Monday, September 14, 2009

Guess who's BACK?

Hello, I am BACK! Sorry I have missed a week or so, I was super stressed about my pre-contest preperation. So much so I was not sleeping, similar to my pre-wedding days. So the scoop is I have a new Nurtionist Michael and trainer Jolene. I will be seeing Michael every other week and Jolene once a week (for now). Yes, this is not going to be cheap or easy if that's what you are wondering. No, I am not going to turn into a bodybuilder or anything similar to that. The girls who do "Figure" competions are in great shape and look very fit, thin and toned. Many of the girls are fitness models and ring girls etc outside of competion. I am going through this process with my friend Ana which is a great thing. We are covering a lot of new ground together......... She has been seeing the nutrionist for about 7 months so she is ahead of the game (me that is). I really need to start busting my hump if I am going to be able to compete. I need to loose 20% body fat by the end of December. That is like A TON if you get what I mean. I am just taking it day by day. What's the worst that can happen? I will have to do a show later than March. It's good to have goals and I am going to leave it at that. I have came to the conclusion that I have to be willing to do things that other people are not in order to be sucessful in this . Jolene thinks I have a great "base figure" for doing this. Better than most people she trains and she has been doing this for a long time. I have broad shoulders naturally and have muscular calfs. So we shall see how all this pans out.

For breakfast today I had 1/2 cup oatmeat, 2T low sugar strawberry jam, 3/4 cups egg whites (about 4 egg whites) all mixed in the blender then cooked as a pancake on the stove. Very good! I topped it with low sugar rasberry preserves (Smuckers is the best) and sugar free syrup. I probibly overdid it on the preserves today but I don't have any other sugars "planned" for the day. I am only doing 1/2 cup of fruit per day and I will not be having any today.

Mid morning meal will be 3/4 cup lentils, 2 pieces turkey (4 oz) BBQ sauce, and 1 cup mushrooms.

Lunch will be 1/2 sweet potaote, 1 cup salad with carrots, cucumber and fat free ranch, and 4 oz tilapia with pico.

Afternoon meal will be 1/2 regular potoatoe with fat free sour cream, crab and shrimp over 1 cup lettuce with fat free ranch again.

Stay tuned for dinner

Late night snack will be 4 egg whites and salsa.

Happy Monday!

What am I craving today? Pizza.....

Thursday, September 3, 2009

By the way....

I think the funk has past for now. I am feeling better after resting a bit and taking the motrin.

Thursday

Today I woke a bit groggy because in addition to taking another motrin 800 last night I took 1/2 of a 1/2 of a flexeral (muscle relaxor). I went for my ususal pre-run breakfast of a banana but they were looking brown and squishy. I opted for 1/2 of an Ezekiel english muffin toasted with almond butter.

I headed to Memorial Park and did 5 slow miles. I did a bit of walking here and there. I was in a fog from the muscle relaxor. I was also feeling dehydrated even though I drank two large glasses of water before I left.

Post workout breakfast was a bowl of Health Valley Organics flax cereal with skim milk and 1 egg for good measure. I have a correction from yesterday, the cereal was not Nature Path, it was Health Valley Organics. If you have not tried this cereal do it! It has 6 grams of protien, low sugar (9 grams) and TONS of fiber. It tastes super good too......

I am missing some work this morning because I am taking my pug to the vet. He is itching and scratching like a madman. In the car I plan on having a Pure cherry cashew bar + water. I am considering running to Starbucks to get a Pumpkin Spice Latte..... Why not? It's almost the weekend. A small treat. :)

For lunch I am having leftover pork tenderloin, 1/2 of a white potatoe, and some brocolli.

Late day snack will be a nectarine and some almonds.

I will be meeting with Jolene our fitness competition coach at 7 pm tonight. Not sure how that will fit in with dinner. I may have to bring another bar. Not my favorite type of dinner that's for sure. I want real food!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

In a Funk???

Sorry I was not blogging earlier. My boss is out on vacation and I am super busy at work. That and I am afraid I am getting into a FUNK! I tend to get like this when I am injured and feel sidelined. This morning I slept in till 7 am because I was planning on staying home until I took my dog to the vet. Unfortunately my remote access on my work computer was not working so I had to go in. Sorry puggy! Maybe tomorrow..... Poor little guy, he is itching like crazy everywhere.

I took a motrin 800 this morning and it seemed to take the edge off. My lower back on the left side is giving me 'Fits".

Breakfast today was something new and yummy..... Nature Path Flax and Granola Clusters cereal with 1% milk. I also had an egg fried in Pam. Are you surprised? LOL! Gotta get that protien in...

Snack was an apple with the last of my almond butter. Lunch was leftover eggplant parm. Soo good but I ate to much of it. No late day snack, too much parm!

I also have heard a rumor that the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back at Starbucks starting today. Hummmm, I may have to check it out tomorrow. That is definately a habit I don't need to get into right now. Not the best for you and expensive but oh so good. The latte will make a nice treat for the weekends.

Dinner tonight is pork tenderloined seasoned with a dijon glaze and steamed brocolli. I love the glaze because it is sweet.....

Tomorrow is my first visit with my new trainer Jolene. She will be getting Ana and myself ready for the fitness competition we are planning on doing in March. Not sure what to expect, I will let you know though! She is going to size us up......... A bit nerve racking.

Here is to hoping this FUNK goes away.

A few more snacks yesterday

Yesterday did not plan well and needed to add in a few extra snacks. The chicken I made for lunch was good but I microwaved it too long so it was tough.

The extra snacks were a Fage 2% Greek yogurt with cherry, a pink lady apple and a handful of unsalted almonds.

The Eggplant Parmesan I made for dinner was great! I could not even tell it was low fat / baked. I had two servings.......... Oink, oink...

