April - Insanity

Another month gone, another goal down. I actually completed this one too! 

March's goal was to keep a food journal, and thanks to the handy MyFitnessPal app, I kept up with it and stayed within my calorie range about 90% of the time (London doesn't count)! 

I'm not going to post everything I ate on here, but if you're super interested(?) and want to know, you can friend me on the app by searching my username: KelsieRaKay

Originally, April's goal was going to be Alcohol Free April (which, after this past weekend and celebrating my birthday a little too much, that goal still sounds like a good plan). However, with my "official" birthday celebration coming up this Saturday and my best friend's bachelorette party happening later this month, I've decided to rearrange my monthly goals a bit. I'm now going to push Alcohol Free April until June. 

Instead, I will be swapping monthly goals and start doing Insanity tomorrow. I've mentioned that I tried Insanity once before, but it only lasted about two weeks. It was one of the best workouts of my life and I noticed a big difference, even in a short amount of time. I'm really excited to try an entire month (or more) of it. I love the fact that I can do it from the comfort of my home, on my own time and schedule, and that most of the workouts can be finished in under an hour. 

I'll make sure to take before pics so I have a good after comparison. Wish me luck! 

European Food Journal

Happy Friday y'all! 

I know it's been a while since I've checked in and gotten the blog up to date on my March goal of keeping a food journal. So far it's been a success! I haven't missed a day of logging my food choices and it's really been helpful with keeping me on track. 

The first week of March, I used the My Fitness Pal app on my iPhone. I stayed within 1200-1700 calories each day. Then I left for Europe...

I didn't want to sacrifice precious time overseas counting calories, worrying, and not enjoying my trip. So I opted to not use the counter on the app, but instead just wrote down what I ate using my iPhone notepad. I did want to dedicate a few minutes to this each day so that I'd always have the memory of the food we ate over there and so I could share with those of y'all who are curious about their food selection and my favorites. 

I did eat more than usual - but I wanted to try a lot of different things. Plus, we walked A TON!  Thankfully, the weather was amazing, so who wants to take the underground tube and miss all of the sites? Not us. 

Here's what I had on the trip:

Saturday - Travel Day
Breakfast: Naked Orange Mange Smoothie and 1/2 Plain Bagel w/ Plain Cream Cheese at the Airport
Snack: Granola Bar
Lunch: Asian Crunch Salad, Dirty Vodka Martini - Charlotte, NC Layover
Snack: Frozen Yogurt, Glass of White Wine, Mozzarella and Tomato Caprese Salad (Shared w/ Mom)
Dinner: Airplane Food - Pasta in White Sauce, Salad, Roll, Brownie, Red Wine

Sunday - Arrived in London at 7am
Super Early Breakfast: Airplane Food - Banana Muffin and Orange Juice
Late Breakfast: Cafe Mocha and Poached Egg on an English Muffin w/ Hollandaise sauce near Big Ben and Westminster Abbey

Lunch: Cheese Plate (Brie & Gouda), Prosciutto, Pickles, Bread w/ Chutney, White Wine at Gordon's

The Oldest Wine Bar in London - Very much like a cave

Dinner: Carrot Cake and Red Wine - The Dinner of Champions right? (Our lunch was late and we were very tired from traveling, so we went to bed early)

Monday - London
Breakfast: Tea, Cafe Mocha, Almond Croissant near Buckingham Palace

Also Pictured - Mom's Breakfast

Lunch: Assorted Breads and Pastries from the deli inside Harrods, Sparkling Water

Dinner: Fish and Chips, Stella Artois, London Prime Beer, Zucchini Cake, Red Wine at a neighborhood pub by our flat

Tuesday - Travel via Train to Paris
Late Breakfast: Cafe Mocha, Chorizo Frittata at the EuroStar Train Station

Early Dinner: Veggie Pizza, Vegetable Crudites, Crepe w/ Ice Cream (Shared all w/ mom), Red Wine (Did not share) outside the Eiffel Tower
Late Snack at Bar: Local Blonde Beer, Long Island Iced Tea, Nachos w/ mom

Wednesday - Paris
Breakfast: Coffee, Croissant at the Louvre
Lunch: Croque Monsieur, French Fries (We were in France...we had to), Sparkling Water, White Wine outside Notre Dame

Snack: Pistachio Ice Cream in a Waffle Cone at the Eiffel Tower
Dinner: Shared Cheese Plate, Lasagna Bolognase, Red Wine, Creme Brulee (Shared) outside the Eiffel Tower

