Tag Archives: stair master

Ch-Ch-Changes

Usually reflecting on how you and your life have changed is something that’s reserved for special occasions, like a birthday or the start of a new year. But I’ve been feeling pretty reflective lately. I’ve spent the last few weekend mornings waking up and laying in bed for awhile, thinking (often OVER thinking). I’ve been noticing how different my life is now than it was a year ago, and am having a hard time digesting, accepting, and being OK with it. I can’t even figure out if I SHOULD be accepting or OK with it. Maybe these changes need to be changed. Maybe not. My mind certainly spends enough time telling me they need to be.

For example…going out. I love going out. Since moving to Boston there has barely been a Friday or Saturday that I stayed in. I did start going out more back when I was still living in CT, but now I stay out later and have more beverages because I don’t have to drive, and the city is just so alive. I attribute much of the weight I’ve gained since moving here to my love for going out. Alcohol has calories – a fact I know all too well. I go out more now, I weigh more now. So naturally my mind constantly berates me for how I spend my Fridays and Saturdays. I wake up most Saturday and Sunday mornings with anxiety and terrible body image. I’ve had a few really rough ones lately. I’ve woken up and wanted to do nothing but curl into a ball and lay in bed hating myself all day. Thankfully texts to friends and family have motivated me to get out of bed and go on with my life. The “easy” solution is to just, well, not go out. But…that’s not fun. That’s not what I WANT to do. This whole recovery thing has been about letting myself do what I want to do. But when does that stop being OK?

Continue reading

Sakimura Sushi on a Saturday Morning

Yay, it’s the weekend! Last night I got out of work early and hit up Group Power. While it was great to finally get some strength training in (I’ve been slacking on it recently), I didn’t have the best class because I skipped my pre-workout snack. I was working out an hour earlier than usual so thought I wouldn’t need it – wrong! The class would have been so much better if I’d been well-fueled. Lesson learned, folks.

So this morning I was sure to have a banana with PB&Co Mighty Maple before my 7:15am trip to the gym. Last night my mom and I went to Bertucci’s (and ordered a meal that was an exact replay of last time) to use another $5 off $25 coupon, and when I got home I read my book and passed out before 10. PARTY.

So I woke up quite naturally this morning at 6:30am, before the gym even opened. There aren’t any group fitness classes that start that early on Saturdays so I did my own thing once I arrived. I hadn’t done any cardio since Wednesday so I went with 30 minutes of HIIT on the Stair Master, 20 minutes on the elliptical, and some quick abs and stretching. Great sweat session! The Stair Master kills me every single time. SO nice to be done so early too! I’m at Daybreak now, blogging while I take a break between chapters of reading I’m doing for school. Today’s coffee of choice is Amaretti di Sicilia – YUM.

I’ve also got a restaurant report to share with you all!

I love using daily deals from sites like SaveNowCT to visit new restaurants and broaden my foodie-horizons. Case in point: I recently forgo-ed my daily packed salad beast for a lunch out with my co-worker at Sakimura, a sushi and hibachi place right near our office that I had a soon-to-expire deal to. Unfortunately I goofed and bought the dinner deal, but the restaurant still let us use it as long as we ordered off the dinner menu. So no awesome lunchbox special deals – but we still had a tasty meal! Daily deal crisis, averted.

Steamed edamame with sea salt.

Believe it or not, I’d never had edamame out of its pod before! I’ve been spoiled by the Whole Foods and Ruby Tuesday’s salad bars. This made for a very embarrassing situation. First, I ate two pods themselves before realizing that you’re not supposed to eat those – no wonder they were so hard to chew. Side note, I also made this mistake with shrimp tails the first time I ate shrimp. I was wondering why they were so crunchy!

When I finally caught on to the fact that you dispose of the pods, I kept popping the edamame out instead of sucking it right out of the pod. This resulted in edamame pieces flying all over the table.  Steve had plenty of laughs over that one – glad I could provide some klutzy lunchtime entertainment.

Nice hand pose, Steve!

We decided to split the Sushi Dinner, so we also received a salad and miso soup to share. Not the biggest fan of miso so I gave that one to Steve, but I did have some of the salad. The salads and soup at Japanese restaurants have always been so meh to me, but I know that a lot of people really like miso. Maybe I just haven’t had a really flavorful variety?

Tuna, striped bass, salmon, shrimp, and a couple of others I don't remember.

This was my first round of what I’d call your “fishy”, typical sushi. I usually go safer routes like California, veggie, or cooked seafood rolls. I’m pleased to report that I LOVED every single component of this plate! Except the wasabi…I don’t touch that stuff. I am officially an all-things-sushi lover!

Not sure if I’ll be back to Sakimura simply because I tend to only eat dinner out, not lunch, and it’s a bit far from my house since I’m only in that area during my workday, but if it were closer to me I’d definitely be coming back. For now, there are lots of Japanese places in Glastonbury that can fulfill any sushi cravings I may get. Still, the service was polite and the food was tasty!

I’m off to do more reading…after I check out Facebook and Twitter of course. And I’m off to the CT Food and Wine Fest tonight thanks to another SaveNowCT deal – can’t wait to take tons of photos so I can share the experience with you all!

Are you a sushi person? If you like “fishy” sushi, have you always liked it or did you have to slowly acclimate like me?

Beyond Bananas Guest Post!

Hey guys! Today I am guest blogging over at Caitlin’s blog, Beyond Bananas. No, I am not speaking about myself in the third person and starting a second blog about my favorite fruit. It just so happens there’s another blogger out there who shares my name, its correct spelling, and a lot of the same interests as me!

The post I wrote is a review of some tasty Odwalla bars I won in a giveaway on Katie’s blog, so head on over to Beyond Bananas and check it out!

I just finished a sweaty Stair Master workout. It was only 30 minutes, but I had to turn down the level after 20 minutes and my heart rate still didn’t go down. I did intense intervals and it was so hard! Quality over quantity, my friends. Tomorrow will be a strength-centered day, so we’ll see what the hotel gym has to offer.

Ready to rock this morning.

I’m at Daybreak doing homework and sipping on a nonfat pumpkin spice blanc. Ah, the little things. Hopping on a plane to Tennessee in a few hours – feels surreal! Not sure how much I’ll be blogging this weekend but I hope you all have a good one!

What are you doing this weekend?!