Gettin fancy with it!

So this past weekend was one for the books! Why's that you ask? Well, I made my first big girl move and purchased my own vehicle!!! Okay okaaaay, I got a really banging insurance check from my previous totaled vehicle, so that allowed me to buy a new car. But nonetheless, I am acquiring credit (the Dave Ramsey way ;)) and am stuck with a five year car payment. I would definitely call adulting on that one!

The weekend was spent in car dealerships, a lot! Although I was at home, I didn't get the full home type feel. A majority of the time was spent being stressed over the car buying process and taking it out on my mother (I didn't mean to, I promise!!). When things worked out on Sunday, and I had my new precious baby with me, I was ecstatic, but knew I still had to drive back to Austin to make it to work the next morning.

Ronda the Renegade!

One thing I always love when going home is dinner. Growing up, I remember all the fun times happening in the kitchen. Putting on music, helping my mom cook, cleaning with my sisters; fellowship, and family time revolved around it. Lately I've been craving that feeling again, and because I went home to buy a car, we didn't have that time, so I decided to bring it home to Austin!

On Monday night I decided to treat my closest bunch with a homemade meal, and wine. Why? Because it's what I do! It's the biggest form of flattery in my opinion. It was a way of me saying "thanks for getting all of my stressed out texts/snaps and handling it with grace" and "uhhhh I just bought a car. Let's both celebrate and cry over a five year payment...okay? Okay!"

In my latest pinteresting adventures, I found a delicious Shrimp Scampi with Zucchini Noodles recipe and decided that would be the meal! A fun, quick, and healthy meal, that give a spark of classy cause after all, I am cooking with wine :)

So per usual, I am a great recipe follower and alter-er, NOT a recipe creator!



Here are the ingredients I used. I did leave out a couple spices from the original recipe:

My attempt at being crafty with the ingredients. I failed, miserably.

1 lb of deveined shrimp
4 peeled zucchinis (I used a julene slicer, but a regular peeler works just as well)
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1/4c parsley minced
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 C lemon juice fresh
olive oil
1/2 C wine
salt + pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Coat a medium sauce pan with olive oil on medium-high heat (I always aim for about 4-6 on my stove dial). Add garlic, crushed red pepper, salt/pepper and shrimp. Heat until fully cooked. About 5 or so minutes. Once cooked, set aside strained shrimp, leaving any juices in the pan, then add in lemon juice, wine, and zucchini noodles. Cook all the way through until the zucchini is tender (or to your preference). Add in the shrimp, and heat through.

Viola!! That's it! Garnish your dish with the minced parsley, and add any salt/pepper to taste as needed. Other than that, your meal is ready to be shared amongst friends!

Don't worry, between 4 girls this was finished in an hour 

**Side notes: I went to HEB and asked the wine taster what a good white wine would be to cook with and he said anything dry. He recommended a dry chardonnay that they were tasting that day, and it did wonders to the dish!

#4WeeksFit Challenge//Today's Run

So!, exciting bits number one, I am doing my first link-up challenge! One of the things I am starting to love about blogging are links ups because they're a great way to connect to other people, and to keep yourself accountable and motivated!

Here are my four goals for the month of March.

Goal #1: Workout 4-5 times a week! This includes cardio and weight training. I'm really good at falling into lulls, so I'm hoping to stay accountable for the sake of blogging about it :)

Goal #2: Limit my eating out to once a week! I'm heading back to Austin next week, and I know the temptation of going back to all the local eateries I loooove is gonna be gnawing at me (pun totally intended). For the sake of my checkbook and progress, I'm gonna do my best to stay limited.

Goal #3: Meal prep. Meal prep. Meal prep. This part is probably the hardest for me because I love diversity in what I eat, so I'm gonna have to find some fun ways to mix it up a bit. Better believe I'll be sharing!

Goal #4: Be able to do 6 miles nonstop. Easy right? WROOONG. I'm such an amateur runner. After my half I crossed it off my list and didn't look back. I'm starting to get the running bug just a little bit more, so hopefully this will be a decent start.


