Deadlifts and Diamonds

Saturday Morning Bike Rides What a gorgeous weekend! Saturday morning Andrew and I loaded up our road bikes and headed to downtown Houston to ride the Bayou Trails. The trails wind around the water way for miles with paths for runners, cyclists, groups of walkers and parents with strollers to explore with a lovely view of the skyline. I tend to throw the hammer down on a ride and I managed to go for it a few times, but I think I might have to save that for another time. I'm sure I surprised a few runners on the narrower trails, but I couldn't help myself. After a long ride, we cruised over to an open field where the city was hosting a a small Picnic in the Park with Badminton, hoola hoops, bag toss, live music, and a few food vendors.  Not a bad start to the Weekend.  Surprise honey!  Still excited from our ride, we headed to Petsmart for their adoption Saturdays to meet our new dog Marley! We immediately fell in love with him--just look at that face! He'...

Oh hell yes, its Friday and the weekend is in full effect. Let's get out, get moving, and enjoy some beautiful weather and workouts. Tomorrow will be a full day for me, let's just say I may have a new puppy by my next post :) I'll have the weekend update on Sunday, but for now check out yesterday's Back Workout.  Don't neglect the back.  Now, I don't work my back all that often, mostly because its just not as fun. Since I've left it unworked, I now feel like a weakling. Lately, I've been a fixated on building strength in my legs, biceps, chest, abs--really every other body part save for the back. However, leaving this area unworked makes it a great place to see some quick progress, break up my routine a bit, and focus more on my form. Form is critical during a back workout.  Be sure to check out bodybuilding.com to reference some of the exercises in this workout.   Click here for the bodybuilding.com exercises.  Grab your FREE worko...

These past two days have been done the body good. Tons of good food, hard workouts, and some serious cuddle time with my lovelies :)  When I start my new job tomorrow,  I may not have the luxury of a long hour and 1/2 workout so I got it in now. Check out my workouts below.  Save them to your Pintrest for later, or take a pic of the screen if you need to so you can have these handy at the gym.  Did you save the pics? Good. Now lets get to work!  Let me know which workout you did in the comments below. Be sure to bookmark this page and follow me on facebook for more workouts, recipes, and motivation!

Happy  day after Easter everyone. After a fun filled Sunday brunch, an afternoon run in the park, then mimosas and bbq, I finally learned how to play poker and Gin Rummy. I won't start playing at a casino anytime soon, but I definitely held my own in the game--at least I though so :). I at least had my poker face on the whole time despite my terrible cards.                                                 BBQ                                                          Brunch         Now, lets get motivated! After a great weekend, lets use that momentum to charge our workouts this week, revisit our nutrition goals, and reignite our fitness regimen. Today, I'm focusing on dev...

Have you ever picked your own strawberries? As a kid growing up in Germany, we would take school trips to the strawberry fields and pick baskets of strawberries. There were rows and rows of big, red juicy strawberries ripe for the picking and eating. :) We'd fill up our little baskets till our fingers were stained pink. By the time we reached the end of the row, we'd have eaten almost as many berries as we picked and have to start again. Its been years since then and thankfully, my baby found a farm near the house where we could pick our own berries. How fun! I felt like a kid again, hunting for the juiciest berries and leaving the little ones to grow. Together we harvested a hardy basketful for dessert--perfect for a frozen yogurt topping. Do Tell...... Where do you pick your strawberries? What's your favorite way to eat strawberries?

The adult equivalent of the easter egg hunt is definitely hunting for the perfect Easter brunch. I do miss the old school egg hunts, but mimosas were calling my name this Sunday. Easter brunch can be tricky, I didn't want to get stuck with an expensive and tempting buffet nor did I want to wait for an hour before being seated.  Luckily, I found my new fav breakfast spot in Houston--The Brick and Spoon. Its a cozy remodeled home turned restaurant with live music, a sunny patio, and a bright clean interior complete with a full bar where you can design your own a la carte Bloody Mary. Score. Sticking with my clean eating plan, I had a coffee, 1 pineapple mimosa, and a garden veggie omelette with sprouts--triple score! I think an afternoon run and an evening bbq with some good music will close the day nicely. Do tell..... What is your fav breakfast spot?

