Muy Caliente!

Hey ya'll!

Whew it is HOT HOT HOT here in the south!!!! So that means todays run got postponed until tomorrow morning, because my lazy butt used this morning to sleep in a little bit and snuggle my hubby.


Then I decided to run in my parents neighborhood, because they have a great loop to run that passes by their house at the 1/2 way point. It was 95˙, and my puppy was there, so I got double snuggles from her and decided early tomorrow was better than today anyway. :)


I still have spin class tonight, and I'm about to do a pilates DVD, so I'm still working, I promise!!!!



Let's talk food. I started the day off with coffee and a bowl of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal, which I LOVE. I did a little housewifing ( aka laundry and cleaning) then got hungry for lunch. I made an enormous salad and put a Southwest flavored Sunshine burger on top of it. If you haven't had these burgers yet, I suggest you get thee to a Whole Foods immediately! It tasted like I was eating a tamale! Super yum.

For dessert I ate some gorgeous cherries. One thing I like about eating fruits like cherries is that it takes awhile to eat them. You have to de-stem, then bite, get rid of the pit, then finish. This gives you time to realize you are full instead of wolfing them down and before your body can even register it, you have eaten a whole bag!

Dinner tonight will probably be something simple like a Pb or Ab and J on an ezekial muffin. I will be at work until late, and I want to try to eat dinner early so I dont come home famished. TTFN!

Busy Bee

Ok, ok, fine I'll change Hubby's name since my creativity has been challenged. Help me out! Leave your suggestions in our comments section.

So today was an EARLY and LONG day. I woke up at 4:50 and stumbled through my getting ready process. I made a super yummy green monster and a to-go mug of raspberry green tea. My GM had:

• 1C almond milk
• 1 scoop whole foods brand whey protein
• 1 tbsp peanutbutter
• 1 frozen nanner
• 2 HUGE handfuls of spinach

It was a delight.

Now since I had back to back to back training clients and teach a class on Monday mornings, snacking was super important. I had a cliff z bar- honey graham flavor ( so yummy) around 9, then at 11 I ate my weight in pumpkin seeds. There were also 2 pieces of fruit thrown in for good measure, and apple and a peach. Needless to say, after all the pumpkin seeds I wasnt that hungry when I got home around 1:30, so my lunch was on the light side.

I toasted up an ezekiel english muffin and spread it with almond butter and some AWESOME raspberry jam made by the amish folk that live 45 min up the road from where I live. My grocery store sells their products, and they are so delish.

I took a much needed nap, did some reading, and got ready to go to dinner with family for my mother in law's birthday today! We went to a restaraunt called the Half Shell. It is a bit hard to eat healthy there. They specialize in seafood, and barfood. I did however manage to find an great choice. The grilled salad nicoise. It first of all was smaller than the other salads they served, on a plate instead of a huge could feed a small ogre family sized bowl.

The salad had greens, red onion, a whole (!) grilled artichoke, 3 sliced grilled red potatoes, a grilled tomato, quartered, 8 grilled shrimpies, and feta which i did not even eat. This salad was so good it didnt even need dressing!!!!



There may have been a 1/2 of my hubby's grandmother's onion ring in there, i can neither confirm nor deny. At any rate, it was very good and I was pleasantly surprised. It can be very difficult to eat out and still eat healthy.


What are some of your tips for healthy eat-outs? Do you research the menu before you go? I took the grandma-in-law home after dinner, and did not leave empty handed!!! She gave me a HUGE jar of her homeade bread and butter pickles made from home grown cucmbers. Ahhh, southern grandmothers are the best, aren't they?



So now I am at home, all jammied up. Time for some mindless tv, then a tea and bed. Today was my rest day for training. Although I did train several clients and taught a strength training class, all of which are quite strenuous! Still not quite like my own workout. Tomorrow will be running in the morning and teaching spin class at night. Sweet dreams my babies!

Great Bodies Think Alike

Wouldn't it be nice if I could say "body, look like [insert awesome body's name here]". Ahhh, to dream.


