Kickboxing and yoga

Kickboxing and yoga seem pretty different, don't you think? I mean, it would be nuts if you stuck the two together, right? One is all violent and high impact and aerobic while the other is peaceful and low impact and not so aerobic. Well, I'm here to tell you that there are some crazy people at my gym who have combined kickboxing and yoga into one workout session. 1.5 hours of mellow, heartstopping, soothing, punch-your-brains-out fun... or at least it is to some people, but not this person. I think I like my kickboxing and yoga workouts separate (which is much different than how I like food since I often like to moosh all the things on my plate together so that I can experience all those yummy tastes at once). Next I'm going to a cycling and weights combo class. Hopefully that one will be better.

Take the junk food quiz!

Another fabulous and scary quiz from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Take the junk food quiz now and don't forget to click on the "Support Healthy School Foods" link.

For the fast food quiz, please see this previous blog entry.

What did I do to deserve this?

It's not even Valentine's Day and I'm already amassing a huge stash of chocolate. I don't talk about chocolate, but I must admit I love it. Still, what signals am I giving out that scream, "Give me chocolate!"? Here are the current stats in order of receipt:

• Endangered Species Dark Chocolate with Hazelnut Toffee (70% cocoa, purchased by me at Whole Foods)


• Cadbury Caramello (purchased by me at CVS... usually I'm a fancy, shmancy dark chocolate fan but this reminds me of my semester in London)


• Nestle Treasures (Dark truffle with nibs, gift from my neighbor... I've never seen this in stores before but it is awesome!)


• Lindt Excellence Dark Chocolate (70% cocoa, gift from my roommate... really it was more like a hand-me-down since she gave it to her boyfriend who passed it along to me)


• Ghirardelli Intense Dark Toffee Interlude (gift from the guy I'm currently seeing... the chocolate came accompanied with a rose... how sweet!)


• Ghirardelli Intense Espresso Escape (60% cacao... note the different spelling... also from the new boy)

As if that weren't enough, I just finished off some Teuscher milk and dark chocolate hearts that I got from my stepmom for Christmas. You would think that with all this chocolate in the house, I'd be ballooning. Luckily for me, I am very good at practicing self control when it comes to chocolate and plan to make the stash last through May. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. :)

Chef Elise

I just cooked chicken for the first time ever! It's not for me to eat (I made it for a friend who just lost his mom) but I'm still very excited.

I've never been much of a cook. In high school, I tried making these yummy Quaker Oatmeal cookies from scratch (there was a recipe on the side of the box) and I forgot the flour both times I made the recipe (In my defense, I figured out the mistake much quicker the second time).* In college, I made lots of burritos (I do make awesome burritos), pasta, and mini pizzas on crackers. When I lived in Mexico, I made lots of tortilla sandwiches (having a fresh produce guy around the corner was awesome). These days, I pretty much subsist off of yogurt, cereal, granola bars, fruit leather, frozen meals (primarily Amy's brand), food that other people cook, and restaurant food.

I've always said that I need to either marry a man who cooks or get rich enough so that I can hire a personal chef. Now that I've gotten to the age (nearly 27!) where get togethers are often dinner parties and potlucks, perhaps my habits will change. At the beginning of February I cooked my first-ever lasagna for my potluck (you may have read about that in my pinata post). Two real meals cooked in two consecutive months. Maybe I will finally learn how to cook!


* For the first time since high school, I made these cookies (Choc-Oat Chip Celebration Cookies) again this January and brought them to work to celebrate the end of my business school applications. People loved them. The day after I brought them, a co-worker stopped by to check if I had anymore (I didn't). Over a month after I made them, another co-worker mentioned how great my cookies were. In a way, that's three real cooking experiences in three consecutive months. Whoa!