Thursday - Travel via Train back to London
Breakfast: Orange Juice 
Lunch: Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Baguette Sandwich, Chocolate Cake Pastry at the EuroStar Train Station
Snack: Mixed Nuts, Red Wine
Dinner: Bread Basket, Grilled Chicken Wrapped in Bacon w/ Roasted Garlic and Fennel, 2 Blonde Beers by the London Bridge

Friday - London
Breakfast: Cafe Mocha, Apple Berry Juice, Toast w/ Beans and Eggs by the London Bridge

Snack: Sangria and Chocolate Chip Cookie at Borough Market

I did not eat that entire cookie in one sitting...

Lunch: Chicken Marsala, Stella Artois near Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square

Snack: M&M's from M&M World! 
Dinner: Bread Basket w/ Olive Tapenade Spread, Fresh Mozzarella, Zucchini Fries, Berry Ice Cream, Red Wine next to London Bridge

Saturday - Travel Day
Breakfast: Naked Blueberry Smoothie, Egg Sandwich
Lunch: Airplane Food - Pasta, Salad, Roll, Brownie, Red Wine
Snack: Mixed Nuts, Bloody Mary Mix
Dinner: Airplane Food - Turkey Sandwich, White Wine
Snack: Mushroom Soup, Cheese, Olives, Red Wine at the United Club during a layover in Charlotte, NC (Thanks Dad)

Carb City as you can tell! The trip and the food was amazing and I do NOT regret eating one bite. I think my favorite meal was either the Fish and Chips, the Chicken Marsala, or the Chicken wrapped in bacon (it's hard to pick!), but my favorite place was definitely Gordon's Wine Bar. We tried to go back a 2nd time, but it was a Friday evening and it was packed. Womp Womp. 

While I did enjoy it all, this week I am back to my normal calorie intake and cutting back on carbs for a week or two. 

I'm very grateful for the time change and extra daylight so I can start back up with running after work. I have another half marathon tomorrow in Waco. 

Note:- I had a few more pictures of the food, but technology hates me and my iPhone crashed this week so I only have what I posted to social media. 

Have a great weekend! Sic 'Em Bears!!! 

March – Keep a Food Journal

My March goal is a little different than the other ones I've mapped out for 2014. It doesn't require a specific workout or diet change. 

For March, I'll be keeping a daily food journal and tracking my calorie intake. I knew I'd be going to Europe over Spring Break next week, so I chose to do this goal in March on purpose...I want to eat whatever I want in London and Paris! I figured I'd be taking a lot of pictures and talking about the food I eat in Europe anyways, so this goal lines up nicely with my trip. 

I don't usually count every single calorie I eat every day, but I do estimate them most of the time and try to stay within a certain range. However, I believe everyone should treat themselves every so often and eat what they enjoy, regardless of the calorie count. #yolo? no? ok. 

In order to maintain my current weight, on days when I do not exercise, I can up eat to 1,700 calories. On days when I do exercise, I can eat up to 2,200 calories to maintain my current weight (Source: Calorie Calculator - numbers provided after entering my age, gender, weight, and height). 

I feel like these numbers are a little high for my normal diet. I usually stay anywhere between 1200-1500 on days I don't exercise and anywhere from 1400-1800 on days I do workout. Typically, these numbers are a little higher on the weekends :) But this month, I'm really going to try and keep count and do my best to stick to those ranges. I'm sure in Europe it'll be on the upper tier of it, but I want to enjoy all the food the country has to offer and not restrict myself to their delicious options! 

I've used the My Fitness Pal app before and it's worked great for me in the past, so I'm going to continue to use it for this month's goal. It's free and easy to use, so I definitely recommend it to others who want to keep track! 

I'll be sharing my food logs on the blog about once a week or so (just so it keeps me accountable). I've found that even though monthly goals seem easier than yearly ones, it has been quite tough for me to make it through entire monthly goals. I'm sure this is due to the fact that I know it's only a month and if I fail at it, it's okay because I didn't really commit that much time to it. With the running 1,000 miles last year, if I had quit after putting 3-4 months of work into it, it would have been a bigger deal to me, so I continued to push through and not give up. 

This goal seems fairly simple so I'm confident I can keep track throughout the entire month.

And on that note...I'm back to having a set running schedule to prepare for my upcoming races. Three half marathons within 20 days...definitely need to train!