Top of the Mountain

I knew it would be a great day when it began with creamy pumpkin naner oats. Mmmm :)

For a mid-morning snack I had a Cascadian Farm harvest spice granola bar that I got as a sample from VegFest! It was just like the Nature Granola bars, but this one had more flavor and flax seeds! It’s quite high in sugar, but I’d eat this again.

And then I got a job! I will be doing marketing and more (personal training and some reception) for a physical therapy/ pain clinic.

I’ve been pretty quiet about my job search since I left my last marketing job because I tend to keep big things private in general. I got my personal training certification since fitness and health are my passions, but I also have a degree in PR that I actually enjoy using. While visiting gyms in the past month I knew working as a PT alone wouldn’t be right for me. I needed something more so I tried to figure out a way to merge the two. (Note: In August I began a part-time retail job to help get me by.)

After months of applying to jobs that sparked my interest- and to plenty of jobs that depressed me- I decided to post my resume online instead of just applying to specific jobs. I was soon after contacted for an interview, which led to this week. The clinic is definitely hiring me but I won’t find out the specific details until later today or tomorrow.

These past several months were some of my hardest. I went from successful and financially-secure to unemployed with no hope in the future. I’d be so anxious and worried about my future- and it affected so many other areas of my life, too. It affected how I thought of myself.

So I prayed. God then showed me that no matter how serious and desperate my problems look, he will still be in control. In the grand scheme of things, my unemployment was nothing compared to who I am or who he is in me.

I realized that, adjusted my faith and soon after got a job. Funny how things work.

Always remember every valley brings a mountain.

For lunch I brought out the grill. I had a Dr. Praeger’s burger, asparagus, yellow squash and some wilted fresh spinach with a soy ginger dressing. Now I want something sweet!

I’m not jumping up and down yet because I haven’t signed any papers, but once I do I think there should be some celebrating!!

What is your favorite thing to grill?

Happy Tuesday!

For Hire

I’m an NASM-certified personal trainer! Woohooo!

I studied text, DVDs, tutorials, online quizzes and podcasts for three months trying to learn everything I could about how the human body works and how to get it to work the way we want it to. Today I took the proctored exam and passed- and am now a real personal trainer!

I’m pretty excited, but I’ll be really psyched when I actually start training people! No job yet. :-/

Tomorrow I’ll elaborate more on what I learned and a bit about personal training.

I had a lot of info I wanted to cover before the exam so I stayed up very late last night and woke up very early this morning. Going to bed at 2:30am and waking up at 6:00am makes one tired Ashley. Luckily I had naner oats to help me out a bit while I finished up reviewing :-)

Since You should never take a test hungry!  I had some snacks before going to the testing center.

A few weeks ago I received a promotional card for a free Chipotle item and today was the day to use it!

I ordered a salad to go with almost every vegan topping they have. Yum. I usually don’t use the dressing they give you, but it’s actually really yummy so I used some! I also had a Flat Out wrap with lunch for extra carbs!!!!!

Chipotle’s salads are amazing. It wasn’t a bed of plain lettuce hiding under my boat of guac. No way. Check out the goodness I uncovered!

After lunch I visited my cool and comfy bed for a 3 hour nap with Dixie. My 60 pound pup curled up with me = heaven.

Then I ate the fridge (apple, granola bars, etc.) to get my energy back up and headed out for a fantastic 25 mile bike ride. I rode through rain for a few miles at the beginning, but the rest was lovely!

Later David and I ate dinner (I had a huge green protein smoothie) while watching The Proposal! The movie was really cute- I recommend!

Enchiladas!

Thanks for your input on my last post about making enchiladas! I definitely want to try the sweet potato black bean version so many of you raved about. For that night, I just needed something simple that didn’t require me running out to the grocery store.

To start I made some filling: 1/3 block mashed tofu, frozen corn, frozen peas, black beans, salsa and spices (taco seasoning, paprika and pepper). I also cooked some organic chicken for David since he specifically begged for chicken in his enchiladas. Cooked meat doesn’t bother me too much, but raw meat makes me crazy. I thought I’d either cry or cough up my lunch when handling the raw chicken! (Neither happened, actually. Thanks to cooking utensils I had very minimal contact with it.)

To make my two enchiladas I put lined Flat Out wraps with microwaved spinach and the filling. The spinach was a nice addition but next time I’d mix it in with the filling.

David’s three enchiladas had chicken, cheese, filling and a bit of extra salsa.

All rolled up in a bath of canned enchilada sauce. (I put the extra filling on top of the two vegan versions.)

