Moussecapades.

Mousse being chocolate deliciousness, and capades being…well, capades (you know…like Ice-capades??)  Don’t worry, it will make more sense later.

So after reclaiming the gym and my workout over the lost 48 hours of snow and ice, it was time to head to Johnson City for a trip back to the Earth Fizzy!

Isn’t Emily cute?!?!  She is also starting a “clean eating” blog soon, so be sure to check back for links!!  Can’t forget Kim!

It’s like the organic version of Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory!  *drools*  Love it.

Also a special shout-out to all my Greek God Yogurt products!!!  (picked up the new pomegranate today)

Strolled around the Fizzy for a while, and ran into Heather!  My good friend that has been commenting on the blog.  She had a list of all the fun things she saw on my blog, and her cart was full.  This MADE my day.  To think that my blog could have impacted even one persons shopping just makes me want to jump for joy!  Makes all this posting and camera stalking worth it!  She is amazing.  Look at all her loot:

I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  A Tyler inspired grocery cart at the Earth Fare = MADE my weekend.  Heather, you rock.  I want full reviews on EVERYTHING.

Next it was dinner time.  Went to Jasons Deli which is so good!  Looks like your typical sandwich place on the outside, but it is chocked FULL of all kinds of natural and organic items.  Plus, they have free FroYo with every meal.  Need you look any further?!?!  I think not.

I didn’t have to look very long to find my dinner.

Yum on a plate.  Actually, scratch that.  Yum on a ciabatta.  Also, I love the little disclaimer:

<3

My meal came and it looked glorious:

YUM.  Even came with organic blue corn chips, and salsa!

Dinner mates.  Emily and her hubby Russel (he plays a mean chess game.)

Look at Emily’s CLEAN salad.  ;-)

I also may have stole some of her hummus for my blue corn goodness:

Now the best part, free Frozen Yogurttttttt!!!!  Russel went first, and displayed for all the bloggies:

Look at that form, perfect swirl.  A man after my own frozen yogurt lovin’ heart.

And here was my yogurt.  Complete with organic dark chocolate syrup (bathe worthy) and some fruits and nuts:

It didn’t last very long

There may have been an un-documented second bowl of yogurt, but the bowls were tiny I tell you, TINY!  :-)

And here is where the title comes into play.  Emily is pretty much obsessed with their chocolate mousse, and we have convinced ourselves that we are just going to start calling it a vegetable, so we don’t feel guilty upon consumption.  So here is the best veggie known to man:

If lovin’ mousse is wrong, then I don’t want to be right brothers and sisters.

Now it’s time for caffeine (soy latte), chess, and more good times.  Happy Sunday yall, bring it…Monday.

Yay for Sun-Day.

Well, the snow is still here, but the sun is out!!

And it was time for my favorite breakfast EVER

Love the Barrel.

Got what is now my stand-by.  Cereal breakfast which is 2 boxes of mini cereal (yes, I am a kid at heart), a huge bran muffin, and grits!

That muffin is outta this world.  Seriously yummy!  Huge chunks of golden raisins and apples inside as well.

And of course, some grit goodness.  People either love or hate grits, and mine falls into the LOVE category.

Aftermath was not pretty.

Yummmmmm!

Headed to work to get a major workout in considering I hadn’t at all in 48 hours!  *gasp*  My spin class starts at 2:00, with sign ups starting at 1:30….check out the line at 1:20:

These people are dedicated!!!!  I knew I had to have my A-Game on today when I taught!  Hope I made them proud, it was definitely a sweat session, and just what I needed.  Came back and scarfed down lunch while still at work.

Leftover veggie Mac-And-Cheese, a big gala apple…and a mini Oikos.  Love ya, Oikos, but it made me miss my Greek God’s Yogurt…I am spoiled now!

Now to shower/change lightning fast…and meet Emily and Kim in Johnson City for another Earth Fare adventure…and dinner/Starbucks.  Sounds like the perfect way to end an awesome weekend!

Later bloggies!!

Snowed In, Schmoed In.

