Semester is OVER! Time to R.E.L.A.X

Hey everyone!!!!

Missed everyone so much + blogging of course. Despite the extremely hectic last few weeks I have been able to sneak a peak at my favorite blogs here and there but nothing beats the leisure of reading away and taking time to relax without having to worry that I have a paper due tomorrow or that I have a very intense Finance final coming up. So, pretty much happy to say that is over!!! :) 

I have the next week off from work so I am excited to catch up on my favorite things more consistently: Blogging, family time, friend time, love time, time to work out, time to meal prep and bake goodies, time to spend time with the people that make me smile and just time to BE FREE. Nothing can describe the sense of freedom that being off from work AND school brings, even if its just for a week. So, I am feeling very blessed and grateful and looking forward to wrapping up this wonderful 2013 on the right foot.

Before I go any further just wanted to give a shout out to Lisa from "Something Infinitely Interesting" for participating on my last give away. Congratulations as you won the amazing Bestowed Box!! Please email me your mailing address (dolcemabelle@gmail.com) so that I can make delivery arrangements. Thank you so much for participating. I didnt get much response on the giveaway and I have a feeling I am lacking a bit on my advertising skills for the blog. Not to mention I haven't really been making people aware of my blog as much as I used to in the past. So, no biggie'. Just something to work on!

So, whats happened since my last blog post? Wish I could say I traveled all around Europe on a private jet. However, the majority of my time was spent with my bank management book:
Here is a photo of me after I took my last final last week:

Lets just say that after nearly 100 note-cards later I was ready for it all to be over!!! Just quickly wanted to point out that despite another challenging class; I once again got a professor whom was very understanding and actually took the time to meet with me and discuss things I did not understand in order to make sure I would be okay. Always thankful for professors that actually care.

Besides finance, I took an "Gender Differences" course which was pretty much an entrepreneurship class focused on women business owners. It was AMAZING and I learned so much! Sometimes I wonder why the heck am I bothering with the degree and then classes like the ones I took remind me of why and put my career goals and objectives back on track and in to better perspective.

So anyways, all the studying, classes, my full time job and trying to balance some sort of social life was starting to take a toll on me back in November. The anxiety was transferring over to my eating habits and I couldnt remember the last time I exercised. Lets just say I was feeling like crap (...and pardon my french). Considering all the races I have done this year running outside had gotten kind of mundane and boring. I needed a change of pace to get excited again about working out so I took it back to the basics: I joined a gym!!! Besides calming down my anxiety and feeling better about myself I also wanted to join in order to start off the new year the right away. I dont know about you but "trying to start something" on January 1st brings a little bit too much pressure and thats when motivation seems to slowly fade away. In comparison, starting off on goals way before the 1st makes me that much more motivated as I transfer the momentum in to the new year. What do you think?

So, back to the gym: I am super, duper, FRUGAL so I did not want to spend a ton on monthly fees. I looked in to Planet Fitness which is the most affordable gym I know ($10 bucks a month, hard to beat that!). After much thinking and back and forth I finally decided to take the plunge and I joined a new facility near my apartment complex.

All I have to say is that I REALLY love it and it's done is job in terms of keeping me motivated to work out again. I have to admit in the past I had been a little skeptical about planet fitness due to some prior not-so-good experiences but I am so glad I joined this branch and look forward to my workouts. No better feeling than to getting back at it! 

Bathroom Selfie

Besides the above, Ive also been spending a lot of time with a good friend and simply just bonding away and feeling very, very happy.

A couple of pictures of decorations around Wall Street (taken right before I literally ran out of the vicinity before vacation):

Tree by NYSE

NYSE

Hope everyone has been good and is ready to start out the new year on a momentum.
Any goals? I suggest starting out now!!! Even if its just a small step. There is no better feeling than starting the new year already ahead of the game!

Love you all and thanks for reading!

 Mabelle <3

Source 

Why I enjoy a Healthy Lifestyle

Hey All!!

I haven't passed by here in a few weeks and you probably could very well guess why. When I start getting inconsistent with my posts it usually means I am dealing with a pretty stressful life or simply just have a whole lot going on and this is no exception. 

I must confess....

I haven't been running since October when I ran my half marathon and my 10K only a week apart. I had decided to take a break from running in order to give my legs some rest from the months of training and the actual races but the "break" has extended for longer than expected. The fact that we've had bipolar weather here in NYC which is now gearing more towards freezing temperatures has not helped at all!