I started out this morning by going on a fun little jog down to the beach. I am still super sore from my workout Monday and I knew the only way to combat it was to get moving and stop sitting around. Don't worry, I foam rolled before an after as well. I threw on my shoes and went for it. It was actually not as awful as I thought (minus the huge hill on the way home), plus having the beach as a reward was nice!

When I got to the beach, I decided to walk around a bit and take in the serenity of it all. As I sat down, I pulled out my devotional app and read what it was for today. Today's was titled "Physical." I'm smiled not even starting to read it, knowing it would be good. The verse came from 3 John 1:2 which read "Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit." Just another reminder that being healthy and staying fit isn't purely for the looks. I often stop myself and ask, okay why am I really doing this? It was such a sweet reminder to know that we're called as humans to respect our bodies and keep them in the best shape and health possible: spiritually, physically, and mentally :)

Happy Hump Day, y'all!

Sweet sweet victory!!

The Hill O' Death on the way home.
You can't even see the street...that bad -_-

I meeeean, not awwwwful? :/
It's always a work in progress.

WOD #1

After missing last weeks training session, I knew I was in for quite the workout today. Usually, I aim to workout 4-5 times a week, but because I've been so busy babysitting/nannying my life away, I value home time to keep me sane. I've been using workouts with my trainer Ryan as my gym workouts, and usually do some form of cardio twice a week with Emily.

I started going to Ryan when I moved to San Diego. Him and his roommate Wade own a small gym that they run themselves. It's not a corporate gym, and they do not have any specific style, which I actually appreciate. They're both well trained and know their stuff, so I trust them completely. When I first got there I told him I wanted to start working on different powerlifting techniques, so our workouts usually consist of that, or building main muscles involved in those movements. 

Here's a glimpse at today's workout 

Before any workout, I do a stretch and about a three minute foam roll. Don't worry, I'll do a whole blog dedicated to how much I live by foam rolling. Warm-ups, especially dynamic ones are key to happy, warm muscles. 

We started with bench just to kind of get the blood pumping, and to get my arms ready for the dead lifts. My goal this whole time has been to get 140 off the ground by myself, but unfortunately I was only able to take it from the rack and rep it. No off the ground for me just yet :( and yes, I was aggravated! Meh, next time!! 

After those complex movements, we started breaking down by targeting smaller muscle groups with more simple movements. By doing these simple, yet explosive movements, it'll help me to gain the power I need in order to get the 140 off the ground! 

We ended with just 10 simple squat jumps, and I'm pretty sure my legs and back were shot after that. 

Just like any workout, I ended with a thorough stretch, and foam roll! 

Plug of the day: 

Jump Start Fitness

Ryan Pearl and Wade Snow

https://www.facebook.com/jumpstartfitness123

Super cool guys in San Diego who love to help people with their constant motivation and by achieving their goals! If you're in the San Diego area, and looking for a fresh start or just continuing in your fitness journey like me, they're your guys for sure!

Why Paleo?

Throughout the past couple years, dieting "fads" have been in circulation. There's the whole idea that going gluten-free is good, there's the age old being vegetarian or vegan, and more recently, many people have jumped onto the paleo diet trend. This diet aims to mimics the eating habits of those in the paleolithic era; only the freshest (grassfed) meats, fish/seafood, fruits, and vegetables, nuts, and healthy oils are apart of this way of eating. Foods that are omitted include cereal grains, dairy products, refined sugars and oils, processed foods, potatoes, and certain legumes. Seems pretty drastic, huh?
I remember when I first heard about the paleo lifestyle. I was a sophomore in college, and the student athletic trainer I was assigned to shadow, Nic, had introduced it to me. I really looked up to how healthy and fit he was so I figured it was a pretty legit thing. Then, he told me the rules. HAH! Is this guy serious?! Of course he was. Then he gave me six pounds of qunioa he had at his apartment in attempts to limit temptation. The idea of being paleo was simply that to me, an idea. That was of course before I decided to create a healthier lifestyle for myself.

When my mom introduced the Whole30 Paleo Challenge to my sister and I this past January it was indeed a change. When I read the restrictions I knew this would be close to impossible for me. Not because I didn't have the willpower, but because I knew my body well, and I knew it would have a difficult time adapting to the change. The most important part, I believe, in making a dietary change is going about it slowly, yet effectively. You do not want to subject your body to any type of shock or depravation.