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Crabby on Tuesday

This morning I woke in a foul mood. Chris kept me up late then we got into a fight about me picking him up from the game. I slept till 5:30 am then headed downstairs for pre-workout breakfast. I did my usual a hard boiled egg with some Lawery's seasoning.

I decided to switch up my lifting days and do legs earlier in the week. So this morning I did a 10 min warm up and stretch then off to the machines. I am feeling tight in my hamstrings and get a burning sensation when I lift heavy weights on my legs. Also my lower back is acting up. I feel like I am 80 some days.....

Post workout breakfast was 1/2 cup of oatmeal with strawberrys and blueberrys + one egg fried in Pam. Snack today was a Pure bar + mixed nuts. Lunch will be a frozen chili seared chicken breast and some frozen veggies. Late day snack will be an apple and almond butter.

Hopefully a better mood is on the horizon!

Monday, August 31, 2009

Welcome back Monday

Morning! Today I woke up at my usual 5:15am and headed downstairs for the usual pre-run breakfast. A banana and lots of water. I am out of bagels which I am thinking is a good thing. I am finding I really can't control myself around bagels and other baked goods. It's better to save them for really long runs and not have them in the house. I am already dreaming of my next one, I am going to go for a chocolate chip bagel....... mmmmm......

Hills workout today was a toughie. We did a warm up for about 20 mins then we did 3 miles on a negative split. A negative split is getting faster and faster each mile. It's tough to do when you are chatting with a friend. Monday's workouts are always a medium effort. You can't go "hard" all week. This past SaturdayI did 7 miles on a negative split so I need to run easy. I ended up doing 3.25 miles of hills and 1.8 miles to and from base to my house. Not bad for a Monday.

Post workout breakfast was two eggs fried in Pam and two slices of turkey bacon.

Snack today will be mixed nuts with sea salt and Fage 2% yogurt with strawberrys and blueberrys.

Lunch today is going to be at a resturant. We are taste testing for our annual sales meeting. I am going to try and limit my intake. Last time I way overdid it by mistake. Too much tasting....... Lots of stuff I don't usually eat, DESSERTS. The resturant today is a seafood place so I am hoping for some lighter fare. Wish me luck.

Dinner tonight will be leftovers from last night. Grilled turkey tenderlion with BBQ sauce, 1/2 of a sweet potatoe with cinnamon and 4 asparagus spears.

Have a great Monday, run easy~

Friday, August 28, 2009

Low Fat Eggplant Parm!

Hey Everyone!

I found this recipe on Zesty Cook and thought I would share it. I can't wait to try it out!!


Eggplant Parmesan

This recipe is rich and decadent… it makes 8 huge servings for under 300 calories each! I paired this recipe with a simple salad, and even my meat-obsessed husband thought he had died and gone to heaven…

Ingredients


2 (1-pound) eggplants
1/4 cup water
3 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Vegetable cooking spray
2.5 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
1 jar of your favorite pasta/marinara sauce


Directions


Slice eggplant crosswise into 1/4-inch slices
Place eggplant slices in a large bowl and add water to cover. Let stand 30 minutes.
Drain well, and blot eggplant dry with paper towels.
Combine 1/4 cup water and egg whites in a shallow bowl.
Combine breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese; stir well.
Dip eggplant in the egg white mixture, and then dredge it in the breadcrumb mixture.
Place the eggplant on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Broil 5 minutes on each side (or until browned).
Spread marinara sauce in the bottom of a 13X9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Arrange eggplant over sauce; top with mozzarella and cheddar cheese.
Bake at 350° for 30 minutes (or until bubbly). Serves 8.

Next time you’re tempted to go out for Italian, try making this dish at home instead! The average restaurant dishes up eggplant parmesan with a calorie count of 1270 and 69 grams of fat! Ouch! This version of the Italian staple clocks in at under 300 calories and 8.5 grams of fat – that’s a savings of almost 1000 calories!

(recipe adapted from www.cookinglight.com)

Enjoy....

Happy Friday!

Last night we had dinner as planned, individual pizzas on whole wheat pita bread. Finding a good bread is hard to do these days. If you look at the ingredient lists they are pretty scary. Who knows what all that stuff is right? The pitas we went with only had 4 ingredients, and I was able to pronounce all 4. I ended up putting turkey pepperoni and chopped green peppers on my pizza. Chris had all pepperoni of course. We didn't plan on having dessert (never do) but Chris was in the mood to make cupcakes for a co-workers birthday. So he pulled out his Martha Stewart cupcake book and our Kitchen Aide mixer and got to work on some Buttermilk Cupcakes with homemade chocolate frosting. I am married to a regular Rachel Ray here. I was able to sample the dough before bed and it was great! Not to sweet......... I was sleeping by the time they were done.

This morning I woke refreshed (went to bed at 9:00pm) and headed downstairs for pre-workout breakfast. I ate a hard boiled egg and 1/2 of a cupcake. The cupcakes were staring at me, I couldn't help it..........

My workout today was lower body weights to keep my legs in good running shape. The PT must be doing some good because I am feeling very strong and no pain. I did 10 mins warm up on the eliptical and 50 mins weights, and 10 mins abs. I really need to get a good ab workout in soon. When you leave abs to the end you tend to skimp on them. There is a 5:00 shadow of a 6 pack on my stomache. Almost there. I have to remember though, abs are made in the kitchen. There is your tidbit for the day. LOL!

Post breakfast today was the rest of my cupcake, 1/2 cup rolled oats with strawberrys and blueberrys and 1 egg + 2 egg whites. Oh and of course some hot sauce.