The rest of the enchilada sauce went on top and the babies baked for 30 minutes at 350*. They actually turned out really yummy! Next time I will not use Flat Out wraps- their signature texture and taste stood out way too much.

Here’s my plate. But who am I kidding? I totally went back and had my second enchilada. I was stuffed after that!

Have you used the services of a personal trainer? What are your thoughts on trainers?

Back to School (for the night)

Since David’s still in school and we both have a big week ahead, we declared tonight a crazy late study date. I’ve made coffee and we’re planning on staying up as late as possible! Therefore, this post will be quick! (Ha- I say that so often and it’s never quick!)

I’ll assume my photos are self-explanatory… ask for details if you’d like :)

Friday:

This weekend was busy! Early Friday morning I headed to the Red Cross downtown to get CPR/AED certified before heading two hours across Florida to visit my mom and siblings and spend the night there. In between the two I squeezed in a “long” run that turned into a disaster. I might elaborate later… or I might just forget it ever happened!

My mom isn’t so happy about my vegan diet. She seems to think it’s a hassle. She tried to convince me that a dish with cheese or milk was necessary for Friday’s dinner… so I turned the tables on her and offered to make one of my favorite simple, fun, vegan dinners: baked tofu, sweet potato fries and broc!

I had double this plate. I messed up my fries (too much oil, not enough seasonings), but everyone loved it!

On Friday we had a belated celebration for my birthday. My youngest sister (8 years old) has a friend in school who is a little entrepreneur. So my sister had her friend make me this pretty tissue paper flower and birthday card. Too sweet!

My mother gave me the best gift of all. She had my great grandmother’s antique watch restored and passed it on to me. This watch is dainty and beautiful. I’ll have to take a close-up photo for you to see :)

My youngest brother and sister also made this super-sized card for me. My heart was elated.

To continue proving to my mother that eating vegan can be delicious and simple, I brought some Purely Decadent dairy-free “ice cream.” Unbelievably good.

I brought over some cinnamon oats since I didn’t know what vegan breakfast options would be there. Topped with some PB it made a great breakfast!

The whole time I was at my mom’s I snacked on Honey Maid graham crackers smeared with PB. (They’re vegan to me since I eat honey.) There were some ingredients I didn’t like in there, but I don’t think one weekend of them will do too much harm.

We spent Saturday lounging around on the porch and at the pool. SO relaxing. My mom served some bean soup with pasta and side salad before I had to head home. I didn’t want to leave! Normally when I visit my parents’ homes I load up on junk found. I think it’s out of habit, really. This time I came over with a renewed relationship with food. I ate clean and healthy and hearty and left feeling as good as when I came over. I can’t totally explain it, but going vegan has change everything with how I think of and eat food.

Okay, time to hit the text!

What’s the best thing you ate this weekend?

It’s an open windows, music flowing throughout kind of day

Happy Wednesday! We’re halfway to Friday :-)

Yesterday I began looking into local gyms to find the one that would be best for me. The first one went terribly.

I surely wasn’t planning on disclosing the names of the gyms, but this one was so bad that I have no problem with it. It was such a bad experience that I wouldn’t want to ever go in there again… much less work there.

I visited my local L.A. Fitness. Do a quick search on Google for L.A. Fitness and you’ll find a series of stories of how the gym scams its members. My local L.A. Fitness is probably the largest gym in my area and has the most impressive group exercise schedule; I couldn’t cross it off my list without first checking it out for myself.

I went in intending to use their free guest pass they push on their website. The last thing this sales guy- who was also the general manager- wanted to do was let me test the gym out for a few days. When he first met me he actually said, “Let’s not waste my time here. What are you looking for? Are you going to join?” He was pushy, confrontational and got very angry when I insisted for the 6th time that I was not ready to buy an overpriced membership right then and there and that I wanted to actually try the gym (with my free guest pass!) before putting any money down. Ugh.

I shared with the salesperson/ general manager that I was going to be certified next month and might be interested in working with L.A. Fitness. He then introduced me to the Personal Training Manager- a.k.a. a casually overweight guy who was too good to talk to a potential customer/employee. He told me he has several personal trainers already but needs to “clean out some bad ones” and I could apply but if they want me the process could take two months. Then he ran off without saying bye.. instead just “I have to pee!”

They did talk a bit about training their members. They had the most lackluster comments about it.

After I narrowly escaped the sales office an hour later I was finally permitted to try out the facilities. I did 5 minutes on the treadmill and had to get out of there.

