Happy Wednesday!

I think the weather in Dallas officially has a split personality. Yesterday was beautiful and sunny outside, and today I wake up to this yet again!

I know it doesn't look to bad, but we got a ton of sleet and rain that froze on the roads. Luckily, I was saved from a 45 minute icy commute when school and work were both closed down this morning. Looks like I'm in for another day of fun at home. I'm ok with that! ;)

Today's workout called for a 7 mile run and speed work. I think the speed work was supposed to be included in those 7 miles, but I forgot to do them so I just added 4, 200 meter sprints on to the end of my run. Overall the run felt pretty good but my right hip flexor started acting up again about mile 5. Ever since the White Rock Marathon in December, my right hip flexor has been ridiculously tight. I have dedicated a ton of extra time to stretching it and made sure to take days off after long runs etc., but nothing seems to be helping. I'm starting to think so much time on the treadmill might be messing with my stride, but I'm not sure. Any thoughts from my fellow runners out there?

Although I should be taking advantage of this extra time to catch up on homework, that is so hard when I have so much good snow day reading at my fingertips!



I'm hoping that I can find the answer to my hip flexor problem in the Athlete's Guide To Yoga. I purchased this book online a few days ago and I am so excited to dive into it. I love showing people how incredibly amazing and beneficial yoga can be when add to your fitness routine. I am hoping that this book increases my knowledge on how to help athlete's use yoga to improve performance. We are all athletes after all! I am living proof that yoga can dramatically improve your running performance. I pr'd  in my last race, and I know my increased dedication to yoga had a lot to do with it.

One of my wonderful friends & reader, Jennifer, asked me to do a post on fish oils so I am off to start doing my research for that post, which I hope to have up on Friday (oh and I'll try to do some homework as well)! I absolutely love getting topic requests from readers! If you ever have any questions or topics you would like to read about, please feel free to let me know by leaving a comment, posting it on the FF&F facebook page (which if you haven't "liked" yet you should), or shooting me an e-mail at LaurenEGeorge@gmail.com. I want this blog to be a place where we can all learn more about health and fitness, so it's great to know what you want to read about!

Thank you again to FitBlogger for choosing Fun, Fit and Fabulous to be the featured blog of the day!

If you are stuck inside like me, check out these neat reads:

12 Tips for exercising on the cheap

USDA says eggs now lower in cholesterol This is great news for me since I eat eggs almost every day!

150 Years of fad diets and still no quick fix

New excuse for eating carbs

Q's and A's:
Do you ever have issues with chronically tight hip flexors?
What books are on your must read list right now?

In health,

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Howdy!

How are you this evening? Can you tell the snow has totally thrown me off my schedule? Usually, I pre-write my posts the night before, and I'm just now getting Tuesday's post up at almost 7pm. I promise I will get it together soon!

Today's workout included teaching 2 yoga classes (holy chaturanga my triceps are tired) and running 4 miles. I did my run today on an 1/8 of a mile indoor track. That equals a whopping 32 laps - talk about getting dizzy! It was a nice change from the treadmill though!

When I got home today, there was a beautiful little brown package waiting for me with this guy in it! This was my birthday present from my in-laws and I can't even begin to explain how excited I am about it. Well I guess I can because I am about to tell you all about it. :)

First of all, I love the black and green exterior and the striped interior. It also has short and long straps which is a must in my book.


Second, it has a built in dirty clothes pouch. This is amazing since I almost always go straight from working out or teaching to work or school. Now everything else in my bag won't smell like sweaty clothes all the time. Ewww! :)

Third, it has tons of organizational pockets for things like your cell phone, makeup, wallet, and all of those other things that seem to disappear into the depths of your gym bag. Do you see that little silver circle in the middle? That is a ponytail ring! Now is that smart or what?


Fourth, it has a clear pocket inside for all of those other little do-dads you don't want to lose in your bag like workout cd's, your ipod, and granola bars (these are a must)! It also has a super wide opening which is great when I need to dive my entire upper body into the bag to find something. Have I mentioned I pretty much live out of my gym bag?


