Is anyone else loving this spring weather?? I am! Im so excited to be back out on my bike.. Lately i’ve been getting home rather late so i’ve only had time to get in about 10 miles max before sunset. I can’t wait until my non busy weekends when I have at least 5-8 hours to max out and test my limits. Last year I think I got up to about 70 miles one trip… I was trying my hardest to get to 100, but I don’t have a bike GPS so I ran out of route and just came home. Maybe this weekend I will do 100?? Hopefully if I can get a good app.

My late evening rides have afforded me the luxury of getting an unfiltered glimpse of the sunset.. True icing on the cake. Imagine viewing the sunset while riding and smelling the wonderful aroma of honey suckle flowers ^_^ ..can we say perfection??? Yea..

This 10 mile route I take is mostly flat with one huge hill that doubles because I loop… This hill nearly kills me every time but I refuse to surrender to the desire of my body to quit and walk. Its funny, hills dont feel so steep when youre in your car. Tomorrow I will post on mental fitness and I have a few stories with my sister coming up which im sure you will enjoy.

How have you used this lovely spring weather to boost or revamp your workouts??

Immmm back…. I know, I know.. All two of my readers have missed me. Ive missed you too 🙂

I have a lot of posts coming up soon but todays focus is mangoes…Yummmm

Mangoes host an array of benefits. Remember try to eat as organic/local as possible and try not to denature the nutritional value of the food by cooking, if you can help it.

The health benefits of mangoes almost seem endless..

• High amounts of potassium
• phosphorus
• calcium
• magnesium
• iron
• copper
• Vitamins A,B1, B2, B6, C, E, K
• Folate
• Promotes good eye sight, promotes clearer skin
• loaded with antioxidants that help prevent cancers such as breast, prostate, leukemia
• Wonderful for digestion, cholesterol, memory power, sex hormones…

The benefits are truly endless.. Go get some mangoes today!! If you cant buy organic then get what you can.. I suggest eating this fruit on its own but you can add to salads or various dishes. You can also use mangoes as an ingredient in your smoothies of homemade juices or you can dehydrate mango slices. How do you eat your mangoes??

Sn: Due to the sweetness of mangoes, they can be used as nutritious snack or dessert for you or the kiddies.. Way better than that yucky sugar filled candy. How can you really compare mango flavored starbursts to the real deal???

Today a good friend dropped by to give me a “gift.” I anticipated this little surprise was a few bagels bc he told me a few weeks prior he was going to a local bagel shop and asked if I wanted any bagels. Now, being the bread lover that I am, I could not resist the offer of a few lovely bagels so I said yes. He then arrives at my door with a not so little doggy bag of fresh 1 hour old baked bagels. I mean this bag was huge… In my head im thinking “all the bagels in that bag cant be for me” followed by my verbal questioning, “Are all these for me??,” followed by a “Yes.” At this point im sure he doesnt know im in utter shock so I just proceed on with the conversation.. and im sure hes reading this Lol.

Now I love bread, and I LOVE bagels but I was really only expecting three at the most. I have enough bagels to feed me and a family of four for four years… Its enough bagels for one thousand stick people to hula hoop.. enough bagels to feed 500 Shreks… enough bagels to feed a three circus’. I felt like I hit the Mega MIllion bagel lotto. Okay, maybe im exaggerating a little, but its a lot.

I contemplated, were there ulterior motives behind this great bagel gift I received Lol?? ..and I thought back to the movie Mean Girls. Now there’s a scene in the movie where a girl gives her “friend” these protein bars to make her skinny but they really contain ingredients that are supposed to make her fat. *BINGO*… Hes trying to make me fat.. that has to be the answer. Guys think so different then women Lol, I know thats not what hes trying to do but still.. Bottomless pit of bagels *sigh*. Im obviously gonna have to freeze some since putting them in my tummy at once is not the answer..

This pic honestly doesnt do the amount of bagels, or bag justice.. just imagine a mini mountain under the  few you see.. Soooo heres my question, Does anyone have any ideas on how I can healthily consume all these glorious bagels?? This is a serious question. How can we make eating all these bagels healthy and me not fat??? I honestly could consume every single last bagel over the course of the weekend which I refuse to do.  *anxiously awaits answers*

I have some good friends Lol 🙂

Id just like to preface this post by saying a few of the pictures shown will not be very appealing so just a pre warning..

