Thanksgiving craziness/Sunday run...

Sunday's run started at Memorial Park as it was the first Incline Club run of the season. Our Sunday group wasn't sure what we felt like doing, so we just met there and a few of us decided last minute to head into the Garden of the Gods (instead of the Ute Pass/Waldo loop). The weather was perfect and although my legs were sore from the incline the day before, it was a fabulous run!

Jill joined us for breakfast and we've all been wanting to try this new creperie in Manitou Springs for a while...and wow, it was absolutely fantastic! They had savory crepes, sweet crepes and coffee served in pint glasses- very cool. And the best part, all of the crepes are gluten-free! I can't wait to go back and try a few more. Dani and I split the Veggie Crepe (hummus, mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, sliced almonds) and the Blitz with pumpkin butter and ricotta. So so yummy! The pictures don't do them justice as I'm still trying to figure out the manual setting indoors (and out as well) with my camera:). It will get there.

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day with family and friends. Good food, big laughs, uncomfortable bellies...priceless memories.

My pretty champagne cooler...

Hanging out from Aunt Jeanne's cabin...she is amazing:).

Baby Kira loves Thanksgiving food too...lots of it!

Greenland

No pics from the long run yesterday:(. Oh well...it still was fabulous. A group of us (Jane, Jess, Maddy, Staci, Micky, and I) headed up to Greenland openspace for an 8.4 mile lollipop loop. A gorgeous place where you feel out in the middle of no where...rolling hills, train tracks, views for miles. Greenland is a usually muddy/windy mess, but on this day, it was pleasant and very much a joy.

Afterward, we headed to our once-upon-a-time weekly breakfast stop, The Egg & I. A tasty warm meal and great conversation ended our Sunday morning outing with a smile on everyone's faces. Props to Maddy for her tackling her first Greenland loop...keep it up studly.

Last night CPY put on a free Carnival Event. It was an absolute blast! They combined all of the classes they offer (hot, hot fusion, power, sculpt, bootcamp) into one 75 min class. The room was packed to the brim...probably close to 60 people, and we were lucky enough to have the hands of about 10 adjusters! Lots of different kinds of music, different styles, different teachers. So much fun.

After an amazing massage, I am now loving the smells of my tasty tofu baking in the oven...I must go enjoy it!

new, tasty, and fun...

James showed up with this card for me...what a crack up. On the inside it had a big whale on in and the pink and green characters yelled "get Whale soon...get it...get whallle soon...". Hilarious. If you are wondering why he scratched out 'sick' and wrote what he did...yes, I did in fact cut the &%#! out of my thumb Monday night with a brand new knife I bought that day. No fun I say.

I had the best oat bran concoction yesterday morning after my beautiful hour run in the still-snowy Garden. Mixed in was pumpkin, carob chips and chopped almonds...yummers! After the picture I added some kefir to the top...it doesn't look as purty with the liquidy white stuff over the top:). This kept me so full for hours!

After my nock off Magic Bullet bit the dust (it was literally smoking, shooting black stuff everywhere- not a pretty scene folks) Monday morning, I headed to Bed Bath and Beyond looking to get the real Magic Bullet, but instead ran across this little puppy. I've wanted a food processor for a long time and told myself that I'd treat myself to one if I continued my attempts to cooking/baking new things post CPY NUT program. And it comes with a blender too! What a deal! I'm so excited to use it...first up Chocolate Covered Katie's Fudge Babies I suspect.

Off to a run before work! Happy day to all.

winter wonderland...

An amazing trail run in the Garden of the Gods with the girls this morning. I think we all were feeling twelve again as we slipped and slid in the puffy white stuff, laughter and giggles the entire time. No falls surprisingly enough! :) A few pics to tell the story...

Inspiration.

Last night's 'Beauty Mark Night' was absolutely amazing. It was so inspirational, though-provoking, and moving for me, and I believe, everyone who attended. If you haven't heard of Diane Isreal's movie 'Beauty Mark', you must check it out. Diane and our SkirtSports rep, Maggi traveled down from Boulder to show the movie and speak to 70+ women that are affiliated with the store in some way or another. I think the film spoke to each and every person in a slightly different way...and it really touched my heart as I looked around at everyone's eyes as they watched. Hearing Diane speak was so incredibly motivating...and I could instantly feel my shoulders drop, releasing the pressures.

Thanks to my friends and family who helped pull this event together. I couldn't have done it without your support and presence. I am sad that I didn't take any photos...just couldn't make it happen:(.

After a wonderful night, we all were back at the store less than 12 hours later for our Sunday group long run. I took some photos of everyone, just before heading out...you can see it took a little bit to get the photo opp ready:).

A very tough, but wonderful route this morning. Started at the store headed north on the trail, headed up the Sinton Trail for a lovely 3 mile uphill, a left at 30th street up to the Mesa Overlook, down through Beetleman (sp?), and back to the store. A windy, but gorgeous 11.5 miles. Haven't gone that long in a while...and my legs are letting me know already today:). Love being with the girls...so thankful they are in my life.

The pic below is of my awesome LuLuLemon poster I have on my fridge. It has very inspirational statements on it, and after last night I am vowing to take a good long look at it everyday, with the intent of taking from it whatever I need to hear for the day.

halloweeeeenn...

A few Halloween funnies...great costumes this year!

My handsome brother
My punk rock mother

testing time...