Snack today will be sea salted mixed nuts. I also have more vanilla Greek yougurt but I think I have had enough sugar for the day. One cup has 20 grams. I may nuke some crab dumplings later for my 3:30pm snack. I am playing it by ear. I brought the remaining cupcakes to work so I won't be tempted later.

Lunch today will be more leftover chicken fajitas with low fat sour cream and hot sauce. It's Friday and our kitchen is empty. I am trying to eat all the leftovers.

I am thinking Greek food for dinner. Possibly a Greek salad with chicken.

TGIF!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Good Start Thursday

This moring I was able to wake easy and head out to the park for some running. Pre-workout breakfast was 1/2 an Ezekiel cinnamon rasin english muffin topped with reduced sugar Jiff.

The temperature out this morning was very pleasant so I enjoyed my 5 mile run this morning. I planned on meeting up with two friends from my running group but I did not see them when I arrived. I needed to get moving so I could get home on time to eat and get to work so I missed them. My legs are really feeling good today, I am so surprised. The stretching must have really helped last night. Tomorrow I am planning on going to the gym for some weights.

Post workout breakfast was 2 eggs fried in Pam + one homemade whole wheat banana blueberry muffin. I am down to the last two! Ohhh they are good.

Snack today will be the vanilla Okios Greek yougurt I didn't eat yesterday topped with my Moja Mix. Lunch will be leftover chicken fajitas, Mexican brown rice and reduced fat sour cream + hot sauce.

Dinner tonight will be personal pizzas made on whole wheat pitas and turkey pepperoni. I am going to stop at the grocery store on lunch today since we are totally out of fruit and veggies. I will get some peppers to add to my pizza. I prefer veggie pizza to meat pizzas.....

Hump Day Dinner

Last night for dinner Chris made chicken fajitas and Mexican brown rice. We skipped the tortillas since I had 4 tortillas with my taco lunch. I have noticed that when you are at a resturant and order corn tortillas they tend to double them up. I suppose corn tortillas break apart easier so it makes sense.

Chris cut boneless/skinless chicken breasts into strips then satued them in a bit of olive oil on a non-stick pan. He threw in 2 sliced green peppers, 1 red pepper,1 jalepeno and 1 onion along with a McCormick seasoning packet. I am not a fan of the pre-marinated faijta meat, something in the marinade makes me sick........ I rather we do the extra work and create our own.

The Mexican rice was quite tasty for brown rice, you could not tell the difference. Chris adds 1/2 a bottle of Pace salsa and chopped peppers and jalepenos to the rice. I added some spark to my fajitas with reduced fat sour cream (gotta have it) and some hot sauce of course.

I was able to get in some good stretching and a epsom salt bath last night too.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Poor Planning Leads to Off Day....

This morning I was feeling super tired (and sore from yesterday) so I decided to take my "off day" really early this week. I have worked out 4 days in a row so I should not feel guilty but, I DO! I have been going to bed way to late all week, 10:30pm or so. Not good for early morning workouts.

I am off of PT for the week because I am short on cash right now. I have to come up with $40 out of pocket every visit and that has gotten expensive. I really thought I would be done with therapy by now.

Breakfast today was a 1 cup of Multi-grain Cheereos with light vanilla soymilk topped with a banana and one egg fried in Pam. I try not to eat cereal but it sounded good today.

I missed my usual snack time today do to a work commitment but I managed to eat an apple on the way out the door to lunch at 1pm.

Lunch today was 2 grilled fish tacos from Berry Hill. I also munched on some chips with salsa and a white creamy dip. I should have skipped the creamy dip but my willpower is weak today. :)

I don't think I will have another snack today since I ate lunch late and I am feeling pretty full. If I do decide to snack it will be Okios Vanilla Greek yogurt topped with my custom Mojo Mix.

Dinner tonight? Who knows, I will have to ask Mr. Foodie. LOL!!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Well it's Tuesday!!???!

Sorry I have been out of pocket for a few meals. There has been a bit of a shake-up at work and I have not been able to get to the business of blogging!

Pre-workout breakfast was the usual, a hard boiled egg with Lawreys seasoning salt.

Today I woke at 5:15 am and headed out to the gym. I did a quick 10 min warm up on the elpitical then it was off to the weight room for upper body moves. I am discovering that my right side (dominate side) is stronger than the left. I am not quite sure what to do about it...... I did 50 mins of free weights then a quick 10 mins of abs.

After workout breakfast was an egg fried in Pam + 2 strips of turkey bacon. I also munched on a few blueberrys as I made my lunch to take with me. When I got to work I scarfed down a whole wheat banana blueberry muffin (homemade). Not so much that I was hungry but they taste so much better when they are really fresh. I just made them on Sunday.

Snack today at 10:30 am was a pink lady apple with almond butter. Lunch was a mixed greens salad with seeds trail mix (pumpkin, sunflower, almonds and dried fruits), cucumbers, 2 strips of shreaded turkey bacon and watermelon vinegrette. I was super excited about the vinegrette at the store when I sampled it. When I actually ate it today it was tasting super sweet to me. The dressing is fat free but has 20 grams of sugar in 2T. So I think I will save the rest for when we have company over. I also warmed up two Quorn veggie chicken cutlets. Pick some of these up if you see them in your grocery store freezer. They are soy and meat free and have a chicken-like texture. Pretty tasty with sweet and sour dip or BBQ sauce.

Late day snack today was 1/2 of an Ezekiel english muffin (cinnamon rasin) topped with almond butter and a banana. Our toaster at work stinks so I won't be bringing any more english muffins to toast!

Dinner tonight (the plan anyways) is whole wheat spaggetti mixed with regular spaggetti topped with grain fed ground beef and organic tomatoe sauce. I love this organic sauce from HEB/Central Market. The tomatoe basil is so fresh tasting..... I like it so much I don't want to try any other flavors.

