The Sarcastic Blonde

fashion, food, fitness + a dose of sarcastic gossip

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:: fitness + health for the new year ::

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We’re a little over halfway through with January, the month of re-dedicating ourselves to be our best selves, usually including healthier habits with diet and exercise.  
And January makes me really step it into gear – it’s like the “new week, fresh start” mentality on steroids. 

Along with many others, 
I made some health and fitness resolutions for the new year. 

I’ve done health and fitness posts in the past because it’s something I always love reading about and learning about.  
Keep in mind, I am an expert on nothing. NADA.
. which as one of my readers you are probably already well aware of 🙂 

via my Instagram on January 15th. it seemed the perfect day to post the pillow.

I am far from the healthiest person but I try to incorporate healthy things to balance out the not-so-healthy and wanted to share what I’m up to recently! 
Also, it’s January, so I’m still all motivated and full of intentions; I have to soak it all up while it lasts…. which is hopefully longer than January….. 



One thing I’ve said before, the best thing that works for me to keep me on track is writing down my workouts and what I eat. I have done it for years. 

  Theres nothing that holds you more accountable,
and similar to how checking off to-do-lists brings satisfaction, 
I like seeing all of my workouts and what I’ve done. 



 
:: FOOD :: 
To be 25 again and eat and drink my face off without a care in the world would be great…. but despite my wishes, it isn’t happening. (I can still hope…) 
There are two things that I feel finally helped me a lot, after a year of struggling with plateauing and having the last couple pounds refusing to leave. 
My Nutribullet and 21 Day Fix.

You can read about how much I love the NutriBullet and smoothies for breakfast in this post.
One thing I haven’t talked about it the 21 Day Fix. 
This changed my mindset for eating to lose weight entirely. 



My one girlfriend did this and raved about it, and Nat had raved about it too, so last year I ordered the cheap containers on Amazon (I wasn’t interested in their workouts or Shakeology, just the food part). 
The principles behind it work, it’s super simple, and nothing is “off limits”. 
I’m really glad that I did it because it made me look at my “healthy eating” entirely differently. 
I was having overnight oats or greek yogurt and granola for breakfast, chicken with brown rice and veggies for lunch, and quinoa veggie bowls for dinner.
Healthy right? Sure, but I ate too much of all of those things. 
21 Day fix showed me that when I was putting a 1/2 cup of chickpeas and a 1/2 cup of quinoa in my dinner bowl, that was ALL of the carbs (yellow containers) I was allotted for the entire day.  Who knew chickpeas were counted the same as bread??
I’d have half an avocado diced in my veggie bowl which was 2x (or more) of the healthy fats I was supposed to be having. 
WHAT?! BUT IT’S HEALTHY?! 
THIS IS A TRAVESTY. 
In all honesty, I WAS PISSED. 
And then I realized that if I was going to try to lose weight and not just maintain, I needed to change my meals.  No more overnight oats or granola with breakfast if I wanted to have quinoa or chickpeas later.
I also learned that I barely ate any protein whatsoever. 
Forcing myself to eat more protein changed my meals and soon I was balancing the carbs and the protein much better. 
I can do a post on daily eating for 21 Day Fix if you want!
OH. And you don’t even need to order containers, just look for the container counts and the sizes online and you can see if you are allowed 1 cup carbs, 2 cups fruit, 4 cups veggies, etc.  

 

:: EXERCISE :: 
I didn’t write about this in my New Year, New Promises post because I wasn’t sure if I would actually be able to do it. 
 I challenged myself to 31 Days in a row of working out for the month of January.  
So far, so good with at least 30 minutes, most days an hour, of exercise per day.  

The January Plan is: 

6 days a week I’m doing Tracy Anderson Metamorphosis/Continuity DVD’s.
I do the 30 minute toning video for those 6 days.
I have never been stronger since committing to these – she really knows how to build the teeny, tiny, muscles and tone. 
If doing only her program, you are supposed to do 30 minutes of dance 6 days a week, but I like the treadmill, spin, etc, so I only dance on days when I’m not doing another form of cardio. 
My sole motivation for working out is my true love television, 
so Tracy’s workouts satisfy that 🙂 
And I guess my second motivation would be food.  Oprah and I have that in common. 

Although Fries, not Bread.  
“I. love. fries. I love Fries, y’all.”
but not this month……  see you soon Waffle Fries…. tear. 
 
One of my resolutions was to try a new fitness class each month. 

Last week, I went and tried Blast !! 
one of you emailed me about it when I moved to Atlanta, Thank you! 