Thats right, I was a rebel and braced the cold/ice long enough to bust out of the house again!  It was half off sushi, I thought it was most certainly worth the risk.  ;-)

Look at those prices, wouldn’t you?!?!?!  I went with the veggie roll, and dynamite roll.

Veggie was the standard: asparagus, tomato, cucumber, and lettuce.  Wrapped in rice, and nori.

I heart the outside pieces of these guys:

The Dynamite Roll had shrimp and crab.  Hands down my favorite roll at Stir Fry.

The company wasn’t to shabby either.

Magz!  Yours truly, striking a somewhat similar and goofy pose for the blog world:

I mean come on now.  We enjoyed every bite!

Yum.  Perfect dinner!  It was time for the movie so we headed to the mall, where I snuck in a few treats.

100 calories of popcorn bliss.  And of course what popcorn is complete without chocolate???

The last of my Earth Fare-Dark Chocolate Cherries *tear*, and some Hershey Kisses.

We went to see Book Of Eli, and I must admit I was a little disappointed.  It was just a bit too slow for my liking.  Oh well, still a fantastic night!  Took Maggie back to her car and someone had built a SNOWMAN on another car.  It was insanely hilarious.

And then I had this to come home to, which made me an extremely happy (and warm) camper:

And so another Saturday is over.  This is the first time in honestly, as long as I can remember, that I have taken two days off from exercise of any kind.  Thursday kicked my booty (8 miles plus Total Body HIIT) and I have been coughy so I took it easy Friday.  Then today the YMCA was closed, and it was wayyyy too cold/wet to run outdoors…so another off day.

I can’t wait to get back to it tomorrow.  Teaching spin at 2:00pm, then who knows.  Kim, Emily, and I want to attempt the big 1-0 miles.  I am all for it as long as it isnt slushy.  I have found that all that does is soak my shoes, and numb my feet.  Which makes running miserable.  10 miles of misery is not worth it!  I would almost rather do it on the treadmill if thats the case.  Oh well, we will see tomorrow.

Also, SPECIAL CONGRATS TO EMILY WHO PASSED HER O.T. BOARDS!!!!!!!  You rocked it, girl!!!!  I knew it.  Now lets party!

Have a great night bloggies, and a great Sunday.  Going to my FAVORITE location for breakfast tomorrow morning.  Any guesses???

Birthdays And Bowling

Well, the snow is still here.  Didn’t stop me from enjoying an amazing Saturday (heck, it’s not even over!)  After breakfast we started making plans to go celebrate my little bro’s birthday.  He is 22.  How sweet.

My stomach was growling between breakfast and lunch so I grabbed a Z-Kids, and a pear:

The Z-Kids are by far my favorite bar.  The chocolate chip is SO good, and like a big cookie:

Checked my email, created a new Google Calendar, and goofed around at the house a little.  Soon it was time for lunch!  Went to a local restaurant which I love:

This place has a little bit of everything!  I was torn between two…both involving my favorite shrimpies!

and…

Decided for the Tilapia, sans the rice…and broccoli (no butter), and carrots

What part of “no rice” didn’t they understand?!?!  Oh well.  It was SO good.

Blackened Shrimpy Goodness.  YUM.  The Tilapia was really good as well.  Flaky and white…

Take a look at what the birthday boy ordered.  Prepare yourself bloggies, this one is hilarious.  A ham and cheese sandwich…battered and deep fried!!!!

Look at that beast! They batter it, fry it, coat it in powdered sugar (WHAT!) and then give some sort of jam on the side.  I was in shock.  Oh well….it’s his birthday, I suppose.  Eat up brother.  ;-)

Of course there was cake involved:

Some big turtle, carmel, chocolate, ice cream concoction.  My slice was made fun of by all for it’s sheer size (or lack there of)

My thoughts on dessert like this, if you want it…eat it. Just get a small enough portion to be satisfied, and not put yourself through the misery of watching everyone else eating.  Although my piece was tiny, it was exactly what I needed to feel like I actually ate cake.

After dinner, Grant (birthday boy) wanted to do something I hadn’t done in years.

Bowling!  How random, yet fun.

All hail to the bowling MASTERRRRRR!!!!