Monday, August 24, 2009

The Hills are Alive!!

This morning I got off to a slow start since I was sleeping so well and did not want to get up. I don't have anymore bagels handy so I had a banana for pre-run breakfast. I started getting a sour stomache yesterday afternoon and I was feeling queezy when I woke up this morning.

I ran to base as part of my warmup (0.80 mile) and then did some running drills for about 15 mins. Our hills training today was again broken into groups according to how fast we run. I am pretty slow so I went with the 26-29 min group (5K time) which was hill #1. We did 800 meters at a medium effort then walked down a hill, an easy jog for another 800 meters then back to the starting cone. Repeat that over and over for 20 mins and that was hills today. We of course did stretches and abs then it was a walk back to the house. I didn't dare run it. My stomache was really bothering me and I thought I might puke. No such luck.......

After-run breakfast was a handful of blueberrys, 1/2 of a cinnamon rasin Ezekeil english muffin with almond butter and 1 egg fried in Pam. Tasty! My stomache felt slightly better.

Snack today will be 1/2 of a Trio bar. I am trying to save my appetite for lunch plus I still don't feel that great. We will be taste testing at Vargos for our annual kickoff meeting in January. The food is supposed to be great so hopefully I will be feeling better by then. Today of all days to have a stomache ache!

Taste testing results later..........

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Saturday Recovery Run

This morning I was a bit groggy since my pugs kept waking me up all night. I was out of bed by 5:15 am and headed down for pre-run breakfast. I had the rest of the bagel from Panera, cinnamon rasin topped with light whipped cream cheese. Somehow only 1/2 of a bagel was left this morning. OOpps! I was munching on it here and there yesterday because it was soo soo good.

The run today was quick and short since we are doing a recovery run. We can't add and add miles every week to our long run. Once in a while you have to cut it back and rest your body. After the run myself and a few running friends decided to do breakfast next weekend after our run. Should be interesting with all that sweat and B.O.

I ran back home and ate one fried egg in pam and one hard boiled egg. We are out of eggs now, time for grocery shopping! At about 11am I had a handful of blueberrys and some rasberrys.

Now I am off for a haircut. More later...

Friday Night Dinner

Last night I was feeling a bit blahh after PT. It was raining out really hard and there was thunder and lightning so we decided to go out for pizza. What better then pizza to perk up a dark evening? I had a personal 6 inch veggie pizza with tomatoes, onions, green peppers, olives, and a olive oil sauce. The marinara there is not very good, it is not thick enough. I decided to add grilled chicken to add some protien to the meal. I also brought some Chipolte Tobasco from home to spice it up. Love the spice, can't get enough of it..... I must have damaged my taste buds somewhere along the way. LOL! I only ate 1/2 the pizza, I was trying to not be a pig since I really was not that hungry. I am still daydreaming about a cupcake though...

Friday, August 21, 2009

Fought the good fight, and WON!

On lunch today I stopped by Panera bread to pick up a bagel for my pre-run breakfast tomorrow. I was eyeing a chocolate chipper and considering a "muffie" but was able to resist both! I got my cinnamon rasin swirl bagel and got the heck out of dodge. I knew if I gave in I would just feel bad about it later. I am saving myself for a cheat this weekend. I am thinking a cupcake (or two) mmmmmm...

Lunch went as planned, leftover chicken lettuce wraps. No sweets for this Foodie. :)

Some like it plain ~ Friday

Today is Friday and I am taking the day off from working out. I will do some stretching late night but other than that I feel like I need to get some R&R before tomorrows big run. This morning I tired out a "raw" oatmeal recipie that I got off another food blog I read. You soak 1/2 cup of whole oats overnight in a nut milk like soy or almond. The next day you add in Greek yogurt, nut butter, one banana, and some agave nectar. I didn't care for it much and threw it away to start over. I made my ususal of 1/2 cup oatmeal with water topped with flax seed, strawberrys and a drizzle of vanilla agave nectar. Of course I also had 1 egg fried in Pam. Eggs are great in the AM, what can I say?

For snack today I will be having a Fage Greek yogurt with strawberry. For lunch more leftover chicken lettuce wraps with a bit of hot sauce, plum sauce and hosin. I decided to play it safe and eat the last of the leftovers instead of heading out. My stomache is sore from the cheese I ate last night. At one point I was totally intolerant of dairy but now I can eat a little and be OK. Last night was over my limit!

PT later today to, hopefully I won't get all sweaty again.......

Thursday' greasy dinner out

For dinner last night both Chris and I were tired so we headed out to a local taco shop El Rey. I decided to do something different and get a shrimp quesadilla and plantains. Not the best idea, the quesadilla was more like cheese and a shell. There was only one small shrimp in each triangle. I ate three pieces then decided to order a grilled fish taco on wheat. Much better, I think I will stick to my tried and true from here on out. My stomache will apreciate that too, it was a bit upset last night and this morning. The plantains were good but a bit too greasy for me.

I was able to get to bed early for a long snooze with the pugs.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Oh so tired this afternoon

I think the week is finally catching up with me. I am really tired right now and sore to boot. I had 1/2 of a milk chocolate Dove bar (3 squares) at Target this afternoon around 1:30pm. I am now sipping on 1/2 a cup of coffee with powdered creamer and a squirt of agave nectar. Hey a girl's gotta DO WORK..........

OK I am starving

Looks like my snack of hummus and raw veggies is not holding me over. Can't wait for lunch! I snacked on my other 1/2 of my Trio bar at about 11:30 am.

Eat That Frog!

