Change of Plans

A few things have changed since the last time I wrote. I was saying how stressed out I had become because of my job. Well after getting another lifeguard position in a different community, I resigned from my job that I had been working at for the 5th year now. It was hard for me to do this but knew it would be for the better. I’m loving my new job already & I’ve been happier and less stressed out 🙂

Here’s what I get to look at every day:

I can get used to this 😉

So what else have I been up to? Not too much.. haha Laura & I went to a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Yankees game over the weekend!

Baseball games are always a fun time! The 2 of us have been going to these for forever now. We always move our seats throughout the game & go sit by the bullpen to creep on the pitchers 😛 No shame.

There’s a new Plato’s Closet in Dickson City so I took a trip up there this weekend. I saw these pants:

….? Who would wear these? haha There are some strange clothes in the world. These remind me of the Spice Girls.

I watched The Bachelorette for the first time last night and let me just say I HATE BENTLEY!!!!!! I was freaking out at my TV. He is pathetic and a horrible person. That is all I have to say… haha

I don’t have work today so my mom and I are going to do some shopping!! Hopefully I can find some cute stuff. There are a limited amount of stores to choose from in the mountains… but we make do!

Hope everyone has an awesome Tuesday!! 🙂

I Miss You Dearly

Okay so it’s been almost THREE weeks since my last post… I’ve been slacking. I miss this so much!! I feel like I haven’t really had anything interesting to talk about. Summer has been off to a pretty boring start.

I did go to an Arts Festival in Wilkes Barre about 2 weeks ago with my mom and grandmother! I’m not a big art person, but it was a beautiful day and there were a lot of beautiful things to see! (All of the food vendors smelled amazing also!)

Saw this painting and thought of my girl Danielle! She lovessss butterflies!

I have given up on the Dukan diet. I wasn’t seeing results, and I was so sick of protein. I’m just gonna stick to the balanced diet & exercise strategy 😉

One thing I am happy about is my new found love for running. The other day I was on the treadmill at the gym and I got the strong urge to run. I usually walk uphill on the treadmill and rarely ever run. I’m really bad at running. I was a dancer my whole life and I run on my toes. But when I decided to run the other day, I couldn’t stop! I wasn’t getting tired, my legs weren’t hurting, and my breathing was right on track. I ended up alternating running & walking uphill for a total of 3.4 miles. This is pretty big for me! So I’m going to keep up with this and see what happens 🙂

I worked yesterday so I didn’t make it to the gym. These past couple days at work have been extremely stressful so I took a long walk last night to breathe and destress.

As much as living in the mountains is not my favorite thing, I do enjoy a nice, peaceful walk on dirt roads every now and then 🙂

Today the skies are beeee-youuu-teaaa-full!!!

I love green leaves against bright blue skies! So pretty 🙂

It’s not as hot as it was the past couple days. It’s actually kinda chilly with the wind!!

The rest of my day will consist of going to the gym and picking up my aunt at the airport! She’s coming up for the week from Florida! I’m hoping she takes me back with her when she leaves next week 😉

I can’t wait to catch up on everyone’s blogs tonight!!!!! Have a great Thursday night!

Oat Bran Pancake

Happy Saturday everyone!! I guess the world isn’t going to end today after all 😛

Day 5 of Dukan and I’m still happy! Yesterday was my first day of the Cruise Phase so I was able to add some veggies to my meals!

But let me tell you about the best recipe I found for an oat bran pancake! Since you need to have oat bran daily on this diet, I was looking for a new way to incorporate oat bran into my diet because I was sick of mixing it into yogurt. Honestly, I thought an oat bran pancake would taste terrible, but I was oh so wrong!!

The oat bran recipe calls for:

1 egg white

2 tablespoons of plain, non-fat yogurt

2 tablespoons of oat bran

and splenda/sugar substitute to your liking

That’s it!! Mix it all together and put it in a pan! (I also added a bit of cinnamon!)

I didn’t get to snap any pictures of the finished product because I dove right into it!

It was DELICIOUS!! Who knew?!

I was super excited for these babies last night as well:

I missed my veggies! I really appreciated them more after not having them for so long (even if it was only 3 days) 😛

Today is a pure protein day. I am doing the 1-1 plan: every other day is a protein/veggie day. I feel like this is the best plan for me!

Today is starting out dreary.. AGAIN. I’m praying that the sun comes out for a little while today! But I won’t get my hopes up

I was supposed to work today, but now I think the plans have changed and I will work during the week. My mom and I might be doing downtown later to an Arts Festival! Annnddd I might be hanging out with friends I haven’t seen in 1 1/2!!!! So I’m hoping today turns out to be as fun as I think it will be 🙂

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!! And I hope everyone is having better weather than I am!! haha

What is one vegetable that you cannot live without?

