So, I’m so sorry for my absence.

Here’s the deal. We’re in the playoffs! Which is awesome but super duper nerve racking. I can’t sleep, I forget to eat, and I’m definitely not getting in my daily dose of fitness. Remembering to take fun photo’s of my life’s adventures just isn’t happening.

We play tonight and if all goes well we’ll play again on Saturday. I’m on blogging hiatus for a week or so…

Later cool cats!!!

So how are you all recuperating from last last nights Valentine’s festivities??

Max and I aren’t a very mushy couple, so we don’t go all out for V-day. Max usually get’s me some flowers, NOT RED ROSES because I don’t like them! I usually get him a card. This year I sent him an e-mail card since I like the rainforest. We had dinner at the local brewery and called it a night.

Sadly, I don’t have any pictures. We had a pretty tough loss right before dinner and my mind was not very focused on getting pictures.

Today I had my first coffee in a year and a half!!!

For those of you who don’t know… I can’t drink coffee, or couldn’t. I see a homeopathic physician because I can’t take antibiotics after having a severe reaction to one right after my ankle surgery. I can if my life is in danger but not for little things anymore. My doctor puts me on “remedies” and they really do work, but coffee is a natural antidote to the remedies.

I couldn’t have any coffee flavored anything until at least 1 year after my most recent remedy. It’s been a year and a half and after last night’s sleepless night I decided this morning was the perfect time to drink a little joe.

If I get sick and have to be put on another remedy I’ll have to stop drinking it again but until then it’s all coffee all the time.

The new Starbucks Veranda Roast is FAB!!! If you haven’t tried it yet DO IT!! It’s mild and smooth. I didn’t have to add any soy milk. Sooo smooth!

Yesterday’s lunch was good ole mexican. I don’t think I can live anywhere but California because I would be malnourished and die if I couldn’t have my daily dose of authentic mexican food.

Today I have a measly (yeah right!) 6 mile tempo run. 1 mile warm up, 4 miles at 10:04 and 1 mile cool down.

I’ll leave you with this picture…

Tell me about you!!! I want to know…

What is your nickname?

Mare, like a female horse.

What was the best Halloween costume you ever wore?

I loved my flapper costume from 3 years ago.

Where would you live if you could move anywhere?

I’d ditch the burritos for fettuccini and go to Rome.

The doughnut box is full and it’s right in front of you, which do you pick? Sprinkles? Chocolate Glazed? Maple? Jelly Filled?

I like the cruller style ones that have a white glaze!

Good morning merry sunshines! Happy Valentines Day!!

It’s inTUEative Tuesday and 2 Mile Tuesday… holy cow! I feel like Tuesdays are jammed packed with fun things like blog posts, running, basketball games. Ahh, life is good.

   Do you need your daily dose of jeep love????   

inTUEative Tuesday: Why is it so important to just eat what you want?!

I would be a complete liar, like Pinocchio status, if I said that this was an easy concept. It’s just not! Every couple of days I start to think “if only I were skinny like _________.” or “I could probably go on a carb free diet and shed some of this extra squish.” and my favorite “I’m probably ready to go on a diet and it would actually work this time.”. 

What really keeps me going? I remind myself that this year, the entire year, is all about Getting Fit. Not getting trim, skinny, svelte, thin, dieting, or losing squish. This usually get’s my mind back on track.

Here’s what I had for breakfast this morning.

This grilled breakfast sandwich came from Jack-in-the-Box. And it’s E.X.A.C.T.L.Y. what I wanted!!!

For me, eating what I want with no substitutions or restrictions really does help me follow the intuitive eating program. I find that I’m not constantly thinking about food, when the next meal is, when I can possibly justify having a snack, justifying that snack if it’s not perfectly healthy. Now, looking back I’d say I was living meal to meal. Eating monopolized my mind!!!!

It’s easy now to say that I’m full and stop eating and its easier to push myself to eat when I’m hungry rather than bored. Did you know I haven’t binged once since I started eating intuitively and I haven’t over eaten nearly at all? Funny how a little guideline can change so much!

Right now I’m seeing this part of my intuitive eating journey as healing. I just want to get rid of all the nasty dieting habits I picked up. I’m not forcing myself to stop when I feel satisfied and I’m definitely not attempting to turn down the cookies when I know I’m not hungry. I like having a clear food-free mind.