This morning I snuggled with my puggie JR till 5:20am and then headed downstairs for a pre-workout snack. Chris decided to join me at the gym today but he had already headed out the door by the time I got downstairs. I toasted 1/2 of an Ezekiel Cinnamon Rasin english muffin and topped it with almond butter and a smear of Nutella. I love Nutella, I wish it was good for you. LOL!

At the gym I tried to focas on my hamstrings and was surprised to see some muscle growth there. I was able to leg curl 60lbs which is 5lbs more than I can usually do on a GOOD day. I did several machines and ventured into the weight room for a few squats and lunges. Those are key for nice legs but are no fun. It is best to do them right away and get them over with. Eat that Frog!

Post workout breakfast was 1 egg fried in Pam (how many eggs can a girl eat right?) and a few rasberrys. When I got to work I also ate 1/2 of a Trio bar.

Snack today will be raw snap peas, cucumbers, and red pepper dipped in hummus. Lunch will be leftover lettuce wraps from last night (3).

Have a good day, more food later.........

Hump Day Dinner

Last night for dinner Chris made us chicken lettuce wraps. Usually we use turkey but ground chicken was on sale over the weekend so Chris was being thrifty. Chris cooked the ground chicken in a non-stick pan then seasoned with Chinease Five Spice, plum sauce, and hosin sauce. A brocolli cole slaw is then stir fried into the mix until tender. There are a few options for the acutal "wrap" part like nappa cabbage or plain iceburg lettuce. We use iceburg because it is cheaper and we can potentially use it with other food. I had two lettuce wraps then added a bit of extra meat on the side. I also like to add some spicy Vietnamese hot sauce on the top too. I like it HOT.


Would you believe that we spent $900 on groceries last month? We are now making an effort to watch it at the store and make sure we are not wasting food. Both of us take our lunch to work at least 4 days a week so that does account for some of the cost. When you think about it $900 is a ton of money to spend on food for two people.....

I got some bad info from my friend and I missed the body building show on E!. I just caught the tail end of it. Hopefully a re-run will be on again soon. The two of us are going to a body building and fitness show next Saturday. Ana was able to score us 3rd row center seats, she has struck up a friendship with a woman who works there. Should be interesting, I will take some pics and post them.

I finished the night up with some new "standing" leg stretches and got to sleep at about 9:30pm.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Check out women in body building and fitness on E at 9 pm tonight!

Shot Block Anyone?

Lunch turned out as I had orginally planned today, 2 fish tacos on corn tortilla and a side order of black beans and mango ice tea (unsweetened).

On lunch I stopped by a sporting goods store and picked up some Cliff Shot Blocks and Jelly Belly Sport Beans with caffeine. I don't recommend using either of these running "aids" unless you are doing 8 + miles. They can be addictive and distracting. Your body does not need them unless you are 1 1/2 hrs or more.

I picked up the Cran-Raz and Black Cherry flavors in the Shot Blocks and Cherry in the Sport Beans. My favorites. My stomache does not tend to do well with Gu's and gels. Gastic distress is the last thing you want to be worried about durring a run with no bathrooms in sight.

Just munched on a square of Lindt dark chocolate. 70% dark.

Last nights easy dinner + Early Run today

Last night for dinner I just did something quick and easy. More leftover chicken tenderloins pared with 1/4 cup of Bush's vegitarian baked beans. The beans are high in protien but also have a lot of sugar in them. So I tried to minimize my intake. There was not much else to go with my tenderlions that did not require any cooking effort. I planned on making my blueberry muffins but by the time I finished blogging and checking my emails it was 8:45pm. I still needed to take my epsom salt bath and get to bed by my deadline of 9pm. So I skipped the muffins, I will make them on Wednesday.

This morning I planned on getting up at 5 am but Huggie my pug woke us at 4:15am wanting snacks. When the alarm actually went off I snoozed till 5:20am so I had to boogie to the park. Pre- run breakfast was 1/3 of a stale bagel and light whipped cream cheese.

The temp at the park was feeling reasonable to me this morning so I made the commitment to do 5 miles. I was able to run a negative split which is starting out slow and gradually getting faster the last 1/2 of your run. The last mile I was running as hard as I could. I would like to get faster since I feel like I am a pretty slow runner (all things considered). I need to be doing 20 + miles a week before I can participate in the "speed training". I am right at 19 miles but that is counting the miles I am putting in on Wednesday's. So I will need to add an extra running day somewhere. I am thinking Fridays which is my usual rest day. Then when will I rest you ask?? Hummm.........

My hamstrings are not sore at all which is a plesant surprise. My knees are feeling a bit funny though, I hope this doesn't become a regular thing. I am going to bring it up at PT next week.

After run breakfast was one fried egg in pam + 1/2 cup of steel cut oats cooked in water + 1 banana mashed and a few blueberrys.

My snack today at 10:30am was an apple with 2T of almond butter. Not sure on lunch today. We have visitors from corporate in town so I did not know if I would be coming along for lunch. From the sounds of it so far it doesn't look like it. I am thinking of going to El Rey and having 2 grilled fish taco's on corn. Maybe adding some black beans as a side. I am going to have to gauge my hunger when I get there. I LOVE fish tacos. They sound nasty if you have never had one but they are the best!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Tonight is the night of the blueberry muffin....... I have tons of blueberrys in the house since they are in season. I decided to use some of them up with this easy and healthy recipe:

1.5 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (can be found at high end grocerys)
3/4 cup Cane Sugar
3 T Butter
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 banana mashed
1.5 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups fresh blueberries
1/3 cup soymilk or milk ( I like light vanilla soymilk)

Preheat oven to 375

In a small pot on the stove melt the butter then remove pot from burner. Add the milk, the egg + yolk, and mashed banana and wisk well. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar and salt. Add the wet ingredients and stir until incorporated. Add the blueberries gently.

