Ring in the New Year!

Happy New Year’s Eve!! So, what kind of plans do you have to ring in the New Year this evening?

We’re having some family and friends over for munchies, drinks, and fireworks. The city does a great firework display at midnight that we can see perfectly from our rooftop deck.

I’ve spent today doing some final touches, cleaning (o.c.d. here) and prepping food. We have quite a spread planned…

Pulled pork BBQ
Harry & David’s pepper relish cheese dip with crackers
Hot pepper cheese ball with sliced almonds
Dill Havarti cheese
Deviled eggs
Tortilla chips with salsa
Fresh veggies with hummus
Pumpkin roll
Cookie tray with chocolate covered cashews

Let me check the frig to see if I missed anything…. Oh yeah, three bean salad.

As you probably guessed I will not be eating much of this so I’ve planned on making a BBQ tempah sandwich to fill my belly. What better way to get rid of food you don’t eat, feed it to guest. (Oh that sounds terrible). I’ll post pictures of all these goodies sometime soon.

While I was cleaning today I used these stainless steel wipes for all our appliances. They work great so I thought I’d share.


Method Stainless Steel Wipes



We pick these up at Big Lots super cheap. Look how shiny the refrigerator is!

....

Have you thought about your 2010 resolutions? Mine seem to be about the same every year and I haven’t put too much thought into them this year but here’s a general idea of what I would like to accomplish.

Save money (always on the list)
Live a simple and healthy life
Start a family (TTC this spring!)

I try not to set goals like loose 10 pounds, although I’d like to, I rather be realistic and stick to a healthy lifestyle. I just want to feel great and be happy! Of course I have other goals besides just these three (i.e. attend church frequently, spend more time with family and friends, further my education).

....

In case you’re wondering about my eats (probably not but I’ll share anyway)…

Today started off with my regular black coffee and pb/ab oats. Like always I wanted to lick the bowl clean.

After cleaning a while I ate an apple, sliced with sprinkled cinnamon. This taste so good I’m not sure why I hadn’t tried it sooner. I also polished off the last two vegan cookies I baked. They were in the freezer just yelling my name :)

For lunch I am baking some carrot fries that I can’t wait to try. I always see these on Mama Pea’s blog and wanted to try them. There’s no better time than after buying 5 lbs of carrots from Sam’s.

Note to self: don’t toss in olive oil. The first batch burnt in less than 25 minutes.



Much better with canola oil.



For someone who loves sweet potatoes fries, carrot fries are right up there! I could have done without the salad and had more fries. These maybe a new staple in our house.




Fiesta themed salad: spring mix, broccoli, carrots, salsa, Kashi Fiery Fiesta rice

Time to finish house work and get myself cleaned up. If I have time I’d like to workout before guest arrive, we’ll see.

Wishing you a very happy 2010!!

Windy 3 Miler

I finally motivated myself to get out of the house and outside in the cold to run. Since my training schedule has been nonexistent over the last week with the snow and holiday get-togethers, I'll be playing catch up this week!

It was rough getting my foot out the door with the windy weather. It's 30 degrees here but feels like 17 with gust of wind up to 39 mph.

I had to return our DVDs from last night so I carried the movies for my first 2 miles until I reached a RedBox to return them. The last mile I ran against the wind which explains the decrease in time.

Here's what the Garmin reported:

Distance 3.01 mi
Time 29:59
Calories 317
Avg pace 9:57

Splits

Mile 1- 9:32
Mile 2- 9:59
Mile 3- 10:12

I'm not thrilled with this run but after a week off and crappy eating it will have to do.

After I thawed out with a hot shower I made some lunch. While cutting the veggies for my salad I dipped some in the container of hummus. (no pic)

I had a huge salad with carrots, sugar snap peas, green pepper, sliced almonds, and Annie's Goddess dressing.



I also had some crackers with homemade plum jam. Thanks Aunt Bonnie, it's delicious!



Time to start cleaning... oh what fun!

2010 is right around the corner and I still haven't posted my goals. Have you though about your goals yet?

Getting back on track... Monday

Jeff was off work yesterday so we spent the day together running errands and watching movies. Fun stuff!

I started my morning off with pb and apple butter oats. Oh how I missed them! It feels so nice to get back into my routine. We then headed out to pick up our kitchen tile that finally came in and also did some grocery shopping.