I feared drinking orange juice before! I love it so much but I couldn’t justify the calories in it. A little orange juice never hurt anyone and if it makes me happy I’d rather have it than be grumpy.

Haaaaaaaa-py Monday!

Today has been one epic moment after another. Here’s some proof.

I discovered the Hubba Hubba app in the app store.

Oh yes!!! Saucy!

Then I received this training report e-mail from DailyMile.

EPIC training week! Haha, righteous dude! My miles are a little lower than what I needed for 1/2 marathon training but I’ll pick them right back up for this week.

Another epic moment today…

If you were on twitter this morning you saw this:

I took my Jeep through it’s first drive through. Awww. I got my good old Awake Tea with soymilk from the ‘Bucks.

I my Jeep!!!

And finally my Dad and I tried a new little sandwich place for lunch called The Lunch Box.

Ohhh epic-ness!!!

I had the hot pastrami on sourdough with mustard, pickles, pepperoncini, lettuce, and tomato. Holy yum. Dad and I split the Mrs. Vickie’s BBQ chips.

Weekly Workout Plan

• Monday: Tae Bo
• Tuesday: 2 miles
• Wednesday: Rest
• Thursday: Tempo Run, 6 miles
• Friday: Cardio cross training
• Saturday: Rest
• Sunday: Long Run, 7 miles

It’s a good thing its Tae Bo Monday because it’s raining buckets and I don’t think I’d be able to run without face-shield wipers.

Tell me about you!!! I want to know…

What epic thing happened to you today?

Are you a white or red wine drinker?

White

Would you ever go running in only a sports bra and shorts if it was hot??

No!!!!

If your house was burning down what is the first thing you’d grab?

The box of all my sports metals, shoes, jerseys, news paper clippings from elementary school, middle school and high school.

Hello crazy blog friends! Did you miss me this weekend? Well, I missed all of you!

Where was I, you ask…

I was in Paradise, CA running my blonde little bootay off!

Isn’t my face healing up quite nicely?

So this week was the Chico Habitat Home Run 5k!!! Max and I drove the 5 hours north to run in this amazing race with his parents and sister, Susanna.

I ran it in 31:20 for 14th place.

It wasn’t my best 5k ever… but they all cant be, right?!

My legs were definitely feeling the entire week off I took. But you know, that’s okay. I pushed through. Didn’t walk any of it and I now know what happens when I take a week off of fitness… Total Mayhem! Talk about some added running motivation.

Today we woke up early and did a recovery walk/run. Max and I did 3.04 miles. I think we ran about half and walked the other half. I didn’t want to push too hard since I tweaked my groin a little after the race.

La Rocca Organic Winery

After the 5k, and some much needed showers, we headed over to La Rocca Vineyards (outside of Chico) for a wine tasting and vineyard tour.

La Rocca is an all organic winery. There are no sulfides in their wines.

These are all the wines they’ve made to date and at the tasting we tried the brand new Organic Sparkling, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Zinfandel Rose, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese, and the Late Harvest Lush Zinfandel which was almost a port.

These wines were amazing. The preservatives really affect the flavors of wine. I had never tasted a Cabernet or Chardonnay that tasted quite like these. They all just tasted incredibly fresh and bright.

My two favorites were the Chenin Blanc and the Zinfandel Rose. I know, I know, I’m a total flake because I like white wine. It’s what I like…

In the middle of the tasting we took a tour of their vineyards. They grow all of their vines on individual stakes, which is apparently very rare… shows you how much I know about wines.

Isn’t it beautiful. I’d live right here in a heart beat.

I haven’t done a bunch of wine tasting but this is definitely my favorite winery so far. I loved how personable all the people were, and their wines are definitely my favorites.

Thank you Ann and Randy for my wonderful Valentines Day gifts of 2 bottles of Chenin Blanc and a bottle of Zinfandel Rose. I’m in organic wine heaven. My Bachelor nights have definitely stepped up on the classy scale now.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Hey blog friends!

I guess you are probably noticing a little change here on MaMo. I decided to leave FoodBuzz and join a different advertising network, BlogHer! FoodBuzz was great. I really liked all the people there and the support they give to their bloggers. But, in the last 6 months my blog has become a lot less about food and a lot more about life. When I started this blog I was cooking or baking almost every day and I just don’t do that anymore. I’d rather work a great run into my busy schedule than a cookie decorating session.

