Artist Madrid, Naturally

I had an interesting conversation with my friend while we were in the trenches of running shoe shopping last week. It started when she asked me if I was able to already see any benefits to my new jogging routine? I quickly rattled off that I had more stamina and energy, then threw in an example or two. Then she asked: How is it affecting your body, you know, with the pain? She was alluding to the fact that, among many other issues, I have Fibromyalgia. I was so engrossed in finding the perfect shoe, that I answered quickly and truthfully: "Yes, it hurts but I'd rather be in pain for a reason."  I should have added 'for  a good reason' because for years I have been struggling with widespread pain. And it wasn't for no reason. It was because somewhere in my brain things got jumbled up, so my nerves are overactive. They feel pain when there is no outside factor. No one was beating me up in my sleep, I had not been in a car wreck. I just feel that way. How dumb, ...

Happy Summer to You! One of the things I associate with Summer is smoothies. So I wanted to experiment with a new recipe. Because I've been having some difficulty lately with eating enough veggies, I decided to add spinach to this recipe. No worries! By the time everything is blended up, the spinach is undetectable. The honey cuts down on some of the tartness from the blueberries and greek yogurt. Healthy Blueberry Smoothie: Makes 2 servings 3 WW points per serving Ingredients: 1 cup frozen blueberries 1 cup fresh spinach 1 banana, peeled and chopped 2 tbsp honey 6 oz plain non-fat Greek yogurt Directions: Combine all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Enjoy! Below is a picture of the above recipe with blueberries and strawberries!!! 

Every site I've gone to while doing research about jogging has said that it is extremely important to have the right shoes. I was overwhelmed with all the information I found. Seriously! It took me a whole week of reading articles and blogs and comparing quiz results and shoe reviews before I formed an idea of what I needed. I wanted to share some of the sites that helped me the most (in chronological order): Finding the Right Running Shoes Running Shoes Wizard (Quiz) Running Shoe Recommendations-Based on Foot Type How to Buy the Right Running Shoe Ok, so my goal was to find shoes that were comfortable, affordable and over-all improve my jogging experience. I've mentioned before that I use the Nexercise app to track my exercising. One of the perks is that you earn points, if you earn enough you can trade them in for coupons. So, I traded some of mine in for a $20 off coupon for Reebok . The plan was to use the coupon in purchasing my shoes online. From my research...

Ok, so here goes… I went to a Mexican restaurant last weekend. I realize now that I haven’t been to one since I joined WW (5 or so months ago). In my defense, I thought I was making a good choice by picking the vegetarian platter, I wasn’t able to confirm that before I ordered with my phone, like I usually do (because of no signal) and I was also very hungry. All of this equaled a meal disaster. According to my estimates, I ate double my day’s allowance of points in one meal!!! That is officially the worst I have ever done since I started losing weight this winter! How could this happen? Well, first I was hungry, so I tried to fill up on the unlimited tortilla chips on the table. Second, I shouldn’t have ordered a platter which included a mixture of things.  Third, I didn’t take into account how much fat (from the cheese) and carbs (from the tortillas) the meal contained. Fourth, I shouldn’t have gotten dessert. In retrospect:   I should have ordered a salad without cheese...

I wanted to share this super simple deep conditioner recipe. Yes, it is kinda stinky but for me it is totally worth it. It conditions so well and even makes my hair more manageable. I used this yesterday because my hair was in obvious need of some TLC!  Ingredients: 1/2 cup of mayo 1 egg yolk (egg whites will harden hair) 1 to 3 tbsp of fave oil* (depending on desired consistency)  *Mine is Neem Oil. It has a strong smell but works wonders with my hair. I will have to do a post just about the benefits of using it. Directions: Mix the ingredients together and distribute evenly through clean hair. Massage scalp for a few minutes and detangle hair. Then put on hair cap and leave-in for at least an hour and at max a couple hours (that is all I could stand of the smell lol). Wash out mixture with cool water (so the egg doesn't cook! Also this helps to seal in the good stuff) and make sure you get it all out. Continue with your normal post-wash routine. I hope this recipe works well...

So today I was perusing some of the events coming up on my calendar. I get to August and I see that I'm supposed to be doing a 5k that first Saturday*!!! It totally slipped my mind! Which means I have NOT been training for it :( "Hhm, AM why are you doing a 5k?", you ask. Well let me rewind my story a bit. When I first started working out, I knew I had to have some goal to work towards (besides being healthy and losing weight). So I decided that I would do a 5k mid or end of Summer. This was ingenious because I wouldn't want to go out there and be embarrassed because I wasn't fit enough to finish! Great! But then I forgot about it. I have still been working out but it's been more about cardio in short bursts then endurance. The question is: Am I still going to participate in the 5k? The answer: Heck yeah! Side note: I, at some point, will have to buy some running shoes.  So after I figured all this out, I decided to see what I can do now. If al...

So I haven’t been able to exercise like I wanted to for the past week and a half. And it sucked! I had a simple, quick outpatient procedure done on my foot. Everything’s ok. The down side is that I had to stay off my foot for a while to minimize scarring and expedite the healing process. That week and a half felt like a month! In my down time, I would roam from room to room, trying to find something to keep my mind off of the fact I couldn’t exercise my cares away. I was, after a few days, able to start my full body stretching back (Yah!!!). But I could not walk (for exercise and definitely not dance) until this week. So, when I got the privilege of exercise back, I told myself that I wasn’t going to overdo it. I stretched and stretched and stretched some more. I set my timer, got my tunes going and then went for it! In fact, when the timer went off, I felt fine, so I kept going a little longer. I am definitely feeling those extra minutes now though (*Wince*). I am looking for some g...