Sunday Runday??

I woke up this morning with every intention of heading to the gym and getting a run in....but my legs had other plans. Ouch. Apparently I pushed it a little too hard yesterday and Friday because my legs are KILLING me today! So, I decided to stay home and do a workout with my new favorite piece of workout equipment, a resistance band! I have been taking strength training classes at the gym for a few years so I am no stranger to a resistance band but somehow I had never thought to buy one for myself!

I live in an apartment with not a lot of extra space for exercise equipment. As much as I would love to have a home gym one day, it's just not practical right now. I don't know why it took me so long to decide that getting a resistance band was an awesome idea! You can work out every part of your body with it and you pretty much make it as easy or hard as you want so you don't have to have different weights like with dumbbells. And when I am done, it will fit in a drawer to be stored! So yesterday I picked one up at Target and played around with it last night and came up with some pretty challenging moves! And at only $10 I would say it was a pretty good investment!

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday so we will be spending most of the day in Muncie visiting her and then visiting my family. Should be a great day with my husband and family :)

Now I am off to drink my coffee, watch Fashion Police (a guilty pleasure of mine) and do an arms and shoulders workout! Happy Sunday to all!!

A new day.

I am a firm believer in listening to your body. For the last few days mine has been complaining to me about the way it has been treated and yesterday it went into full-on revolt mode. I have eaten well or exercised very much at all for the last week or so. I have just been so busy (not a valid excuse, I know) and every time I turn around there is some kind of party or celebration telling me that it's ok because it's an occasion!

Yesterday started out by me not eating breakfast. Great start to the day. I instead just filled myself with what I am pretty sure was extra-super-duper caffeinated coffee from the gas station (instead of my normal half-caff from home) and got to work on my checklist of things to accomplish at work. By 9:00 I was so amped up on caffeine that I could barely sit still. I was also starving by 11:00. I decided to go to Noble Romans with a co-worker for lunch where I got a personal pepperoni pizza and breadsticks with cheese. Another great choice. By 2:30 I was really starting to feel icky. I was dizzy, sweaty, nauseous and could barely form a sentence because my thoughts were so frazzled. I left work an hour early and went home and rested.

I woke up this morning feeling infinitely better. I know my body pretty well and I know that it cannot tolerate greasy foods very much at all and that is pretty much all I have been eating. My health as well as my waistline has suffered from it. As I post this, I am drinking my half-caff coffee (which I am now able to drink with only half a packet of Stevia in it) and eating a Van's whole grain waffle with Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter on it. For lunch I will be having a reduced sodium chicken soup with crackers and an apple and I have a frozen greek yogurt for an afternoon snack. Hopefully I will have my poor body back into the swing of things by the end of this week.

I am, unfortunately, drawn to greasy fast food much more than I am whole, healthier foods. I wish I weren't like this but I am. Every day is a struggle for me to be healthy and fit. I sometimes feel that I am the only one who struggles with this at this extreme level. I know I am not but I oftentimes feel that way. So, I will keep pushing on and taking things day by day!

The Ball and Biscuit

Side note--please excuse the quality of my photos at the present time. :( They are currently all being taken with my iPhone. Hopefully this will be changing shortly!!

Interesting title for a blog post? Well "interesting" is exactly what I thought the first time I heard about this restaurant in downtown Indianapolis. Over the past few years, Grant and I have grown to love and appreciate local restaurants. Growing up in Muncie and with parents who aren't exactly "foodies", we were pretty much only exposed to chain restaurants and fast food when we dined out. As we grew up and branched out a little bit, we discovered just how awesome of an experience dining out can be.

As soon as Grant heard about The Ball and Biscuit, he was talking about going there. I didn't know much about it and quite frankly, I was terrified of going downtown so I was deterred from trying this new place at first. When I moved to Muncie I felt like I had moved to "the big city" so driving on one-way streets on small, narrow roads was very scary to me. And there is also the fact that I have never parallel parked in my life. Yes, people, you heard right. I somehow managed to skip that class in drivers ed. and when I took my driving test we were conveniently in the middle of an ice storm (were my parents crazy??) and the instructor let me slide on the parallel parking and to this day I have never done it. So anyways, back to the restaurant :)

The unusual name for the restaurant actually comes from the name of an old microphone, the STC 4021. The microphone received this name because of it's unusual shape and less than exciting formal name. The owners of the restaurant, Zach Wilks and Trevor Belden, liked the idea of the homage to vintage music and therefore The Ball and Biscuit was founded. While it is a bar and you do have to be 21 to get in, it definitely has more of the laid back vibe of a lounge rather than a rowdy bar. It was fairly early when Grant and I got there last weekend, around 5:30. We went there to eat as well as to enjoy cocktails and I wanted to really be able to see the place and take in the atmosphere.

