This Friday night...

Friday nights are my favorite night of the week and I don't mind the routine of it one bit. The promise of over 48 hours of freedom and not knowing what the rest of the weekend will bring excites me! I have become increasingly lame in my old age and just like to stay in on Friday nights. I love to relax, catch up on DVR, read magazines, and sleep. The best part is waking up not hungover on Saturday morning. It's such an amazing feeling!

After yesterday's sort-of mental breakdown, I picked myself up and was extremely productive. I was mostly well-rested at work today, I got cast iron skillets and Target popcorn on my lunch break, and left work early because I am working on Sunday afternoon. I went to the gym and spent a record amount of time on the treadmill (90 minutes). Pick your jaws up off the floor. Then I went to SuperTarget and saved 40% on a $100 bill! Pick your jaws back up off the floor.

After a day like today, a girl's gotta eat. Tonight I made a Morningstar grillers burger on a sandwich thin with chipotle cheddar cheese (what?!?!) I know. I had the same reaction. Go buy it at Target. It said 'limited time only' on the package. Get some before I buy it all!

After going back and forth on what side I wanted to go with my burger, I settled on getting some veggies in today. I had been craving cauliflower for a while (weird.) and decided to make a cheese sauce for it. I think I finally perfected my 'light' cheese sauce tonight, which has made an appearance in mac and cheese before. This picture is about 1/3 of a head of cauliflower with the cheese sauce as prepared below.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon light butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond milk, but usually use skim)
1/4 cup 2% shredded cheese (I used mild cheddar but sharp gives it a stronger cheese flavor)

Recommended seasonings: salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash garlic and herb, garlic powder, dry mustard, and cayenne pepper. The list goes on...

Directions:

Start steaming the cauliflower in a vegetable steamer (or on the stove). While veggies are steaming, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan on the stove over medium heat. Once melted, add the flour and blend. Cook the flour mixture for about three - five minutes. Now add the milk and stir until the flour mixture is blended. Bring this to a boil and then reduce the heat so that it is simmering. Add your desired seasonings, Continue to stir until the mixture is thickened. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Then add your main ingredient - in this case, cauliflower.

As prepared this cheese sauce has about 200 calories. You can pour this over pasta, cauliflower, eat it with a spoon...

Time to watch more TV and eat peanut butter Cheerios for dessert. Oh yeah, they make peanut butter Cheerios now. Happy Friday!

I may or may not have...*

... broken down in tears on I-77 after work while listening to these random songs. Don't ask.

... come home and wanted to continue the cry fest in the shower and then on the couch, but negotiated a deal with myself: I could do that only if I worked out first

... turned on my ipod shuffle and discovered the battery was drained

... got resourceful and busted out the spibelt, shoving my phone (for music) and keys (for the obvious) in to it

.... chosen to listen to Katy Perry and then switched to hardcore emo

... ran 2 miles at a sub-11 min pace, and walked 2 more at a sub-15 minute pace instead of eating my feelings in chocolate like I did last night

... returned from my run and instead of crying in the shower, did an art project for two different rooms in my apartment in about 15 minutes (more on that in another post)

Ok, now I am gonna go take a shower. There may or may not be tears. I hate being a girl. I hate PMS. You're welcome for the TMI.

Update: I did not cry in the shower. I had a dance party to Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster while bathing and shaving my legs. Only one wound occurred. Again, you're welcome for the TMI.

I totally did all of these things*

Best Body Bootcamp!

Today, Tina at Best Body Fitness announced the Best Body Bootcamp! This could not come at a better time with bathing suit season well on its way here in North Carolina... I just signed up and can't wait to get started on March 5th!

I need a little boost in my workout, particularly in the arena of strength training. I don't have too much of an issue getting cardio in: I use the elliptical and/or run about 5 times a week. But, I really do not do my part in strength training. I try to occasionally do pilates or yoga once a week. and I think my weight loss (or at least inches-loss) is suffering because of it. My diet is (mostly) on track and I have established healthy habits. I really need some guidance and can't afford a personal trainer! This boot camp only costs $25.00 and provides an 8 week training plan that anyone can do - as long as you have a base level of fitness established.

I really enjoy reading Tina's blog. She has some great fitness tips, is very knowledgeable, and is very real! She is so honest about her life, her past, and her fitness habits. Her journey has truly inspired me to live my healthiest life. I can't stress the importance of that enough! I used to live a pretty unhealthy lifestyle, and while I am not perfect and won't pretend to be - I have made a drastic turnaround in my eating and exercise habits and have developed new, healthy habits that will last me a very long lifetime.

I encourage everyone reading this to invest $25.00 in Best Body Bootcamp and most importantly, invest some time into your fitness. This is a small investment to improve your health! I am looking forward to incorporating some guided and structured strength training in to my workout routine and seeing the results, along with my current use of My Fitness Pal to track my food intake and exercise.

Oh yeah, Tina has some really cool prizes that are going to be given away every week, as well as a cash prize coming from a portion of the registration fee at the end of the challenge!!!

I will be blogging about the bootcamp and my progress throughout the 8 weeks! Tune in on March 5th for the kickoff!!!