say that, too, because we have an OG 2 hrs. one way and 2 1/2 hrs. the other way. Ugh. But I almost always get the minestrone and the salad…usually tons of salad! I even buy bottles of the dressing so I can have it at home! And I hadn’t even thought about asking for little pasta in the soup, I usually just eat around most of it. I’ll have to remember that!
Nice popcorn fire there, Gina! Ha! Bet the house smelled good, too!
Glad you had a great bloggie lunch! Have a great weekend!
Gina, your blog is so fun! Just curious what your corn tamales that you like so much are made out of? Do you purchase them somewhere or make them yourself? Thanks!
What a fun meet up!!! You girls are all adorable!
Sorry to hear about the fire! You don’t have an OG in Valdosta?! I agree – it’s definitely not a real town, I thought they had them every where!
Great fitness tip too
What do you think about saturated fat? I’m deathly afraid of it! It appears your diet is very low in it. I’m trying to gain weight from healthy fats, but honestly, I just simply get TOO FULL from only eating healthy foods to gain weight!?! I haven’t eaten ice cream or pizza in YEARS and want to so badly but I have damn near a phobia. I know I already get 15-17% of the RDA of sat fat when I pound a Pure Protein bar. Thoughts??
erica- hahah the house smelled HORRIBLE!
emily- why thank you
my familia makes the tamales (and they use vegetable shortening instead of lard, which i love them even more for). i’m taking a dozen back to georgia with me, but plan on whipping up a raw version when i get home!
hi anon- my diet is extremely low in saturated fat, but pretty high in monounsaturated (healthy) fat. i avoid bad fat at all costs, and have been eating even less since i cut out meat and don’t eat very much diary. if you’re trying to gain weight the healthy way, i’d definitely recommend continuing to stay away from the junk food and gain lean muscle instead of fat. all you have to do is add 500 (healthy) calories to your current intake every day to gain a lb per week. it could be an apple with 2 tbs nut butter (300 cals) and a large glass of 100% oj (150-200 cals), a serving of brown rice (150-200 cals depending on the rice), a serving of fish (150-200 cals) and a cup of steamed veggies, a smoothie with a lg banana (100 cals), a scoop of protein (110 cals), 1.5 tbs nut butter (150) and a cup of your choice of milk (~80) or a pita pizza with a whole wheat pita (150 cals) 1/2 cup marinara (50) cals, tons of veggies (free), some lean protein (150 cals) and cheese (70 cals). have smaller meals more often to get the calories you need, without getting too full by trying to have too much at once.
weight lifting will also help you gain lean muscle mass
hope this helps!!
Thanks Gina. Although I was looking for carte blanche to go to town on some chocolate plus peanut butter…um, anything. haha jk. I already eat about 2,000 calories a day, but I’ve been losing with that amount. I do need to up it to, I’m guessing, 2500, at least temporarily. But my problem with small, frequent meals is that I workout alot, and I get extremely queasy if I eat too soon to a workout….even like an hour or two beforehand (no matter what it is…like one dried apricot and three almonds or some b.s.). I workout in the AM and in the PM so my eating schedule is pretty paltry during the day (totaling about 1,000) and then I usually eat a larger dinner plus night snack to get the other 1000 in. I have a meeting with a nutritionist in two weeks (yay!) but anymore insight based on this new info is highly appreciated. I would just email, especially as this is so personal, but I thought it might be nice for others to read it in the comments just for their own personal accumulation of knowledge. thanks again!
p.s. I already weight train alot! boo cardio thanks
I love the soup and salad combo from Olive Garden!
I can’t believe your popcorn was ON FIRE! That’s crazy – glad that everything was ok!
That smoked salmon at IKEA definitely looks good. I am going to try to go sometime once I get back to Illinois!
And last but not least, I’m SO glad we had the chance to meet up last night! It was great to talk in person! And wow, I wish I would have known they had peanut butter bars! Oh well, next time right? ;o)
I hope you like Eclipse!
Gina, how long have you been veg?
I love your new tips section!!
omg so sorry to hear about the fire episode!!! sadly that has happened to me before! so scary!!