Spoon batter into 10 greased muffin tins. Bake for 25-30 mins until golden brown. Enjoy!!!!

Not so good lunch

Going to do CE today threw me for a loop. I planned on eating my Trio bar on the way there but forgot since I was yapping on the phone. the whole drive there.

I started right on time at Prometic but fell asleep at my computer! Opps.... It was so boring and I was nice and snuggly warm in my fleece. What I think actually was happening was my blood sugar was getting low and I was having trouble concentrating thus was dizzy and sleepy.

I stepped out at 12:30pm and scarfed my Trio bar and went around the corner to the Vietnamese pharmacy (in the building) and bought a diet coke (gasp) and a peanut butter and crackers pack. It was the best of all the bad choices there. Chex mix, candy bars, chips, cheetos, ding dongs etc. etc..... At least I got some protien from the peanut butter and I really needed the caffiene. So that put my lunch at about 420 calories.

I headed back to the office and decided to go ahead and eat my bagged lunch of leftover chicken tenders (3) and orzo pasta with mushrooms. I dipped the chicken in spicy BBQ sauce swirled with a dab of ranch. I love ranch dressing but I find it sooo hard to not go overboard on it. Mixing it with another condiment works well for me. Try it.

At PT tonight I got super sweaty and gross. When I am getting the deep tissue massages I start sweating. I think because I really want to flea but I know I can't so my reaction to the pain is to start sweating. The therapist worked my hamstrings tonight and boy did that hurt - thus I was soaked....... My mascara was even running!! I have a giant knot about 4 inches up from where my knee bends on my left side and a smaller version of the same thing on the right. More epsom salts and stretching tonight. Last night I flaked and did nothing. OH WELL!

A Kitty's gotta eat!

This morning I was super rushed all the way around. Chris had to get a ride to the "park and ride" to get to the airport early this morning. I woke at 5:15 am but needed to drop him off before 6am. I got to the gym around 6:15am and did a quickie workout of upper body moves on the machines. I ran home to walk the dogs and have a quick breakfast of two fried eggs (in pam) and some raspberries. I really wanted to do oatmeal but that was going to take me too long.

On my dog walk I spotted the cutest little black and white kitty. He looks to be about 4-6 months old. He is all black except for the backs of his feet are white and a bit of white on one side of his face. I tried to get close to him but the dogs were making him nervous. The pugs could care less about cats by the way. If they can't eat it or pee on it they are not interested. When I got home I put out some dry and wet cat food. Hopefully he will make his way down the street. Cats have an incredible sense of smell. I decided to name him Daryl.

I brought leftovers today for lunch but I forgot I have to do some CE out of the office this afternoon. I am going to have to eat "out" and eat much later than usual today. I will bring a Trio bar with me to eat on the way and hope for the best. Prometric does not let you bring in food or drinks.

I will be having my snack of Fage yougurt with cherry a bit earlier, about 10am.

Monday night dinner

Dinner last night was pretty good all things considered. Chris had picked up two packages of Air Chilled chicken tenderloins from HEB/Central Market over the weekend. I usually steer clear of the tenderloins since they have that annoying tendon in them plus they are so small. But I love Air Chilled chicken! If you have not tried it pick some up on your next shopping trip. It is organic grain fed chicken chilled in some mystery way that makes the chicken extra juicy. I had a 1/2 package of Planko bread crumbs (Japanese) that I mixed with 1/2 a canister of regular Italian bread crumbs. I dipped the washed tenderloins in an egg mixture (just two eggs scrambled), then coated each side with the breading. I then baked the tenderloins at 400 for 30 mins, turning them over after 20 mins. For a side dish I made orzo pasta with mushrooms. The recipie is as follows:

1lb of orzo pasta cooked
3/4 cup of Italian parsely chopped
3/4 cup of pine nuts toasted (simply put them on a non-stick skillet and brown on high heat)
2 packages of cut mushrooms
1/4 cup olive oil to cook mushrooms
2 T olive oil to mix in with the pasta
Lemon juice from 3 large lemons
Salt and pepper to taste

After the pasta is cooked add all ingredients except the 1/4 cup olive oil and mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms in the olive oil on high heat on the stovetop for about 7 mins. Mix all together.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Monday lite snack

I had a meeting at 3pm today so I had my snack a bit late. I was not that hungry anyways, I ended up eating all of my sweet potatoe. ! It tasted really good, I must have gotten a really fresh one.

At 4:15 pm I had 3 small crab dumplings with hot dumpling sauce. About 100 calories.

A Slow-Go Monday

Waking up this morning was tough, I stayed up way to late watching reality TV last night! Chris actually rose before me at 5am and I snoozed till 5:15am. I went downstairs and went straight for my new go-to pre-run snack, a 1/3 of a bagel and light whipped cream cheese. It has been helping with my durring and after run digestion problems. Enough said.

Monday is "hills" training around the Allen Parkway Bayou. I decided to run to base camp to get in a good warm up. I was feeling very tight in my hamstrings and sore in the general pelvis area. I have been faithfully doing stretches in the PM and doing my epsom salt baths and I can't wait to see some faster results. My usual running mate Ana was not there (???) so I did the hills alone with my bestie buddie, the ipod. Lots of people were passing me by but I decieded to keep to my slow and steady pace. The group did 3o mins of hills after about a 20 min warm up. We are constantly being reminded that the most important part of the workout is the warm up. We finished up with stretches and abs then I was off to run back home. Really it was more like walk home. I am trying to figure out what is wrong with my Garmin. It is showing my pace in a strange way. I can't figure it out and it is driving me NUTS!

After my workout I decieded to really "up" my protien by having two eggs and a few blueberrys + water of course.

When I got to work my computer crashed, what a way to start a Monday........

