So Fresh, So Green
Hey everyone! Hope you’re having a wonderful morning 😀
I ended up staying up too late last night watching the Kardashians and their shenanigans while the pilot studied, and got a little snacky.
I still can’t decide whether the tropical fruit tart or the coconut cream pie flavor is my favorite. I just love them both so much 😀
We crashed out, woke up pretty early and I started the day the YogaDownload way.
The original plan was to do 2 20-minute yoga podcasts, but after Power Vinyasa Yoga #4, I was ready for some bfast.
That tropical beauty had:
1.25 C almond milk
1 frozen banana
1/2 C frozen mango
1/2 C fresh pineapple
handful of spinach
1/2 t spirulina
1 scoop vanilla Sun Warrior
So fresh, so green 😀
Tomorrow is the beginning of Lent. (Lent is the 40 days before Easter- many Christians and Catholics spend these days reflecting and often “give something up” that they enjoy, as a reminder of emptiness for the 40 day time period). Just like New Years resolutions, I usually go about Lent the rebel way. I don’t usually “give things up” for Lent and instead strive to do “more” of things that I believe would make me a better person. Pray more, forgive more quickly, try to be more patient and sympathetic, and try not to be negative. This year, I’ve already been working on those things (per my inspiration board) and am going to continue to pray more, yoga more, and be more understanding but since I felt like I needed to do something different to actually participate in Lent, I’m also giving up sweets. My friend Jeni (who is usually my dessert buddy) is also giving up sweets so I think it will be ok 😉
Are you doing the Lent thing?
If not, do you have any Spring goals you’re working towards??
Do share 😀
I’m off to get ready for the day then:
-Planning menus
-Cleaning
-Training clients
-Going for a run
-Movie with the girls
See ya this afternoon <3
xoxo,
Gina
More Questions and Answers (From the Ask Me Anything page <—- Ask me anything! Really)
Have you ever been to Europe? If so, where have you been? If no, where would you like to go?
Not yet, but I can’t wait. We were actually planning on going for two weeks this spring, but since I’ll be working on getting a restaurant up and running, we will most likely wait until the fall. We’re going to Italy for one week and Spain for one week 🙂
seeing that you seem to be close to your family, do you ever get homesick? and if so, how do you go about dealing with this? i will be moving across the country with my husband soon and i will be far away from my family.
Yes, I get homesick pretty often. I usually have to know when I’ll be visiting home again, which always helps with the homesickness. Right now, I have no idea when I’m going back, but a short phone call to anyone in the familia always makes me feel better. My friends, pilot, puppies and jobs help to keep me distracted from homesickness.
I can’t really think of anything scandalous to ask you anonymously…anything I’d want to ask you, I’d just comment or email you! Hmm…what’s your stance on the green tea for weight loss thing?
I’m actually surprised by the lack of scandalous questions 😉 I think that green tea is wonderful (and FULL of cancer-fighting antioxidants), but any type of tea can help with weight loss. If you sip a few mugs full throughout the day, you’ll find that you’re much less hungry.
Just curious what kind of food you feed your furbabies..?
We used to feed them Nutro Ultra (which is pricey, but we had heard good things about it) but they weren’t eating it as much as they should. We switched them over to Iams Natural Chicken, which must be like McDonald’s for dogs because they go crazy for it. I’d love to buy them organic, but no where here sells it and I can’t justify driving to Jacksonville for dog food. So they eat the Iams, Oragnic treats (chicken strips and the Newman’s Own hearts), as well as vegetables galore (they love carrots, peas and sweet potatoes).
108 Comments
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
The coconut cream pie flavor is my fav! lol.
That sounds like a gorgeous smoothie, I’m going to try it out!
(I know, the Kardashians kept me up too)
I feed my puppy Nutro and he loves it so far. I feel good giving him a more natural dog food. yay fur babies =)
LOVE your yoga mat! Where did you get it?
targizzle
aka target 🙂
LOVE the yoga mat!! So cute!! Our pup loves laying on our mats too! 🙂
I am not Catholic but I do love the tradition. I was thinking of “giving up” dairy products. I’ve been wanting to for a while now but always cave in (they give me stomach aches).