So Far So Good

Good morning! I hope everyone is having a fantastic week!

It’s Day 3 of my Attack Phase on the Dukan Diet & I am feeling great! I’ve lost some weight, but I know it’s just water weight right now. My body feels better, though. I’m not bloated at all and I just feel good.

A nice thing about this diet is that I don’t feel like I am starving myself. These pure proteins really fill you up and there are no calorie restrictions. I’m excited to be able to start eating veggies again soon though because I love them soo much! I know that not incorporating main food groups into your diet is frowned upon, but this is very temporary and I will be adding them back into my diet soon.

I do have to say that Day 2 was tough for me. I woke up and started making breakfast: 3 egg whites, 1 yolk, and 2 slices of lean turkey bacon. I wasn’t even that hungry, but I knew I needed to eat. While I was cooking, the thought of putting more protein into my body was making me sick. I had to lay down for a few minutes. It blew my mind how much I was sick of protein already and it was only day 2!! But that feeling passed and I was fine the rest of the day!

For lunch I tried to be a little more creative. There are 72 pure proteins that you are allowed to eat during this phase, but I feel like it’s very hard to get creative.

I tried making somewhat of a smoothie bowl!

I blended together 1 cup of Greek yogurt, about a 1/2 cup of skim milk, 1 1/2 tablespoons of oat bran, 1 tablespoon of vanilla, a decent amount of splenda (I didn’t measure, just added until the sweetness was right), and icecubes!

Now this was definitely NOT the best smoothie I’ve ever had, but it was better than eating more chicken or eggs!

I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things for my family. That was hard! All I wanted to do was pick up a bag or tortilla chips and salsa and dig in! The bananas were also looking wonderful! Who am I kidding, everything looked good to me!

But I know that I cannot break this diet. This is something that I really want and I would be so disappointed in myself if I lost discipline.

When I got home, my dad was back and he had a surprise for me!

Trout!!!!

He knows that I’m on this diet, so he went fishing and caught some yummy trout that I can cook up! I love fish a lot, so I was extremely happy. I actually had a piece this morning for breakfast! It was delicious! Thanks Dad 🙂

I’m not sure what I’m going to do today. The past few days have been super boring. The weather has been horrible – gloomy and rain. 😦 I can’t wait until it is nice out so I can be outside and start working again!!!

My brother will be living back at home for the next couple of days. He’s having surgery today. Nothing life-threatening, but send your prayers his way!!

Hope everyone has a great day! It’s almost the weekend 🙂

Who can? Dukan!

First off, HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY to Danielle, one of my bestest friends in the world!!!!!! I love you! Can’t wait to celebrate 🙂

So I’m not sure if I’ve gone crazy, but I’ve given it a lot of though and I’m going to try the Dukan Diet. My mom is also doing it with me so we can motivate each other. I first heard about the Dukan Diet while watching Dr. Oz and of course it got my attention when they said you lose weight fast. It’s a low carb, high protein diet somewhat like the Atkins Diet. There are 4 stages to the Dukan Diet:

1. Attack Phase: This stage lasts anywhere from 1 to 10 days depending on how much weight you’re trying to lose. I’m going to be in this stage for 5 days. In the attack phase, there are 72 pure proteins that you are allowed to eat. These foods include things like lean beef, turkey, and chicken, fish, eggs, skimmed milk, fat-free cottage cheese, and non-fat yogurt.

2. Cruise Phase: In this phase, you eat the 72 pure proteins plus a list of 28 vegetables. Vegetables included in this phase are broccoli, celery, spinach, cucumber, tomatoes, and zucchini. The length of this phase depends on how much weight you’d like to lose. Stay on this diet 3 days for every pound that you’d like to lose.

3. Consolidation Phase: You start introducing other foods into your diet during this stage. You get to eat 2 slices of bread, a piece of fruit per day, 4 g of cheese per day, and 2 starches per week. You also get two celebration meals per week of whatever you want – pizza, mac and cheese, desserts, ANYTHING! Stay on this phase 5 days for every pound lost. There should be one pure protein day per week.

4. Stabilization Phase: This phase is to keep you aware of your body and eating habits. You are on this stage for life. You are allowed to eat whatever you want, but every Thursday should be a pure protein day like the Attack Phase.

During each of these stages you also consume oat bran everyday. 1.5 tablespoons in the Attack Phase, 2 tablespoons in the Cruise Phase, and 3 tablespoons per day for every day after that!

Exercise is also important during this diet. The Dukan Diet recommends walking 20 minutes per day during the Attack Phase and 30 minutes per day for the rest of the diet.

Of course with every diet, there are criticisms and skeptics. It’s going to be hard to go without carbs, sweets, and fruit for so long. But for me, the pros outweigh the cons.