First stop was Trader Joe’s where we got some odds and ends. Peanut butter (I can’t live without it), frozen vegetables, pizza sauce, and other random things.

The most fun we had was at Sam’s club! With our Christmas money we decided to join the club and do a big grocery shop. We cursed up and down every isle in the store and Jeff tried every sample too :) Most were meat but I got to sample a soft pretzel that held me over till lunch.

From what I’ve heard we would probably enjoy a membership at Costco much more since they carry more foods that we eat but Sam’s is much more convenient. I did get some good deals on daily eats like my 9 pound box of oats!! They had great produce too so I stocked up on fruit and salad. We were a little bummed that they didn’t have a faux meat products but were happy to see lots of soymilk.

When we got home I made a big salad


Lots of veggies, slivered almonds, and hummus. I’m really trying to get back to healthy eating after all the holiday treats I had the last couple days.

We rented two movies for tonight: Paranormal Activity (Jeff’s pick) and Julie and Julia (my pick of course). I am not a huge fan of scary movies but somehow Jeff always talks me into watching them. Promising to hold me tight...blah blah blah… you get the drift. It never makes the movie any less scary and Paranormal Activity was no exception. Needless to say I didn’t sleep well last night.

Julie and Julia was very cute and made me want to cook a fancy meal. Jeff kept reminding me that I could never live off French cooking. I assumed because it would make my ass huge but he just meant that they cook with a lots of foods I don’t eat. Either way I don’t know how the French stay so thin.

Before eating dinner I had to fit in a workout after the weekend I've had. So I did Jillian's 30-Day Shred level 2. These are the best 20 minute workouts!

For dinner we had a very Americanized meal of salad and pasta.





It was nice to spend the day with my hubby but now we're back to the daily grind.

I need to get motivated to run this afternoon. It's so windy and cold outside that I'd much rather workout in the basement but I haven't ran for a week. Santa did bring some warm running gear so I'll head out a litte later hopefully it will warm up.

Is anyone else having a hard time heading outside in the cold weather? I could really use a running buddy to help keep me motivated.

Hope you all have a great Tuesday!

Oats Remix

Good Morning! I am happy to report that I didn’t eat any sweets yesterday, YAY! Just had to get that out first thing :)

I finished the last of my holiday baking yesterday. Peanut butter treats for the doggies in our life. I tried my best to make them look like bones with the little cookie cutter I found. Elli wouldn’t leave me alone while these were baking.




Last night after dinner I curled up to watch football with a mug of Sugar Cookie tea.



While watching the game we heard several fire trucks pass our house. This is pretty common since we live on a busy city street but they just kept coming. Soon we heard helicopters and police and quickly peaked outside. Oh my goodness, there was a huge fire just two blocks from our house. It’s sad but I immediately grabbed my camera and took this terrible picture.



Now for today…

I skipped a workout today since my butt is still sore from Jillian. (Damn her!) My body could use some rest though so it feels nice.

With no more bananas I decided to try a different mix with my oats. I added apple butter to my normal pb oats. Why haven’t I done this sooner? OMGosh it was amazing! I definitely found another great combo. With just a little peanut butter left I’m looking forward to oats in a jar on Thursday. Tomorrow I’ll be having brunch with my co-workers so oats will not be necessary.



• 1/2 Oats
• 1 tbs peanut butter
• 1 tbs apple butter
• cinnamon
• stevia
Cooked in about 1 cup hot water.

Pure deliciousness! You know it’s good when you plan breakfast two days in advance.

Today was yet another freezing cold day in the office. My lunch warmed me up a bit.



Remember my impulse buy from last week, this Pad Thai soup? Besides the rice noodles it didn’t resemble the Pad Thai I know but it was tasty. For a convenient soup it was fairly healthy too and number one, it warmed me up! Along side my soup I had an apple and baby carrots. Overall this was a very satisfying and filling lunch.

I don’t know how you’re feeling about work these days but it’s rough. This time of year work is the last place I want to be and I really have to push myself to get things done. Does anyone else have that problem? Man, am I looking forward to vacation next week!

Time to make dinner... have a great night!