Now, lets just say I had a VERY wild experience a few days ago that I MUST tell you all about.. My first thought actually was, I cant wait to blog about this. Now… Let me start here, I love challenges, and seldom do I decline one unless I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have no chance in succeeding. So, I recently went on an open land safari at a wildlife reserve.  Among the animals there were cougars.. Now I love animals, and wildcats intrigue me (domestic [house] cats.. ehh not so much.) So my guide let me get out the safari truck and walk for a while to see if I could see any of these precious wildcats, he said “give them space if you see them and don’t get to close.” I thought those directions were simple enough. I began walking and sooner or later I could not see the truck, what I could see in the high grass however and just beyond that, a cougar…

My first reaction was, OMG I need to get back to the darn truck, second, don’t make any sudden movements but before I could complete my thought, the cougar spotted me and started running towards me… Now, this cougar was over 200 feet away, but that means nothing to me or an animal that can run up to 40 mph.  I took off running. I must say, I think I morphed into a cheetah. Either that or there were matches lit under my feet. My heart was racing. arms pumping. feet moving at lightening speed. I dont think I was breathing. My feet however found it appropriate to trip over some imaginary item in the open field, propelling my body forward and ripping my pants..  but whyyy?? To that, I’ll thank my white ancestors for the classic “trip at the most inappropriate time when you’re about to die” syndrome. I got up quickly and kept going.. I could see the jeep, my heart was pounding. I refused to look back and see where my challenger was plus I didnt wanna stop the momentum. I was sweating bullets. My driver saw me and swung the door open 30 feet away.. I finally made it to the truck.. He took his gun and shot it in the air a few times. This AUTOMATICALLY stopped the cougar in his tracks & I was no longer a target… Wild right?? I promise I had to be running almost 30 mph, no joke… This was the damage, a few days later after i’ve been home.. Warning:: gross pic, skip over if you dont like seeing wounds

Ok now I have a small confession… I never went on a safari, I wasnt chased by a cougar, but I did fall. Can you forgive me?? 😦 The real story im abt to tell you is not as cool.. and to be honest the damage on my leg doesnt match what really happened… Something as horrible looking as that needs a cool story right?? Admit it, I had you fooled didnt I??? I knew it.

Anyway, now that I have your attention, heres the truth… I took my sis for a workout since im her personal trainer, and rather than me biking with her this time I decided to wear my rollerblades. I figured this time I could get a decent workout while im out training her. We hit the trail and headed for our local state park where many go to exercise. After abt 4mi we headed on the trail back home.. Halfway home, I randomly tripped on _____ (I have yet to figure out exactly what I tripped over). Either way it stopped my blade and before I could catch it, I found myself in a position where the fall was inevitable.. bc of this I began to try and figure out the best way to fall causing the less damage. I turned my body to the side and my legs slid under me as I turned to the right.. I ripped a hole in my under armor pants and that was my original concern smh. My sis the actress was very worried. but I just brushed my hands off, rolled my pants up and got up a few minutes later. We got home and I was still in shock. I never fall on my skates EVER… actually, I never fall period.. But I must say, I thought my battle wound looked cool… and I will admit, I was going relatively fast. Now you see why I made up the cool story in the beginning?? Lol. I text my mother a picture, just bc I know she worries.. she called and asked was I wearing a helmet?? When I laughed and responded “no. im not 5,” she hung up on me smh Lol. I mean, this was a leisure/workout trail activity. I guess I shoudve been wearing elbow/knee pads with minnie mouse stickers as well. Nevertheless, It was a great workout and I still had fun..

Originally I was concerned with the fact that I completely ruined my expensive under armor pants but now as my leg pains me, I could care less… I think im off to a good recovery though & as soon as it heals up a little more, I will be back on my skates.. until then Ill be biking and doing everything else :).

Do you have any cool fitness stories?? Did my cougar story have you going?? Let me know.

Now I usually just throw random combinations of fruits and veggies into my juicer or blender but if you arent so enthused and less structured as me, give this juicing recipe a try.This very simple recipe named, Have a Riot, includes:

• 2 beets
• 2 oranges
• 4 carrots

Throw into the juicer and bon appetite..

This wonderful recipe comes from a woman named Carla who has a juicing ebook available for 101 cents.. Yes.. you read correctly just 101 cents. Please support her, this is a steal considering you get 101 recipes. If you’re bad in math, that’s essentially 1 cent per recipe Lol. Doesn’t get much better than that, especially if you are a juicing newbie.

Copy and past the link (havent figured out embedding yet smh)——> http://www.rawrawlife.com/rawrecipes/

Ill continue to post my own recipes as well but you can never get enough.. Some of these combinations may have you looking at me sideways but trust me MOST of them are tasty.. The ones that are not as tasty, well, its your health, so suck it up, your body will thank you.

Usually, the juices that are challenging to the common palate are straight green juices, no fruit, you can work your way up to those.. Until then, make sure you keep a balance.. Most juices should be immediately consumed, I wouldnt personally refrigerate them longer than 2 days.. They are fresh after all.

Drink up!!!