(and I ran into the sweetest reader Emily who calmed my nerves for the class! I was RULL scared.  I don’t run unless being chased after all.  Her killer bod was all I needed as motivation to get through it and I hope to go back this week). 
I really loved the class.  You can make it work for whatever fitness level you are at, and it was a legit hard core workout. I had no idea the incline of a treadmill could go up that high. 
 They change it up from floor workto treadmill in 5/10/15 minute increments (ours was 10 + 5) so that when you want to lose your mind on the treadmill its time for the floor and vice versa. (seems like Orange Theory, and it was like Shred415 in Chicago). 
Only thing I liked better about Shred415 in Chicago is that Shred is in a DARK ROOM.  I love me a dark room when working out with others.  
I was super sore and felt exhausted in a great way.
PLUS. It’s next to Kale Me Crazy, my favorite healthy food chain here in Atlanta with great smoothies and wraps( again… if not TV…. the food motivates me….) 



My goal is 2-3 classes per week, with 2 usually being a spin class. I’ve been trying to change up my cardio when not doing a spin class, 
so at home I’ll do intervals on the treadmill {or just walk and then foam roll if I’m tired or sore},
Tone It Up HIIT workout videos,
and I just tried out some Tabata workout videos online. 
Popsugar always has great workout videos to do at home. 


:: RECIPES :: 
I have been cooking dinner pretty much every night which I am pretty proud of! 
My weekend staples have included protein pancakes every Saturday and Sunday morning. 
I have posted about the Tone It Up Protein Pancakes previously,
and I have been making those regularly, but they definitely don’t have a traditional smooth batter.

 

Rocco DiSpirito has a Protein Pancake recipe that I tried and LOVE.
Kip loved these two and has eaten them several times already 
(he won’t eat the Tone It Up pancakes though…. they taste “too healthy”).

Definitely give these a try – they are absolutely delicious.  SO GOOD. 
Rocco’s Protein Pancakes

recipe via Today
makes 4 six-inch pancakes. 


1 Scoop (or 32 Grams) Protein Powder (it’s about 1.5 scoops of Perfect Fit Protein) 
2 Eggs
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Organic Applesauce 


Whisk all ingredients in a bowl until well combined.
Heat skillet on medium heat and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
Pour about 3 ounces of batter, cook until the edges are just set, and flip to continue cooking about 30 seconds or so. 
(They cook pretty fast).
For a sugar free syrup, combine 2 cups of blueberries with 1/4 cup of water and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.  Blend in a blender and pour over pancakes. 



:: MOTIVATION :: 

Oh…. and promise you won’t judge me?
I’m a serious sucker for a motivational quote. 
I made a motivational quote the lock screen/home screen on my phone,
 and then I change it up when I’m used to seeing it to a new quote. 
This doesn’t have to be fitness related at all, just something positive.
Think about how many times you look at your phone? 
 To see a positive uplifting message helps lift my mood and gives me perspective for the day! 
….. I feel like these are things I should keep to myself…. but it works. 
Attitude is everything. 
#QuitLaughingAtMe






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health, Lifestyle

:: New Year, New Promises ::



Happy New Year!
I’m hoping I’m not the only one treating today, the 3rd of the month, as though it’s the 1st. 



It was amazing how it worked out with getting Monday as a second-Sunday, and not having to get back to real life until Tuesday 🙂 Especially because Sunday was filled with a headache and the sofa for most of the day.


photo of our living room via my Instagram


we hosted New Years and I made the champagne “bubbles” above! 


I can post a tutorial later this week if you like! 






I have a lot of posts for the coming week that are “new year” related, so bear with me.



It’s just too hard to wrap it all into one.  



Plus, Thursday of course needs to be devoted to Coffee Talk entirely 🙂 






So, for today I wanted to share some of my intentions and promises for 2017.


In 2016 I think I found my stride with fitness, got a lot healthier overall, and put myself a little bit more out there with the blog.


But there are tons of resolutions and intentions that I definitely didn’t follow through entirely on.  Some resolutions for 2017 below! 





Read one new book per month


Yep. Starting with one of the most #basic of them all. 


I used to be so good about this, but lately it’s been more laptop + magazines than books at night.


I read two great books over break (review to come soon!) and am reading my-boyfriend-andy-cohen’s book now every night before bed.  





Try three new recipes per month


I love to cook, but I get in the habit of making the same dishes over and over.


And I feel as though in 2016 I didn’t branch out as much as I used to? 


So for this year, I want to not only spend more time in the kitchen, but actually MAKE the new recipes I am constantly pinning on Pinterest.  





Listen to a self-improvement podcast weekly 


I have gotten really, really into my podcasts.  They have been a great way to zone out while driving, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, you name it!  I don’t know what I did without them! 


Instead of it all being silly tabloid gossip, I am wanting to branch out to more thought provoking podcasts.