My dog loves laying on yoga mats. I usualy have to put him in his kennel when I do any type of mat work otherwise, I end up fighting him for space.
I haven’t decided what I am going to do for Lent yet – last year I gave up shopping for my husband and i (as in clothes shopping). Obviously birthday presents or things for other people still are okay, but it was HARD! I think I will do that again to continue in the quest to save money!
I have the same yoga mat!!! I am giving up soda, prepackage meals (i rely on them too much instead of making my own dinners/lunches), and high fructose corn syrup-containing products. The last one I do pretty well, but I still havent completely banished it. It is time to do it…
My fave larabar is probably pb and j. I love your yoga mat!
I’m giving up baked goods for Lent.
Well, I’m Jewish so I’m not quite doing the Lent thing, haha, but I do have a goal to clean up my eating and get on a better eating schedule than I am now. I started today with the first breakfast I’ve had in quite a long time!
I’m Catholic, and I always like to both do something and give something up for Lent. For the past few years, I’ve given up sweets, but I decided to do something a little less extreme this year and give up chocolate. I’m going to spend a few extra minutes praying and meditating each morning as the “do something” part of my Lenten resolution. Happy to hear you’re a Catholic girl too! 🙂
Mmm I love that flavor Lara Bar! So good. I DVR’d the Kardashians last night. Looks like a good one. Have a great day! What movie ya seein?
it is a good one! scott is SUCH a goober
valentine’s day! i hope it’s good 🙂
I’ve never seen that Larabar flavour before! What do you consider as giving up sweets? Does that mean foods with added sugars?
dessert-y foods… baked goodies, raw treats, cacao powder is staying though 😉
i havent even thought about lent! but sweets sounds like a good one to give up to me.
I’ve been thinking alot about Lent this year. Even though it’s hard to go without something for 40 days, it’s a sweet pleasure to take part in it on Easter Sunday as a way to celebrate the resurrection. It’s hard for me to think of something I want to take out of my life that I actually want to put back in! I’m still deciding, but I was thinking about my weekly trip to the Farmer’s Market. I love it and think it’s a great thing so to take it out will be a sacrifice, but it will be a huge treat to put it back in after 40 days!
PS – I’m with you, those are 2 of my fave Larabars, I just had the tropical one on Vday 🙂
I LOVE your yoga mat!
I’m going to take the plunge and go totally vegan this year for lent. I am also going to make sure to pray more often and work harder to combat stress and tension. Sometimes work, etc just builds up too much!!
I’m enjoying a mighty fine smoothie myself as well! Love them…it feels like you are drinking the BEST foods in the world.
I think I will have a smoothie everyday for the rest of my life! Haha!
Props to you for giving up sweets! I remember when I was younger, I’d give up things for lent that I already didn’t care about that much (i.e. giving up beef). Sort of defeats the purpose though lol
The coconut cream pie is surely my favorite. Well, maybe the pecan pie is but I love the coconut cream pie!
Being Jewish, I don’t usually do Lent per-se, but since so many of my friends do, I usually take the opportunity to either eat cleaner or give up my lazy ways. I’m hoping that maybe 40 days of exercise will help get me back in the groove.
I get homesick too 🙁 Living far away from family sucks.
Your smoothie is such a lovely shade of green! Very spring-like! And, I love the idea of “adding” something good for Lent rather than giving something up. I feel like this has become mroe and more popular in recent years, and I like it!
My mom always encouraged us that in addition to giving up something material/food we liked for Lent, we should just try to be better people in general during Lent. I’ve always liked doing that- paying more compliments to people, helping someone out, do more volunteer work. I haven’t decided yet, but I really miss doing Habitat so maybe I will try to get back into that for Lent!