Now on to food:
For breakfast I made myself what I anticipated to be the best green monster ever. I used:
1 cup So Delicious coconut milk
a scoop of white chocolate peanut butter
a large handful of spinach
1 frozen banana ( I freeze my bananas in discs-it's easier on the blades of the blender)
1 packet of Amazing Meal (because the tub I ordered STILL has NOT arrived)
Squirt of Agave Nectar
It was ok. I don't think I used enough coconut milk, for starters, and "live-in" didn't have time to share with me this morning-he was in a hurry to get to work. I drank the whole thing, which is about 400 calories, and I threw in a toasted Ezekiel English muffin with raspberry preserves and I didn't get hungry until about 1:30pm! WOW!
Tomorrow I will make sure to add more coconut milk and make live in share with me.


For lunch I had leftovers from dinner yesterday: grilled chicken, Morgan's couscous, green beans.


My snack today was not a good choice. A co-worker who has an office across from my cube, pops himself some popcorn every single afternoon. The scent of butter wafts through my cube and tickles my taste buds. Rude. So I brought a few bags for my very own self. I popped a bag and shared with a few people. Yum yum! But not 10 minutes later, I came down with a terrible, horrible, mean headache. I can only guess it was a carb overload headache. Yes, I get these.
When I taught taekwondo and I spent 3+ hours working out everyday, I could eat 95% of a whole pizza-a thin crust pizza. But I always got a terrible headache afterwards-I decided when I had too many carbs in one meal, I get headaches. I always learn my lesson 10 minutes too late.


After work I always head to the gym for some type of workout. Today was strength training: arms, core, legs. Then I came home for interval running with my 4 legged baby. She was NOT a good runner today. Every dog we passed-she lunged for them. (She is not friendly towards other dogs). I notice this when we first start running, she expends all her energy on lunges, then she gets tired. But I make her soldier on and learn to budget her energy a little better. The longer we go, the less she lunges.
So, today, we ran intervals, for 1-3 minutes of fast paced running (8:00 minute miles) to slower jogging (10:00 minute miles). I hold a pace until I cannot run any longer at that speed, then I continue for a little longer. Total time was 30 minutes of interval running.


At the gym I did:
15 minutes on the elliptical for a warm-up
3 sets of 15 seated row with 25 pounds
(I'm not good with names of moves)
3 set of 13 punches? with 17 pounds of weight (on the pulley machine)
2 sets of 15 um, moves where I pull the pulley toward my side while I stand with my feet hip width apart
2 sets of 1 minute plank
1 set of :30 side plank
60 twist situps with a medicine ball
10 v-ups
walking lunges with 15 pound weight in each hand
20 tricep dips
10 tricep extensions on each arm


I'm still not exhausted, which I think I should be after I workout. It's my mentality from when I was a teen and would workout out like a superhero, I guess.

Dinner!!!!!

The live in was out with work people for dinner, so I didn't have to cook! Yipee!!

Tonight's dinner consisted of an open face FBLTOC or fakin' bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese all on:

1 slice Ezekiel Bran bread, with 1/2 tablespoon veganiese
1 slice Swiss cheese
Toast the above items while you crisp your tempeh bacon and slice your tomato and onion
In less than 5 minutes, you have a totally awesome sandwich!
I also cooked 1 cup edamame for a yummy side protein.

Yes, we eat from an ottoman. It sucks. It's inhumane. I hate it. However, thanks to live-in's momma, we will no longer be eating from this ottoman (and that day could not come soon enough!). We will be enjoying all of our meals from a lovely counter height table and chairs set from Macy's! Thanks!!!


Ok, I'm off to play with the baby and get ready for yet another work day. (And eat some coconut milk ice cream!)

Have a good night, but before I go, I pose one question: If your body could think like someone elses body, who would it be? I think mine would be a cross between Kara Goucher, Kate Hudson, and Jessica Biel. Or all 3! Healthy, muscular, lean, SEXY!

Good night!!