Impulse Friday

Happy Friday everyone! I’m looking forward to the weekend, how about you? In my area they’re calling for snow tomorrow. Apparently a blizzard with anywhere from 1 – 20 inches! I’m so glad we don’t have any plans.

Time to fess up and share my impulse buys for the day. I was so close to making it all week without any more buys! Today I headed to the grocery store during lunch for a trip to the salad bar and look what I spotted…



Pumpkin spice Silk! I had to try it, just had to. Anything pumpkin is a must have. Somehow I justified this purchase but not sure how or why. While waiting in line I was excited to see a recipe for pumpkin spice pancakes on the carton. There that’s why I needed it so I can make breakfast while we’re snowed in this weekend.

Here is what I really went for



This fixed my salad craving that I’ve had for a while now. I loaded it up with good eats.

• spring mix
• spinach
• mushrooms
• black olives
• chickpeas
• tomatoes
• broccoli
• shredded cabbage
• cucumber
• green pepper

Then I added my own toppings of edamame, Mary’s crackers and Annie’s organic balsamic vinaigrette. Exactly what I needed!

Somehow this ended up in my tummy too.



Freezing cold office + pumpkin spice Silk = pumpkin spice chia tea



I almost forgot to share my second impulse buy of the day. Man, I really blew it today. While at Sears picking up my Dad’s Christmas gift the latest Fitness magazine was screaming “renew your subscription!” and it jumped into my cart. On a better note I am finished Christmas shopping! Now I just have to stop shopping for me.

Workout

I froze my butt off this morning during my run. Just went for 2 miles (2.21 for those counting) with the sista. This is what she said

Mile 1- 10:03
Mile 2- 9:24
.21- 2:04


Yesterday I didn't post my workout or eats but I started the morning off with Jillian's 30 day Shred.

Also had this super huge and yummy lunch of baked tofu with leftover grilled vegetables and basmati rice.



The joys of working from home!

The rest is history... have a great night, do something fun before the blizzard hits :)

First Timer

After hearing so much about Jillian Michael’s 30-Day Shred on other blogs I had to check it out. Since I decided a few weeks ago that joining the gym wasn’t an option, I ordered 3 of her DVDs to keep me busy at home. Hoping these workouts will be good on my days off from running I gave one a try.

I started my morning off with Jillian’s 30-Day Shred workout. This is the one I’ve heard the most hype about. As a first timer I started with level 1 as she instructed. The DVD is made up of 3 workouts (level 1,2, and 3) that you progressively work through. Each level is 20 minutes of continuous workouts alternating between strength, cardio, and abs.

I have tried a lot of these quickie 20-minute workouts and never see results or feel very challenged. Jillian held her word and worked my ass hard during those 20 minutes. I have a feeling these workouts are going to be good! Come on, she is referred to as America’s toughest trainer.

Soon I’ll try the other DVDs- No More Trouble Zones and Banish Fat Boost Metabolism.

Once at work I had breakfast- PB oats :)

Amy’s came back into my life today around 1:00. I promise I’ll never cheat on her again! Today I had the low fat Minestrone soup that is by far one of the best. Next time I’ll look for low sodium in this flavor. No wonder I like it so much with all the salt!



After lunch I made some hot tea to fill the rest of my belly :)



Side note: I drink water all day long. I don’t see the need to post it everyday but I keep a 24-ounce bottle at work that I fill up at least 3 times a day. Yesterday I had 3 bottles before even eating lunch. Just to give you an idea. I’m always thirsty and can never get enough ice-cold water. I read once that you should drink half your weight in ounces of water each day. There’s my little fact of the day :)

Not too much going on this evening. Take a peak at my to do list.

Make dinner- grilled vegetables over brown rice

Pack Jeff’s lunch and my oatmeal

Set out work and warm running clothes for tomorrow

Bake M&M cookies with leftover candy (while Jeff’s at basketball)

Relax


There you have it! Stay warm tonight wherever you are.
See ya tomorrow!

Santa Came Early!

Last night when Jeff got home from work he threw a package on the counter and said Merry Christmas baby!

Santa (aka FedEx) delivered my Christmas gift. It’s a…drum roll please…. Garmin Forerunner 405!! Definitely an upgrade from the Timex Ironman on my wish list. My hubby does it right.