Love your blog—this is my first comment. Anyhow…I always used to give up French fries when I was little. Funny, now that’s not even a temptation for me. Instead, it’s got to be dessert.
hi tracey! thanks so much for leaving a comment- hope to see you around more often 🙂
I too stayed up way to late watching the Kardashians. I’m a sucker for reality TV!
i’m surprised to hear you feed iams! and you’re right- it’s just like mcdonalds, not at all good for them. i have to order my dogs’ food online and use petfooddirect.com. they always have coupon codes floating around that offset shipping. quality food is expensive but they also eat less of it because of the lack of fillers. just in case you were thinking about switching back 🙂
thanks! i’ll check out that website right now
i’d love to switch back, but i want my dogs to actually eat the food. that was the big problem with nutro
I think I’m going to give up meat this year for Lent. I really REALLY enjoy all meat/chicken/fish and I think that this will make me more thankful and appreciative of the foods I CAN eat and for my body. Good luck with the no sweets…that’s a hard one!
I usually give up chocolate for Lent… but it’s not that hard anymore since I can usually figure out a non-chocolate treat to enjoy instead! I think this year, I want to give up sweets in general, too!
My husband always tries to be extra nice to people for Lent, which I think is sweet. 🙂
I’ve been thinking about this for the past week and I “think” I decided to go vegetarian for Lent. Yikes! I know, I don’t sound too sure, huh? One more day to decide… 🙂
that is so awesome! you can do it 🙂
I think I’m giving up the scale for Lent – moving it out of the house so it’s not around to taunt me (probably to my husband’s trunk). Weight is just a number and my health is more about my activity and my eats, not my weight. I want to work more on letting the numbers go!
whoo hoo!
toss that scale, lady. just get rid of it. all they’re good for is driving people crazy 🙂
I am going to do something nice for a stranger every day during Lent. I have been doing it for a couple of years and it feels really good.
I am also going to use this time to give up added sugars (i.e. chocolate chips, sweetened yogurts, etc…) but only because 40 days is a good time to create a new habit.
Good luck giving up sweets! That’s great your sweets buddy is doing it too so you will have the extra help when sweets cravings come at you!
I’m giving up using my computer after 8pm. It is not going to be easy!
OOOH! that’s a toughie! i don’t think i could do it 🙂
Funny I was thinking about lent last night and what to give up… I really had no idea it started this week. I am thinking of giving up sweets and *possibly* soda. Guess I better commit !
My vote goes to tropical fruit tart! Yumm.
I have a question: you don’t seem to eat many “sweets” anyway, so when you say you will be giving them up, do you mean only treats with added sweetner, like baked goods? Or, do you mean anything sweet, even if its 100% natural, like Larabars?
i eat a lot of raw sweets (like macaroons!) so those will be gone, along with the baked goods and dessert type stuff. a larabar is kind of like dessert to me, so we’ll see what happens…
I am Catholic, and I am going to be doing more mindful, purposeful prayer (like rosary, etc) as well as give up something…what I don’t know yet.
I feed my dogs Nutro lamb and rice and they loooove it. Perhaps yours would like it? It has good stats like the ultra, but seems to be better tasting. I avoid anything that would be availible at walmart…I feel like those are junk.
i think they’re junk too and honestly feel a little like a hypocrite giving them iams. i’ll check out the nutro lamb- where do you get it? petsmart?
Do you pay for your yoga downloads? And do you pick a new one each week? I keep thinking about doing it but am unsure..
i pay for the longer ones but the 20 minute ones are free. try a 20 minute class, i think you’ll really love it. i’m hooked 🙂
My puppy eats Nutro ultra too!! Well, that, and carrots and greens I sneak him ;-)Thanks for the reminder about Lent – I’m trying to figure out what to do and I love your idea of giving up sweets. That’d be such a challenge for me!
I’m giving up sweets too! I don’t know if I can handle it, I’m a total sugar addict. I want something sweet after every meal! .. good luck!