New name for "hubby"

Since 99.8% of all wives call their husbands "hubby", raise your hand if Anna's hubby needs a new blog name.

She can take suggestions in the form of a comment.

Mine is not a husband, so I call him my "live-in". One time I called him my domestic partner. The look on the other person's face was priceless.
Anyway, mine is "live-in", what will Anna's be?

Hello.

Hi, my name is Morgan and I'm a Mac. Just kidding, this isn't an Apple promotion. Well, it is, kinda, but the fruit apples. And tomatoes. And avocados. All wholesome foods, really.
Ok, let me try this again. I'm Morgan. I'm a southern girl living in New York City (yes, food mecca of the world). I was born in Alabama, lived in Florida for a few years, moved to Tennessee, then to Arkansas for college, then back to Tennessee, then to New York. Whew! I've always 1. been super active/athletic (I did taekwondo from the time I was 8 until 24-that's a long time. I was also the 1997 World Champion) 2. surrounded by awesome, wholesome foods.
My grandmothers, Meme and Mimi Looch, were born and raised in the heart of the south, with access to "home grown" vegetables and fruits. I guess that carried over to me, because I love fruits and veggies. Everything they cooked contained something from the garden, my aunt even had a corn field, okra (my most favorite veggie, ever), green beans, and a dairy farm (more on that later.)
Fast forward to now, and here I am, all healthy from all the fruits and veggies! I think about food all the time and what I will eat at my next meal. I like to watcha few shows on the Food Network and try and make their recipes healthier. I love to create dishes, cook, and eat. I'm like Monica from Friends. But first and foremost, comes nutrition and training.

My food philosophy:

• I don't eat or cook beef or pork. I will allow the live-in (my bf), to cook a steak, but I require the beef be raised by a free range farmer and be grass fed and obviously, chemical free. Plus, he says it tastes better. Pork, is just gross, to me and it's not healthy, so it stays outta my kitchen!!
• I do eat chicken and fish and sometimes (like once a week) turkey
• I don't drink cow's milk (ew) but I do LOVE cheese. However, I buy hormone free cheese and greek yogurt-the health benefits are too good to pass up
• I always buy free range chicken, etc. You get the point.
• I will ask a million questions in a restaurant about a dish. If they get pissed, I don't care. I want to know what I am eating. Normally I do a ton of research on a restaurant before I go out anyway. One day, I will write about my favorite restaurants in NYC.
• I love coffee
• I love coconut milk ice cream (where has it been all my life!)I love a baked potato with greek yogurt
• I get cranky if I go 3 hours without foods and I tend to make bad decisions when I'm hungry
• I love food
• I love shopping. Anthropologie is my favorite store.I also love handbags but I have a hard time finding a cool, stylish one that holds all my crap I lug around with me. Thus, I carry 2 bags, sometimes 2.5 bags. Yeah, I need a cart or wheelbarrow or something.
• I love wine-red wine. Somewhere down the road I developed a taste for semi-expensive red wine. Oopst. Anyway, I have a glass of red wine per night. Can't help it, it's how I relax at night.
• I love my baby, Joey, a Boston Terrier. I adopted her from a rescue group. She loves her Anna too!

I think you get the point. Whole foods without chemicals. Got it. Sometimes I think I annoy people with my healthy foods, but if I'm eating it, it's gonna be 1. good and 2. good for you.

Anna, my most athletic friend, true story, is my running buddy budz. We share 1. the same ideals about food and most other things 2. the same size clothes 3. the same brain. We met through mutual friends and she played on our co-ed softball team, The Ligers. We got hooked on running after our first 5k, Harbortown 2006, and decided to run a marathon that year. St. Jude Marathon was our first marathon (time is not to be disclosed) but it was so damn hard. I had an injury but, nonetheless, we crossed the finish line. Once, we recovered, all we could think about was when is the next marathon?! The next one was Philadelphia in 2007, which we did not train very well for. 2008 was a rebuilding year. We made PRs in 10k's and half marathons by changing our running mentality, and on 11/1/2009, we will be running in the ING New York Marathon!!! This year, we have a goal time of 4:50, and a really good plan to get there.