I love Joel Osteen and he does a great 30 minute podcast weekly, so I am committing to listening to that and to finding others to help me become a better me.  Let me know if you have any recommendations! 





Be better with phone calls + messages friends


I used to consider myself fairly great with this, but now that I am the one that has moved away, I feel like I’m not checking in as often as I would like!! It was easy at first when we were traveling back up to Chicago frequently to forget that the lack of real face-time was permanent, but now that it’s been so long since I’ve seen some friends, it’s time to devote more time to keeping up those relationships. 


and I have an annual Scottsdale girls trip next month with 3 of my cross-country loves so some REAL FaceTime will be amazing! 






Try one new workout class per month


Over the last few years, I have committed to working out and no longer need to make that a resolution.  It has become of huge importance for stress relief and mood boosting for me, and I can say without a doubt I really do love to work out -SLASH-  mostly because I would be emotionally unstable without it. 


What I am not good about is venturing out of my comfort zone.  Trying a new class, especially without a friend (I miss you Em!!), terrifies me.  So this will be a hard one for me! 





Better balance with Nutrition.  



I’m going to be doing a whole health + fitness post since I love that stuff so much, but one thing I do want to focus on more this year is having more balance with my favorite fried foods. 


I finally learned accepted recently that no matter how much I work out, my metabolism does not love me like it used to.  No matter what.  Literally – I tried everything.  NO MATTER WHAT.  


So…. Balance 🙂 


but living somewhere that has Chick-fil-a is extremely difficult…… because sadly I know firsthand that a salad does not balance out a large waffle fry dunked in ranch and polynesian sauce. 





Really dive into budget and finances


I want to make a big spreadsheet with EVERYTHING – down to the monthly Netflix payment – to see what I am really spending a month before any of the fun extras.  And then of course to compile the cost of the all of the fun extras.  I used to always set a certain percentage into savings each month and now that our expenses are different than they were in Chicago it’s time for a money-mindset reset! 





Have a better nighttime routine/Better sleep hygiene


Seriously this is where I am horrible and never, ever keep this resolution.  


I would stay up until 2 am every night if I could…. I just don’t get tired at night!


I know that the main thing I need to do is turn off ALL electronics at least an hour before bed, but that is so hard for me because that is when I tend to enjoy blogging and Pinterest and reading my favorite sites the most since I have the most energy. 


Ugh.  It’s a vicious cycle.  





BUT.  I am determined! I need to at least give it a try.  I think maybe I won’t toss and turn for an hour before falling asleep if I actually try to really shut down.


That’s why I want to do more reading before bed as I mentioned above, but as my husband knows, that too can be a gateway drug for me.  Reading doesn’t make me tired – it makes me want to keep reading and reading and reading and not put the book down. 


…….. I really am such a child





Have a better Blogging schedule 


This one I fail at year after year 🙂 


and it goes along with the nighttime resolution above, and the quit procrastinating resolution below.


I like writing at night.  I feel my best self at night.  But I think I could enjoy my nights more if I did a bit more on the weekends for the blog and planned a bit better throughout the week.  I also feel like I could have much more content than I have now if I planned a bit more….. because the list of ideas that come to me at night never get touched again until nighttime (and then my husband makes me turn off the light and close the laptop  so I can’t keep him awake…. so really… like most things, I just blame him.  This blog would be AH-mazing if he didn’t make me quit tapping on the keyboard so he could sleep :D) 


Also, with the blog, I want to : 


put myself out there more


(I know say this everyyyyy year, but I’m an introverted extrovert) 


connect with my readers more


work on my photography skills


work on images for posts and improve the blogs aesthetics 


more fun posts (!) with new subjects and more serious posts with more writing  


PROOFREAD MY POSTS. (I know, I know. I swear I have a business degree from Miami of Ohio and am not a complete grammatical dumbass) 





Watch less television 


Don’t worry! 


It’s not what you think! 


Well…. it kind of is?  


I have no intention of stopping watching the shows that I love and discuss on a regular basis.  LORD NO.  I would die.  


With the addition of podcasts into my routine, I have realized how much time I spend with the television on, even if it is just as background noise.  I want to get better about listening to more music and podcasts while doing productive things, even blogging, instead of having the television on.  When I go the music route or podcast route, I have a much happier and fulfilling day or night.   I also think I would be able to finish blog posts in half the time if I didn’t have an HGTV show I am half-ass watching on in the background.


…. but don’t worry…. the good stuff STAYS.  





Print photos off of phone, make albums, and frame for the house


This drives me nuts about myself. 


What’s the point in taking photos if I’m not going to do anything with them?


DO SOMETHING WITH THEM. 