The hardest part of the paleo challenge was taking out grains. Unfortunately, the full paleo diet does not include quinoa. Lord, have mercy...what am I going to do?! Not only do I luuuurve my grains, I also know that this is where I get many of my carbohydrates from. Carbs are perhaps the most understood micronutrient in the bunch. We all learned it when Dolly Parton mimicked it on Steel Magnolias, "carbs are the enemy!" FALSE! Carbs are your greatest source of energy. It is essential you learn to love them and appreciate them, however do not abuse them! I could go into a whole nutrition lesson about carbs, but I will instead post a lovely Pinterest chart on the difference between simple "bad" and complex "good" carbs.

And then I saw no beans....okay, okay. Jokes over now, right? Not only do I love beans, my January/February edition of Health Magazine confirmed that beans are indeed good for your heart! They help to lower cholesterol (as do whole grains and legumes, ps). Therefore, I decided to go about this challenge differently. I decided to go about it eating more clean, than paleo. Thus I became "pseduo-paleo" as I like to describe it. I decided to adapt grassfed- produced meats, fresh fish and seafood, and unrefined sugars and healthy oils into my diet, as well as knocking out processed foods. What I did however keep that is not paleo are healthy grains like quinoa and whole-grain bread (very seldom, especially if it includes bananas and nut butter), and beans.

I am not paleo, and until I've decided to make a full change I won't even pretend to be. I do however strive to make healthy and fresh choices with everything I eat; that doesn't include Girl Scout cookies. You're welcome.

About Me

Hello all! Well, I have done it. I have decided to try my hand at blogging. Why, Sophia, why did you decide to do this? Here I am, the girl who cried days and days over her senior thesis paper; the girl who, honestly doesn't know when to use a semicolon; the girl who always leaves out words in so much as Instagram posts has decided to create her own blog. Strange, I know. But do not fret, I do have my reasons. Either I am growing up and am more aware of things around me, or blogging really has become the "in thing." My sister is a Navy wife and is totally in with the military blogging crowd, and it has kind of sparked a bit of a fire in me.

I graduated from St. Edward's University in December of 2014 with a degree in Kinesiology emphasizing in Athletic Training. When I enrolled in college I was the definition of an awkward 18 year-old who had no idea what life had in store. Throughout college, working with different athletic teams and being around a world of fitness, I began to really fall in love with the idea of helping others, and that started with myself. I entered college at 5'5" 135 pounds. Not bad right? Let's not even discuss what my body fat percentage was. I grew up playing basketball but stopped once I hit high school and didn't exactly entertain the idea of working out much. Once my freshman year was over I was tipping the scales at 140 pounds and needed a change, and quick. Being in the athletic training world, I was around constant motivation and inspiration. It forced me to really look at myself and see the changes I wanted to make. 

The summer of 2012 started my "lifestyle change," if you will. However, as a student athletic trainer, traveling with teams and eating like an athlete (when I merely sat on the sidelines) really caught up with me. From May 2012 to January 2015, I hit many bumps. Lemme tell you, the roller coaster of motivation is a real thing. Either way, I continued to push on. I've done two rounds of Sean T's Insanity videos, I pushed myself to workout at hotels while on the road, and have made many dietary changes.

Starting in January, I moved to San Diego to live with my sister who was expecting her first child while her husband was deployed. Since I was newly graduated, I decided this would be the best way to face (or ignore) the dreaded transition phase. On January 7, 2015 nephew number three was born! For the first month of his life, our mom stayed with us. She had just finished a "30 day paleo challenge" and urged us to continue with this dietary change. My sister and I, always looking for challenges and healthier living were all in! Throughout that time, we experimented with the best and healthiest foods, and recipes. With a simple month change (not neglecting exercise that is), I was able to feel way more energized, lighter, and all over healthier. As of this morning, I am weighing in at a happy 122 pounds, and 18% body fat.  

Originally, I wanted this blog to be about health and fitness, but then I decided to create it to be about all around wellness. Follow me as I discuss fun new recipes, products, challenges, but all around life and fun! 

So without further adieu, I present to you the journey of the Pseudo-Paleo Princess. Come along with me! I promise I won't disappoint :)