Thursday, May 9, 2019

Friday Favorites - What I've been loving lately


There's been a lot to love recently, even with the hum drum weather.

As week #2 of my Destination: Downtime draws to a close, I've been reflecting on said downtime. It's been an interesting ride. I'm not especially gifted with full-on rest/recovery. I do honor rest and recovery days, but I'm not typically sitting idle in a comfy chair as I do so.

None the less, there's a few things that I have been loving lately. Care to hear of a few of my Friday Favorites?


First of all, I have been resisting candy. There's a good-sized candy dish within arm's reach at my work desk. Although I don't have a weight problem, I really don't need a piece of candy each time I walk by said candy dish. On a whim, I decided to try to go all morning without randomly grabbing a a sugar-laden morsel. Much to my surprise, I made it through the entire day (and evening!) unscathed. It was rather painless, so I tried boycotting candy the next day...and that was successful as well. Knock wood, it's been three days, and I have had ZERO candy and ZERO cravings. I have a horrendous sweet tooth, so this is a major shift in routine for me.

On a quest to find better "sweet" options for snacking, I came across an amazing recipe for a protein bar. I'm not a fan of smoothies or protein shakes, but these protein-enriched goodies caught my eye. Let me just say that Debbie (at Coach Debbie Runs) outdid herself in creating these Medjool Date Nutty Caramel Protein Bars. Medjool dates are packed with potassium, which is great news for me, since I'm not a huge fan of bananas, either (I know, what kind of a runner am I?).

For the first time, in a very long time, I took a (nearly) complete rest day this week. The weather was nasty outside (and Barb and I had postponed our #5at5 run)....so I skipped my usual fasted-cardio routine. Typically, I do something first thing every morning....either a short run, a power walk through the neighborhood, maybe a HIIT workout, or even 20-30 minutes on the elliptical. This particular morning, though, I slept in (for me, 5:45 a.m. is majorly "sleeping in") and did 20ish minutes of yoga. ME! Other than a short dog walk after work, that was it for the day.
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Lastly, on Thursday after work (our rescheduled #5at5 LOL), Barb and I ran several miles around one of the lakes in our town. We were appalled at all the random trash along the trail. Seriously, there are trash cans there, for Pete's sake! After we'd finished our run, we decided to head back out and pick up the trash and put in its proper place. Although it's frustrating picking up the trash of others, I'm glad to do it. Every little bit I can do (or anyone else, for that matter) benefits all of us and our planet.

So, those are just a few featured Friday Favorites for the time being.

Any random Friday Favorites happening in your world? Have you ever tried to boycott candy?  Do you take nearly-complete (almost inactive) rest days? Ever gone plogging (picking up random trash while out on a run)?

I'm also linking this with Meranda and Lacey for the Friday with Fairytales and Fitness link-up. 

 

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21 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing those date protein bars with us. I must have missed Debbie's post. I am trying to eliminate all added sugar, so I could identify with your story about avoiding the candy dish. I didn't eat a lot of candy, but I could pop an M&M or 2!

    I like to do something first thing every morning too, before I eat anything, but today is a rest day. I am running a 5K tomorrow. I have never gone plogging, but now I think I should!

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    1. Those Medjool protein bars are pretty addicting...but you didn't hear it from me LOL

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  2. Congrats on not going for the candy bowl. I have a sweet tooth too. I am trying not to put flavored creamer into my coffee now...baby steps!

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    1. I was surprised how easy it was to resist the candy. Not that I'm eating it all day, but I had been eating more than I really "needed." Just because it's there, does not mean I need it LOL

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  3. I get so mad when people leave their trash all over the place, especially when there are convenient trash cans (not that not having trash cans is an excuse). Since most candy isn’t vegan I’m not too tempted but I’m still glad we don’t have a candy bowl at work. I have been known to buy a Justin’s dark chocolate peanut butter cup on occasion when I’m at Starbucks though.

    I’m so glad you enjoyed my recipe! It makes my day when someone does that (and tells me!).

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    1. The trash thing is really annoying. SO disrespectful, and SOOO lazy. The recipe is awesome...I'm glad I found it ;-)

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  4. I am trying to reduce sugar myself but sometimes those chocolate candies just call my name. Why are they so good?? I don't understand the trash thing!

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    1. I justify my chocolate thing because I eat dark chocolate, but still. I do not need it several times each day ;-)

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  5. i don't have a sweet tooth but a 'salty tongue' but I just have to try the better protein bar!

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    1. I have been wanting to make protein bars on my own, so this was a great jump-start.

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  6. Oooh those protein bars look good! Awesome job avoiding the candy. That is a rabbit hole that is difficult to crawl out of once I go down it. Easter here was tough on that front!

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    1. YEs, the candy can be a dangerous rabbit hole! A friend at work gave me Reese's white chocolate egg, and I have successfully left it in my bottom drawer....for now ;-)

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  7. Sometimes I will pick up dog poop that doesn't belong to my dogs. As if I don't already deal with enough animal poop!

    I almost never eat candy, oddly enough. Yes, I will eat dark chocolate but I don't really consider that to be candy -- I eat 85% dark chocolate. For medicinal purposes. :)

    Of course that doesn't mean I don't eat treats, but I do have to be careful about it.

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    1. I eat mostly dark chocolate, too. For health reasons, as well ;-)

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  8. I'm glad you shared Debbie's recipe - I must have missed her post!

    It blows my mind how much litter I see when I'm out running. Kudos to you for doing a little plogging!

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    1. Here recipe is to die for ;-) The plogging is necessary ((sigh))....

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  9. I love time off after a race. I took 2 weeks off after Atlanta and it felt AMAZING.

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    1. I usually ease off substantially after a major race, but I try to keep myself in motion, albeit slowly...

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  10. My body has forced me to rest--there has been no other option!

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  11. That's awesome that you picked up the trash. I do that occasionally too - although today I approached something and I thought it was a GU pack. Turns out it was actually something from MY waistpack that had fallen out when I took my phone out! I didn't realize it had fallen out. I'm glad it was in front of me because I would have felt bad for accidentally littering!!

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  12. There was a guy picking up litter in the park today so I picked up a few things too then couldn't find a bin and had to give them to him!

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