The weekend is a beautiful thing.

Even though I was up at the crack of dawn yesterday morning and feel asleep on my way back from my rugby game, I feel so rested after this weekend. I slept in big time this morning, and did all the things I love to do on Sundays: attended church, completed homework, made delicious meals, and RAN OUTSIDE =D

I was saving my run for evening because running is impossible during the day in Florida, but when rain came pouring down this afternoon I was afraid I’d have to skip my run today. At 6PM I went through the motions of making dinner: baked a potato, cooked a pot of pasta, and got out a can of kidney beans. Then the rain stopped. By that time, I was out of the running mood and ready to sit down to eat…but I realized if I always thought that way and didn’t take advantage of the chances I get to run, I’d never get out there and I’d never become the successful runner I want to be. So I went, with both my brother and sister. And we had the most amazing run we’ve had in a looooong time!! I am SO READY to get back into running! I’m extremely excited that I’ve reached that point because I used to run so much that I hated it. Running was a chore, and it was wearing me out. I had to stop for two weeks when I was away from home at camp, and when I came back home I tried to run again but it wasn’t the same; I had broken the habit. And I didn’t realize it then, but my body was just tired. I was running, lifting, biking, doing yoga, and Shredding ALL THE TIME. So when I went to camp and I didn’t do any of those things, my body recovered and decided it was done. Done with letting my brain push my body to its limits every. single. day. I’m not advocating being lazy in any way! I’m definitely dedicated to training hard. I’m just reminding us to calm down and let our bodies have a break sometimes. I didn’t mean for this post to be a long speech on how I over-trained myself; I just started typing and that’s where it ended up! Moving on….

Friday night I baked what I’ve been waiting alllll week for: Montana Whoppers (Whaddya know, that recipe was posted on Aug. 4th, the best day of every year—my birthday)!!!! I’ve seen them all over blogland recently and I knew I needed to know what the hype was all about. I ignored the warnings of impending addiction and baked a big batch. I had no idea of the way they would control my taste buds! I seriously had FOUR right out of the oven, and at least two since then. I’m being tempted this very moment to eat another. Thank goodness they’re being held prisoner in the freezer.

For breakfast yesterday (before the rugby game!) I had an oatmeal smoothie—my first ever. And it was very good. That’s all. It wasn’t spectacular, but it was good. It tasted like all the other smoothies I make, but with chewy oats in there too. It’d be a good way to add some calories to a normal smoothie. Overall, it’s a pretty perfect breakfast, nutritionally. I put in 1/2 c. oats, 1 scoop Gold Standard natural chocolate whey protein powder, 3/4 c. Almond Breeze (I’d use less next time, it was a little watery), cinnamon, vanilla, 5 frozen strawberries, and 1/2 frozen banana. I topped it with a little blob of Target’s PB, but the smoothie made the PB hard and it sank to the bottom =/

During my rugby game I had a pack of Luna moons…they tasted a little plasticky to me, and they really stuck to my teeth. I also think they may have made my stomach feel kind of weird. I was not impressed. My first game went really well! I had been considering quitting the team because practices are so late at night and I wasn’t getting any better at the game, but playing in a real game setting (even though it was only a friendly scrimmage) made me totally fall in love with rugby! I had such a great time! Beside the 100 degree sunshine glaring down on us the entire game.

My sister and Dad came to the game with me, and we stopped at Subway on the way home. I got my usual sub (ham, turkey, and veggies) , and afterward we walked to D’LITES!!! I was really excited about trying out this froyo place after seeing it on Jenna’s blog so many times. It didn’t disappoint! I ordered a small Bavarian chocolate frozen yogurt with cookie dough bites on top. Mmmmm!

^^^ My lovely self all sweaty after 2 1/2 hours of rugby…

And at D’lites I bought some PB2!! I’ve been trying it in everything today because I’m so excited to finally get my hands on it! lol

After lunch we were on the road again to go to a birthday party for a friend. We met the rest of my family at the party and I ate more, even though I was not hungry AT ALL after that lunch. The food looked good, though, so I tried a little of everything and had some veggies from the veggie tray to balance it out ;)

On the way home I ate a PB, honey, and raisin sandwich that I’d packed that morning (it’d been 12 hours since we left home at this point, with the Luna moons, Subway, D’lites, and party snacks to eat since breakfast) and after I got home I had Tilapia with broccoli for dinner before falling into bed…I was tired beyond belief!

I slept in until 9AM this morning and had a Green Monster (1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 c. Almond Breeze, 1 1/2 c. spinach, and 2 T. PB2!!) and pumpkin oat bran for breakfast. I forgot to snap a pic of the GM because I drank it while I made the oats.

I put PB2!!!, 1/4 c. pumpkin, 1 t. chia seeds, and 2 T. flaxseed in my oatbran today.

After church, I had 5 egg whites + one yolk for lunch, with bell pepper, tomato, and onion. A warmed WW pita with cream cheese was the perfect complement.

I did homework all afternoon and watched most of the Bucs game before starting dinner and running, then showering and eating dinner: veggie pasta, kidney beans, and 1/2 potato cooked with rosemary and EVOO topped with Parmesan. Excuse the glaring white table.

I had 1/2 a mini WW bagel for dessert, and I mixed some PB2 with raspberry jam to put on top. It was delicious! I’m loving this PB2 so much! Wonder what I’ll do with it tomorrow…lol I may have had another Montana Whopper while the bagel toasted.

And there you have it: my wonderful weekend in a thousand words (1112 to be exact. I’m OCD like that sometimes).

Time to sleep! I’ve got a 7:30 class tomorrow morning. Week 5 of school starts in 9 1/2 hours: here we go again!

Have a great Monday!

—Gina

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth… (Romans 1:16, King James Version)