Today is my official first day. So far, so good! I ate yogurt with oat bran for breakfast and I feel fine!

Since I’m going to miss my “bad” food, I binged hard yesterday 😛

Chocolate chips right out of the bag + turkey, cheese,& honey mustard hoagie = heaven!

I’ll see you soon, my loves 😛

I also went grocery shopping yesterday to prepare for this diet.

Look at all of this yummy protein!! Can’t wait to dig in and start creating some new recipes with this stuff 🙂

I can’t wait to see the results of this diet. I’m doing this to lose weight, but also get back on track. I’ve been eating very poorly while I’ve been home and I’m looking for a new start. I’m excited to share my journey and progress with all of you 🙂

Well, I’m going to go! Bradley Cooper (aka one of the most beautiful men in the world) is on Ellen right now! haha

Do you know anyone who has done the Dukan Diet?

Fresh to Death

– Laura is going to love the title of this post 😉

Good evening! I was debating whether or not I wanted to write tonight, and I figured why not?

Last night I had another amazing meal!

Shrimp and scallop stir-fry! I could eat seafood every single day! I can’t get enough 🙂

This afternoon I found myself rummaging through my kitchen trying to find something to eat then BAM I found a mango! My roommate, Britt, used to make mango salsa back at school so I thought that would be a perfect thing to make on this gorgeous day! I love fresh fruits and veggies so much 🙂

I chopped up some onion, tomato, mango, and colorful peppers and blended them all together! It came out pretty good! I think it’s missing something though.. it needs a little kick!

I tried unpacking a little bit, but that was no fun..

Today was an extremely boring day. I woke up, watched Regis & Kelly, then Ellen, then the View, and then I went outside. I realized that a lot of my summer days are going to be like this so I need to figure out ways to keep myself occupied.. I really want to read! I’m not an avid reader, but if it’s a book I really like I won’t be able to put it down. I’m looking for some suggestions!!

What are some of your favorite summer reads?

    

Sweet Summertime

School’s out, helllloooo summer!!! I survived finals week and junior year! I’m so glad to be done and to have a little break until Fall. I didn’t get the internship that I wanted so I decided to come home for the summer. It’s nice to be back, but I know I’m going to get a little bored because I am from the middle of nowhere. I’m thinking about reading a lot of books this summer.. any suggestions?

One of the best things about being home: real food! I was getting really sick of eating frozen broccoli, toast, and buttered noodles haha Although I’m pretty sick of pasta, that is what we had for dinner last night. It was delicious, though!

I love when my mom puts cheese inside of her meatballs! It’s seriously the best surprise in your mouth! I can never get enough cheese 🙂

My dad was making so much fun of me when I started taking pictures of my food! haha I was so excited because I haven’t written in so long! I think my mom will enjoy that I featured her cooking in my post! Hi Mom! I know you’re creeping 😉

Another nice thing about being home: salads!

I love salad! I love fresh veggies and fruits, especially in the summer 🙂 So refreshing!

I’m so happy that it’s summer!!! Summer is my favorite season! I love the sun, the heat, the humidity, EVERYTHING! I was in the sun for almost 2 hours yesterday and I already have tan lines 🙂 I love that I tan really easily! The weather for the rest of the week is going to be gorgeous with temperatures in the 70’s and lots of sun 🙂 This makes for a very happy Sara!

Well I’ve gotta run. So much more I want to write about, but I have work in about 15 minutes! Gotta make that monaaaaaay 😛

What are you excited for this summer?

I’m Back!!!

Gaahhhhh it has seriously been wayyyy too long since I’ve been on here! I’m sorry I’ve been MIA 😦 Life has been pretty crazy lately! This week is finals week and last week I spent a lot of time with my friends before we all leave for the summer.

Last Thursday was FOTO formal!! FOTO is a student organization that is involved with THON. THON raises money and awareness all year long for the fight against pediatric cancer. I should definitely write a post about this some time. Check out the FOTO and THON websites to get more information!

But back to formal: it was a blast!! It was nice to get dressed up and dance all night long!

(Anybody else get mad red-eye in their pictures? It’s so annoying always looking like a demon-freak!)

Friday was also a pretty good day! I finally got to hang out with my close group of guy friends, for a little bit at least! Laura, Jess, & I went over to their place to hang out and have a little pregame before Movin’ On! Movin’ On is a yearly music festival that happens here at Penn State at the end of Spring semester. And it’s free! I have had a great track record with my Movin On experiences. Freshman year Asher Roth (the guy who sings “I Love College”) came, and the last thing I remember is being in the front row. Let’s just say it was a lot of fun 🙂 Last year I really don’t remember what performers were here. I just know that I had to go back to my friends dorm to down a water bottle of tequila because they weren’t allowing any type of containers in at the concert. So that said, last year was fun haha

This year Little Big Town, Lupe Fiasco, and O.A.R. performed. I didn’t make it to see Little Big Town but Lupe and O.A.R. were amazing!! It was kinda chilly and kinda wet outside, but my friends and I had a great time!