We chose to sit at a table in the more open area of the bar. The front of the restaurant is 2 large windows which were opened up and looked out onto Mass Ave. It was an absolutely gorgeous evening.

B&B Champagne Cocktail

St. Germaine Elderflower Liqueur stirred with The Bitter Truth Orange Bitters and House Bubbles

We started out with cocktails. I chose one of their signature cocktails, the B&B Champagne Cocktail. It was delicious. I love champagne and the subtle taste of orange was delicious!

Bulleit Bourbon and Coke

Grant chose a more traditional cocktail, Bulleit Bourbon and Coke. I didn't try it, but he said it was wonderful :)

Their menu consists of small plates meant for sharing. We decided on 3 different plates, the Po Boys sandwiches, Creole mac and cheese and a cheese plate. The verdict??

Trio of Po Boys sandwiches

These sandwiches were amazing! One each of pulled pork, chicken and beef served on a toasted bun topped with cole slaw and chipotle mayo. Yum. We each ate half of each sandwich but I could have easily eaten all three myself!

Creole Mac and Cheese

This mac and cheese was spicy and delicious! We are pretty big fans of mac and cheese in general and this one definitely tops the list! It had just the right amount of spice to it without making your nose run!

3 cheese plate

The cheese plate? Sadly, I was underwhelmed. Maybe I just have too high of expectations when it comes to cheese (I could never be vegan) but from the presentation to the overall taste of the cheese and crackers it was just very sub par. We chose a Spanish goat cheese, taleggio, and an aged cheddar and it came with a jam on the side. The aged cheddar was probably my favorite which was surprising to me because I very much enjoy goat cheese. The crackers were somewhat tasteless and just really didn't accompany the cheese very well. But overall, our meal and experience was fantastic! 

Whether you are wanting a delicious meal or just a place to relax and enjoy a couple drinks with friends, The Ball and Biscuit is a wonderful place to do it!

Crazy, crazy life!

Last weekend and the past few days have been crazy! I feel like my life never slows down lately. Every time I feel like I am about to get a break it gets crazy again! 

Saturday night I took my husband out on a surprise "progressive date". We went to 4 different locations then came back home to carve pumpkins. I have already shared one part of the date in my Harmony Winery post. I will be going into more detail about some of the other local gems that we visited in later posts :) I think it is so important to take time to go on dates after you get married or even after you have been together for a long time. Grant and I both work a lot and we don't see each other every night so sometimes it can be hard to plan together time. Having a Saturday night together is very rare so when I heard that was happening I jumped right on it! I read somewhere that when you can no longer laugh together then you know the relationship is going downhill. If that is true then we should be heading uphill for a while! We have so much fun together. I am often amazed that we can still have so much to talk about and laugh about when we have been together for so long. We have been dating for almost 7 years and married for a little over 2. He truly is the love of my life. 

Anyways, on to a less mushy topic :) On Sunday I spent most of the day lounging around. I had every intention of getting to the gym but unfortunately that didn't work out :( Sunday evening I headed to Muncie for a birthday dinner for my sister. She turned 21 yesterday! It was a lot of fun to have dinner with my family and get to spend time with them. I have the best family ever!

Sorry about the somewhat generic post today but this week at work is month-end week where we close out the previous month and that always results in long hours and stressful days so I haven't had time to sit down and put together a post about some of the other places I visited! For now, here are a few of the pictures from my adventures this weekend.

Beautiful flowers at the Carmel Farmer's Market

My delicious produce that I brought home from the farmer's market.

Homemade salsa!

Beautiful sunset over the canal downtown Indianapolis.

Harmony Winery

Over the past few years, I have really developed an appreciation and love of wine. One thing that I really enjoy doing is wine tastings. Most wineries offer tastings either for free or for a small price. It is always fun on a Saturday afternoon to get together with your girlfriends or husband or whoever and go to a local winery and try out some amazing wine! Not only are you getting an awesome experience you are supporting local businesses and this is a cause that is very important to me.

Yesterday, I decided to take my husband to a newer winery that is right by our home, Harmony Winery. They are located on Allisonville Road close to 116th street in Fishers. I know, a strange place for a winery but it really is a great one! I had been there once before with my girlfriend, Jordan and we loved it!

The couple who own Harmony have been in the wine business since 2001 and they have received over 21 medals for their wine. The main draw on their winery is that you can actually make and bottle your own wine! While we were there yesterday, there was actually a couple who had made their wine and they had come back to bottle it so we got to watch the process of bottling and corking wine. It was very interesting!

After branching off from another U-vint franchise in 2006, the owners started their own U-vint business called Outtavine. This was very popular, but they wanted somewhere that they could produce and sell their wines. Thus, Harmony Winery was born!

