Hello friendssssssss!
How was your Monday? Mine actually went pretty well! I’m semi bummed though, it’s windy, raining and freezing = no outside run. Boo.
So I read this great blog post on Glamour.com by Margarita Bertsos today. She was recently given the opportunity to workout with Jillian Michaels of the Biggest Loser (ok, I know I write about Jillian like twice a week – I love the woman!) and she wrote about what she learned from her workout. Among her points was, “Don’t waste your time at the gym.” Not, ‘don’t waste your time by going to the gym’, rather, ‘don’t waste your time when you’re at the gym.’
Jillian helped Margarita realize that if you’re going to be at the gym – you should be completely present and devote 110% to your workout. I find myself guilty of not giving it my all at the gym sometimes. When I’m working out outdoors I feel like I really push myself by tackling hills and challenging courses, but at the gym, I could definitely kick it up a few notches. Raise the incline on the treadmill a tad higher, increase the resistance on the elliptical just a little bit more…do my arm circuit with 8 pound weights instead of 5…(hey, I have small arms!). So anyways, I thought it was a really good post about pushing past the limits we sometimes set for ourselves and don’t think we can get past. I’m going to try and step it up this week at the gym – I’ll let you know how it goes!
FOOOOOOOOOD. This afternoon I headed down to our work cafeteria (I just typed school cafeteria!) with the intentions of getting a nice, warm bowl of Chicken soup…however, when I got there it was slim pickins’ and the soup not looking too good – semi cold and all the good stuff was picked out – yuck. So instead I got a turkey sandwich with all the fixins’:
- Turkey
- Whole wheat bread
- Pepper jack cheese
- Honey mustard
- Red onion
- Cucumber
- Yellow banana peppers
- Pickle
There was an excessive amount of turkey on this sandwich, so I took some of it off – but other than that, really, nothing beats a good old turkey sandwich. I’m convinced that Pepper jack cheese is just the freaking best – I LOVE it!
For dinner, I tried a new recipe – Falafel a la Hungry Girl. I’m going to be honest – I like the Hungry Girl daily emails that I get, however I really dislike how a lot of their recipes call for something like “2 tablespoons of Duncan Hines Cake Mix.” Well, what am I supposed to do with the rest of the cake mix? I feel like with a lot of their recipes, I’d have a lot of random ingredients leftover that I wouldn’t use again and that’s just wasteful. That said, I was very pleased to open up my Hungry Girl email today and find a recipe that was totally doable – Falafel balls! I LOVE FALAFEL. I’m just going to throw that out there. They are so delicious and so I was p-u-m-p-e-d to try this recipe! It did not disappoint!!! Mmmmm this was a really easy recipe to follow and the falafel came out just right. I paired the balls with a spinach salad with shaved red onions and a cool, cucumber-yogurt dressing. Here’s the recipe (I more or less followed it – minus the dill in the dip/dressing because I despise dill.) Falafel Pita Pickets with Dill-icious Yogurt Dip.
Tonight I get to do laundry, pay some bills and clean the house – Yay! 
Just kidding, sometimes you gotta do, what you gotta do.
Question: Does anyone have any good remedies for dry.as.a.bone. hair? Ugh, my ends are shot! Luckily, I’m getting a trim tomorrow, but I need to start super conditioning ASAP. Let me know if you’ve tried a product that worked well for you!
That falafel looks great! I love the banana peppers on your sandwich too.
I don’t have any good suggestions for dry hair, really. I have the same issue. I think the best thing for me is only washing it a few times a week. That gives the oils in my scalp more time to come back. My hair always looks best when I haven’t washed it for a few days.
I made that same recipe on Friday with some homemade pita bread. Oh my goodness, it was delicious! Even as leftovers.
Falafel is amaaazing! It is so simple to make and is always delicious. You can usually get it hott and fresh at any Middle Eastern restaurant!
Hahaha, I agree. Nothing beats a good old turkey sandwich!
I’ve been using Healthy Sexy Hair’s Soy Tri-Wheat Leave In Conditioner for a few months now and I love it! I got it at Beauty Brands but I’m sure you could get it at any beauty supply store.
[...] I’m pumped about these leftovers though, because seriously you guys, those falafel balls were so good – and SO easy! I forgot to mention that I used my mini food processor to chop most of [...]
The falafals look great! I’ve never tried them before, but I think I may make them this weekend. I was trying to think of something healthy to have the night before a 10K run my husband and I are doing this weekend and this might be it!
And turkey sandwiches rock … they’re definitely my fave!
I have very dry hair too. I agree that the best thing you can do it to wash it less frequently. I only wash mine twice a week. Don’t freak out. I didn’t start out doing that. I slowly worked from every day to 36 hours, to every other day, etc. And if I have a strenuous workout, then I might wash it early, or I rinse it.
Another suggestion would be to buy a natural bristle brush, such as boars hair. Real hair, not plastic. This will help distribute the natural oils down the length of your hair. Give you shine without grease. Good luck.
And the falafel looks delish.
Alison, Julie & Kristilyn: All great tips – THANK you!! I tried before to wash it every other day, but I got freaked out and stopped. I think I’m going to have to try again though!!!
Robin: Isn’t that a good recipe?!
Kristilyn: You should really give it a try sometime, it’s so easy!
Where did you go for your trim? Carrie by chance?!?! I was supposed to have an app. today…but she had to reschedule and it’s Friday. I’m in terrible need too! My hair is nasty…
I’m a true believer in the washing every other day. You have to go through a few brutal weeks of grease-head. But once that is done your hair adjusts and it is wonderful. Much less dry, not to mention a huge time saver every day! Another tip – sometimes on my “off day” when I feel like my hair is slightly greasy – I just rinse it with water only. No shampoo or conditioner. that kind of rinses some of the grease out…but doesn’t overdry:) Sort of gross:) You know it!
[...] They hit me like woah. Then my calf cramped up and I got a wicked headache – but in the name of stepping it up – I perservered and finished a 5.14 mile run averaging 8 mins and 45 seconds. I felt pretty [...]
Lindsey Mots: Carrie = tomorrow!! We had to reschedule. And since you are the goddess of amazing hair, I followed your advice and just rinsed my hair with water tonight!!
[...] Falafel balls [...]
hahaha – that is so true about hungry girl recipes!