In the Dark

Welcome back. It’s rough isn’t it? Say no more. Coming back from a holiday weekend is always the hardest. Although, once you actually pull yourself into work, it gets easier. It’s just getting out of the darn bed! That dread you feel when the alarm goes off. We all know it.

I had a nice 2 days. Lots of “me” time, cleaning, meal prepping, exercising, and lounging with my girl!

She loves when I change the sheets because I throw the comforter on the floor and we play a little game where I throw the fluffy comforter around;  we call it “fluffy puppy”. She hops around like a crazy little bunny.

On Saturday I finally got back to ME! I dyed my hair back dark. Thanks to my beautiful friend Tiffany for making me a sultry brunette again (okay, I’m not sultry but I like the word!). The highlights were nice for a little bit, but they just weren’t for me. I’m happy to have my dark hair back and it is super dark! Loving it. Very snow white. She is my favorite Disney Princess after all 😉

And let’s not forget the classic Phoebe photo bomb.

My gym days Saturday and Sunday were both legs. Crazy? Maybe… BUT, I broke it up. On Saturday I did all glute and hamstrings, then on Sunday I did quads and calves. Instead of boring you with the same squat routine, here are just a few different exercises and tips for you to try that I did this weekend!

1. Calves 3 ways- Toes straight ahead, Toes pointing in, Toes pointing out. It works all sides of the muscles!
2. Leg extensions using one leg only- As I’ve mentioned before I have a bad knee. Well I noticed when I do double leg extensions I tend to use my right leg more because it’s the “healthy” one. When I did one leg at a time I realized my left leg could only raise 20 lbs while my right one does 30 lbs. So time to work on that! No more double leg extensions.
3. Stiff Leg Dead lifts– not just for the low back! When I do a stiff leg dead lift I feel it in my glutes and hamstrings. Try to lighten your weight and focus on the legs rather than the low back
4. Kettle bell leg extensions- Slip a small weighted kettle bell on your foot and raise and lower the leg. Really works the quad muscle. Turn the toe in and out a bit to work a different side of the quad.
5. Lumberjack Squat– This one BURNS good. *My new favorite squat* I add on a 10 lb weight to the 45 lb bar. As I squat down I bring the bar with me and push back up using my quads and shoulders. Here is a picture

source 

-But I push the bar above my head on the up-

And I did 100 weighted walking lunges, boy do my glutes hurt!

Today I will be getting back to arms, because after looking at this picture of myself, I realized they are twigs. I can NEVER have a happy medium with my arms. I’m either Minnie Hulk or tree branches.

So what have I been munching on lately? Well my flex bowl oats are now my favorite meal. I’ve been making different variations of them ever since I did the video. These are peanut butter and jelly flex bowl oats and wow were they amazing.

So what was in this exactly?

• 1/2 cup oats
• 2 Tablespoons flax seed meal
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/4 cup coconut NOG – yum!
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon of natural peanut butter
• 2 Tablespoons of sugar free grape jelly

You’re welcome 🙂

I’ve also been chomping on big veggie bowls for dinner with my protein.

Extra virgin olive oil, rice vinegar, ground ginger, and liquid aminos. Full of flavor for little ingredients.

I even made my own mocha almonds for a meal prep! Coffee and cacao powder. They are delicious. I had to bag them up quickly because I kept eating them.

Sunday afternoon my Dad brought over a Christmas tree for Phoebe and I! It was my parents old one and looks perfect in my apartment. Thanks Dad so much for bringing it to me, Love you <3

Phoebe and I got to decorating ASAP!

Heyyyyyy I like this! 

I thought I wouldn’t have enough ornaments, but it ended up looking nice! I do want to buy some new ones though just because it’s my favorite part of Christmas! I just love ornaments.

Here are some of my favorites that I dug out of my box from previous years:

“Skinny Jeans Here I Come”- so cute!

So guilty of constantly texting

Not a cream pomeranian, but close enough!

Speaking of Christmas Pomeranians…

She was busy looking out the window

And once the sun set, the tree looked even better all lit up!

Lots of PINK and Barbie. Hey I like a girlie tree.

Phoebe had such a big day that she passed out on me early.

While guarding her treats

So that was my weekend! For those that celebrate Christmas, have you started decorating yet? It’s officially December so it’s about that time!

Have a great day back. Hang in there and live every moment to the fullest!

XOXO With a Cherry On Top,

-Minnie