What is it about bluesy, jazzy, soulful music that just makes you wanna get down and sing? Now I may be able to hit one note here or there, but trust me, I had to put this playlist while I had the house to myself to save others from my karaoke sing a long and dance-a-thon. This soulful playlist for all my divas out there. Let me know what you think in the comments below.  What's your fav song in this list? Which artist should be added to the mix?  

                          I hope you all are having a lovely Good Friday! Tonite I'm continuing my new job celebration at the Rooftop Lounge in Houston for a much needed date night with my man set to some bouncy and bass driven house music. Woot! I love me some good, happy, deep and soulful house.  Can't wait to dance it out. This weekend will be especially tempting for those of us on a clean eating diet, especially if you plan on hitting up Easter brunch. This would be a great time to share your goals with your family and friends so they can help keep you accountable and most importantly set some time aside to prep some healthy snacks. Keep your eye on the prize. Eat the eggs all you want, just take it easy on the cadbury eggs and waffles at Easter Brunch ;) You'll thank yourself later.  Check out today's workout below. Set some time aside for yourself this weekend and get moving! What ...

Hi Ya'll, If you've been looking for a side project to take or are looking to sharpen those mad creative, writing, fashion, or business skills then check out Skillshare. After taking a composition and web design course last year (very basic), I browsed their site today for new classes and they now offer a monthly subscription in addition to offering select courses for a fee. That's great news! I'm excited because I plan on taking a variety of crash courses rather than just 1 at a time. Although I work, workout, hangout and sometimes blog, I still have plenty of time on my hands and this seems like a great way to spend it.  I plan on taking:  Designing Brand Collateral:  A Case-Study Tutorial with Abi-Haus Restaurant Illustration and Lettering:  A Hands-on Approach to Label Design Reinvent Yourself in the Age of Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Start Drawing: Techniques for Pencil Portraits There's a ton more so check...

Good Morning Sunshine!  I have another treat for you guys. Check out my naked playlist. Naked because it isn't loaded down with junk--just pure unadulterated awesome songs for you to jam out and lift to. Its 24 songs, 1 Hour and 28 minutes of indie jams with my favorite spin class song by Youngblood Hawke at the end for you to ride off into the sunset. If you don't have spotify yet, get it now! You can listen to virtually any song, any time, anywhere and quickly. I never have any problems with waiting for songs to load and buffer. Spotify is my go-to music source. Beatport is a close second. Check out the Naked Playlist...if you're into naked yoga, that's cool too. Let's Chat. Leave a comment below.  What's your fav song in the playlist?  Which songs should b added?  What's your go-to music app?  The Naked Playlist

Hello lovelies, I hope you're having an awesome 'pump day'. That's muscle pump, not shoes ladies, but yes, a hot pair of heels would be perfect to top off this day. :) After a solid workout, my baby cooked up a massive set of NY strips and popped open a glass of cabernet to celebrate my new job as a Print Account Manager. Woot Woot! I'm super pumped to get started next week!!  My interview was stellar and the team was so easy to talk to. It wasn't the type of interview with a 5 page list of behavior based questions from a panel. Whew. I have landed jobs in the past with a long interview, but really, who wants to go through that with every applicant? I was warmly greeted by two enthusiastic ladies who were actually a bit skeptical of hiring a new member, but they warmed up to me quickly. We chatted for a bit and I asked questions about the facility, which skills they were looking for in a new print manager, which projects they were working on and what we...

So tonight's meatballs quickly became a turkey meatloaf due to time. Rather than my usual mushrooms and parsley I used zucchini and green onions.                                                      Next time around, I'll chop up the zucchini a bit smaller, and cook them up first with oils and herbs so they don't take center stage in the meatloaf.  Not too shabby! I'm definitely making turkey meatloaf again. Its so quick and easy and makes a ton of leftovers. :)

If you haven't tried spaghetti squash, I'm here to tell you it is delicious and so easy to make.  This meal has enough flavor to satisfy even the most skeptical diner. Yes, even my boyfriend loved it...he said it tastes just like pasta!  First, chop your spaghetti squash in half--careful its very tough!  Place face down onto a baking sheet with a bit of oil or butter. Cover with foil and bake at 365 for 45 minutes. If you oven cooks hotter, than check as you go. I wanted to leave it in as long as possible to let the squash caramelize a bit, but if left too long, the sugars can easily burn. Once cooked, the insides should easily scrape out with a fork.  Cook and chop your chicken breast and add the chicken and squash into a pot and add your tomato sauce of choice. I used a cup of tomato vodka sauce :) Once everything is warm, serve it up over salad mix. I add salad to most dishes to be sure to get my veggies in :) This would be extra great with a...