Lately I’ve been feeling that FoodBuzz wasn’t where my blog fit anymore. I don’t think all the fabulous foodies out there want to read about my Jeep Escapades or running woes. BlogHer is a great network all about empowering women and living happy, healthy, informed lives. This network fits exactly. I’m so happy to be in such a wonderful network of people.

Okay now that we’ve dealt with the house keeping…

Yesterday a HUGE truck of wood came in from the artist we’re printing for. Right after taking this picture I walked around the back (right side of the picture) of the truck and hit my head on 2 pieces of wood sticking out farther than the others. Now my face is dented and swollen.

You can’t really see it in this picture but the bridge of my nose is all skinned and I had a huge bumb/gash above my right eyebrow. It’s not cute. But I did score a trip to Froyo to numb the pain.

I had to skip my 5 mile tempo run yesterday, work was too crazy and I had basketball all evening so I couldn’t find the time. Luckily, I have MADE the time today.

Those 5 miles are happening!

For lunch we had bbq. I had the brisket sandwich, smothered in bbq sauce, and potato salad.

OhHolyDelicious-ness!

I’m staring at this Foxy Lady all afternoon…

Awww Ginny Jeep!!!

(I chose Ginny because I like how it rings –Ginny Jeep.)

Happy Wednesday friends! How’s your week going? I feel like mines flying by. It’s going to be Saturday before I even know it and I’ll be running another 5k.

So let’s play catch-up a little.

Yesterday was 2 Mile Tuesday and so guess what I did… I ran 2 miles.

I did an easy 2 miles at about 11 minute mile pace, then I cooled down for the last .44 mile.

Then I decided to try my Pocket Yoga App. I did the 30 minute Ocean HIIT/Vinyasa practice at beginner level. I really liked yoga before I had ankle surgery but I’ve been reluctant to try it since then. My ankle was so sore last night. The joint still doesn’t have as much mobility as it should so child’s pose and upward facing dog is really painful. I tried to push my ankle a little and I definitely paid the price.

Here’s what’s going on at work. More wood printing.

The artist’s latest design is doing the American and California flags printed on the distressed-reclaimed barn wood and they look AWESOME!!! I really want the Cali Flag for my future apartment.

Lunch was with the coworkers. We had Erik’s Deli and I had the Thai Chicken Wrap which was amazing, especially with the spicy peanut sauce. I like things saucy!!!

We won last night!!! Whoo hoo.

But it was by the skin of our teeth. We should have had a pretty easy game last nigh but the girls just weren’t jelling. Luckily, they pulled it out in the 4th quarter (literally) and hopefully we’ll escape with a win and a little bit of a reality slap. 8 game winning streaks need to be challenged a little.

Max and I had celebratory dinner last night at Chili’s. We had the 2 for $20 dinner so we had the chips and salsa and guac appetizer.

And I tried their Grey Goose Lemonade which was super duper delicious. It had Grey Goose Vodka, fresh squeezed lemon juice, and agave nectar in it. I love drinks that aren’t too sweet.

For my entrée I had the Margarita Chicken which was as delicious as always.

I slurped it up, which isn’t very fancy of me but I didn’t care!

I whipped up a quick breakfast this morning of 1 fried egg on toast with boysenberry jam and 4 breakfast sausages.

Then I took the Jeep and ran by the ‘Bucks for an awake tea with soy.

The Valentines Day cups are so cute!!! I like them so much I tried to steal a few extras… I was caught and questioned by an angry barista. Don’t mess with the baristas in the morning.

And finally a little Jeep

Tell me about you!! I want to know……

Do you like wraps or sandwiches?

Normally sandwiches, wraps usually aren’t too flavorful to me.

How many times have you been to Disney Land/World?

4. The Peter Pan ride is my favorite.

What is your #1 pre-race ritual???

I’m planning on stealing all of yours

I’m still trying to name my Jeep… any suggestions?!

So far I really like:

• Penny
• Ginny
• and Snow White (Thanks Theresa!!!)

Happy Tuesday!

What did you have for breakfast this morning?

I had…

A blurry bowl of cinnamon roll oatmeal with a dollop peanut butter. Tasty. Tasty.

My cat Harley died last week on Wednesday. I was really down at practice that evening so my girls made me brownies, a homemade card and gave me these beautiful roses. Aren’t they pretty? They smell amazing too.