The facilities were beautiful (full lap pool, indoor basketball court, indoor racquetball courts, weights, cardio equipment, free space), but the focus on selling memberships was so extreme that I wanted to run out of there the moment I stepped in. The whole process was really disheartening. I want to train people to radically better their lives. I want to impart knowledge, help people get healthier, help them surpass their goals… not merely have a place to work and sell packages.

I really hope the other gyms go over better.

On to today! Me food blogging is back!

I started the day with some Rapberry Kombucha (strawberry is still the “best”) and some naner-flax-oats. Hearty :) Today is suddenly gorgeous in central Florida. The temperature is cool and the sun is shining. TO take advantage of this perfect day I turned off the AC, opened all windows and put on Pandora to play throughout the house. I thought some fresh melon (and 1 granola bar) was a perfect complement to the breezy morning.

I also enjoyed the last of my iced green tea. I’m so lucky to have this beautiful baby keeping me company. Seriously, that face is the cutest. So kissable!

I think it’s about time I introduce you to Dixie’s favorite toy, Roadkill. Roadkill was a gift from David’s mom (Dixie’s grandma) and is.. well, roadkill.

The poor thing.

I really wanted soup for lunch, but it’s not that cool outside yet, so I settled on another comfort meal: quinoa. I made mine with everything leftover in the fridge: asparagus, corn, peas, garlic, tomato sauce and spices. Yummy :) I also made three extra servings to hang out in the freezer for a while!

Post-lunch I enjoyed a yummy fruit bar!

Now back to studying. I’m heading out for a run later this afternoon. I actually haven’t run since the race Saturday because my shins haven’t felt 100%… wish me luck today!

To Gym or Not to Gym

Yes, that is two Kombuchas you see hanging out in my fridge. It’s funny- for a drink I think tastes gross, I’ve got quite the big craving for it! Part of it might just be placebo, but I feel clean and light after drinking these. I’ll work through these two throughout the week. So far I’ve tried Mango and Strawberry… next up I have Multi-green and Raspberry Rush. Ummm… yum?

Yesterday Ryan and I started the week off right with a 90 minute power yoga class. Holy sweat! We are loyal to College Park Yoga. The teachers/owners are welcoming and really encourage us to own our practice and listen to our bodies. I try to let that message continue to the rest of my life, too :)

  After yoga Ryan and I walked over to Infusion Tea, a little vegetarian teahouse/cafe near the studio. We were overwhelmed with yummy choices but I eventually settled on their 1/2 and 1/2 lunch combo with Tempeh Chili and the Milton Special salad.

From the menu: “Milton Special-vegan-Organic field greens, roasted beets, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, tomato, cucumber, hummus and tabouleh with balsamic dressing.”

The hummus was super-creamy, the tabouleh the best I’ve ever had and the balsamic dressing was more like a sweet glaze. The tempeh chili had big chunks of tempeh, beans and peppers. It was perfect.

Ryan got a great vegan chili cheese burrito! And thanks to Miss Ryan for the photos… I left my camera at home and was forced to use her gorgeous Nikon!

   I promise to actually blog all of my meals soon! I’ve been quite busy studying, eating Zbars (yum.) and finishing the cupcakes from my birthday :-) 

To Gym or Not to Gym

As you might know I’ve been studying with NASM to get my personal trainer certification for a few months now. The exam has been scheduled for October 13th. Right now I’m taking advantages of guest passes at my local gyms to figure out which feels like the best fit for me to work at (or for me to want to work at… I’ll need to get hired!).

For the past few months, other than a weekly yoga class, I’ve been exercising only outside the gym- bike rides, runs outside, strength training at the park or my living room, and yoga next to my bed. I find my workouts have been more intense, more exciting and much more efficient than when I belonged to a gym. My workouts are less on auto-pilot when I’m outside or in my own home. I’ve also saved money from membership fees and saved the time it takes to drive to and from a gym.

But for many people the gym works best for them. Having a place dedicated to fitness makes it easier for some to get a good workout. There’s also a high level of motivation that comes from group classes and other gym benefits.

I’ve been to good gyms and bad gyms. There have been gyms that I want to spend the whole day in and some where I feel closed in and am itching to get out after five minutes. I want to work in a gym that is set up in a way that is easy for my clients to follow a program with the tools they need. Also, a gym should feel positive and welcoming.

I’ll report back on what I find visiting these new gyms!

Do you prefer working out inside or outside the gym? If you belong to a gym, what made you choose yours?