What usually happens when I stop working out consistently? my "consistent" healthy eating also go out the door. I have to admit that I still incorporate healthy foods in to my diet most of the time. However, it is also true that junk food, fast food, and other not so great consumption have made their way in to my life one way or another. 

I must confess...

When I am stressed I feel anxious and when I feel anxious and stressed I overeat and I eat a lot. And it doesnt feel good. Food is delicious and is meant to be enjoyed but there is a thin line between enjoying food and having a balance and overeating/gluttony and having an "F*ck it" mentality, which is what I've been having lately on and off. 

Although there is nothing wrong with relaxing from time to time eating whatever we want and taking a break from working out; I do have to admit that I feel my BEST when I am in fact taking care of myself and my body. I am sure many can relate to the fact that making a conscious effort to eat wholesome super foods and making sure we get in a reasonable amount of cardio and/or strength training in to our weeks can make us feel amazing. Hence, although it isnt always easy to make the best decisions it is soooo worth it. Do you agree??
I usually get back on track by starting to plan my meals, adding workouts to my calendar, rekindling my relationship with my food journal (so therapeutic!) and simply deciding that I will do whats best for my body and myself. I dont do it for anyone else. I do it for ME!! To feel my personal best <3....There is something about making positive decisions in life (from food to exercise to relationships and everything in between) that contributes to making us feel like a million bucks.

I am not saying that life is automatically perfect when we eat well, exercise and loose those love handles. However, everything in life is a balance and I read somewhere one day that "if something makes you happy; dont question it, just do it" (as long as we arent hurting ourselves or anyone else!).

With that said, I have to admit that my BESTOWED box for this month came at a PERFECT time! I was ecstatic when I received the box with all the goodies and it was as if I "called" it with my mind. You know how they say that when you start thinking positive, positive things happen? I believe that is true. Receiving the box was the "materialization" of my positive mentality towards getting back to my healthy life. 

Check out all the GREAT stuff for November:

Hello, Gorgeous:

 Booklet with some information about all the goodies included + some recipes. It even has some "tips on eating and working out" in the back. (Loved this!):

All the AMAZING goodies:

What I love the most is that most of the items are things I haven't tried before. So, I am super excited to try some new stuff and see whether is something I'd like to keep adding to my diet, Here is a quick summary of the goods:

• Wild garden hummus dip 
• Crunchmaster Multi-seek crackers
• Eat Green Tea
• LifeIce
• Nektar Honey Crystals
• Perfect Fuel Chocolate
• QUEST Bar--chocolate peanut butter <--- pretty popular on instagram, cant wait to try!
• Salba Smart Chia Boost
• Skratch Labs Exercise hydration mix
• ZICO Chocolate  

The amazing peeps @ Bestowed are running an amazing deal---get the box for only $10 (instead of $19). This is  GREAT opportunity to indulge in some delicious goodies before November ends. The  code is HELLOTEN105 and can be used at checkout on their site by clicking here.



To enter the giveaway:

• Follow me on Blogger (click on the "join this site" icon on the right hand side of the screen)
• Follow me on twitter (@dolcemabelle)

Comment below when you do! Each action counts as one entry!! :)

**DISCOUNT CODE AND GIVEAWAY VALID UNTIL 11/30/2013 (SATURDAY)**

GOOD LUCK

***

*Bestowed gifted me a box for the month of November, and discount code. ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN. 

Falling in LOVE with running (and a few things it's taught me).

Hey Everyone!

I know its been a while since I've passed by here. I've had sooooo many "catch up" posts running through my head that I had to make a list. I figured I start with what ive been doing the most lately which is running!

As Ive mentioned previously, Ive been working on building a routine involving "every other day runs" preferably in the morning (but squeezed in during afternoons when necessary). Ive been able to keep up with it and it really feels amazing. I think Ive gotten to a point where I look forward to my runs (who the heck am I?!) and as long as I have my head phones I am good to go!

My pace has remained kinda' steady in the 9:50-10:29 per mile range. However, one HUGE difference ive noticed is that I now find myself running with ease, not huffing and puffing and actually ENJOYING the journey. Ive never thought I could feel that way about it but peoples, its possible!! ha!

A couple of weeks ago while my parents were vacationing in the Dominican Republic (yeah and they left me behind, by the way!) my sister and I decided to go for a long morning run by the west side highway. If you ever visit NYC or live in NYC and are in to running (or even if you're not) this is a MUST place to see. It has gorgeous views and the atmosphere and energy during weekend mornings is awesome.