Hello Lovelies! Here it is! 17 songs and 1 hour and 31 minutes of full on House Music goodness! Can you tell I'm excited about this?  I am a huge fan of good house music and love that it always hits home and makes me want to dance and shine. Be sure to blast this while bbqing on a sunny patio or cruisin with the windows down for full effect. I'm sure your playlists could use some sprucing up with juicy, dancy, make you wanna workout beats. Its mostly tech, deep, and funky house with a little Avicii thrown in the middle and its all good. Check it out here:  All House Workout    Oh, do tell...and share in the comments below:  What's your favorite song in the mix?  What's your favorite type of House music?

Living healthy among the S.A.D.ers--the Standard American Dieters and the proliferators and advertisers of sugary fatty foods that continue to make us this way, is hard work especially when you're constantly faced with fast food, cake pop shops, and last years pumpkin latte (delicious, I know, but loaded with sugar). I'm loving every minute of the workouts and experimenting with new paleo options (who knew paleo pancakes and fudge would be so good!), but we all know that this lifestyle requires consistency, focus, dedication, and work! There are so many times I have had to talk myself out of eating a whole chocolate cake or binging on ice cream that my boyfriend loves to keep stocked in our freezer. Whenever I'm gifted cookies or chocolate around the office for a birthday or holiday I always accept, then turn around and re-gift them to someone else. To protect myself from cravings and added fats, I carry my protein shakes with me, share my homemade protein bars, and alway...

We are off to a kickass week today! My job interview today was stellar. So good, that I'm not even mad that I had to finally process my taxes today. Yes, I owed money this year because I did not luckily fall into any other deduction brackets. The IRS is tough on those who are single, have already graduated, do not have any children or own a home. I didn't exactly fall in the category of stashing money into overseas accounts--so that left me with money owed this year. Thankfully, I got this covered and I nailed the interview. Yay me! I think a solid leg workout and a big dinner will round the day out nicely. Stay tuned for more workouts and progress updates :) 

Its been a full weekend of Grillin', sipping Vodka sodas, jammin' out, hitting up Top Golf and laughing my ass off with my little sister. What a blast. There's nothing better than having a best friend and sister that you can just be silly with and gets your jokes. So much fun.  The last thing I want to do tonight is meal prep, but its better to do it now then be stuck running out the door to my interview and next workout without food in hand. I have spent too much time grabbing a protein bar on the go because I didn't prep my meals or have a snack ready for my workout. Please know that most protein bars are overpriced and loaded with sugars and preservatives. Eat it if you absolutely must get fuel in your system, say during a 3 hour bike ride with hills or a hard workout, but otherwise, steer clear of these.  This week's meal prep was quick and easy:  Cabbage rolls stuffed with lentils, herbs, and carrots Sweet Potatoes Overnight Oatmeal Peanut Bu...

Hello there, I hope everyone had a lovely week and is revving up for an amazing weekend! I had a full morning of meetings and interviews then a lovely late lunch at Lupe Tortilla with a skinny margarita and lettuce wrapped fajitas. I was in heaven. The patio was bustling with trays of sizzling fajitas, hand shaken margaritas, and a fire pit nearby. I might as well have been eating on the beach Once the margarita hit the table, I felt like I was instantly transported to a beach side cabana. I love me some fajitas and ritas :) This weekend my sister is coming into town for a visit. I'm so excited! Can't wait to catch up over a glass of wine. I may be fit, but wine is definitely in my diet right now. :)  Happy Weekend everyone! Enjoy yourself--you've earned it! 