We will also chronicle our running adventures and training plans and what we eat to fuel our bodies. Plus, how can anyone not write about mental health (shopping, have 1 or 4 glasses of wine, etc!).

Anna and I will write daily entries of what we eat, the recipes (if we can include them), daily running adventures and any other adventure we happen to, um, venture across.

We are also available for questions by sending an email to buttlookfast@gmail.com!

I look forward to hearing from each of you!

Happy eating and training!

xoxo
M

Training. ugh.

Not as in, I hate training, but as in I disappointed myself. How, you ask? Well, I'm super competitive, and I'm even more competitive against myself. I'm a "self shit talker". In the same breath, I am a total night person and terrible at waking up early. ALL of my roommates can attest to this. (Oddly, I'm a total morning workout person.)

So, I woke up late on Saturday, which is my long run training day. I planned 2 hours of running at a 9:30 minute mile pace, but I only got through 1 hour and 20ish minutes. And the last 20 minutes I brought my running buddy with 4 legs, Joey, and she slows me down a little. I can't NOT take her with me, at least on a leg, because she LOVES running, loves it. She gives the best sad faces when I leave without her.

And today, Sunday, I had planned to run an extra hour, but I didn't have time. Boo me.



Well, off to a new week, with plenty of strength training, speed work, a middle distance run and a long weekend run and, of course, GYMNASTICS!!!



Did you see that my and Anna's running hero, Kara Goucher, won the 5,000 Meters at the USA Outdoor Championship?


Go Kara go!

Couscous Calls Me By My Name

After running my final "errands", I came home and made some dinner (dammit!). Tonight menu consisted of: grilled chicken (from last night's cookout), Morgan's couscous, watermelon/feta/radish salad (courtesy of Women's Health Magazine), blanched green beans and some "Hi" Cabernet. This meal, or type, is my most favorite ever (besides sushi, pizza, southern fried chicken...) Yes, I tried to rotate the picture, it was a no-go. Deal.

Morgan's couscous

• 1 1/4 cup low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon olive oil or Earth Balance butter
• 1 cup couscous
• 2-3 handfuls of spinach
• 2/3ish cup chickpeas
• 1/2 sweet onion, diced
• 1 small clove garlic, diced
• 3-4 asparagus spears, shaved with vegetable peeler
• 1/4 jalapeno, diced
• salt, pepper, cayenne to tasteand drizzles olive oil on top, of course

Heat veggies in a little bit of olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes or so. (until spinach has almost wilted) Heat broth and teaspoon of olive oil in a sauce pan. When it comes to a boil, add the couscous, stir with a wooden spoon, cover and remove from heat. Add veggies, spices, stir.

ENJOY!!!

Dessert is vanilla bean coconut milk ice cream with fresh strawberries and maybe I will whip up some chocolate sauce!

Up next, weekend training... of course I semi disappoint myself, you'll see.

I. LOVE. WHOLE. FOODS.

What I scooped up: Greek yogurt, cucumber, sweet potato, mahi mahi, chicken, onion, lemons, green beans, blueberries, pink lady apples, peaches, bananas, paper towels, dish soap, asparagus, So Delicious Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl, coffee, almond milk, and White Chocolate Peanut butter.



But I don't love the people who shop there (cough tourists cough, cough). Anyway, so today, Sunday, is the usual "get ready for the week" day. This entails, grocery shopping, cleaning, picking out all my awesome work outfits and workout outfits, preparing a lunch for Monday, etc.

I can't say how excited I get to be in Whole Foods and to be surrounded by pure awesomeness. I'm still 15 at heart (and in looks and mentality HA!), and when I get home, I must open each new item I've never had before, and have a taste. Today, I opened So Delicious' Coconut Milk. I could barely get home before I already imagined myself gulping the coconut milk out of the carton. So, I get home, and take a big swig, and then smiled from ear to ear! Where in the HELL has this been all my life? Anyway, I'm just glad it's here now.