I don’t do Lent, but I do Pancake Tuesday. 🙂
Our vet doesn’t like Iams at all. She recommended Purina Pro Plan, so I used to buy that or sometimes Nutro. Then one of my cats got a UTI, so we switched over to MediCal Preventive which means we have to buy it at the Vet’s office (inconvenient) but both cats like it have been healthy with no UTI problems since we switched. Which was around 4 years ago.
Every once in a while if I run out of food and have to buy it at the grocery store I’ve bought Iams and they way my cats go for it, I think it may be the feline equivalent of McDonald’s.
I’m Catholic too and I also like to give something up for Lent as well as do something that will (hopefully) better the world! This Lent, I’m going to be a vegetarian and for the last two weeks of it, be a vegan. My positive goal is to try and get more involved in community service at my school (I’m a sophomore in college) and to give blood at least once during Lent, as well as be a more positive person all around! I usually give up sweets 🙂 so I think I’ll probably try and reduce them a lot but a new challenge is always fun! Its really nice to hear you mention Lent on the bloggy and good luck with the sweeties!
I was thinking of giving up sweets, but it’s possible I could go crazy and kills someone if I try that. LOL I’ll think about it.
RE: dog nutrition– I read an excerpt from a book about dog food on amazon…needless to say, I freaked and only buy my baby the best now 🙂 (however, I am nowhere near ready to start cooking her meals). Anyway, there is a website called dog food analysis that breaks everything down and has reviews. I chose wellness core, it is grain free, all natural, and full of protein–how doggies are supposed to eat, and she loves it. AND you can now get it at Petco, which you may have around you? I always try to support local businesses, but in a pinch it is nice to know it is easy to find.
I’ve never participated in lent before but giving up sweets is what I’d probably do too! Great job keeping up with your new years goals. Yoga is so amazing for the body and mind… Love it 🙂
I’m not catholic, and this Monday is the last day of my scale challenge (gave it up on 1/22!), but I am thinking of a Yoga class where I take one class per week up until my 10 mile race I am training for (May 2nd). I think adding that in will keep me energized and of course stretch out all my muscles! I like Yoga but I become so cardio/ST obsessed that I always let it go first. But balance is key!
i grew up catholic, and always gave something up for lent. when i was young it was candy, chocolate, pop, etc.
but when i got into my teenage years my mom would encourage me to give something up that isn’t good for my soul… like cussing, talking bad about others, fighting with my siblings (which was probably just for her sanity haha) etc.
i find i much prefer that way of looking at lent, and believe it is better for me spiritually to focus on being kind to everyone, rather than not eating chocolate.
I’ve never given up anything for lent but if I did it would probably be chocolate! My dog loves veggies too!
I celebrate Passover which means I give up all things chometz. Its quite torturous to last a week without my oats!
I don’t know if you are still answering exercise related questions but I have a few: what personal trainer certification do you have? Also, you always come up with very good exercises. Are there any sites that you are subscribed to that keep you updated regarding new drills/exercises and modifications? Cause I am sure the course guide couldn’t be that thorough!
Since I grew up Greek Orthodox we took Lent very seriously. However, I am more like you….I prefer to add something into my life to make me a better person. I started back to yoga yesterday. I want to re add it back into my life for the next 40 days…..It makes me a better person.
wow, is it really lent already? i’ve given up sweets before and i’ve also given up coffee (that was hard!!!). this year i think i do want to give up sweets again.
I’ve never had the official Tropical Larabar (I’ve made them, though) but I think that Coconut Cream Pie is my favourite.
I’ve also never given up anything for Lent. I’ll have to think about that and maybe do something this year!
We give our dogs lots of veggies, too – they love them! Our one dog got really sick a few years ago, so we stopped giving them a lot of treats. It’s funny – the things we used to buy for them was like the garbage I used to eat when I was 50 pounds heavier. Now we know that if we wouldn’t eat the equivalent of it, why feed it to the dogs? They get the odd treat once in a while, but most of the time it’s homemade goodies, or low fat treats.
K