Worst blogger ever…

Hey guys!! I just wanted to pop in and let you know that I’m still alive and I haven’t forgotten about all of my fave bloggy boos (you all obviously :)). I have successfully moved into my new apartment and looovve it, but I don’t have Internet there yet. I should have it on saturday when I get back though…which brings me to today and tomorrow. I’m back home until Saturday helping the parental units pack up EVERYTHING in our entire house because they are moving too!!

Needless to say I’m a busy bee, but I promise I’ll be back saturday evening with new apartment pics and…an awesome GIVEAWAY! Stay tuned…and I promise after this weekend I’ll finally be back on a normal schedule and hopefully get into a new routine at my new place so that I can be a way better blogger. I miss you guys and I miss posting my mindless ramblings everyday.

Thanks for hanging in there loves 🙂 have an amazing weekend 🙂

Peanut Butter Jelly Time and Calling All Snack Swapers

Hello hello my bloggy bees!!! I hope everyone had an awesome week and is enjoying a great start to the weekend!! Although its been a bit of a rough week for yours truly, today was a fabbity fab day.Even though the parental units and I spent the entire day packing up my entire life the stuff for my new apartment, it was still nice to hang out with them.

Before I get to my day today, I have to share with you guys a new recipe that I whipped up a few days ago. First of all it has to be said how much I love peanut butter and jelly.  Those two go together like…well peanut butter and jelly. But seriously, not much can beat this dynamic duo for me (well except PB and banana, but that’s still using PB so it doesn’t really count). Behold an amazing breakfast creation. A dough boy to rule all dough boys…the PB and J dough boy smoothie. PB nuttiness and jelly sweetness all blended together in a thick oaty bowl of goodness. This is a straight up masterpiece.

 

The PB and J Dough Boy Smoothie (Based off of Kath’s original recipe)

-about 3/4 C liquid (I used almond milk)

– 1 banana

-1 tbsp ground flax

– 1 spoonfull jelly (I used Crofter’s superfruit)

-1 tbsp all natural PB

-1/2 C oats

-cinnamon to taste (optional)

-1/4 tsp vanilla

-sweetener to taste

-Optional Toppings: I used bluebs and PB

1) Put 1/2 C liquid, 1 tbsp PB, spoonful jelly, flax, 3/4 banana, oats, vanilla, cinnamon, and sweetener into a blender jar. Let sit in the fridge overnight or for at least 2 hours.

2) In the morning, add another 1/4 C liquid to the jar and blend until smooth.

3) Add any toppings you want and dig into the gooey PB and J yumminess 🙂

Now onto my Fab Friday 🙂

I woke up early (I think I’m finally back to my regular schedule and back on US time) and rode my bike to the store to pick up a couple things for my pops. Holy burning sensation, were my legs DEAD after that ride. the combo of being out of shape and living on Mt. Middle of Nowhere really did me in, but it def felt really good to get that sore from a workout. Do you guys ever hit that point while working out where it burns, but knowing you are getting an awesome workout makes you push even harder?

Breakfast this morning was of course my norm…a dough boy with banana and almond butter.

Lunch was a super quick/on the go/ really random shake and Larabar. I didnt have time to snap a picture for you guys, but use your noodles to imagine 🙂 I thought I would have to tell you guys that this was a sad lunch, but PB and J Larabars are my faves and the shake was wayyyy better than I thought it would be (it was made of super simple ingredients because I’m out of bananers). In the shake was 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder, milk, water, ice, and chocolate amazinggrass. Yummo 🙂

Snack snacklies

After a whooole afternoon of packing, packing, packing, and more packing, I went for a short 2 mile run and did the p90x cardio workout. I had a way better attitude towards working out today so I actually made it through the entire workout without having a nervy b. Baby steps people, baby steps 🙂

Dinner was super simple

A salad with grilled chicken and roasted red pepper vinaigrette.