Below are some photos of our morning:

Warning: Awkward post-run pic below.

Post our run we swung by a "Fairway Market" near the track to buy some ingredients for breakfast. I found some cute mini-banana's I've never seen before so I bought them. Check these out:

And there you have it! Ive been increasing my mileage from 2.5-3 miles to 5+ miles on most days. I am not trying to kill myself but feels good to go longer and actually still feel amazing after the run. Cheers to running stamina and strength!

 

Here are a few things running has taught me:

 

1. To LOVE my legs, specially my thighs! Ive had a love/hate relationship with my legs for as long as I can remember. I mean, Ive always loved that they allow me to walk normally, exercise, etc. But I remember when I was younger I used to be SUPER self-conscious of my thighs. I always felt as if they had too much "jiggle" and would be mortified when I had to wear bathing suits not involving some sort of cover up. Well, I'd like to announce that I have learned to love every bit of my legs now. Whether they are perfect or not in other peoples eyes they are perfect in my eyes. Plus, I think all the running has toned them up to a point where I actually feel comfortable in short shorts. As a matter of fact, I wore some short-shorts this past weekend. Score!!

 

2. Confidence: To be honest sometimes I wonder who the heck am I and what ive done with myself. Ive always been the kind of person whom likes to be "under the radar". There's even been times when people have told me I am so quiet I am almost invisible! (scary). So it may come without saying that (in the past) I wouldn't be caught dead running around anywhere that wasn't inside a gym and on a treadmill . Or a track specifically made for running. Well, let me just say that now I find myself running ALL OVER MY NEIGHBOORHOD. On my own! No "running budy" next to me to make me feel comfortable. Just me and my headphones and my running gear waiving to neighbors, smiling at strangers, with my head up. Yes. Me. I know this may seem normal to most people but to me is a huge milestone and something im proud of. Ive come a long way! I don't know if this has to do with running but I also find myself being more assertive with people in general. Pure awesomeness.

 

3. It is possible to increase running stamina! I can hear the "of courses"  but I had my doubts in the past. I learned (once again) that my body is such a powerful-adaptable machine. If I can do it, so can anyone! My "running accomplishments" uses to consist of me running straight for 5-15 minutes on a treadmill. I thought that was all I would be capable of. Boy was I dead wrong! Ive come a long way to a point I never imagined-- running miles and miles on end without passing out! :)

 

And that's all folks. Thanks for reading.

 

Tell me, do you enjoy running or any other fitness activity? what has it taught YOU?

 

Color Me Rad- MetLife Stadium Edition

Hey everyone!

Hope you're all having a great Sunday  Passing by to share that this morning I ran the Color Me Rad race at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey. My sister's friend was kind enough to pick us up from the city and off we went at the crack of dawn towards our race destination.

I have to say the race was a lot of fun mainly because I was with a group of fun friends whom made it all worthwhile. Also, the colors and the music all around the course was obviously the highlight of the entire event. I want to give an honest review of the race because a few things did bother me. So here goes the good, the bad, and the ugly:

The not so good:

1. Although we had all paid for the race (prices ranged from $35- $55 as race day got closer) we were still charged $10 for parking. There was absolutely no warning about this fee on the website nor the email they sent us last week with the final details of the race. Whats up with that?! (unless I miss it but I doubt it). We had no choice but to pay considering we were in the middle of nowhere and we had no other parking options.

2. The race took place in the parking lot of the MetLife stadium and they just placed orange cones around the perimeter to make sure we stayed in course. It really bothered me that there was no signs indicating which mile we were on. It was just one huge loop (I am assuming the loop was 3.2 miles but I'll never know considering none of the miles were tracked).

3. Wayyyyyy too many people walking. I know is okay to walk in a race once in a while but I would say anywhere from 70-80% of the people were just walking at very slow pace.

4. Not many free goodies to enjoy. Actually, barely any :( I am a huge fan of freebies so when I realized the most we were going to get for "free" were some Lara bars and some "chews" candy I was a little disappointed (although they are good). Here is a quick sample:

5. No Medal (ugh!) enough said! <--- this should be #1

The Good:

1. Fun activity to enjoy with friends on a Sunday morning. I had a great time spending quality time with my dear buddies and super excited for two of my friends for whom this was their VERY first race!