It is absolutely darling inside and from the moment you walk in, you can tell that it is a very homey and comfortable atmosphere. There is soft music playing and there are plenty of couches and chairs for you to relax in as you drink your wine.

All of their bottles are on display so if you know which one you are looking for, it isn't hard to find!

We did a wonderful tasting of several different wines ranging from dry red to a sweet, rich port. You can taste 5 wines for free or you can pay $5 and try every wine that they have available for tasting, usually around 10-12 wines. I bet you can't guess what we did :) I have tried a lot of different wines from a lot of different wineries and this is the only one that out of all of the different wines that I have tried, I have never had one that I didn't like.

Sorry about the poor quality of this picture but it is the only one I have of me in the winery! I am typically more of a sweet wine drinker. I prefer my wine to be chilled and that typically means that it is a sweeter wine, but this Merlot that we tried was delicious!

They give you a check list so that you can mark off what you have tasted. I tasted everything that is marked off on here as well as Indigo  and the Eight Measure Port.

After our tasting, we decided on 2 bottles. We purchased the Staccato which is described as "fresh and lively, pleasant sweetness, strawberry notes, tangy acidity, crisp and delicate finish". We also bought a bottle of Indigo which is "tangy, sweet burst of blueberry, light-medium body and cherry spice flavors". They are both sweeter, more dessert wines but they are delicious :) 

Oh the glorious weekend...

I simply adore days when I get to "sleep in". I put this in quotation marks because for me, sleeping in is 7:30 or 7:45.I get up at 5:30 every day for work so my body just doesn't sleep late. Not that I would anyways! I only get 2 days a week off and I do not intend on spending them in bed!

This blog has 2 purposes:

1. To chronicle my tale of being healthy and sharing tips, tricks and recipes along the way.
2. To chronicle my life here in Indianapolis and share with you some of the awesome things that Indy has to offer.

It really is a cool city. There is so much to do here and the food scene just keeps growing! Here's a brief backstory on me.

I have lived in Indiana my whole life. I was born in Hagerstown and from there I have lived in New Castle, Hagerstown again, Milton, and Muncie. Most of my teenage years were spent in Muncie and that is where I call my home. I met my husband, Grant, when we were 14 years old in drivers ed. We didn't start dating until we were 17 though and we got married when we were 21. He is truly the love of my life. We lived in an apartment in Muncie with our cat for the first year and a half we were married. We both had jobs we loved. He was a sous chef at a local restaurant called Restaurant2(oh!)4 and I worked as a receptionist for a group of eye doctors. Well, last October that restaurant went under. Saying we were devastated would be an understatement. We loved that place as did all of our friends. Grant new he didn't want to go back to working for a chain restaurant and Muncie was seriously lacking in the food department. So he got a job at a new restaurant that was just opening up in Indy. I got a job as a Guest Relations Coordinator at a nursing home and we moved to Indy in December. We have since both changed jobs, he is at a new restaurant and I am still with the same company but I now do insurance billing and other business office work out of Greenwood. We have an adorable little apartment (which feels more like a mansion compared to where we did live) and we have also adopted another cat! Our sweet little Elsie Bell :)

Elsie Bell

Sable Mae

So through this blog I also want to tell you about all the exciting things and delicious restaurants that there are here and hopefully encourage you to check some out! I have some exciting things planned at some of my favorite Indy favorites today so there will be an exciting post to come!! 

Happy Saturday, everyone!

Food coma....

Ever heard of the term "food coma"? Well, I am most defintely in one right now......Lunch today consisted of chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, rolls and cookies. O.M.G. It was delicious! But now I am literally falling asleep at my desk. Come on 5:00! Tonight I am going to Cracker Barrel with my parents. It is seriously one of my favorite places to eat! I have been dreaming of my pinto beans with cornbread and apple cinnamon tea all day! Such a fall-like meal :)

Anywho..if you have never used this lotion I command you to drive to bath and body works right now and buy it! Well that may be a little dramatic but you should definitely consider getting it on your next shopping trip :) It smells amazing and it is the most fall-like scent ever! Mine currently lives on my desk and is used multiple times a day!

The best of intentions..

Yesterday went pretty well overall. I ate a healthy lunch and managed to only snack on a handful of candy corn M&M's and drink my unsweet tea. After work I was actually excited to get to the gym for my treadmill time. When I got there I opened my gym bag to find 1 sock. Just 1. I was incredibly frustrated. Since I am the kind of person that is too embarrassed to walk back past the front desk attendant who had just checked me in, I decided that I would just have to work out without socks on. Yea, gross. I knew that running was out of the question so I decided to walk for 30 minutes. I walked at a 3.8 and a 4 incline and by minute 20 my feet were screaming at me and they felt disgusting. But I kept pushing and got my 30 minutes done. By the time I got home my feet were in pretty bad pain. And now I have some lovely blisters on my feet. Fantastic. I don't think I am going to make it to the gym today anyways seeing as I have plans with my parents tonight so hopefully they will be healed up enough tomorrow to get a good workout in. (I am a huge baby when it comes to pain.)