So, I was totally stinking it up the first game…and bowling with my right hand…so I switched over to the left shortly into the second…and had *3* strikes in a row!  Boo yah!

Heres some more action shots:

And just to prove it:

And two strikes in the last frame!!  I am seriously considering becoming a professional bowler.  ;-)  For realz.

Well I am bowl’d out and ready for some relaxation.  Half off sushi tonight with Maggie (snow can’t keep us down) and maybe a movie!  Excellent!

Later bloggies, stay warm!

Blogger Boy Inquiry O’ The Evening:

Whats your best bowling score?

Chocolate Oats. Enough Said.

Well.  It snowed.

And snowed.

(My car is somewhere under there) ……and snowed:

And we’re supposed to be getting more today?!?!?!  Dear sweet Moses.

Woke up starving and knew I wanted oatmeal…so I grabbed my favorite spelt flakes, and the new PB I picked up:

I’ve heard alot of good things about “Peanut Butter and Co.” so when I saw that it had DARK CHOCOLATE….I knew it was an instant win.

I am really on a spelt oat kick lately.  They are just so different than oatmeal and seem to be more filling:

Oats!  Cooked those bad boys up, added a diced banana, and then got to the good stuff:

In the words of Ina Garten  ”how bad could that be?”

That’s some serious Peanut Butter, folks.

Perfection!

In other news, my 2nd Half Marathon is only 27 days away!!!  Crazy.

Kim, and Emily are flying down with me next month so we can get our run on!  I did my last half in 1:46 and would really like to improve my time.  I have been slowly increasing my mileage according to schedule, and am up to my 9/10 mile runs.  I’m still confused about the whole “speed work” thing. 

I have only been running for about 9 months or so, so alot of this stuff is somewhat new to me.  I feel like when I do run, I just try to maintain my 8:00ish pace, and go from there.  Does anyone have any suggestions about speed/tempo work?  Or anything in general that can shave some minutes off my last time?

Well, have fun…be safe, and enjoy this (snowy?) Saturday!  They are still in limbo on whether or not to open the YMCA today, so I suppose I am in limbo right along with them!  Gotta love the waiting game!

Later bloggies!  Would love some running advice!

Macaroni Kind Of Night

With the possibility of alot of snow, I ran by the store real quick after we closed the YMCA to grab what I needed for a major comfort-foodish dinner!  Mac-And-Cheese…Tyler style of course.

Standard Earth Fizzle Mac-And-Cheese goodness:

With a nice steamed veggie medley (carrots, broc, and cauli)  I love these little steam-able bags.  Got to cookin’ the mac

Mixed it with 2 tbsp of butter, and 1/4 cup skim milk:

Then chopped and added the veggies:

Cheesy glory!!!  Plated it up…

And joined forces with a nice big apple:

Very random, yet delicious comfort food.  Did the trick for me!

So here I sit prepared for the snow.  It is supposed to get bad, and I have fully made myself ready to be stranded at the house tomorrow.  Going to catch up with my ole pals at Dunder/Mifflin:

Have an awesome Friday, and a greaaaat Saturday bloggies.  I will either be pajama bound tomorrow, or teaching Spin and working @ the YMCA….either way sounds good to me!

Blogger Boy Inquiry ‘O The Night:

Whats your favorite comfort food?

Snows-Ah-Comin’

Well, happy Friday!!!  Look whats heading this way:

We’re supposed to get like 8” of snow!  Ugh.  I really do like the snow, and enjoy the aesthetic aspect of it, but it ruins plans!  I’m training members at the YMCA tonight but we will more than likely close if it starts getting bad.  I just really don’t want to miss Weekend Warrior AND Cycling tomorrow.  Cross your fingers that it isnt as bas as they think!

This morning I got up really craving some cereal:

I combined a cup of the Whole Grain Honey Puffs, and half a cup of the Heart to Heart Blueberries with some other star ingredients:

Homemade pumpkin yogurt!!!!  Yum.  I’m TELLING you…this yogurt is fantastic.

Mixed the two together, and poured over the cereal:

I added half a banana, and YUM….great breakfast!