Snack today was Greek Yogurt Fage 2% with rasberrys and blueberrys + some agave nectar.

Lunch will be leftovers from last nights dinner, pork tenderloin (with a mustard sauce), brocolli, and 1/2 of a sweet potatoe. I am going to try and not eat all the potatoe, I don't need the startch. Yesterday I loaded up.

No PT tonight, Yippee!! I will be stretching OF COURSE.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

A Painful Friday

Sorry I didn't get to blogging yesterday, I was busy in the AM and in pain for the PM. LOL!

Yesterday morning I was feeling really good when I woke at 5:15am so I went to the gym to do "legs". I had runners rehab the night before at PT but was not feeling sore so I was just going to go for it. Usually I take Fridays off but I was so tired this week on Thursday that I switched it up. So I did a 10 min warm up on the elipical machine then off to the weight room and a few pit stops at the machines. When after about 50 mins I wrapped it up with some core work and headed home.

For breakfast I had 1 egg fried in pam, and a slice of turkey bacon. For snack at about 10:30am I had a handful of mixed nuts and a large peach. For lunch I had a Wich Wich Buffalo Chicken sandwich on wheat bread, spicy mayo, pickles, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoe, mixed hot peppers, buffalo sauce, pepper, and crushed red pepper. It was so hot and spicy! Just the way I like it.......... Also I sipped on an unsweetened ice tea.

At about 3pm I was so sore and feeling dizzy. I don't know if it was all related to the PT but I must have overdone it at the gym. My hamstrings were just burning at my butt. I was so glad to leave for home at 4:30pm.

For dinner we went to Greek Pizza and I had a personal veggie pizza with tomatoes, onions, olives, green peppers, with an olive oil sauce and added grilled chicken. Very tasty, I ate all of it but one piece. I should have saved 1/2 for Saturday but I was being a pig. I once again had my standby of unsweetened ice tea.

Then it was off to bed at 9:30pm for another early rise.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Thursday - Off Day

Last night I was feeling very sore and tired from working out and PT everyday. I decided to take today off and sleep in a bit. I took my epsom salt bath last night so there was no need to even get up early and shower. Somehow I didn't make it to work any earlier..... LOL!

I got up around 7am and did some stretches out of my "Stretching" book. They look so much easier than they really are. I guess I need to keep at it and practice.

Breakfast today was 1 cup whole grain cheeros with light vanilla soy milk, strawberrys, and a 1/2 banana. I also had 1 hard boiled egg.

When I got to work today I also had some coffee with powdered creamer and agave nectar (hazelnut flavored). I have to be careful with the coffee, I am very sensitive to caffeine.

Snack today will be spicy hummus and mixed veggies. I never got a chance to eat it yesterday.

Lunch will be leftover spaggetti and water.

Back for more PT tonight. I am hoping to slow down and go less often really soon. It is becoming a pain...... Literally!

Hump Day Dinner (last night)

Last night I got home later than usual from PT because Chris was "doing a business deal" and could not pick me up right away. We finally sold our car! Horaay....!!..... The purchaser works at Comerica Bank one of my previous employers. Small world. He will be picking up and paying us for the car on Saturday.

The dinner responsibilties fell to me so I made a quick dinner of turkey spaggetti with whole wheat pasta. Turkey meat tends to be a little bland (compared to beef) so I tried to jazz it up with some minced garlic, fresh parsely, and mixed Italian herbs (dried). We had received some nice pasta sauces as a shower gift from Chris's Aunts in April so I decided to use them. I mixed the leftovers from the olive and artichoke jar and a new jar of primavera together with the seasoned turkey meat. Chris really liked the combined sauce but I thought it was just ok. The sauces are so good on their own, I felt the meat took away from their taste.

After dinner I had a taste for something sweet so I had two fig newtons while watching the tube.

My Performance Testing at PT turned out better than expected. My quads are in the 90th percentile and my hamstrings are in the 75th percentile. Which means normal. I think they were really expecting to see a muscle inbalance between the two groups. We ran out of time since they close at 6:15pm so the Dr. is going to go over my results and plan tomorrow. I am seeing more testing in my future.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Two squares of chocolate down the hatch!

Chick Filet Lunch

Today's lunch was a grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomatoe, pickle and honey BBQ sauce from Chick Filet. I also ate a small fruit cup and drank an unsweetened ice tea. I was still hungry by the time I got back to the office so I also had a low fat string cheese (2% milkfat).

Todays snack will be spicy hummus with carrots, cucumber slices, and chopped green peppers. Got to get my veggies in!

Ohhhh, I forgot I have that chocolate. I am going to eat a square right now!

Hump Day breakfast

This morning I am really tired and woke feeling unrested. I went to bed at about 10:30pm vs. my new normal 9:00pm. It's so hard to fit everything in; dinner, epsom salt bath, stretches, tv time, pug time, husband time. There just is not enough hours in the day!

PT was less brutal than usual. I met with Dr. K right after my "Stem Cell" therapy. He adjusted me and did some sort of pressure release on both of my legs / hips. I am really feeling it today.

My run started later than I had hoped for, about 5:50am. I need to try and get my mileage up to 20 miles per week so I can actually do the "speed work" I signed up for. I was able to squeeze 4 miles in this morning at a slow pace. I am feeling sore from PT manipulation + I don't want to overdo it before my performance testing tonight at PT. My Garmin is acting up, I can't see what my pace is. I figured out at one point that I had it set to "swimming" so that was part of the problem. I will have to look at it closer this evening.