Today is probably not going to be a model day in terms of healthy eating. We are having a carry-in at work of chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes and rolls and tonight I am going to cracker barrel with my parents. Carb-fest anyone?? But, in my quest for moderation and balancing being healthy and fit with being happy I am going to try to just relax and enjoy. I am planning on being very healthy this weekend and I have already started planning meals for next week.

So here is to a happy Friday and the joy of spending quality time with friends and family!

A realization...

Over the last few weeks I have been incredibly self-conscious about my weight. Now, I have been like this pretty much as long as I can remember but lately it has been worse. Mostly because I have gained quite a bit of weight. As I was sitting there looking at pictures from a recent Sunday afternoon and almost crying because of how I looked in said pictures it hit me, I have barely been working out and I have completely abandoned my healthy eating habits. What did I think would happen? Even though I am only 23, I can already tell a drastic difference in my body and the way it works since I was 18. In high school I ate whatever I wanted and only exercised when it was volleyball season or during the 5 minutes of exercise we would do before cheerleading practice and I always stayed a trim 105 pounds. After high school my weight went up a little bit but not enough that I was too concerned about it. Then I got married. After you get married, you suddenly feel the need to bake, cook and stay home and "be a wife." I was SHOCKED to find that I actually felt that way! I have never wanted to be a stay-at-home anything. I worked hard and spent a lot of money getting my college education and I really enjoy what I do. And even though I worked full time, I felt the need in the evenings to be home with my husband and cook and clean like a wife was supposed to do. This mentality has slowly crept up on me.

I work in an office at a computer all day. This is a toxic situation for someone trying to lose weight and get back into shape. I love my job but it can be hectic at times and that usually results in fast food breakfast on the way to work and lunch so that I can eat quickly. But am I really saving any time? This morning I made the decision to eat a healthy breakfast at work. I got some un-sweet tea (caffeine) and made myself a piece of whole wheat toast when I got to the office this morning. And you know what? It wasn't any harder than ordering a bagel or breakfast sandwich at the drive-through. As far as lunch goes, I spend so much time in the evenings watching TV or playing games on my phone that I could easily be making lunch for the next day.

As far as exercise, well that has been lacking lately. I am pretty consistent about going to my favorite class on Monday nights which is strength training. But any more than that? Not so consistent. I have managed to come to grips with the fact that working out hardcore at the gym 7 days a week is not really an option for me (nor is it usually the best option for anyone). There are some evenings when Grant is home and I really just want to go spend the evening with him and get things done that we have been putting off. And there is nothing wrong with that! I think shooting for 4-5 gym sessions a week and maybe a few Tone-it-Up routines at home in between is a good balance. So this afternoon I am going to go to the gym after work and get in some good old fashioned cardio. 3 miles on the treadmill. Run 1- walk 1- run 1. It may kill me tonight but I know that it will get easier. At one point I was running 5k's in 26:30 so I know I can do it!

I really like the "Lean, Clean and Green" philosophy of Tone it Up. While I do want to lose weight, I also want to be able to maintain it. I know that I could lose weight pretty quickly doing some fad diet or taking diet pills but as soon as I went back to a normal lifestyle all that weight would just pile right back on. And those things just aren't healthy and I want to be healthy, not just skinny!

So, I am going to try to really think about the decisions that I am making and what I am putting in my body. I am going to try to cook more at home and find healthy, new recipes to keep things from getting boring. I already have a trip planned for Saturday morning to visit my local farmer's market :) And along the way I am going to try to blog to keep myself accountable. I still haven't decided if I want to make this a public blog or just keep it to myself. I guess we will see how I progress :)

10 things.

Here are 10 things you may not know about me but I'm sure you are dying to know :)

1. There is no place I would rather be than on the water. Whether that be in a pool, on the lake, in the ocean, or just in a hot tub :)
2. I love to eat raw tomatoes but I cannot stand them cooked.
3. If I could go back to school I would study to be a journalist.
4. I really wish I had learned to play an instrument.
5. My favorite thing to eat is chips and salsa.
6. If I could change one thing about my body I would change my teeth. I have had braces and I still think they are awful.
7. One of my favorite kinds of music to work out to is screamo music.
8. I want to become a lifeguard.
9. One of my biggest fears in life is being away from my parents and my sisters.
10. If I could go back in time and tell my younger self anything, it would be that who you are in high school won't really matter in 5 years so don't be so concerned about it.