Welp thats it for me. I gotta do a bit more packing then hit the hay cuz I have to get up early tomorrow and get a move on. I hope you guys have an amazing weekend. Wish me luck on my BIG move tomorrow! Ah so much to do and so little time 🙂 Talk to ya guys soon…and the next time it will be from my new apartment in the big city 😉 Night lovelies 🙂

PS- Any other foodies out there want to do a healthy snacks swap with me? Just let me know and we can set up an exchange 🙂

Question of the Day: What’s your fave food combo?

naturally yours,

beth

Slippin backwards then movin forwards

Hey guys! Once again my internet has been out of control (and by out of control I mean nonexistent/not working at all). That would be the reason why I wasn’t able to post yesterday, but……I’m back today and…I’m back with the giveaway winners 🙂

I used a random number generator to pick the winners so it was super fair 🙂 Here they are…

Morgan!!

and

Kelsey!!

Congrats girlies…just send your mailing address to me at naturallyyoursbeth@gmail.com and I’ll get your coupons out right away 🙂

For everyone else that entered…don’t be too sad because I’ll have another giveaway coming up very very soon 🙂

Ok, now onto today’s post. Today will be a little different than normal. I have no pictures of eats to share with you guys (that will be back tomorrow though :))

We all know by now that while in Europe I indulged and over indulged on all kinds of yummy treats. And while I’m soooo happy that I did (it was truly a once in a lifetime experience) I had a real eye opener today about the after effects of all those indulgences. It also doesn’t help that the past two days I have been stress eating like no other about this weekend’s move to Richmond.

A month ago, I was in really good shape and could run long distances no problem. I could also tackle any of the p90x workouts and felt really great about the progress I had made in both strength and endurance.

Well…I started p90x again today and let’s just say…it I was a disaster. The moves that used to be easy to me I now found myself seriously struggling through. I became so frustrated with myself, that I had a little bit of a nervy b (nervous breakdown). I know it may sound silly to some of you guys, but I just couldn’t believe that all of my hard work to get to a fitness level that I was really happy with was gone…wiped out in 1 month. This realization on top of the fact that I definitely gained more weight than I am comfortable with was just too much for me to handle.

Today, I just felt hopeless. Hopeless that I will never get back to where I was. Now I know that that is just ridiculous to even think and I know that I can work hard again to get to where I was, but it just felt like it was useless.

So here is the game plan…I’m letting myself wallow today (we all need a little wallow time now and again), but that’s it. Tomorrow is a new day and I’m gonna work extra hard to reach my pre-Europe fitness and healthy/comfortable weight level. I’m going to count calories, at least for a little while, just so I can see where I’m at. When I get back on track, I’ll def stop because I don’t want to go through life counting calories like I used to, but I do think it is a helpful tool when a person wants to find where they are going wrong in their diet. I don’t plan on restricting my calories because I need the fuel for my workouts (and let’s face it, I’m a hungry girl and looove my food :)), but I want to make sure that I’m not overeating.

I’m also going to keep on running because A) I want to get back to my old endurance level and B) running keeps me sane. You guys might also hear me complaining about soreness and how much I hate Tony more often because I’m planning on doing p90x everyday (hopefully through to the end).

I wanted to let you all in on how I was feeling today so that you can see that everyone has THOSE kind of days. We all feel hopeless, down, and just plain bad about ourselves sometimes. The important thing is is that we pick ourselves up and don’t let those negative thoughts control our lives. This is something I still struggle with, but I’m using this experience as a way to help me deal with those feelings in a more healthy and constructive way. We have the power to change anything we don’t like…and that’s exactly what Im gonna do 🙂

Question of the Day: Have you all ever let yourself slip backwards in any aspect of your lives? How did you all help yourself get over any negative feelings you may have had about yourself for that slip?

naturally yours,

beth

 

 

Crofter’s Review + Giveaway!!

