Yummy PB cookies

Katie made these cookies for our friends Christmas and I decided it's NYE so I can live it up for one more night. 

These are so easy. Throw everything in a bowl and bake at 350 for 9 minutes! 

Here's the finished product! 

Happy New Years! 

C

Holiday Loves

I haven't had a chance to blog in he last few days so I'd like to share some of my holiday loves. 

Starbucks Christmas Blend-light roast

Thank you Katie Freeman for the tip on this one. :) 

My honorary family

I don't know what I would do without them. When I dropped them off at the airport this morning for their two week vacation I almost lost it. I miss them so much already. When you work and hang out with the same family for three years your basically family right? 

My MN 

Riley made this for me for Christmas! It's so cool. He made it out of recycled barn wood and my favorite color is the top layer and I mean it's MN what's not to love? 

My new Keurig. 

(No pic because he hasn't made it out of the box yet) 

Hello happy wallet! 

My new phone case! 

It was a rough day at work today with Mark and Dani being out of town and I swear for the first 5 hours of my day NOTHING and I mean NOTHING went correctly. So I ordered my first item from Flag Nor Fail! I am currently obsessed with all things Dana Linn Bailey and Skulls so this phone case was a necessary Christmas gift to myself. 

What are your holiday loves? 

C

Kodiak Cakes

What do you do with a day filled with Doctor’s appointments and last minute Christmas errands?

Duh. Buy Kodiak Cakes!

I have been waiting for the day these bad boys go on sale because we all have bought health food that is incredibly expensive, brought it home, hated it, and tossed it.  I am so glad that today was the day they were on sale. (Thanks Target!) 

As soon as I got home, I made a single batch with the option 3 recipe (21g of protein per cake).

 The batch made three super huge cakes (1/2 c batter) and one baby one for me to try out. 

I added some sliced banana and dark chocolate chips for some added flavor!

My review-AWESOME. They taste exactly like a pancake you’d get at Perkins or Ihop. 

How can you go wrong when it has lots of protein and is incredibly yummy?

Give them a try!

C

Be proud of YOU!

If you are anything like me you are incredibly hard on yourself...all the time.

"I don't like my ......."

"My tummy looks too round in this shirt"

"These pants give me a muffin top"

"I feel like I need to lose 20 more pounds to be "happy"."

All of these things are so normal in my life and I hate it, but I am not sure how to fix it.

We live in a society where we are constantly comparing ourselves to others, but when is it ever going to be enough?

When are we going to consider ourselves good enough?

How do we learn to love ourselves?

I am presently obsessed with Dana Linn Bailey.  

She was the first Ms. Olympia Physique last year and was runner up this year.  

If she doesn't inspire you, you're obviously not ready to make a real fitness change.  She is a boss.

Her relationship with her husband Rob is truly amazing.  They train together, work together, (obviously) live together, and are all around good people.  They publish videos everyday of their lives and their workouts; obviously the best form of inspiration.  Seeing real people doing real workouts every day and showing everyone their good days and the bad reminds me that I am not alone in my bad days makes me feel like it's all worth it.

This was one of the first videos I watched of hers and I thought it was the perfect complement to this post.

Here’s a little about me that I am incredibly proud of:

-50 pounds gone in a year and a half

-My arm definition

-My traps

-I ran a marathon

-I am dorky

-I am a hard worker

-I am a boss

-My face lines.  Only the dedicated have proof of their weight loss.  Mine just happens to be shown during one of my favorite activities. SMILING J

-I take shameless gym selfies

Remember, we don't always need to be who everyone else wants us to be. We need to be ourselves.  Whoever we are.  Embrace it.  Enjoy it. LOVE IT and LOVE YOU!

I challenge you to tell me why you’re proud of yourself!

Until tomorrow,

C

IIFYM

If you follow anyone in the fitness/health industry on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter you know it's the newest health trend. But what is it?  What does it mean?  Is it healthy?  Yep, all those questions flew through my mind too.  Since the scale hasn't moved much since I quit being a vegetarian…I decided to do it!

I started doing my research a couple of weeks ago and found these websites to be incredibly helpful.

http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

http://healthyeater.com/how-to-calculate-your-macros

http://www.trimmedandtoned.com/beginners-guide-to-iifym/

Basically IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) means that you figure out how your body uses calories then you come up with a formula to find a good balance between carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. And you eat! ANYTHING.

Like for real: sugared cereal, poptarts, chips, ice cream, you name it you can have it IF IT FITS YOUR MACROS.

Today was my first day on the program and so far I love it!  It is a lot of food to eat…not going to lie, but so far so good.  My only worry is not being prepped enough with having to weigh out EVERYTHING that goes into my mouth.  I am glad that I decided to do it now that I am going to be home for the next month.  If I can get in the routine of weighing everything and planning in my macros to match my workouts (the more you work out the more you have to figure in to your eating) I think I can be really successful.

I am so glad that I have the SkinnyMeg team and of course Bailey (who is an IIFYM boss and has been a saint in responding to my 100+ texts today).