Saturday the sun was shining so it was only fitting to go on an adventure with Danielle, Laura, and Emily! We went to TJ Max, the Dollar Store, & Sheetz for some yummy, unhealthy fries 😛

My friends and I are kind of strange and we like to do weird things so we bought some fun stuff at the Dollar Store to play around with. We got leis, grass skirts, and………

MARV!!!!!!!!!!!

Marvin (Marv for short) is a new addition to our family. Such a fun little monkaaay!

Last night was CRAZY! As I’m sure everyone knows, Osama Bin Laden has been killed. This caused such big burst of emotion in downtown State College.

This was the scene outside of my apartment building last night. My apartment faces the back, but Danielle’s is right on the main road downtown. A ton of us went to her place and hung out on her balcony to be a part of celebration! PSU had so much USA pride and spirit last night. It was definitely an amazing feeling to have so many people come together to support our country! God Bless our military for everything that they do 🙂 You guys are seriously amazing!

The past week and weekend have been so wonderful! I definitely took time to enjoy life, the sun, the warm weather, and my incredible friends. That being said, I slacked on the studying part. But I don’t regret one bit the time I spent with the people I love!! ❤

My first final was today, and I really have nothing to say about it…… haha 😦 major sad face time! I have 4 more through out the week, but they’re pretty spread out for the most part which is very good.

I’ve also made some food that I want to tell ya’ll about but this is getting very long and I have to go do some studying! I’m glad I got the chance to blog tonight 🙂 The past week or so has felt so weird not writing or reading my favorite blogs! I can’t promise a lot of posts this week, but I’m gonna try my hardest!

Did you do anything fun this weekend?

How do you find the time to blog when life gets a little busy?

Playing Catch-Up

It’s only been a few days but it feels like FOREVER since I’ve written. I’ve just been so caught up in the nice weather that we’ve been having 🙂 The last two days have been AMAZING! It’s been in the high 70’s and sunny and thunderstorming and perfect! Finals are next week and I should be studying, but how can I resist this rare weather? 😛

On Monday Laura and I decided to bar hop all afternoon! We met up with our friends, Bo and Ed, and had a few drinks. The only thing missing was the beach 😛 (I’m a beach bum if you couldn’t tell.. love everything about it! I could go on and on.. I’ll save that for another day haha)

Yesterday wasn’t as sunny but it was still warm. After class I went upstairs to hang out with Danielle. She has a balcony so we pretty much hung out up there all day. We took a few adventures to places including Target, the liquor store, and the puppy place! The puppies were ADORABLE! We had fun just hanging out with them for a little bit.. makes me really want a puppy 🙂

Today two of my classes were cancelled so I only had my 8 am. Afterwards I went to the gym. Holy hot! It was so hot and humid in there. I was sweating like a mother.

This is my favorite place to go when I want to get my cardio in. This mini-gym is in the natatorium and it overlooks the pools. It’s always a plus when I work out at the same time as the mens swimming team practice 😉

Today I have to get work done. It’s overcast so I’m not distracted by the sun which is a good thing! I have so many fun things planned for the rest of the week so I need to try and accomplish some school related things. Booo haha

Hope everyone is having a great week! Halfway done!!

What is your favorite type of cardio workout?

Easter Eggstravaganza

Happy Easter to those who celebrate!! I hope everyone is enjoying their time with family and friends. I know I sure am!

This was the first holiday without my family. I was pretty upset that I wasn’t going to be home with them, but my roommates and friends made it an extremely great weekend!

Friday night I tried to make my own version of Gracie’s Tomato Chickpea Casserole. Let me start off by saying canned spinach is the worst thing in the world! Definitely need to stick with frozen!

It looks pretty good, but the spinach ruined it big time. Now I know for next time.. frozen > canned.

Yesterday my roomies and I dyed Easter eggs!!! 🙂

When my mom came up during the week she brought us an Easter egg dying kit! I was super excited that I was still able to dye eggs even though I wasn’t home. Britt, Laura, & I had some good roomie bonding!

Laura and I went to the bars both Friday and Saturday night. We met up with a bunch of our FOTO friends and had a blast! We didn’t get to bed until almost 5 am last night (..this morning?) so I’m super tired to say the least.

We had an early Easter lunch/dinner.

Tons of yummy food! I ate wayyyy too much today, but it was all too good to pass up 🙂

The 3 of us have been pretty lazy today. We’re just hanging out and watching Step Brothers! I’ve never seen this movie in its entirety so I’m gonna stop writing and start paying attention! 😛

Did you do anything fun for Easter?