Here’s your daily dose of Jeep!

inTUEative Tuesday

Well what do I have to say about intuitive eating this week?

I think eating intuitively doesn’t follow a time line. It’s not a switch that gets flipped on and you go from zero to sixty over night. It’s a pretty long process.

Up until this week I felt like I was behind the curve because I quit progressing past “eating what you want when you want it” and “eat when hungry, stop when full”. It’s taking me a long time to master these two concepts. Eating intuitively is not a plan. The book doesn’t say spend 2 weeks mastering eating when hungry then your next step for 5 weeks is…”. This is hard for me because I like seeing results. Who am I kidding, I like seeing results F.A.S.T..

This is not a fast journey, it’s a marathon.

My Progress

I’m still on the train. I’m not counting calories (AT ALL!) and I’m starting to really hate feeling full again. I hated feeling full growing up. I’m also starting to notice that when I’m not hungry, sometimes I have to literally force myself to eat. This morning I wasn’t hungry for breakfast and eating did not sound great at all. This never would have happened before starting this process. I could eat anything (in any amount) at anytime.

I like being able to understand my body better. I’ve also started forgetting about meals when I’m not hungry. A few days ago I didn’t even realize I missed lunch until 2:30pm. This just shows how much food and eating really dominated my life and how much it doesn’t now. I’m really happy I decided to take dieting completely out of my life and just focus on being healthy.

Tell me about you!!! I want to know…

What did you name your car?

What should I name my Jeep?

If it’s storming what do you like to do inside?

I just finished my first bootay kicking workout this week. I figured you’d like a squeaky clean picture instead of a sticky sweaty one…

I decided Monday’s are now called Tae Bo Monday and I did my Target Tae Bo workout DVD. I love how this DVD always seems to make some part of my body sore. Today it’s the shoulders. Holy Hell’s Bells they’re a burnin’ and a shakin’.

Weekly Workout Schedule

• Tae Bo Monday: Target Training DVD
• 2 Mile Tuesday: 2 miles
• Wednesday: rest
• Tempo Thursday: 5 mile tempo run
• Cardio Friday: cardio cross training
• Saturday: 5k race in Oroville
• Running Sunday: 7 mile long run

I’m a little nerdy and I have definitely re-named my days of the week around my fitness schedule. What can I say… it’s who I am.

It’s also laundry day! I did 2 loads of clothes while doing my workout. SCORE one for killing 2 birds with one stone. YAY!!!

For lunch I loaded up on Burrito.

A blackened chicken burrito with rice, beans and pico de gallo.

Yuuuummmmmmy!

Hey guys! I feel like I haven’t seen you in FOREVER. It makes me sad. But in all fairness I was crazy busy last week and I’m learning not to put pressure on myself where I don’t need to. Blogging shouldn’t be a pressured thing it should be a fun thing that happens when it happens.

Last week I had to run practices myself most of the days because Ken was working, we had a game, work has really taken off, and I bought a new car.

My eats were not exciting and I didn’t get a single workout in… gosh!

The lame-o eats continue… plain toaster waffles for breakfast.

So… do you want to see my 2005 Jeep Wrangler?!?!?!

Isn’t she gorgeous?!

She has had only 1 owner and he/she took immaculate care of her. She’s flawless inside and out. No dents, paint chips, scuffs or anything. She has 4 wheel drive, air conditioning, CD player and only 54,000 miles.

I’m in Jeep love. So is Max, I’m afraid to leave my keys unattended around him because I know he’ll bolt and run away with my Jeep.

I’m getting back on track this week with fitness. I need to get all my runs in since I’m running a 5k in Oroville on Saturday. Yikes!!!

Do you like yourself?

This is me. No makeup, no trying to fit into a certain persona or presenting myself so people think of me in a certain way. Lately, especially since starting intuitive eating, I’m really liking myself exactly as I am.

I don’t care that I don’t have the perfectly toned body I did when I was an athlete. I don’t care if I look in style or have the best brands on. I’m Maren and I’m great exactly as I am.

Tell me about you!! I want to know…

Do you have vacation plans already and where are they to?

No but I definitely want to go somewhere. Work has been to hard to not.

Do you like the chocolate sprinkles or the rainbow sprinkles?

Rainbow

Do you ever go makeup less?

Yes

Are you the kind of person that hates Mondays?

Yes, usually.