Today my parents and I went out to dinner for my dad’s 50^th birthday.  I had a super wacky eating day today due to a late workout, so I had tons of carbs, protein, and fat left.  Basically the menu was my oyster.  I had a sample of both my parent’s dinners, two delicious onion rings, and almost a whole serving of shrimp and vegetable pasta.  I am absolutely stuffed.  And I still have so much that I am supposed to eat. In true Catherine fashion, I texted Bailey freaking out and she suggested that tomorrow I try eating more in the morning.  I can totally do that because tomorrow I am back to a semi-normal schedule. 

I will keep you posted as to how it goes the rest of the week! Hopefully by this weekend I will have it semi figured out and will for sure have my menu plan posted by Sunday.

Make it great ladies,

C

Weekend recap!

It's officially Sunday according to the clock, so it's time for a weekend rundown. 

Friday:

Bails got here and of course we worked out. Leg day! 

Then we went to the Johnnie hockey game. 

And finally we ended up at SJU watching our friend Chris' annual video premier. Chris is a communication major who always has a go pro or his camera attached to him. He films all of our friends doing anything and everything (usually on the weekends) and complies the footage to make one epic film. I can't wait to look back at these, before I send my future children off to college, to prove that yes at one time I was cool. 

Saturday: 

Bails and I did a total body workout and I practiced spinning for next weekends bike-a-thon. 

Applebee's dinner with Bails, Kyle, and the gang. 

Then it was time to have one last game night before Alex makes the big trip to Guatemala. 

The big plan for Sunday is to finish up some final projects and papers and get ready for the big return home on Tuesday! 

Another fun pic from today was this timehop photo from 3 years ago. 

Lately I've been struggling with the scale and yes I see tons and tons of physical changes but the scale goes up and my emotions go down. So seeing this made me feel SO much better. 

Until todmorrow, 

C 

Weekend recap!

It's officially Sunday according to the clock, so it's time for a weekend rundown. 

Friday:

Bails got here and of course we worked out. Leg day! 

Then we went to the Johnnie hockey game. 

And finally we ended up at SJU watching our friend Chris' annual video premier. Chris is a communication major who always has a go pro or his camera attached to him. He films all of our friends doing anything and everything (usually on the weekends) and complies the footage to make one epic film. I can't wait to look back at these, before I send my future children off to college, to prove that yes at one time I was cool. 

Saturday: 

Bails and I did a total body workout and I practiced spinning for next weekends bike-a-thon. 

Applebee's dinner with Bails, Kyle, and the gang. 

Then it was time to have one last game night before Alex makes the big trip to Guatemala. 

The big plan for Sunday is to finish up some final projects and papers and get ready for the big return home on Tuesday! 

Another fun pic from today was this timehop photo from 3 years ago. 

Lately I've been struggling with the scale and yes I see tons and tons of physical changes but the scale goes up and my emotions go down. So seeing this made me feel SO much better. 

Until todmorrow, 

C 

Rewards

Anyone who has struggled with weight knows that the easiest way to reward ourselves is with food. Not cool. So like I said in my December goals post I want to make my rewards worth it (and now just go buy them anyways). 

I work a lot. If you know me or are a regular reader you know that. It is the only way to go to school, so naturally my semester break is working 40+ hour weeks for the next 4 weeks. Welcome to adulthood. 

My bosses are going out of town for three of those four weeks which means I'm the big man. Gulp. 

So in order to keep my sanity and still have a "fun" break this is what I've come up with. A fitness related reward for every complete week where I successfully met my goals. 

I got this ladies! 

And of course I had to make a pretty calendar to go with it :) 

How do you make goals and corresponding rewards? 

Until tomorrow,

C

Prepare yourself for a weekend recap of Adventures with Bailey! 

December Goals

I seem to always make the same goals (drink more water, drink protein shakes daily, no candy, etc) and then never keep them. That's over.

Bailey sent me an inspiration text yesterday that was just perfect!

So this month I'm doing goals differently. I'm going to make them real and attainable and at the end of the month I'm going to come back and see how I really did! 

Here we go: 

-Wear normal clothes at least 3 days a week.

- Listen to my body and actually rest when I need to rest. (I am horrible at this and that's why I almost fainted today....)

- Selfie a day 

- Keep a positive attitude 

- Remember to not sweat the small stuff and that being happy/safe/stress free is the most important 

- Reward myself for monthly work, workout, and eating accomplishments. (Keep eyes open for details later in the week)

Until tomorrow, 

C

Turkey Day and a Family Wedding Veggie Style

This weekend was a major challenge for me...thanksgiving and my cousins wedding all during no meat November? Not part of the original plan, but I did it! 

On Turkey day I did a 10k with Bailey and it was freezing. It was -2 degrees when we started. I seriously think that 6 miles was more difficult than the marathon. But we finished. Frozen eyelashes and all. 

This is my second year doing this race and last year my parents stood on the sidelines and froze their butts off, so this year they signed up to walk the 5k! I am so proud that my parents finished and it was under their goal time of 50 minutes :) 

And we ditched the normal Turkey Day meal and opted for Seafood Chowder and my favorite Fruit of the Forest Pie. I am so thankful that my parents were willing to skip out on tradition to help me through the month! 