Here take a peak! Charging...



Isn’t she darling? Yes, she!


(these pictures suck)

I was eager to post this last night but spent the entire evening reading the owner’s manual and setting up everything. I can’t wait to run this weekend.

There are so many cool features. It has a heart rate monitor and a USB to upload all my stats to the Garmin Connect website.



This means that I will be running outside a lot this winter! Hopefully no frostbite!


Workout

This morning I did the Ace Fitness At-Home workout again. This time with music! If you haven’t looked at the site yet here is what the workout included:

Warm Up
Cobra pose
Cat-Camel pose
Supine Pelvic Tilts

Workout: 3 sets of 12 unless noted otherwise
Glute Bridge
Contralateral Limb Raises
Side Lying Hip Abduction
Side Lying Hip Adduction
Side Plank with straight leg (held 15 secs/3 times per side)
Push Ups (only did set of 12, then 10 more)
Forward Lunge with Arm Drivers (did 2 sets of 12/side)
Side Lunge (2 sets of 12/side)
Supine Reverse Crunches
Bent-Knee Sit-up/Crunch

Cool Down
Cobra
Downward-facing Dog



This felt great and I figured out that the lunges were what made me so sore last time. I think I’ll continue this workout at least twice a week.



Meals

I had another breakfast cookie this morning alongside some chia tea with unsweetened soymilk.



This b cookie was even better than the first, I tried stevia instead of agave nectar. It had a more subtle sweetness that was perfect.

• ½ cup oats
• unsweetened soymilk
• 1 tbs raw almond butter
• raisins
• vegan chocolate chips
• stevia


I still can’t believe how long this breakfast sticks with me. No morning snack and I didn’t eat lunch until almost 2:00. I think it was 1:50 to be exact. Lunch was a huge salad from the grocery store salad bar with Annie’s balsamic vinaigrette dressing.



There was so much in this salad…

• spring mix
• spinach
• cucumbers
• carrots
• broccoli
• broccoli slaw
• bean mix (black, pinto, kidney, black-eyed, lima)
• red, green, and yellow peppers
• mushrooms
• black olives
• cherry tomatoes
• grapes

I think that’s everything. It took me 40 minutes but I managed to eat every last bite of these beautiful veggies. I just couldn’t stop once I started.

You know sometimes I get sick of posting what I eat every single day. It does help me keep track of my diet rather than journaling, which gets old real fast. Besides I am even more conscious of what I do since I share it with the world. (Well I know that no one really reads this but the world has access). Just wanted to get my thoughts out there. I will continue writing as I have been since this blog is about me and what I do. It keeps me sane and gives me my sort of a diary to look back on.

Anyway! Jeff is planning to make us dinner tonight since he may get home early. We are trying to be creative and avoid the grocery store. (Although I stopped this morning for a few items that were on sale). He is planning to make chili with baked French fires and a vegetable on the side. Hey sounds good to me!

Tomorrow I’m going to test out my Garmin. Yay! I haven’t looked forward to a run like this in a while.

I hope that everyone (the entire world) has a wonderful weekend. Stay warm.

My first breakfast cookie!

This morning I woke up early to run my 2 miles from yesterday. Surprisingly I am still sore! What the heck? I feel like an old lady when I get up from bed, out of a chair, even walk.

I snuck out of the bedroom trying not to wake Elli. I planned to run quick then take her out when I got back. It worked since she was sleeping soundly and I even covered her up with a warm blanket as I tiptoed out the room.

I bundled up with lots of layers and ran my two miles. My stomach was growling the whole way. I usually don’t eat breakfast till 9-9:30 so this was strange for 6:00 a.m. I kept thinking about my breakfast cookie waiting in the frig which made me run a little faster.

Once back home I stretched my sore body, took the recycling out, then woke Elli. I couldn't believe she was still sleeping. When we got back in I had to try the breakfast cookie. After the first bite I knew it needed a little sweetener (there wasn’t any included to start with) so I drizzled some agave on top.



I ate half and brought the other half to work. I can’t even describe how delicious this was! And a nice change from my regular oats.



