5 Fabulous Years!

Greetings! It's fitting that my first blog post on Healthily Ever After falls on a very special date. This day, five years ago, Jamieson and I had our very first kiss and later decided that we would use the day to mark the 'anniversary' of when we started dating. Our wedding anniversary is actually on September 10th.

Here is the first picture we ever took together!

Jamieson is a lot of my inspiration when it comes to blogging -- especially when it comes to the two topics we bond over the most: food and fitness. We try to hold each other accountable for staying fit, but we also share a mutual love for food and cooking. 

Despite a late night of wine drinking and watching a fantastic film titled Midnight in Paris, I was up and at 'em early this morning, getting out of bed at 7:00am to start my day. I wanted to get going with a brisk, solo walk around the neighborhood, but as I was lacing up my sneakers, around the corner came this face:

You weren't going to go outside without me, were you?

 

Meet Andy. Jamers and I are not yet parents to any actual children, but we do claim this adorable beagle as our own, and he'll likely find his way into many of my posts. (We also dwell with an evil-genius of a feline, Seth Cohen.)

I went downstairs to let Andy out, and figured he'd want to go on the walk with me, but as it turned out, he was more interested in doing his business, then going back to bed. It is Sunday, after all. 

I am hoping to start a running program soon, as I feel that running is ultimately the best way to get, and stay, healthy. It's been a LONG time since I've ran, so today I just started with a brisk walking routine in which I walked fast for four minutes, than slow for one minute for a total of 20 minutes. It may not sound like much, but with the heat, it definitely had me sweating!

After my walk, I whipped up some breakfast in the form of scrambled eggs. I used two eggs and mixed in a bit of cheddar cheese with some Boca Soy Crumbles and topped everything with half of an avocado! Of course I enjoyed my breakfast with a delicious cup of Joe. 

I'm still getting used to the non-taste and texture of the soy crumbles, but I do like that it expanded my meal and kept me full up until lunch time.

Because we have a big vacation to Europe planned for the end of October, (more details to come about that later,) Jamieson and I decided there was no time like the present to kick our fitness routine into high gear. So we headed to the gym and got to work!


We started with a (somewhat) HIIT workout on the treadmill, switching every minute between speeds (I used 4.5 and 6.0) with no incline. The last five minutes I did a 4.0 incline at speed 4.5. I think Jamers was pretty much doing his own thing. After the cardio, we did an upper-body workout that I found on Pinterest (my go-to website for pretty much any idea I ever need!)

With a few variations, I completed the following reps:

10 pushups

8 bicep curls (10 lbs)

8 half bicep curls (10 lbs)

8 bicep curls (10 lbs)

15 shoulder presses (10 lbs)

10 pushups

15 tricep dips

15 back rows (10 lbs)

15 lateral raises (5 lbs)

10 pushups

15 tricep kickbacks (5 lbs)

10 tricep pulse backs (5 lbs)

I was definitely feeling the burn! We finished our workout with some ab work on the exercise ball and headed out. After running a couple of errands, it was time to head home for lunch where the other half of the avocado made a guest appearance!

Orange & Green Salad

The salad included:

-about 3 oz. of grilled chicken breast, thinly sliced

-a handful of spinach

-half of a small cucumber (sliced)

-1/4 of an orange pepper (chopped)

-a handful of broccoli florets

-2 bite sized carrots (chopped)

-1/4 of an avocado (chopped) 

-feta cheese sprinkled on top

(I used oil and vinegar for dressing.)

This salad provided a good crunch with all of the veggies, as well as plenty of healthy fats and protein. It was definitely satisfying and could be made in a variety of different ways! 

After wards I made a quick trip to Target, one of my all-time favorite stores. I picked up the new Carrie Underwood album, titled 'Blown Away' which I've already listened to once through and it is a great listen. That girl makes me love country music! I also picked up some odds and ends; more spinach, some headbands to use when working out, and a fitness magazine. I was pretty impressed to have left Target spending less than $25.  

Well, now I am going to get started on dinner and then enjoy a little light reading before calling it a day. Back to the grind in the morning. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, friends!