Well, I made it through the toughest part of the nutrition cleanse...breaking habits, clean eating, and lots of broth. Now, it's time to partake in nutritional experiments for my own body...the purpose of this whole thing!

Thanks to 4 days of clean eating and 3 days of homemade veggie broths (and a vitamin/mineral supplement for calories and protein), my body is at a very alkaline state. A state that can be very telling as I reintroduce foods in my diet. For the next 8-10 days I will be alternating between a day of clean eating, followed by a "test day". During the test day, I will be eating clean, but be adding in my test food throughout the day. Today I started the testing series with Soy. Soy is in the super highly beneficial category when it comes to energy and my blood type (A), and it's also something I hardly ever eat. I wanted to know if soy is something that I should add to my food regimen. The results were: soy milk, edemame, baked tofu, all good. Felt great, energy-wise (good considering being sick with a cold right now:(). Miso on the other hand did not treat me well; tired, upset stomach, no good. It was very interesting being able to really feel what's going on in my body, mind, spirits in regards to the instant effects of food.

I think the following are the remainder test foods: wheat (gluten), cottage cheese, oatmeal/oatbran, yogurt/kefir. Wheat/gluten is always something good to know...the other three foods are things I eat on a regular basis, and will most likely continue to...so again, good information to know.

More to come on my food revelations... I'll definitely keep you updated on my findings!

Heather- I am using almond milk every day...usually almond butter too...I always think of you!

NUT

I've been a bit MIA in regards to my blog for a while now...but for good reason. I've been participating in the NUTrition program through CorePower Yoga! NUT started last friday and the first part was weekend-intensive; Friday eve, Sat and Sun from 8-4p. Within that time we took 5 yoga classes and began eating very clean foods thanks to Whole Foods. We have about 20 people in our class, and then we are split up into groups of 5 with one coach. Gordon, a friend of the stores that I've known since I've worked there, is my coach and he is great. He's an ultra runner and has been through the nutrition program a handful of times.

A lot of the focus in the program is about eating for your blood type and finding out what your dominant gland is. There is a book about it 'Eating Right For Your Blood Type'...we didn't read it, but we talked about energy boosting foods, and energy depleting foods, based on what blood type we are. Interestingly, as an 'A-type'...I found out that some foods that I eat every day are definitely in my energy depleting category. One major purpose of this cleansing process is for us to test different foods to see what reaction our bodies have (to see how energy-depleting foods we eat all of the time really are). After eating clean for 4 days, and 3 homemade broth days, our bodies are now at an alkaline state, a state that allows us to clearly see what our body's reaction to particular food (headaches, tiredness, stomach issues, moodiness, sinus stuff). Soy for instance (pretty much all soy products ), is shown to be very good for 'A's' and I never eat soy...so that's definitely a food I will be testing. Cottage cheese and hummus (which I eat all of the time) are in my super energy-sucking category, so I will also be testing those.

I'm on my second day (of 4) of clean eating, which prohibits dairy, gluten, processed foods, caffine, peanuts, and any particular foods we wish to test later in the process. I honestly have not had one single sugar craving, not one true hunger pain since Friday. We can definitely have other nuts (almonds, almond butter, etc), unlimited veggies, lean proteins, some fruits, and some protein-filled, gluten free grains. I have truly enjoyed the new variety in my diet and creating new meals!

I was very nervous about giving up my tasty coffee, with my (horrible-for-me) sweet creamer every morning...but Monday has been the only day I truly missed it. Without caffeine I am now sleeping very soundly and ready to go to bed. Caffeine hides the "I'm-tired" feelings for most people and I am now very aware my my mind is ready to hit the hay. I was also nervous about my energy level, but I have honestly had very high energy since this process started on Friday. We are taking a protein/vitamin/mineral supplement throughout the clean eating, testing, and broth phase (substantially more during broth days).

Last night was the first Tuesday night class/meeting of three that we will do throughout the program. We had an amazing, yet so hard, sculpt class thanks to Heather (she is a great teacher) and then discussed more about the cleanse as we ate our clean dinners that we prepared. It was fun to catch up with everyone and see how the first day went. Honestly the people in the program are the major tool to staying focused and getting through all of the changes, the food preparation and planning, the withdrawals...because everyone else is going through it too.

When most people hear cleanse, they sometimes hear fast...and that is definitely not what this program is. We have been totally prepared for this process and I am very excited to learn more about the effects food has on my body. More to come via blog throughout this journey. I know many things will be revealed, and I can't wait to share!

Burrrr....

A frozen Sunday morning made Waldo Canyon a slippery, yet absolutely gorgeous, experience! Dani, Jess and I stopped numerous times to just take it all in...the silence, the iced-over spiderweb, and being surrounded by white.

PS- Spill/fall count for the winter so far...Dani-1, Jillian-1, Jess-0

With frozen eyelashes and leaves in hair, we went up to Dani's house up in Green Mtn Falls and enjoyed coffee and Oat Bran (Heather- you would have been in heaven!) with tasty toppings, fire-side...so peaceful and relaxing!

After breakfast I hurried home to grab my camera and take advantage of a frozen Colorado Springs. I stopped to take some shots of the pond by CC, Wood Ave, the paved path by The Navigators, and lastly, The Garden of the Gods.

I haven't learned a whole lot about Adobe Photoshop yet...I'm actually looking for a class at this moment in time...so these pics are pretty raw...simply using the new Canon! :) A few pics from Mom's bday lunch at Mona's, Adam's cute new cottage in Denver, and some Downtown Grand Junction art!