Yesterday my cousin Carla got married! It was such a fun night. And who can say no to an excuse to dress up? The most difficult part of the night was dinner...there wasn't a vegetarian entree option since dinner was family style, but I made do! I had a salad, bread (totally worth the carbs), zucchini and broccoli, and a couple of mini desserts. 

Here are some pics from the big day! 

Until tomorrow, 

C

Giving Thanks

I have so many things to be grateful for I don't even know where to start. But I guess I'll start with my friends and family. They never fail to be my cheerleaders, companions, workout buddies, recipe tasters, shoulders to cry on, and shopping buddies. I am so blessed to have such a great support team. 

Next would be my bosses. To Uncle Mark, Gerry, and Aunt Polly family sure does make great team.

To Mark and Dani, who have welcomed me into their own family and taught me that the sky is the limit on how you create a successful career. 

And finally to Shelly, kindergarten is by far the most valuable experience I've received through my time at St. Ben's. These children come to school with nothing and we light them up and show them that they can change the world. What could be better than that? 

Next is to all he people who have supported me in the world of health and fitness. 

Trainers: Sara, Kyle, Devon, and Alicia. I have no idea where I'd be without your. 

Bloggers I love: Skinnymeg, BaileyMckenzieLife, katelynAnnLivinnLife, mamalaughlin, fabchicgetsfit, and the list goes on. 

And finally, but most importantly my parents. They have been with me through thick and thin (literally) and I can't imagine my life without them. I was so thankful to get to spend a lazy day with them today and support them when they walked their first 5k. More details about our day tomorrow! 

Hope everyone had a wonderful, warm, safe turkey day :) 

C 

Great workouts and even better food

I lapsed in the eating department when my mom came up for the hockey game on Saturday, so I vented to Bails about it and changed it. It's been good ever since. 

This is what I did today and it was a killer! Felt great. 

I made these salmon cakes for dinner last night...not the hugest fan...going to tweak the recipe this weekend and I'll repost when they're delicious.

Tonight's dinner was AWESOME! I tried out these new Bertolli Vegetable noodles, sautéed spinach and mushrooms, drizzled with olive oil, balsamic, and topped with some feta and parm. All with a side of protein packed cottage cheese. 

Hope those sparked some inspiration for your diet and exercise for this bold holiday week! 

Make it great, 

C

Super Easy Black Bean Cake

You know I'm all about that chocolate life.  This is the second time making this recipe and it turned out 100x better this time than the cupcake version I made for girls weekend. Sorry guys. 

Today was rest day and I knew it was either going to be a candy bar or a healthy treat. I'm glad I chose the latter. Although I'm not sure it was worth the run to Target. Went in for 3 things and left with $35 of groceries.....

Any who. 

Here's the break down: 

We had an 11 year old visitor tonight and even she loved them! I did add about 1/2 c 80% dark chocolate chips for a bit of extra sweetness, but it's still an awful lot better than a normal dessert! 

Also, I made it in an 8x8 pan and it worked a lot better than the cupcakes. 

Try them out and let me know what you think!

Until tomorrow, 

C 

Leg Day

Leg day is my favorite, period. It's my favorite because I can lift heavy and feel it for days which makes me feel like I'm doing something right. 

Today Bailey motivated me to get outside and go for a run. It was a balmy 12 degrees here today so I couldn't resist a four mile jaunt. 

So as many of you know I go to a private catholic college and without fail I seem to pass one of the Sisters every time I'm running. Today was no different. I was running on the sidewalk (which was incredibly icy) and I pass a Nun and she shouts "Oh hun, please do be careful. It's awfully icy!" Only in Central Minnesota....

After my run I decompressed from a big Sociology test I had today and decided to hit the gym. There must've been pigs flying out my window because one of my roommates asked to join me. I love her to death, but in her three years here she has not once set foot in any athletic facility. EVER. So I gave her a little circuit to do and I did mine and her quote of the night was "I have no idea why you think this is fun. Let alone how you get here twice a day." Classic Maria. She also told me she filled her gym quota for the next year with her 45 minutes tonight. 

Here's Maria's first and probably last Gym Selfie.

This was my workout from tonight. You should definitely give it a try. I'm already feeling it! 

Until tomorrow, 

C

Protein packed dinner

What do I do when nothing sounds good at all? I put cottage cheese on the plate and everything else magically appears. (If only that were real life) 

With the sub zero temps and a lack of motivation this was my dinner tonight! 

6 oz shrimp scampi

1T parmesan cheese

1c raspberries 

3/4c cottage cheese 

And of course a side of popcorn for dessert :)

What did yall have for dinner? 

C

Girls weekend!

This event has been on the calendar for months now and I can't believe it's over already. Bailey and I went to visit Katie, Jake, Ryan, and Cailtlyn at the U of M for a jam packed weekend. 

But first I got to spend some time with my favorite baby. 

She warms my heart. 

Then it was off to the U! 

We got my fave tea from publika. 

Got a workout in! 

Went to dinner.

And went to some parties! 

All in all it was so fun to hang with my ladies :) 

Until tomorrow, 

C