Pre-run breakfast today was 1/2 of a hard boiled egg + 1/2 of a 1/2 bagel with light whipped cream cheese. The bagel from HEB was really dry and tasteless. I won't be purchasing bagels from there again. I read that a bagel (not whole grain) is good for a pre-run snack if you get digestion problems while running. It seemed to work for me today even with drinking Gatoraide. I previously suspected Gatoraide was irritating me. The bagel really helped! Try it out!

After-run breakfast was a Green Foods shake with 1 cup light vanilla soy milk, 1T almond butter, a sprinkle of flax seeds, 1/4 cup Fage 2% yogurt, a handful of blueberrys, 1/2 banana and one scoop of Green Food mix. I was feeling pretty stuffed from last night still.

I snacked pretty early again today at about 10am on mixed nuts with sea salt.

I did not bring my lunch today so I will have to run out. I am thinking Chick Filet but I will keep you posted. LOL!

Last Nights Dinner

After PT last night Chris and I decided we needed a break from cooking and stopped by our neighborhood Pey Wey. I had a delish dish of tofu and veggies in spicy sauce (Kung Pow) with brown rice. I ate all of my food and less than half of the rice. I was stuffed! I think I over did it but it was so tasty I got ahead of myself.

I liked my "fortune" from my fortune cookie too: "Life always get harder near the summit". Thoughtful.........

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I am going to have to hide this chocolate from myself!!

A Mouth Full of Mousse

Today for lunch I ventured out with my boss to Walgreens to pick up some work photos. While there I picked up an interesting chocolate bar, Lindt Creation 70% Dark Chocolate with Mousse filling. Its really good, tastes just like the real thing!

Lunch today was leftovers from last night. Breakfast pork chops (2) with golden mushroom gravy, mushroom pieces, and chopped red potatoe. Tastes kinda spicy today (??), but still good and filling.

Snack today will be a Jazz apple and almond butter (2T) at about 3:30pm. Then off to PT for some more pain and deep tissue work.

Big Muscles on Tuesday

Sorry this post is being added so late today, work has been piling up at my desk. Trying to get to work early so I can leave early for Physical Therapy has been tough. Tough on my beauty regime that is!

Today I slept in a bit, till about 5:25am, then headed off to the gym after my pre-workout snackie of a hard boiled egg + ice water. After a quick warm up on the elipitcal machine I headed into the free weight area for some upper body moves. I am gaining strenght, I can now curl 20lbs up to 12 reps on each side. I was getting so pumped that I didn't leave time to do any abs today. I will have to save that for later, after my dreaded "stretching" session tonight.

My PT doctor whom I will call "Dr. K" says I need to be doing stretches EVERYDAY. Not just yoga once per week. I have a "locked" pelvis and have limited range of motion in my lower half. If you want to know what that feels like I will tell you. ... It feels like my lower body is in a cage, I can only move so far and then my body says "nope" we don't go there. It is very frustrating and I am hoping to see some improvements soon. On Wednesday I am going to do some preformance testing to see where my muscles are strong and where they are weak. Then I will be working towards getting back to a normal range of motion and less stiffness and pain. I am going to show all those Yogis at Joy Yoga how good I REALLY am. LOL!

After workout breakfast today was a fried egg (in Pam) + a bowl of steel cut oats mixed with 1/2 cup of blueberrys + a splash of vanilla soy milk and a squirt of vanilla agave nectar. Good for the gut!

My snack today at 11:00am will be another Fage yougurt (full fat) with strawberry. I am delaying it since I did munch on some mixed nuts with sea salt at about 9:30am. Hey, I was hungry........

Monday, August 10, 2009

Dinner

Tonight we feasted on "breakfast" pork chops with sliced red potatoes, golden mushroom gravy (with chopped mushrooms) and steamed brocolli. I also picked up from CVS an extra dark chocalate bar which I ate 3 large squares of......

Well it's off to a epsom salt bath to sooth my sore pelvis. I am super sore from physical therapy tonight. Aparently I am pelvicly challenged. More on that tomorrow....

Good night!

Monday Lunch

Lunch today was yummy leftovers from last nights dinner. Grilled marinated chicken breast (salt free garlic herb marinade), mashed potatoes made with garlic, chicken broth, 1T sour cream, 2T yougurt butter and salt/pepper and finally steamed pea pods. I also added a dose of Tabasco Chipolte sauce to the mashed potatoes. Delish.......

I ran to the grocery store on lunch and picked up a few items: Spicy Humas, 2 ears sweet corn, large container of blueberrys, mixed nuts (sea salted), edamame, and 1 LaraBar. I snacked on an cinamon rasin oatbar while shopping. It was a bit too sweet for me, I will skip it next time.

Snack today at 3:30pm will be carrots, bell pepper and spicy humas.

Hills Training Week 2

Today the day started early at 4:50am, with my dog Huggie Bear waking my husband and I up. Huggie is very demanding in the mornings, he wants to go out so he can get a treat. Thats a Pug for you!

I quickly changed and got my typical running breakfast going, 1/2 of an Ezekiel english muffin toasted with 1T of almond butter. I also had a large glass of water to re-hydrate myself from my Zzzz's.

The running group meets at 6am and starts with a 10-15 minute warm up. I am usually already warmed up since I run to "base camp" from my house, about 1 mile.

The group warm up consists of some sort of a warm-up excersie for 200 feet then we run another 200 feet to an orange cone. We then walk back around and start over again. Today our group leader broke us up into groups according to our 5K times. I went with my friend into the 28 minute group. We than ran hills for 20 mins then back to base for stretching, abs and some fluids. The Gatoraide has been upsetting my stomache so I am trying to minimize it and just do water for now. Then it was time to run the 1 mile back home and get ready for work.

Today breakfast was 1 banana and an egg sunny side up (hard) + water. My snack at 10:30am today will be Fage 2% yogurt with cherry. My favorite flavor!

Have a great day........