Also, that black shirt is super cute!
You’ve got to love Olive Garden!
And that peanut butter chocolate bar looks great!
anon- without knowing your height, weight, age, workout schedule, body fat percentage and the ability to meet with you in person, it’s kinda tough for me to determine anything else besides the fact that you do need to increase your calorie intake to gain weight. hahah and sorry, no freedom to go buck wild on ice cream and pizza. since eating before a workout makes you quesy, is there any way you could work out once a day, in the morning instead of twice a day? i’m not sure if your schedule would allow it but this would enable you to eat more during the day without worrying about feeling queasy before your pm workout.
beth- since the day before the pilot left in early september
The crispy tofu and brown rice looked so good. The blogger meet up AZ style looked so fun- great group of bloggers!
OMG.. I can’t believe the micro was on fire that is crazy. I am glad your stepdad came to the rescue.
Gina,
I’ve been meaning to make your breakfast cookie for weeks, and I finally went to do it — and realized, I can’t find a recipe! I see your ingredients listed for several kinds, I just forget the technique. Would you consider reposting?
Thanks from a big fan!
Katy
sillytatertot.blogspot.com
Your dedication to exercise is amazing! You’re such an inspiration!! I really like Sisterhood of the traveling pants, too! It threw me off how many books they combined but in the end I took it for what it was – a cute, feel good movie!
You girls look so great!! Sounds delish…omg I love OG too, their dressing is to die for, unlimited baby
Have a great night!
OK all that food looks amazing! I love tofu now thanks to all you awesome food bloggers. Love blog meet ups. Glad you all were able to get together.
Love going backwards on the elliptical.
That tofu looks amazing! I miss tofu- since I’ve been kitchenless in Utah, I haven’t gotten to eat it as much as usual… I need to find a restaurant here with awesome tofu…
(Oh, and there’s no Olive Garden in Park City, either- it’s a small town, but there’s lots of money, and people seem to be really into locally owned joints. It’s okay, though… I’m only so-so on it. But there’s no Target here! *Sniff* It’s the worst…)
oh yeah – I need to go back to IKEA for some stuff. such good prices. I just went backwards on the elliptical the other day!
the blogger meet-up looks like fun – and the tofu looks incredible!
Hey Gina, I’ve been reading your blog for a few weeks, but this is the first time I’ve posted. What a great blog! You have a great tone- peppy and happy, but not annoyingly so- and have really great pictures and tips. I just wrote a post a day or two ago about New Year’s REVOLUTIONS vs New Year’s Resolutions that you might enjoy. I thought of it when I read your short little blurb about New Year’s Resolutions and how they don’t seem to work very well. I totally agree! Check it out and leave a comment- I’m interested to hear your thoughts on my “Revolution!”
love, Leading Lady Lis
Hi – I am a new reader and I just have to say that I love your blog! One question: what do you put in your breakfast oatmeal “cookie” and how do you make it?
Popcorn set on fire? Geez, aren’t they supposed to make sure the popcorn bags are safe?! I’ve definitely done that before too, but it was my own fault, I think I put some kind of tinfoil or something in there. Hello dummy.
Your FIRST trip to Ikea? Now THAT’s something worth noting. I ADORE Ikea, there stuff is amazing. And the prices… I could go crazy in there.
Lots of things to comment on here.
1. I have not had the Cinnamon Roll Larabar! Got to try.
2. IKEA is like an adult playland.
3. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 — I loved it all the way til the end. I mean, whatever happened to the artist love interest? Too many loose ends.
Have a great week!
What a fun meetup! Looks like a blast, and sounds delicious!
I need to get myself to IKEA asap! Im jealous!
-C
I have such a soft spot for Olive Garden!
Also thanks for the info on quickly calculating BMR. That is really close to the figure I get with more difficult calculations and it was a lot easier to come by!
I soo need that recipe for the peanut butter bar!
Just wanted to tell you and your female food blogging girl friend, i love reading all your blogs.
Not sure how many guys read your blogs, but being into nutrition, cooking and workingout I really enjoy your blogs. Keep up the fun reading!