Tackle Home Projects


We owned our condo in Chicago and I loved it so, so much.  But one thing I realized when we sold and moved faster than we ever anticipated was that I never got around to so many of the projects that I had planned for our place.  Even though I know we will be in this house for many years, and I love it already, I don’t want to keep putting things off longer than necessary.


basically, quit procrastinating.





QUIT PROCRASTINATING


I am the biggest procrastinator ever.  If you are a long time reader, I’m sure you know this.


It’s time to BUCK UP.  I’m a grown ass woman. sometimes. 





I would like to think I’ve gotten better…..


but really I think it’s just our move that made me get better?


Actually, I think the move made me get better with a lot of the things above? It wasn’t even me intentionally doing anything…..I am worthless.


What I mean is….. our life is so different here and we aren’t constantly out and about with friends and we can’t step outside and walk to a bar or restaurant or shop at the drop of a hat.  It’s just…. different.  


I’d like to say it’s that we drink far less than we used to, but I think it’s more than that 🙂 


I started working out more because let’s be honest I have more time on my hands. 


I cook more because there aren’t 75 million restaurants I want to go to, and there isn’t the option of walking to Potbelly’s and having my favorite salad or sandwich in my hands 3 minutes after thinking about it.  Or sushi.  Or Starbucks.  Or a liquor store within a 60 second walk……. 


Basically, our slower paced life is allowing me to do a lot more of the things I’ve said I’ve wanted to do, so it’s time to stop procrastinating and really DO IT.  


Go for more walks outside because I can.


blah blah blah…… 


I really went on a tangent there, and I swear in my head it was going to come full circle, but now I feel like I lost it.


But. Quit Procrastinating.  


Get up earlier.  Get sheyite done! 


I’ll pretend you all know what I mean…… 





I’ll quit while I’m not ahead and have already written too many words that have probably gone unread.





Plus, Kylie says it best. 





Happy New Year! 


I love reading everyones resolutions so let me know yours as well! 







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Lifestyle, weekend recap

2014 :: year in review

I know a lot of people posted the “2014 post” last week on the 31st of December or the 1st of January….. but that time for me was still vacation time from work! 
I don’t know how bloggers are always so on top of it during the holidays? All I am focused on in eating and drinking as much as humanly possible.  That and watching TV and online shopping……. that is pretty much it.  What else could a girl need ? 

So for today, hopefully we can pretend it’s 1st as we recap the year! 
2014 was by far the busiest, most exciting year filled with the most change.  {with more weddings, bachelorette parties, and showers than a girl could count – and I loved every one of them!}
:: January :: 
I met my nephew for the first time.  He decided he couldn’t wait another minute to meet everyone and was born a few weeks early in December 2013, but I wasn’t able to fly home to meet him until his expected arrival date.

 at a month old he was still the tiniest thing I had ever seen. 


I have no experience with babies at all, and have never considered myself a “baby person”, and I am so in love with him and want to stare at him and eat him to pieces all day long.  

:: February :: 
 I quit the gym {it’s the little things people…. it was two years overdue.}
celebrated my best friends bachelorette weekend in Charleston
first time there and I absolutely love it and cannot wait to go back 


our engagement party

ski trip to lake geneva

:: March :: 
joint bridal shower in atlanta


best friends wedding in atlanta


:: April ::
my family flew in for my chicago shower 

 28th birthday (ugh. woof.) 


:: May :: 
my bachelorette party in Nashville 



:: June :: 
Our Wedding Weekend !


Honeymoon in St. Lucia 
which I never did a post on…. errr oops. maybe 2015 is the year for me following through.



another best friends wedding 


:: July ::


two bridal showers



chandler’s baptism 


:: August ::
best friends bachelorette in NYC 



trip to boston for my brothers wedding party 


:: September :: 
a best friends wedding 


closed on our first home ! 


:: October ::
three more wedding celebrations 



:: November ::
a surprise ER stay for appendicitis 


 I made seriously pretty doughnuts {again, it’s the little things}



thanksgiving with the in-laws in chicago 



:: December ::
a beautiful baby shower for one of my best friends 


first married christmas



annual family trip to Grand Cayman, with the prettiest sunsets ever seen this year. 


it was the most fun, crazy, exciting year yet, made even better by how many great things  happened this year for my friends and family as well.  it was so fun to celebrate all of lifes big moments together with the people I’m closest to.  I don’t know how this year could possibly be topped!  


goodness sorry for the total overload of photos in this post. 

and a HUGE thank you to all of you for reading my silly blog this past year 🙂 
your comments and e-mails always make my day
the ones about coffee talk with your thoughts and opinions (cough : and telling me I’m funny : cough) are of course my most favorite of them all
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU 




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