Howdy guys!!! Today was such a good/ busy day with the madre.  I was able to accomplish a couple of things including setting up my electric for the new apartment (extremely important to have lights…how else will I ever be able to find the jar of almond butter whilst midnight snacking ;)) and I found a coffee table for $12. Oh yeah…I’m a serious bargain shopper. Besides, the question I asked myself while shopping with my mom was, “Would I rather spend $40 on a piece of furniture or save that money for my impending trip to Whole Foods?” Clearly my love for larabars, peanut butter, and granola won out…but of course there’s no surprise there 🙂

In other news…I’m loving all of the fresh fruit and veggies that summer has to offer. I have been living off of watermelon and bluebs.  I think every time I pass through the kitchen I stop by the fridge for a couple bowls a piece of watermelon.  So yummy 🙂

Before I get to the review, here are my eats from today 🙂

Breakfast- 2 FRESH apricots (so juicy and delish) with a veggie egg white omelette thingy with salsa and guac

Before leaving on my bargain shopping adventure I had this creation- Greek yog with bluebs and blueberry walnut granola…this will def be making a repeat appearance tomorrow 🙂

Lunch was a little different today…not the standard EPIC salad (I know…you are so shocked right now). I had a turkey, hummus, lettuce, and tomato sandwich on Great Harvest Dakota bread (the best bread EVER!!) with a bowl of butternut squash soup and of course…tons of watermelon!

After lunch I lazed around a bit and then got motivated enough to do my p90x workout for the day (don’t know how cuz I was seriously pooped after my run this morning). After, I was starving so I whipped up this smoothie creation. I made it in my new blender that I was forced to get because my parents wont let me take the blendtec to my new apartment 😦 Good news…the blender worked fine (although I’m still gonna miss the ULTIMATE blender).
In the blender went: 1 banana, 1 C almond milk, a couple ice cubes, a small handful of frozen broccoli, some stevia sweetener, cocoa powder, and some chocolate amazinggrass powder! This smoothie was the best one I have had in a long time!! Delish…but next time I think I might add peanut butter to the mix 🙂

Dinner- I got my EPIC salad in for the day 🙂 greens, leftover roasted sweet tater, turkey, cottage cheese, raisins, and roasted red pepper vinaigrette.

Now onto the fun stuff…my review!!

The awesome folks over at Crofter’s Organic sent me a coupon for a free jar of their fruit spread of my choosing. I have seen this jelly in the store for so long, but always resisted buying it. I was soooo excited to go to the store and pick my flavor…I seriously felt like a kid on Christmas morning (ahhh the simple pleasures in life). When I got to the store I was faced with several options, they have so many different varieties (a HUGE plus because variety is most def the spice of life :)). I settled on the North America Organic Superfruit Spread.

It has cranberries, blueberries, morello cherries, and red grapes. Honestly, could it get any better? Well, as a matter of fact it can…bring on the taste testing 🙂

Source

Another awesome thing about all of their spreads is that they are sweetened with white grape juice concentrate and organic fair trade cane sugar.  Lucky for us Crofter’s is a company of serious overachievers 🙂

OH….MY…GOSH!! This fruit spread is awesome. Its so thick and delish…you know you are biting into real fruit when you take a bite of this stuff. It’s slightly tart from the cherries, but then nice and sweet from the blueberries. My favorite things about it though are the whole blueberries in EVER bite. I have been eating this jelly of the gods everyday since I bought it and on everything I can think of…it’s not gonna last long! I think tomorrow a bowl of PB and J oats might be in order as well! Way to go Crofter’s, you definitely got it right with this one 🙂 And thank you soooo much for letting me try your delish product…I sincerely appreciate it 🙂

The folks over at Crofter’s are sooo awesome that they even wanted you all to be able to try their wonderful products.  I have 2 coupons up for grabs! They are each good for 1 absolutely FREE jar of any Crofter’s spread you would like to try. How nice is that 🙂 I will giveaway 1 coupon each to 2 lucky winners…so you have double the chance to win 🙂 You guys have until midnight on Wednesday June 22 to enter! Good luck 🙂

You have a couple of different ways you can win a free jar:

1) Go to the Crofter’s website and tell me in a comment which spread you would love to try.

2) Subscribe to my blog and leave a comment telling me you did.

3) Follow me on twitter and leave a comment telling me you did.

4) Tweet about this giveaway: @naturallybeth is having a @croftersorganic giveaway http://naturallyyoursbeth.com/2011/06/20/crofters-review-giveaway/…and leave a comment telling me you did.

5) Follow @croftersorganic on twitter and leave a comment telling me you did.

6) find Crofter’s Organic on facebook and like their page and leave a comment telling me you did.