2. The t-shirt we got with our packages fits nicely! I am happy to add another cute shirt to my working out wardrobe.

3. We took tons of fun pics

4. Upbeat and energetic post-race mini "concert"

5. Friendly race staff

6. Good Lara Bar flavors (and they weren't stingy about how many we could take).

Another things to note is that there were a limited amount of color stations. Definitely not as many as I was thinking (I was afraid to be honest).This did not bother me at all. I was super happy about it as I was somewhat afraid of that "strange color powder". However, I have to admit that some of my friends were kinda' disappointed. The allegations on their website stating that allegedly they spray you every 5 minutes is kinda' of false advertisement. However, important to keep in mind that this race goes on country wide so maybe is different in other states.

I leave you with some fun pics of the event! I am the gal with the beige old navy hat :)

Now pardon me while I enjoy my tuna sandwich with a lettuce overload. :) Have a great Sunday!

Have you ever ran a color-race before? 

My morning + My weekend: happy Monday!

“Your body only has the ability to love what you let it get used to”.

So this morning I woke up with the intention of running but then I was going back and forth on whether I should do my Jillian Michaels DVD instead. Well, I looked out the window towards the track and in less than a second confirmed that my body was craving a run instead.
I found the quote above on instagram and it made a lot of sense to me. Lately, Ive been on a “running every other day” plan and I think Im getting used to it in a way that if I don’t run on a day when Im set to do so—it just doesn’t fit right. So, off I went on a wonderful jog this morning and felt amazing. What makes me feel really motivated as well is the fact that I am usually not the only one out there. Several people in my neighborhood are also out bright and early: jogging, running, biking and walking. Its just the right amount of people which allows me to feel “support” around me (even if they are complete strangers) and motivates me to keep going. What a great feeling.

Today’s Jog Summary:

 

For breakfast, I decided to give the almond-butter on ezequiel bread a break and opted for granola with Greek yogurt + blueberries. Had to sprinkle some wonderful cinnamon on top and it definitely hit the spot (plus my café w/ almond milk, of course).

So I had a wonderful weekend overall. On Saturday I took out my 13 year old cousin on a shopping date and we had a wonderful time. We went to Panera for lunch and it was delicious. The Panera is literally down the block from me. I don’t know why I don’t go there more often!

What I had (1/2 veggie sandwich and ½ Greek salad):

 

What she had: Grilled chicken salad (yes. This 13 year old said she wanted to get a salad because it was “sooo good” last time she had it. Not because she is trying to be on any kind of diet but because it actually tastes good to her. For some reason, that put a smile on my face!):

 

I then brought her back to my apartment for a bit and she watched something called “pretty little liars” while I finished laundry. I am not sure why everyone is obsessed with that show. I tried to watch an episode to get in to it but it just wasn’t what I was expecting. Sorry to all the fans out there!

Sunday was also a great time. I went out to the lakes with friends. We ate veggie burgers, fruits, salads (apparently everyone was trying to eat healthy) and played everything from Frisbee (its been ages!) to volleyball. We also took a dip on the lake for a bit. We had a wonderful time and started to wonder why we don’t get together more often.

 

The weather did not disappoint!

And that my friends, was my weekend on a nutshell. Cheers to the summer!

Question: What are your thoughts on the quote above? How was your weekend?

I DID IT! (no meat) And The highlights of my week

So I did it guys! I went meatless for over a week. The "experiment" was supposed to end on Tuesday but I kept going. To be honest, I think im getting the hang of this and may continue forward with this for as long as I can tolerate it. I'd like to see how I feel after maybe 30 days for now. I am wondering how my body would react. In reality, all I really gave up was chicken and any kind of red meat. I still allowed myself eggs, cheese, and seafood.

Ive only been eating the cheese sporadically and is from trader joes. Per the container, there are no added hormones, preservatives, etc (which is the main reason behind the experiment). So, based on that Ive allowed the cheese.

Some thoughts:

1. I feel good. I have to admit the first few days (and maybe even right now) I miss chicken. Eating chicken in salads, wraps, with rice, etc. has always been such a huge part of my diet (my whole life!) and now that its missing I actually miss it. Not tnecessarity o the point that I want to say :"forget this" but in a way that I randomly think about it and then have to remind myself that I am temporarily not having it.

2. Ive never been a big "red meat" eater so in terms of that, i dont really care much for it nor miss it at all from my diet. So, thats good.