   It's Monday and its time to kick off the week with a solid HIIT session. I had a full rest day yesterday of lounging, cooking, reading, playing pictionary, and watching movies. I love a lazy Sunday to relax and rejuvenate and prep myself for the week ahead. Now that I'm fully revitalized, I'm ready to own this day and make this an awesome week. Here's my Monday morning HIIT.  Enjoy, and stay fit my friends :)  

Good Morning, my lovelies! Its the start of a lovely weekend and a great day to.... yes, run stairs! After so much time spent at the gym and a solid rest day yesterday, I decided to head out of my front door and down the street to the High School soccer fields to explore. At first, I hesitated and thought, "Its Saturday, maybe I should just take 2 rest days??" but in the end, my body actually craves these workouts, especially an all out exhausting stair run.  Yes, its true, I do crave a good stair run and a hard workout. There is no better way to earn your rest and burn off some energy (and increase your energy too) than to run stair sprints outside. The feeling of accomplishment and elevated energy is definitely a craving worth indulging in!!  Forget the fleeting sugar cravings and fixations. Your body is craving a good sweaty workout to shake off the dust and put the wind in your sails.  Always put your health first, once you do that and once you ...

Its Sunday Funday yall and it looks like today's hike and bike excursion has been cancelled due to rain. I'm a bit bummed, but no one wants to ride in pouring rain when they were expecting a beautiful sunshiny Sunday. I do love a good rain day to sit by the porch, sip coffee, chat with friends, and plan a few meals for my week. Here's a few things I threw together yesterday. Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie Squares--yeah, I know rite??!!! Peanut Butter Protein Bars, click here for the recipe Harvest Tuna Salad and Lettuce Wraps -- recipe below Cranberry Cinnamon Overnite Oats, click here for the recipe These are so easy to make and so delicious I don't know why I didn't make these sooner. Fudge Brownies are the one cheat meal I literally dream of eating--yes, I have dreams of devouring plates of brownies while I'm sleeping to curb my urge for chocolate. So, for my cravings, I decided to whip up a batch of Raw, No Bake Brownies and yes, from here on,...

Hello lovelies!  I hope everyone's week is doing well with lots of fun plans in mind for the weekend ahead.  I jump started my day with a hot coffee and a big breakfast at a local diner. After asking the waitress to make sure my potatoes were cooked with very little oil or butter and the coffee served black (I don't work out all week to just eat the fat back on!!) I was rewarded with the perfect meal. Can't beat cafes and diners, they have THE best food!  So yummy and so proud of myself for resisting the French Toast Compote. Is it just me or is there a shortage of places to find clean raw food!! Until then, yes, I will be the one at the table ordering everything a la carte, or even worse, bringing my own food :)  Well, I'm on my way out the door to dominate my next workout rite now, but in the meantime, here's a peak at what I was up to yesterday.  I usually grin and put on a big smile to push through my workouts, but on the finale he...

Happy Wednesday! Any day of the week is a great day to throw squats into your workout. Lately, I've been doing weighted squats on the Smith Machine 3-4 times a week into my routine for a full body workout. Its a great way to get your heart rate up and hit the abs, back, and legs. Throw some of these babies into your next workout and feel the difference--with good form of course. Whether your freestyling squats with a barbell, on the smith machine, or balancing on a BOSU Ball go for the burn. If you need a little extra motivation just pull up this image in your mind for some extra thrust:

Its full speed ahead today with another 2 hours of weight training and staying on track with a clean eating meal plan. No added sugar, juices, or butter here, just plain and delicious clean food. Here's a list of what I had today. Breakfast: 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats cooked with almond milk with a chopped banana and cinnamon Snack: Protein Shake 2 scoops with chocolate almond milk Lunch: Fajitas without tortillas Snack: Apple Dinner: Big Serving of Fajitas wrapped in lettuce with brown rice and black beans Snack: planning on having cottage cheese with salsa, a homemade protein bar, or a Fage Yogurt For tomorrow's breakfast, I prepped 2 containers of Cranberry Cinnamon Overnight Oats. They are soooo yummy and super easy to make. Check out the recipe below. Here's what you'll need: Equal Parts (I use about 1/2 cup each) Rolled Oats Almond Milk Fage Yogurt (or any greek yogurt, it is not processed and flavored like other commercial yogurts AND its loaded...