Hope you all had a great start to your week! See ya tomorrow 🙂

naturally yours,

beth

Europe in Pictures + Impromptu Pancakes

Hello hello!!! I’m officially back in the states and back in action 🙂 I feel like I have been gone for so long, that I don’t even know where to start with this post.

First thing’s first…I had an amazzzzing time on my trip! I also want to thank you all again for the awesome advice you gave me about food guilt abroad! You guys are seriously the best blog friends a girl could ask for 🙂

I definitely took your advice and indulged in every single thing that I wanted. Yeah I may have come home with tighter pants, but I also came home with tons of awesome memories and experiences!

Since there is so much to share from my trip, I’ll have to spread it out over different posts (or else you would be sitting there reading this for days…and I know you have way better things to do with your weekend…places to go and people to see me thinks).

For today, I will focus on one of the best parts of the trip…the food! So here it is…my trip in food 🙂 (well just a couple pictures…my internet is being super slow and if I posted all my pictures it would take all night and this jet lag is still killin me so I estimate I have about an hour max before I pass out) 

While all of this food was super delish and ammmaaaazzzzing, I was craving my usual oats, veggies, pumpkin, and sweet potato by the end of the trip. As a lover of all things carbs, I never thought I would say this, but…I am so over having tons of bread with every meal (GASP…I know this is like sacreligious for me, but seriously guys after 25 days a girl kinda just wants some broccoli).

Since I have been home, I have resumed the usual eats and I couldn’t be happier!

My first dough boy smoothie in over a month was as glorious as I knew it would be (and yes I had been day dreaming about this oaty bowl of deliciousness for the better part of my trip…the hotel breakfasts weren’t always the greatest.  That might also have to do with the fact that I am pretty spoiled when it comes to breakie in the states :))

Speaking of dough boy smoothies…since I missed them big time, I planned on having one this morning for breakfast too. But then something happened on my way home from the gym this morning…I realized it was pancake SUNDAY! I thought about skipping it because I really wanted my dough boy (that was waiting patiently in all its doughy glory for me to get home), but then I had an idea (a genius idea really). I decided to try and make pancakes out of my dough boy! Thats right, dough boy pancakes.

They actually turned out really delish too! They were a bit soft for a pancake, but I LOVED them 🙂 I topped them with banana, maple syrup, and Naturally Nutty Cinnamon Vanilla Sunflower Seed Butter (look for a review in the near future). Such a yummy breakfast for pancake sunday (and it totally proves you can have you PANcake and eat it too…haha I’m so witty :))

This upcoming week is going to be pretty busy for me and I will be going through some major life changes soon.  This whole week I will be as busy as a bee packing and such becauuuuuse…I’m moving to richmond on Saturday!! I CANT wait…my apartment is just minutes from an awesome farmers market. The beest part about moving? I will live only 10 minutes from a WHOLE FOODS (jumping up and down while doing a happy dance may or may not have occured after map questing it…HINT: it totally happened)
I can’t wait to share all of my adventures in a new city with all of you guys! I missed you so much while on my trip and I am soooo excited to be back in the blogiverse 🙂 Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a great father’s day 🙂

Question of the Day: What is your favorite thing about home that you miss the most while on vacation?

naturally yours,

beth

Hello hello + the trouble with Internet

Hello my blogging beauties! I’m back in the states and back in clean eating action 🙂 I had a super picture heavy post for you last night, but our Internet here on mt. Middle of nowhere is acting insane (somethings never change…even after a month in Europe). I’m gonna try my absolute hardest to have it up by this evening though! I missed you guys so much and have so much to share with you 🙂 hope you all have a fantastic fathers day! Hug your daddy and appreciate your family for all their amazingness (or dysfunctionalness/craziness in my case :)).

Talk to ya soon 🙂

Lucky…

Seriously…how am I this lucky?

The view outside of my hotel right at this moment…in Greece 🙂

Goodbye Germany AND Guilt!

Wow…you guys are awesome! I seriously can’t believe how supportive you all have been about my little vacation food guilt situation. I’m so glad I ended up posting about it because I want everyone to see that EVERYBODY struggles with their own issues (some people just don’t admit it).