3. I feel "healthier" (in my head) it may all be an illusion or a "placebo" effect or maybe not eating meats is actually making me healthier. I dont know. only time can tell.
4. Ive been eating really clean for the most part and it may have a lot to do with the fact that I am making a conscious effort to eat clean ('cuz we all know thats not always easy) this may go hand in hand with the "feeling healthier" thing. By eating clean I mean that Ive given up a lot of my trigger foods such as sweets, granola bars, sugary cereals, etc. The first few days were a nightmare but my craving for it have died significantly.

5. Ive noticed some other physical changes, but I want to see how much longer I can do this and see if i continue to see significant changes in my overall well-being.

The plan going forward: To continue this and complete 30 days. Meaning that I will come back with a full 30-day review of my life without meat on or shortly after 08/02/2013 (which is when I'll complete a month).

So, what have I been eating? in a nutshell:

Breakfast: I always have either one of these items: 1. Greek yogurt with granola 2. almond butter and organic jelly (from TJs) on Ezequiel bread OR 3. Whole wheat bread with egg whites/boiled egg + Cafe w/ almond milk.

Lunch: Stuck to either a tuna sandwich, eggs sandwich OR 100% whole wheat pasta with tuna and I'd have organic chips and fruit on the side

Dinner: this is where I had to get creative. See below for some of the items I had for dinner:

 

I leave you with some of the highlights of my week:

1. My dad's birthday (full post coming up dedicated to my dad, because he is simply awesome).
2. Emails that made my day! :)
3. Having such a close knit family and amazing parents (both of them)
4. I spent about 3 hours at barnes and noble after work this week and it was amazing. I grabbed some cafe with soy milk and journaled about different things going on in my life. Such great therapy which gave me clarity on a few things.
5. My virtual running team. Okay this is extremely weird but I was so excited to get up and run on Thursday morning that I could barely sleep the night before. isn't that crazy?! the power of support keeps astonishing me.

QUESTION: What are your thoughts on meat? (I love it. I admit it. But just curious on what a life without it is all about :)

Doing anything exciting this weekend?

How I (almost) got lost around my own neighborhood

First of all,  below is a portion of last night’s dinner (still no meat). A banana smoothie with TONS of spinach (hence the delicious- looking green color), while beans w/ salsa and sweet potato. I know this combination sounds kinda’ strange but it was good and got the job done.

So this morning I woke up for my regular morning run (a routine which began about 2 weeks ago and which I am building slowly). As I ran my regular loop I started to develop some kind of strange energy which propelled me to run outside my usual route. And so, as I ventured out of my familiar vicinity and with only about 15 minutes to spare (before running home to get ready for work) I found myself a little confused in regards to my whereabouts. Now, let me explain--- I’ve ran the alternate route before and I have been fine but I believe that the panic of having to get ready for work made me forget where I was for like half a second.

Thankfully, I eventually saw the sign for a familiar street which I like to think of as the middle point for everything within my apartment complex (which is huge!). Reminds me of my good ol’ college days up at the university at Albany (a huge place) where as an innocent freshman I had to find my way around by identifying a tower that was smack in the middle of campus (the good old days…). So, anyways, I was relieved once I saw that road and continued on my way.

As I found my way back to my apartment I said goodbye to the panic and continued on to enjoy the wonderful endorphins of running. Feels great to get my workout done before beginning my day. That way there is no room for excuses! And today is father’s birthday (whom I love so very much). We are going out to dinner tonight so, a workout would not have been possible.

Todays workout summary:

 

Source: Nike+ running App. If you have an IPHONE or smart phone in general. I recommend it. Is a great tool to track your mileage, calories and running/walking rates of speed. There are a ton of great apps out there but that’s the one I use. Although ive been seriously considering getting one those “polar” fitness watches I see all over the place lately.

By the way: You don’t need a smart phone or an app to get out there and run. If you have two legs and maybe a watch to time yourself, that’s really all you need.

If you don’t already work out in the morning, I encourage you to join me and wake up 30-40 minutes earlier (start slowly, every other day if you have to. Maybe start with 20 minutes) and get out there and walk, jog, run, do a workout DVD, whatever it is that can do to get your body and your metabolism moving. I assure you that once you get in to a morning routine there will be not looking back and you’ll begin to feel amazing and empowered. Take advantage of the fresh air and calm atmosphere the early morning hours have to offer!

Question: have you ever gotten loss while working out around your neighborhood?.