Pumpkin Yogo Fruity Cereal Goodness.

I had to head down to the civic auditorium today to work at an information booth for the YMCA, so I went ahead and packed my lunch in advance.  Just threw some stuff together that I found in the fridge:

Started with a thin layer of hummus, then a ton of alfalfa sprouts (so much yum.) and then a sprinkling of natural cheese and some deli turkey.  Roll up, slice…and the perfect lunch to go:

Grabbed my food, and headed towards the civic auditorium.  We had an info booth to man, and I was the man to man it.  (Lots of “mans”)

Snacked on some almonds while I gave out all the wonderful information!

It was finally time for my lunch!  I had my wrap, some carrots, and my newly beloved Veggie Stix

Deliciousness!  Kept me full for the rest of the time at the expo!  That’s not to say that I didn’t also snack down on another SoyBar

And *maybe* a spelt cookie.  (I swear, these were spread apart time wise considerably. )

What can I  say, it’s a tough life manning a booth.

Don’t you love the shirt.  You don’t know how many times I heard “ASK YOU WHAT?!?!?!”  Oh well, I sort of set myself up for it, I suppose.

Well, off to the YMCA to train some members (we are already closing early at 6:00, so I doubt they will even show)  Hopefully I won’t be snowed in!  Have a great day bloggies, if your in the snow/ice storm…be safe!!!

Why “No Dessert” Should Be Illegal.

Shew.  what a day.  I worked, ran, taught, and ate.  Pretty much a normal, and successful day!  Total Body was GREAT.  I was feeling in the mood for an “add on” type class, so I made up a little upper/lower body sweat sesh:

1. Squats

2. Squats/Lunges

3. Squats/Lunges/Chest Press

4. Squats/Lunges/Chest Press/Rockstar Jumps

5. Squats/Lunges/Chest Flies/Rockstar Jumps/Tricep Dips

6. Squats/Lunges/Chest Flies/Rockstar Jumps/Tricep Dips/Lateral Raises

7. Squats/Lunges/Chest Press/Rockstar Jumps/Skullcrushers/Lateral Raises/Jacks with Handweights

8. Squats/Lunges/Chest Press/Rockstar Jumps/Skullcrushers/Overhead Press/Jacks with Handweights/1 Minute Plank

It was a killer!  By #7/8 I was a hot mess!  We rotated our squats/lunges with different variations like 3/4 squats, left squats, right squats, low pulses, etc.  With the lunges we would go back and forth between stationary, and walking with both dumbbells and an overhead press.  I always have so much fun in this class.  Here we were setting up!  (was going to take more pics but my camera died and I couldn’t charge it until after class, boo!

Ps, if you haven’t tried Rockstar Jumps then you are missing out, they are KILLER!  My class rocks them.  They may not love them during, but they love them afterwards.

I guess with the major cardio (running) and weights (class) my body was SCREAMING for dinner.  So I headed to one of my favorites….Jacks Grill!

This place has a Tex-Mex feel, but really has just about everything.  The decor is hilarious as well….it’s pretty much a mixture of anything and everything.

They are also one of those places that openly encourages the (creative) destruction of the table:

Which I gladly obliged to:

After looking at the menu, I went with an old stand by:

The veggie wrap, on spinach…broccoli instead of the fries:

So.  Much.  Yum.  I love this wrap, it is seriously amazing.  Perfect blend of guac, veggies, and cheese!  I enjoyed every bite.  Headed home with one thing on my mind.  The normal question.  Whats for dessert?!?!  This was:

Some Edy’s Yogurt Blend, and dark chocolate covered cherries.

Chopped those bad boys up, and voila….a match made in heaven.

And on that note (and an empty ice cream mug) another Thursday comes to a close.  :-)

Blogger Boy Inquiry ‘O The Night:

Simple….whats for dessert?

Fair Weather Running

Sheesh what a Thursday, and it isn’t even over yet.  Headed to the YMCA after breakfast to finish training on the FitLinxx systems and to hang out with my Christie!