You guys definitely made me realize that I’m not going to let FOOD (or my issues with food guilt) get in the way of enjoying the last half of my trip! Thank you all soooo much for all of the advice, support, and kind words. You all were just what I needed to snap back into reality! For a thank you stay tuned when I return to the states for another giveaway…perhaps something from Europe 🙂

Like I mentioned, reading your comments helped me to see that, just like at the beginning of my trip, I can literally have my cake and eat it too (without feeling guilty or going overboard). I started the day off with a healthy and delish bowl of hot oats, a pear, and almond butter. For lunch I just grabbed a quick grab and go salad that was pretty darn good and some mixed nuts from a truck stop. For snacks I have been sticking to multigrain breads and fruit that I steal from the continental hotel breakfasts every morning…shhh don’t tell! Then for dinner we ate at a tradish Bavarian restaurant. I enjoyed tomato soup, pork in a delicious brown broth, potato dumplings, and warm apple streusel. I of course also had beer,it is Germany after all, but ate everything in moderation and stopped when I was full. I also had the time for a run yesterday morning which made me feel great! Yesterday was such a great day and it really allowed me to get back to how I love eating…healthy and all natural foods that fuel my body and nourish my soul!

It feels good to be back 🙂 and it’s all thanks to you guys!

I’m gonna go for a run in a few around Munich and then have to grab a quick shower because we are leaving for Austria! Our two days there will be spent at a fitness resort (so pumped about that!), exploring the sound of music hills :), and horse back riding through the alps! Sounds amazing to me!

Ta ta for now friends 🙂

naturally yours,

beth

Long time no post!! (Greetings from Switzerland)

Hey guys! I’m so sorry I have been an absentee blogger lately. Europe has been amazing/super super busy!

So far I have been to London, Paris, Brussels, Heidelberg (germany), Lucerne (switzerland), Black Forest (Germany), and Holland…and my trip isn’t even half way over!

Ok so I started my trip with the best intentions. In London I went for a run in Hyde Park two times and did a great job of eating intuitively and picking and choosing my indulgences while not going overboard.
Well folks…that lasted all of about 4 days, until Paris. Since Paris I have had crepes, macaroons, sausages, desserts…basically you name it and I have had it.

And when I say I have had it, I don’t mean I tried a nibble here and there…no! I have had a full on food love affair with every meal. For some reason I just can’t help myself…I just don’t want to miss out on all the delicacies these countries have to offer. I want to leave my trip with no regrets. But I’ll also say that my very frequently occuring indulgences (they happen so often that I can’t even really call them indulgences) have not been so good on my waistline. My shorts are fitting a bit tighter and I can tell that my once flat and defined tummy is looking a little…well…untoned. Yet I still can’t help myself. Case in point…tonight’s dinner in Switzerland. What will I be dining on? Swiss fondue…oh yes…all of the bread cubes and melty cheesy goodness I can handle.

I wanted to share my food experiences with you all even though they haven’t all been healthy or even remotely natural for several reasons. First, we all slip up. Even though you you may think that I always make the best, most healthy decisions…I don’t always. I’m not perfect and this trip has really shown me how passionate I am about ALL food. Should I be indulging so much on this trip? Of course not, its just not physically that healthy, but is it good for the soul? Oh yeah! I have really loved every single thing I have tried so far and love trying new things! With that being said though, I also have been feeling food guilt/negative thoughts about my body image. Clearly these things will always be an issue for me, but I’m trying my best not to let them get in the way of enjoying my trip.

I haven’t been making ALL bad food choices. Like today I had oatmeal for breakfast and a huge yummy salad for lunch. But then tonight I plan on eating the fondue and who am I kidding I’ll probably have dessert too. I just hope that I don’t feel guilty afterwards. Food guilt is a really powerful thing. this is where you all come in. Does anybody have any advice for me about dealing with guilty thoughts about food or any tips about how I can reassure myself that this is a once in a lifetime experience and I can just get right back on the healthy eating/exercise wagon when I get home. Anything you have to say would be greatly appreciated 🙂

naturally yours,
beth