Farewell June! {And random things!}

Hey hey happy last day of June! 🙂
Can you believe 2014 is halfway over?! I can’t.

Nonetheless, I’m excited to see what the second half of the year brings!

Man oh man, I’ve been going nonstop lately! Except for right now. Right now I am sitting in the SAC, drinking iced coffee, and waiting for my legs to wake up so I can ride to the Capitol for fun!

Such wise and wonderful words, Oprah.
{You are here not to shrink down to less, but to blossom into more of who you really are.}

So what’ve I been up to?
Well starting with just yesterday:

Blake and I went to Amy’s Ice Cream for the first time! It’s one of those Austin things, ya feel?

“That’s the trade off in our friendship. You make me go outside and I make you eat unhealthy things.” -Blake… And he’s totally right! Hahaha!

I rode 20.3 miles! I took on some hill climbs and they wiped me out! I rode to McKinney Falls State Park and it was beautiful as always! ❤

And today, I swam 2225 yards! It is such an unbelievably beautiful day. This swim felt pretty sluggish, but I got it done!

And of course, I refueled.

Enjoyed outside while soaking up the sun!

I’ve had such a nice day so far!
I’m on a roller coaster that only goes up, my friends. 😉 #namethatbook

Seize your Monday!
Love,
Juls

But did you die?

Today I had a speed swim workout and 45 min easy ride. The swim was awesome! The bike… Well…

I had a less than stellar bike ride that included:
– sunglass chaffing
– falling over while clipped in standing still at a stop sign
– being unable to get up from said fall because of tiredness
– chilling on a bench on campus too lazy to move
– an ant bite on my palm that swelled to the size of a quarter.

I was about to give up, get on the bus, and take the weeny way home. I did not want to get back on my bike.

But while I was wallowing in self pity, this came to mind:

So I sucked it up, got on my bike, and had a sweet ride home.

That is all.

Juliana

Pumpkin in June?

Hello again!

Remember how I said I was planning on baking?
Well I did!

I made pumpkin muffins with pecans and pepitas! 🙂
I followed this recipe almost to a T.

I made one exciting swap though. Instead of brown sugar, I used organic coconut palm sugar. Whaaaat.

I’ve been avoiding processed sugars as much as I can because of the stress it puts on your body. I’ve been going for more natural sources, such as fruit and now this:

Check out the nutrition stats people

Well hot dog. That’s some whole foods goodness I can dig!

Of course, like any health food, there’s controversy on whether or not it’s truly “a healthy alternative” to other sugars. There are doctors and nutritionists and so many others throwing out confusing scientific word vomit to sway people in their direction.

I chose to use this because it is so much more pure to me. It is not processed and mixed with other artificial carcinogens sweeteners.

Not to mention, I love coconut. Except for coconut butter, ew. That can stay far away. So many people avoid coconut milk or oil because of its high saturated fat content. What people don’t realize is that there’s different kinds of saturated fats! The sat. fat in your bacon you had for breakfast is different from the sat. fast my coconut oil had this morning! Coconut is full of medium chain fats, which are broken down and transported much more easily by the body. Which means that the fat can be used for energy and it’s less likely to build up in your arteries. Holllaaaa at that.

Anywayyyyy, you should go make these muffins. Trust me. I’ve already eaten two as a mid-morning preworkout snack. I plan to freeze the rest for future enjoyment!

Peace.

Top of the Morning

Good morning good morning! Happy Hump Day! 🙂

This morning I woke up soreeeee. I swam 2500 yards yesterday (my longest swim thus far!!) and ran 4 miles. It’s a good sore this time though, thank goodness! In between the swim and the run, I laid down for a 25 minute nap with a timer set and slept for two hours. WHAT. I still managed to fall asleep last night though, so I guess my body needed it!

Nonetheless, when I woke up at 6 to the light streaming through my window, I rolled over and kept sleeping until 7.

At 7, I attempted to read the Daily Skimm before I got out of bed but I fell asleep with my phone in my hand!

Finally, at 8 I rolled out of bed hungry and headed to the kitchen.

Breakfast was:
Black coffee in my awesome pug mug
Eggs and spinach cooked in coconut oil
Plain toast with ridiculously perfect strawberries
🙂

On the agenda for today is grocery shopping, cleaning, a 30 minute run, a 60 minute ride, baking pumpkin muffins, laundry, and chilling.

The weather here is on the dreary side today and rain is in the forecast. It makes me want to light my candles and listen to Ingrid Michaelson alllll dayyyyy.

Speaking of which, yesterday when I headed out on my run I knew I needed to take it easy because my quads were still overly sore. So instead of my normal pump up music, I listened to my Ingrid Michaelson Pandora station and it was so perfect. It’s so relaxing and it’s fun to listen to new music. Not to mention, she rocks.

Haha, I just looked up from writing this and it is pouring.

