Blends: Making Fitness Fun!

Posted on May 10, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Hey guys!

I’m so glad you like the foodie recap from this weekend at Blend Retreat…I can’t believe we crammed so much deliciousness into one weekend!

Well, actually…I can.

Because we DEFINITELY earned it.

Starting bright and early Saturday morning with the FitMixer sponsored bootcamp led by Lindsay and Tina:

I have to admit, when they busted out the whistles, I was a little nervous…

But it was so much fun…I guess following the Tuesday Trainer workouts DID pay off! ;)    I even learned a few new moves that I’m going to try incorporating into my own circuit training.

Photo credit: Lauren, Sarah, and Tina

We warmed up with a jog and some dynamic stretching, then Lindsay and Tina took turns taking us through their sets of strength, cardio, and “butt burner” moves. But that wasn’t even the best part…

The best part was when we got to play with BALLS!

Photo credit: Jillian

First, we were separated into teams…

Then we were introduced to our balls and given the breakdown:
1. Each tennis ball has a workout move printed on them
2. Pick a sprinter from the group
3. Sprint to the pile and grab a ball
4. Sprint back to your team
5. Then everyone on the team has 60 seconds to perform that move
with as many reps as possible.

Annnnnnnnnnd GO!

We didn’t have enough time to perform every move, but it was enough to break  out the competition…AND the sweat! ;)

Blame it on the endorphin rush or the fact that I was now STARVING for breakfast, but for some reason I got a little snap happy following the workout…

After our kick ass breakfast, we all headed back to our cabins to change and pack up for our hike in the Flat Irons!

We met back up at the at the main area in front of Chatauqua, picked our Simply Bar flavor (hike sponsors) and got on our way…

As we made our way up to the start of the trails, I could not get over the view…

Um, yeah…we don’t have mountains like this in Tennessee!

And this was no stroll through the hills…

Just check out that incline!

But even with most of us out of breath from either the almost vertical climb or the higher elevation, we made it look GOOD…

When we got to Sentinel Pass, I thought we had made it to the top so I started snapping away…

Then, I turned around was shown a sign that our trek had not yet come to an end…

Like literally…I was shown a SIGN! ;)

Then, after the longest 0.23 miles of my life…we finally made it to the top!

And you know what? All that muscle burn, sweating, and huffing and puffing was a distant memory as soon as I saw this:

I love how the horizon just seems t0 fade into the sky! 

I could have stayed perched on that mountain top forever…the breeze was perfect, the view incredible, the company warm.

But after the high wore off, I realized I was dirty and sweaty and one Simply Bar just wasn’t gonna cut it!

So off we went, down the mountain side to get cleaned up for our night on the town which was FULL of deliciousness…I’ve already told you about all of that, but I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to drool over those pics again! ;)

Do you like exercising outdoors?

Have you ever been on a hike…I mean a REAL, climb until your quads are smoking, hike?

Posted in Blend Retreat, Snacks, Travel, Workouts | Tagged , , , , , | 19 Comments

What I Ate With My BLENDS!

Posted on May 8, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

Ok, so I hope you guys are ready for this…

Because I just spent over TWO HOURS editing and collaging my pics of all the deliciousness that was my weekend at Blend Retreat and I have to tell you…
I’m STARVING!

Be sure to stop by Peas & Crayons to see all the yummy link ups this week…but I’ll just say right now, nobody is going to top this!
 

 It all started with the Core Power sponsored dinner on Friday night:

The tables were set in the Chautauqua dining hall. And you better believe there was some major drooling over the beautiful cupcakes calling our names lined up on a table in the entryway as we all made our way to our seats.

The flavors: Cinnamon Coffee, Raspberry Lavender, Peanut Butter Pretzel, S’mores, and The “Junkyard” (a variation of carrot cake) all made by a small Colorado bakery.

And the BEST part about them?

100% of the proceeds went to the local homeless shelter!

For dinner we were all served a light salad to get things started and then we were presented with our entrees.

I had the grilled chicken over quinoa with steamed broccoli and seriously…that quinoa/sauce was full buttery, juicy, and all kinds of amazing flavor!

I chose the raspberry lavender, cinnamon coffee, and s’mores for my cupcake selection, but I got lucky enough to taste them all by the end.

Verdict: Give me some more s’mores cupcakes!

But that’s just the tip of the mouthwatering iceberg (because we are going to pretend that icebergs are actually giant snow cones right now…don’t question me, just go with it!)

Just when we all thought dinner couldn’t be topped, we were all FLOORED by Xagave’s presentation of breakfast the next morning:

The “bread station” with real fruit jams made with Xagave!

The “yogurt station” stocked with plain Cho and TONS of toppings!

The “granola and muffin station” featuring THE BEST lemon blueberry granola (Nature’s Indulgence) I have ever tasted along with Blueberry Cranberry and Carrot Cake muffins…again BOTH made with Xagave agave nectar!

Hooray for lower sugar treats!

And finally, the “oatmeal station” lined with pretty much anything a foodie could think of to top a warm bowl of oats!

Given all the options, to say I had a bit of trouble decided what to get is a bit of an understatement, but in the end I finally had my little hodgepodge breakfast…with coffee of course!

Unsurprisingly, later in the day after we finished up a 2 hour hike up The Royal Arch (more on that later), most of us couldn’t WAIT to get to downtown Boulder for some lunch and sightseeing.

My group decided to try Mountain Sun…and I think I can speak for all of us when I say we were ANYTHING but disappointed!

Pub AND Brewery! ;)

I just KNEW I was going to love this place once I found out that not only do they have like 2963 different kinds of beer on tap…but they will let you try any of them…

FOR FREE!