Once I got to work I had some breakfast blend coffee with a little unsweetened soymilk.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot that I baked some vanilla cake last night. I had some Nasoya leftover from the sugar cookies and found this recipe on Tina’s blog. Since I had all the ingredients I thought I’d give it a try. I’ve baked a lot this week but end up freezing most of it. Whenever I get on a baking kick I throw most of it in the freezer that way we can have treats anytime.



Back to today… my bfast cookie held me over till 1:00! I couldn’t believe it.

Lunch was Amy’s Organic Chunky Vegetable soup. This is one of my favorites! I also had, for my first time, Mary’s Gone crackers that were really good.



Look at all the veggies!



Plus I finally remembered to pack a reusable napkin and spoon, see!



There’s something about Mary’s crackers, I kept going back for more. (Wonder if that's where the movie came from..hehe) I think it’s the crunch. It’s a nice texture. After my soup I had a sweet tooth so I had 2 clementines.


Around 3:30 I felt hungry and my blood sugar felt low but I was in a training session. As soon as I finished I felt a binge coming on since my body was so weak. (I’m hypoglycemic). So then at 4:00 I ate a lot! An apple, crackers, and an organic Z Bar. What a terrible feeling it is to have to get your blood sugar up without inhaling too many calories. I thought that I balanced my meals pretty well today so I’m not sure what made me crash like that.

After getting rid of my shakes and feeling normal again, I realized that I didn’t photograph my late day snack. I’m sure you got the idea though.

There are no major dinner plans for tonight. I think I’ll be eating a salad with some Mexican inspired toppings since I still have leftover rice and beans.

I’ve gotta catch up on all my recorded shows from last night. I still can't believe we didn’t stay up for the Top Chef finale!

Shhhh… don’t tell who won :) Night!

Change in schedule

So I don't forget, here is dinner from last night. Baked sweet potato with earth balance and cinnamon, steamed green beans, and black beans with onion.



This morning was not a typical morning in our house. Jeff had to leave at 5:30 a.m. to catch the train to DC for the day. This threw me off a bit since I usually get up at that time and he is still snoring away in bed. The weather is crappy today and it's raining pretty hard, so I decided to stay in bed while he got ready. I woke around 6:00 to take Elli out and couldn't believe how sore and stiff my body was. I guess that workout yesterday worked my muscles more than I thought. To my surprise I was really feeling it. Since the weather sucked and I was sore I decided to skip my run this morning. Instead I started my morning off with a good cup of black coffee,



read some blogs and then did some much needed yoga.



This yoga series on Fit TV is just what I needed today. It felt so good to stretch my sore muscles.

Afterwards I took Elli out again and showered for work. By the way, I plan on running my scheduled 2 miles either tomorrow or Friday. Depending on the weather. I'll do the Ace Fitness workout again the other day.

My breakfast this morning was pb oats with raisins...mmmmm..yummmy.




• ½ cup oats
• cinnamon
• raisins
• quick squirt of agave nectar
• 1 spoon full of nature’s promise organic pb



After breakfast and reading Bobbi's post I felt like I needed a little bit more of a workout. Since my upper body wasn't sore I got out my little 5 lb. wieghts.

• Hammer curls (3 sets of 10/arm)
• Standing triceps extensions (3 sets of 10/arm)
• Double-arm raise (2 sets of 12)
• Shoulder presses (3 sets of 10)
• Chest fly (3 sets of 12)
• Upright row (3 sets of 10)

(Big thanks to Fitnessista and Bobbi for these links)


Then it was time to get to work...

I worked from home today so I was able to prep a few things for tomorrow. During lunch I made my first breakfast cookie to try tomorrow morning. I followed Fitnessista's recipe here.

I made mine with the recommended oats, raw almond butter, unsweetened soy milk, and my "add-ins" were vegan chocolate chips and raisins. I cannot wait to try this!




Training
I was checking the schedule of events for the race and also found this training schedule. It's a beginner training plan but seems more intense than the one I got from Runner's World. I might mix the two together and see what works for me.


Here is what I whipped up for lunch. I had some green and black beans leftover from dinner and added this Kashi whole grain pilaf and carrots sticks.



Added taco sauce and it was perfect! Lovely lunch and very satisfying.



I even had black beans and pilaf leftover for dinner tonight. Works well since tonight is "clean out the frig" night.

Well I hope you have a wonderful night :) We're half way through the week! Yay!