The other day I made some vegan stir fry and I’ll probably share my “recipe” soon! I say “recipe” because it didn’t require anything crazy. I personally like to cook things that can be thrown together in a jiffy. Seriously, just thrown!

Alright, have an awesome Wednesday!

Love,
Juliana

PSA

Public Service Announcement:
Dipping frozen sugar cookies into black coffee is the best combo ever.

Mhmmmmm.

Coffee in my favorite mug + my favorite Bones episode ever (how cute is Hodgins?!) + nasty weather = happiness.

I have a swim planned for later, but until then I am just chilling and letting my muscles heal!

How’s your Monday going?
Love,
Juliana

Back At It

Good morning and happy happy Sunday! 🙂

Even with only 5 hours of sleep, I was awake by 7! Yeah, you could say I’m a morning person…

I headed straight to the kitchen for a cup of coffee and breakfast.
Breakfast: oatmeal with almond coconut milk (holy moley people) and PB, banana, blueberries, cinnamon, and flax seed! So good in my mouth. So good for my body.

I am currently suffering from very very very sore quads… I was planning on a 90 minute ride today, but I think I’ll be swapping it for a swim.

Yesterday I strength trained for the first time in a loooong time. It was short, but the weights were heavy for me.

Ohhhhh silly gym selfies. #judgeme

Then last night, I ran a painful 5 miles. It was humid and hot and my legs felt like lead but I still persevered.

My quads were immediately so so sore. I taped them up before I went to bed to hopefully alleviate some pain. Ehhhh I’m not sure how effective it was.

Nonetheless, after traveling for a week with very minimal workouts, it feels soooo good to get back at it. And I already feel so much better after just a day of clean eats!

Don’t get me wrong, I love La Quinta, but would it kill them to have some sort of complex carb in their breakfast spread?! Sheesh. 😉

I’m off to Trader Joe’s soon for some coconut oil! I loooove the stuff for sauteeing and roasting. However, I really want to try oil pulling!

Have you ever tried oil pulling? What’s it like?!

Happy Sunday Funday, friends!

Love,
Juliana

[wanderlust]

Erica and I are now in Salida, CO! #plzdontstalkus
😉
We are letting our phones charge for a while before we head out on a hike… No matter what Erica tries to do to convince me otherwise.

The drive here was breathtaking. Seriously, mountains and trees everywhere.

We even got minorly lost and got up close and personal with a cow. It rocked.

During the drive, I kept reveling in the beauty and thinking about how happy I am.

I’m happy to be alive. I’m happy to travel. I’m happy to adventure. I’m just so happy.

Being outside is my favorite thing. My heart longs for the sun and the earth.

I read once “we must adventure to know where we truly belong.”
And I agree completely.

I love ATX and I’ll be happy to be back on Saturday but… Let’s just say my wanderlust is full fletched.

My whole life I’ve made a mental list of places I want to go and things I want to do and for the first time in my life, I’ve been acting on it.

And it feels wonderful. Start doing. Find you.

Love,
Juliana

Colo Springs

Hello from Colorado!

Just popping in to say hey!

We’ve been having a great time! 🙂 We’ve visited cliff dwellings, caves, historic towns, and amazing parks! Tomorrow we leave Colo Springs for San Isabel.

Up until last night, Erica and I had been constantly changing hotels. Haha it was fun to live as a nomad!

I miss my spinach salads though. 😉

I’ve run a little bit here, but it is hard,! I NEED MORE AIR. Although, I can understand why they train for the Olympics here!

Also, I think I met my soul mate at a coffee shop here. I kid you not. Erica agrees. 😉

Alright, peace out!

Road Trip Snax

Hello!

Today I went grocery shopping for road trip snax and because I am a nutrition major, I figured I’d share them with you!

Also, I’m writing this poolside. 😉 I swam 1000 yards which was actually half of what I was supposed to do but my body is le tired. I ran 4 miles earlier too.

Anyway, we will have a cooler in the car, so I bought some perishables!

I can’t remember everything, but I bought:
Annie’s Honey Grahams
Annie’s Party Mix
Celery
Strawberries
Apples
Oranges
Bell peppers
Hummus
Natural PB
Beef jerky
Luna bars
Roasted almonds (unsalted)
Rice cakes
Whole wheat flax lavashes
Bananas
100% whole wheat bread
Granola
Kettle cooked chips… 😉

And I’m sure I bought more but I just can’t remember!

I am so so excited!

I’m ready for runs in new places! 😀 priorities right?

Do you have anything fun coming up?

Love,
Juliana

The Grand Trip

ERICA AND I LEAVE ON SUNDAY FOR OUR ROAD TRIP.

RemEmber? I mentioned it at the beginning of May or something… 😉

ATX -> Colorado Springs -> San Isabel National Forest!
🙂

I’m so excited!

I haven’t been blogging lately because I haven’t felt like I had much to say! But I will most definitely post pictures of our road trip!
Alright, peace out.