Any guesses on what that is? If you guessed a secret heat safe pouch for your straightener or curling iron you are right! I know, isn't that amazing! Now I don't have to sit there and wait for my Chi to cool or stick it into my bag still hot and hope my things aren't singed. They really thought of everything. But wait, there's more!


Last but not least, this bag has straps for your yoga/pilates mat! They really did think of everything! So now you probably think I'm slightly crazy for being this excited about a gym bag, but I don't really care! This bag is too cool for school and I LOVE it! Thanks to my wonderful in-laws for shipping me the ultimate gym bag!

Alrighty, I'm off to cook some dinner and make raw oatmeal raisin cookies! My mouth is watering already. I hope you all have a great night, and I will see you in the morning!

Q's and A's:
What is your favorite thing about your gym bag?
Do you live out of your gym bag as well?
What did you do for your workout today?  I always love hearing about what other people do for exercise. It always inspires me to try new things!

In health,

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Howdy!

How is everyone this evening? Hopefully you had a good day! Did you have fun watching the Super Bowl yesterday? Today, was my first day back at work since last Monday. I was very excited to get back. I learned that just because the entire gym is shut down, doesn't mean you won't get behind if you are out of the office for a few days. I went into power walk mode the second I stepped through the door today and didn't stop until I fell into my couch about 5 minutes ago. :)

The day started off with scrambled egg whites, a juicy orange and some almond milk. This was my way of powering up for what I had a feeling would be a busy day. I was right!

I got a postcard coupon in the mail a few days ago from Starbucks for a free drink during my birthday month. I made a quick stop on my way to work today for a skinny vanilla latte which means Heaven in my book! Please imagine there are little rays of sun shine shooting out from behind my cup and angels singing ahhhhhhh in the background because that is what this drink tasted like to me this morning! :)


Most busy days means lunch is eaten at my desk while answering e-mails. (This is a no no in the world of mindful/intuitive eating, but sometimes life just gets in the way of rules.) Isn't my desk calender cute? I love it, especially because I got it for 50 cents at Target. Lunch was simple yet delicious: a green apple, strawberry pomegranate yogurt, and a turkey wrap with hummus, mushrooms and spinach.


Today's workout consisted of 35 minutes on the elliptical followed by a strength training class. It was a cross training day, and my hip flexors were very appreciative of that! On my way home from work, I stopped to pick up some aromatherapy spray for my yoga class tomorrow. In my last yoga training, we learned all about the benefits of integrating aromatherapy in yoga so I am very excited about sharing it with my class. I went with my favorite - eucalyptus and spearmint.

For dinner, I stopped by Jason's Deli to pick up a to go salad. Jason's Deli is one of my favorite restaurants but Eric doesn't like it very much, so I had to get my fix while he was out of town. Luckily, he will be back later tonight! My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach on this occasion.


Now that is what I call a salad! Ingredients: romaine lettuce, spinach, mushrooms, soy beans, green peas, chick peas, red beans, raisins, sunflower seeds, a small side of pasta salad, one boiled egg, and low-fat honey mustard dressing. It was really yummy and definitely helped me reach my veggie quota for the day. I could eat this salad every day, but I don't think my wallet could handle that.

I'm off to make funfetti cookies and Oreo balls for Eric's office birthday celebration. I hope I can make it through without eating too much cookie dough. Yikes! There is something about funfetti cookie dough - it just leaps out of the bowl and into my mouth.

Check out my featured article over at Fitblogger.com. I was beyond excited when they told me they wanted to share my strength training post on their site! :)

Q's and A's:
When you know you are going to have a busy day, what is your go to drink or breakfast to power you up?
Are you a creature of habit when it comes to lunch, or do you like a variety of things? I am definitely a creature of habit. I try to change up my lunch, but always end up going back to old faithfuls.


In health,

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