Ok, so I'm off to start dinner, or as us southerners say, supper!

-M

Bacon is not a Vegetable

Hey there Bloggies! Wait....I dont think we have any bloggies yet. Anywho, my name is Anna and I'm a southern girl living in Memphis, Tn. Morgan and I LOVE eating, running, shopping and moving our bodies in general. I, like Morgan, have grown up in a family of southern farmers. Veggies have always been the staple of the meals in my house, both growing up, and now that I am married and responsible for feeding my grown man husband with child like taste buds. I'm working on him bit-by-bit, though!

Here is a bit about me:

• - I have a degree in exercise and sports science, and I am currently pursuing my masters degree in exercise physiology. - I am an ACSM certified personal trainer, and I LOVE my job.
• - I LOVE avocados.
• - I have "shared custody" with my parents of my 9 year old maltese, Khaki.
• - I love clothes, and handbags. It's a problem really. Being a newlywed means FAR fewer new clothes, just in case you were wondering
• - I went to cosmetology school.
• - I grew up dancing, competitive cheerleading, and doing gymnastics, but throw a ball into the mix and I become the most uncoordinated person ever.

So most of our blog entries will chronicle our training, and healthy topics we take interest in. We are not doctors ( although we have both worked for docs), and any of our advice is not meant to be substituted for a doctors advice. We do however believe in research and any questions you may have for us will likely be answered based on empirical data, followed up by our own personal opinion on the subject. Ok, on to the good stuff!

My weekend has been about as great as a weekend could be when it is 101˙ outside. Friday night Hubby and I had date night with some friends of ours, and I ate the MOST delicious grilled sea bass with a salad and haricovert. I ordered the small portion on the menu, but the waitress brought me the full portion, and I ate the whole piece of fish!!!! Oops! Saturday morning I met a client for a workout and followed it up with my own run. Let me just tell you that 11:00 in the morning and 101˙ with no shade is NOT the best plan. I was super slow and my heart rate was sky high. Later that afternoon, Hubby took me to see "Up". Sitting in a dark, ice-cold movie theatre was divine.I finally stopped sweating. The movie was SOOOOO cute!!!!! If you haven't seen this movie yet, I highly suggest you go see it. Plus it is 3D!!!! How cool is that?

Sunday morning, was church, then meeting my mom for lunch at a cajun-style restaraunt. I chose this restaraunt because I thought I remembered them having a large selection of salads. So the 3 of us ( Mom, Hubby, and myself) sat down and the waiter came to our table. When it was my turn to order, I had a question or 2 ( of course) about the cobb salad i had my eye on. "What vegetables come on the cobb salad?" I asked. Now this waiter looks at me with a glazed over expression, and says "uh....bacon.....(at this point his eyes are straing straight ahead and getting bigger by the second)...uuuhhhh......cheese..(eyes as big as saucers)....and i think parmesean cheese." I kid you not. Really. At this point my mom and Hubby look away from me because they are trying not to laugh. All I could say was " But, what vegetables?" to which he responded "some tomatoes." So obviously I got the salad without the "veggies "( aka bacon and cheeses). And it was fine, but here is the problem. This waiter was probably in his young 20s and did not appear to be impoverished to the point of not being able to attend school. We were in a nice wealthy suburb, in a food establishment. This kid appeared to have every fighting chance at education, and he called bacon a vegetable!!!!!!! If this kid couldnt identify a veggie, what chance to the children who don't get an education have? This is my soapbox. If you are around kiddos, PLEASE teach them the difference between a vegetable and bacon. Evidently they need all the help they can get. So after a great nap this afternoon, while Hubby watched the World Cup, we had veggie burgers for dinner ( healthy McDonald's style. I will let Morgan give you the recipie, since it came courtesey of her BF) and coconut milk ice cream for dessert.....there may have been one or two ginger snaps thrown in my bowl. :) Now I am off to do pilates, take a shower and go to bed! Work comes super early Monday mornings. 4th of July is this week! Do any of you have any awesome recipies for making traditional summer cook-out foods healthier?