In only a matter of minutes, with the help of my Bearded Bartender Dude, I knew which one was the beer for me…but of course, I still tried about 5 more after I decided and purchase my glass! ;)

In my best Viking grumble: Mmmm!

And I made NO mistake in my decision to order the Cinco de Mayo Burger…

They had me at “grilled zucchini and squash”…

But holy mother of beef burgers, just look at that melted goat cheese!
 

I’m drooling now just thinking about it!

After we finished up with lunch, most of our group decided to complete the Boulder Beer Experience with a trip to Avery Brewing Co.

I found Bearded Bartender Dude #2 and purchased a few of the dollar “tasters”…aka the cutest little beer glasses I’ve ever seen!

Then we took an impromptu tour around the facility while snapping pictures and sipping from our cute little glasses (pinkies up, please!)

The best part though was just hanging outside the place for hours afterwards enjoying the company of my blends…oh and we made some doggends (dog friends) too!

Pink collar: Daisy
Green collar: Dobie
How cute is that?! A Doberman named Dobie! :)

Oh yeah, and that would be an amazing basket of sweet potato tots with guaca-hummus (Heather is a mastermind when it comes to substitutions and combos at restaurants!)

Well, I’m sure by this time you’re thinking that we definitely had enough booze to end the evening, but au contraire…

What is Cinco de Mayo without some Mexican food and tequila shots?!

Laura (my foodie soul mate) and I shared the Vegetarian Fajitas: grilled portabello, peppers, onions, and squash with rice and black beans, corn tortillas, and mandatory condiments.

And well, the first tequila shots of the night were FREE…now who could turn that down?

Ahh, peer pressure! ;)

Believe it or not, I did not have as much to drink as it seems…not even the slightest hungover the next day…which was good since there was one last meal to enjoy before the close of our trip!

Our official sponsors, Chobani provided a breakfast full of grains, fruits, and protein to help fuel us after a kick a$$ boot camp (yep, more on that later too!)

What-cho want for breakfast? ;)

Again, I hodgepodged it up…

Oh the stress of deciding between cream cheese and peanut butter!!!

And played with the Keurig for the last time…I swear if it was cost effective (aka, better suited for coffee addicts like myself who require 2 LARGE cups of coffee daily), I would TOTALLY get one of these!

Whew! Did you make it? Are you still with me?

But more importantly…is your keyboard about to short circuit?? Quick, grab a napkin!!

Did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo? 

What is the best thing you ate over the weekend?

Posted in Blend Retreat, Breakfast, Lunch/Dinner, Trying Something New, Vegetarian, What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 51 Comments

Welcoming Blends

Posted on May 7, 2012 by kissmybroccoli

It’s official…

I’ve been home from Blend Retreat for over 24 hours…

And for the last 26 hours, all I’ve been thinking about is how INCREDIBLE of an experience it was!

I don’t know where to start other than from the beginning…

When slowly, I watched as the clouds that hovered over my little part of Tennessee

Parted and made way for an altogether different terrain

And I had my first view of snow-capped mountains!

Do you see them?

I met up with Jillian and Ashley at the airport and waited for the shuttle to carry us to Chautauqua. I knew from the beginning that I was with “my people” when we started in on a conversation about our significant others eating coveted foodie items without a second thought…that’s right guys….if you are lucky enough to love a foodie, you better ask before swiping up the last few bites of sunflower seed butter for your next sandwich! ;)

The hour and a half van ride flew by and before we knew it, we were pulling up to the Missions House…

Our home for the next 2 1/2 days!

I could never say thank you enough to all the people at Chobani for making this weekend possible…nothing but good and nothing short of amazing! ;)

And I couldn’t get over the beauty that surrounded us at Chautauqua!

As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by Lindsay, Katie, and Janetha with hugs, smiles, and fitness class waivers! Lol

(Totally ganked this photo from Janetha’s amazing stash of pics on Blend’s FB page)

I was so excited to FINALLY meet Janetha for the first time! I’ve been reading her blog since I got started with KMB back in 2010 and I can’t even begin to explain the feeling I got when she sprung around the corner and greeted me with one of the biggest hugs ever!

I knew from that point that this was going to be a great weekend!

Oh, and the huge bag of tricks they gave us helped too…

In my best Wayne & Garth impression:

 ”Schaaaaaaa-wag!” 

Wanna see? Wanna see? Oooooooooof course you do!

But before I allow you to peek inside, let me give you a few details of that bed:

Queen, wooden, cozy, warm.

And now…covered in swag!

It’s like the fit foodie version of a Halloween bucket! ;)

There were so many incredible things stuffed inside, I surprised myself by having enough restraint not to try a bite of everything…well, except for the organic face masks. ;)

I could not believe the amazing generosity of our sponsors!

Or how this fudge literally tasted like birthday cake!

Um, my next birthday…I’ll take a candle in 28 of these babies…
please and thank you!

I was also paired up with my roommate for the weekend, Amanda (who is planning on started a blog in the VERY near future…and if she doesn’t, I will be driving to Denver to hunt her down! Lol!)

We’ll just pretend that I had better foresight and took this photo on the first day of the retreat and not the last, mmmkay?

Over the next couple of hours, everybody got checked in and there were plenty of squealing stereotypical “girl” moments as most of us met each other for the very first time.

As night began to approach it was time to get all dolled up and head to dinner…

But that’s a story I’m going to make you wait for!

Hint: Juicy chicken over quinoa, crisp white wine, and mini cupcakes that make you want to smack yo mama! 

Ohh, the suspense is killing you isn’t it?

Check back tomorrow for a recap of dinner and all my other delicious eats for What I Ate Wednesday…BLEND style!

Posted in Blend Retreat, Snacks, Travel | Tagged , , , | 44 Comments