Snacked on what is now probably my 2nd favorite Luna EVAH…(Nutz Over Chocolate is still my #1)

This bad boy was coated on the bottom with a white chocolate/mint specked layer, and full of choco-goodness on top!

Luna saves the day, again!  That held off the hunger for a bit, and you know where else I had to stop, aka make Kim pick up:

I swear, these Mistos are soooooo addicting!  Thanks Kimmy!

FINALLY.  After what has seemed like days and days of frigid temps, I saw this when I walked outside!!!

Grabbed the Garmin, geared up, and Kim and I set out on an 8 miler!  Not before a small pre run sugar fest:

I adore carmel.  Like, LOVE.  So these were definitely a must have.  Perfect blend of sugar to keep me energized!

I love my Garmin because I can literally just *run* and not have to worry about if I have tracked the route before or not.  It was the perfect running temperature!  So odd because in 48 hours we are supposed to have 8” of snow/ice.  Welcome to East Tennessee I suppose.  I really need to start being more careful when I run on the roads.  I think I take for granted that people either don’t see me or just down right don’t care.  I think I was beeped at/almost killed at least 3 times.  Whoops!  :-)  Finally made it back to the YMCA, 8 miles accomplished!!!

By the time I got done it was around 3:00pm and I was STARVING.  It is hard for me to have alot of food on my stomach pre-run, so I put lunch off…probably too long!  Sushi was definitely calling my name:

This bad boy had avocado, carrots, cucumbers, brown rice, and nori…can’t go wrong with that combo!  Veggie goodness:

And it was FREE (see two posts ago to see why. )  This + Cheese + Apple = yum.

And in typical Tyler fashion, I had to end this meal with a sweet treat.  What do you get when you combine chocolate and pro-biotics???

Attune!  This bad boy has 5x the probiotics of yogurt, which promote digestive health….WEE!

YUM.  Totally the healthy version of a Crunch bar.  Delicious.

Now off to plan my weight class!  Total Body H.I.I.T. is one of my favorite classes that I teach because I have complete control.  Muhahahahaha.  We work all the muscle groups (large to small) with cardio bursts in between to keep the heart rate jacked!  ;-)  We usually pack the house out, and there is so much energy going on!  LOVE it.  Plus Lady GaGa always makes an appearance…..or nine.  ;-)  Yay for squats/lunges/deadlifts/rockstar jumps/etc, anything goes in this class!  Can’t wait!

Later bloggies, I will have a dinner update later!

Blog Boy Inquiry ‘O The Afternoon:

What type of music do you run/exercise to?

Muffin Lovin’

Good morning!!!!  Quick update before a long Thursday starts for me.  I will be at the YMCA all day working until 6:00, then doing my Total Body H.I.I.T. weight class, and a long run outside at some point (9 miles??).  Still training for the half, it is in one month…I am so excited!!  (More about that race later, as well.)  Breakfast was SO good this morning.  Started off with a big bran muffin that I picked up yesterday at Earth Fare:

Gotta love it when the muffin is twice as big on top as it is on the bottom.  ;-)  Needed some fruit so went with a nice green pear:

See the muffin down there looking all lonely???  ;-)

Also used my new Greek Gods Yogurt and let me just tell you.  It is by far the BEST yogurt I have ever had.  I got the honey variety, and it seriously tastes like some sort of dessert on it’s own.  FAN-tastic.

So the muffin, the yogurt, the pear….needed something else.  PB to the rescue!

Now we’re talkin’.

This was the perfect blend to keep me full, and carb me up for my run today!  Perfect!

The muffin was glorious.  So dense and chewy

And of course, my favorite part was the last big chunk, smeared with the PB

Does it get any better?!?!?!  I think not.

Well, off to work I go.  It is supposed to be 50* today and sunny, perfect for a nice long (and overdue) run.  Sushi for lunch, can’t wait!  Also, I am going to my favorite place tonight (Jack’s), so stay tuned for a nice review of that!

Later bloggies!

Blog Boy Inquiry ‘O The Morning:

Are you a “fair weather” runner, or do you brave the freezing temps to get your runs in?  Do you like running in the heat or cold better?