Does This Blog Make My Butt Look Fast?

2009-09-21T15:17:00.002-04:00

Sunday was my first planned race since May. NYRR does a series of Half-Marathons called the Grand Prix Series. There are a total of 5 half marathons, with one race in each boroughs. In May I completed the Brooklyn Half Marathon-with a PR of 2:11 and last Sunday was the Queens Half Marathon. My plan of attack was to keep a steady pace of 9:00 minute miles (totally doable) and finish in 1:59. Here is my story:

I woke up that morning at 4:30, just enough time to change into my running gear, grab my breakfast, coffee, and bag and head to the subway. Ahhhh, the MTA on a Sunday at 5am. Nothing like it. Why? Because it sucks. Trains barely run at that time-I paced around the station for a good 10 minutes. When there was still no sign of a train, I hopped out and hailed a cab to Grand Central to take the 7 to the very end- Flushing, Queens. NYRR would provide free shuttle buses to the start. So I thought no biggie. I waited at GC for 20 minutes with fellow runners. I figured if they were there at that time, then I wasn't running too, too late. I pop out of the subway at 6:30 am (total travel time so far: 1.5 hours) to a line that spanned around the entire block. The line barely moved for 20 minutes and at this time I realized there were about 3 buses that took the runners to the start. THREE. THREE!!!! 3!!!!!! What were they thinking? Even if I had arrived at the suggested 6:15 time (15 minutes prior) I would have still been in line and still missed the start of the race. FINALLY, at 7:10am, I got on a bus-what seemed like the longest bus ride in the world. At about 7:20, we reached the race course and the police would let the buses carrying the runners through. Notice I said buses. As in more than one. We were told we would need to walk to the start!! Wait, what? You want us to trek the 2 miles to the start when we are about to run 13.1 miles?????? Clearly, these people ARE NOT runners.
I angrily walked against all the runners, to the start to check my bag, grab my number and race chip, then to cross the start line to activate my chip. I think many people from my bus just jumped in the race where the bus let us off-at about mile 2.5. I could never do that, I would just feel terrible to the other runners and I would feel so guilty for cheating. Even though, the shuttle bus problem wasn't our fault, I could still never skip miles in a race. Anyway, back to me. I can say that I had the best first 7 miles of the race. My pace was steady at about a 8:50 minute mile, I sipped Gatorade at each station, I felt good. Then the effects of hill running kicked in. First with upper back muscle pain. Then my hips. Then my feet. I slowed to about a 10:00 mile for a mile, then I kept my pace right at 9:50.
I gooed at miles 5-7 (by taking a little goo at a time) then again from miles 10-11. Gooing slower allowed me to goo while in motion and to only add a tiny bit of fuel each time. When I take an entire goo, I feel like I tend to add bouts of sprints to the run because I suddenly feel so good, then I crash. This time I stayed level. Between miles 8-12, the race was particularly hard. I felt heavy and I had to go to the bathroom.
As soon as I spotted the park where the finish line was, I booked it. Sprinting all the way to the finish. I crossed the finish line at 2:09 (official) and I couldn't be happier!!!
After all the angry running and the 2 mile trek to the start, then the subway, bus debacle, I am completely satisfied. In 3 weeks, I have another Half, the Staten Island Half Marathon and this is the one I plan on conquering and beating that 2:00 hour mark.

My tail bone hurts today-ouchie.

Why do I crave ice?
I looked up the symptoms and it says something about being Iron deficient. I know that's not the case, because I'm not a vegetarian-I think I get plenty of iron in my diet. Plus, other symptoms are cold all the time and that is definitely not me.
Anyone??

Lab Rat part 1

2009-09-17T15:04:00.003-04:00

So I am officially a lab rat. My department at school is doing a study on the Daniel Fast, and yours truly is a subject for it. The Daniel fast is a very popular religious fast, and is based on Daniel from the Bible. When Daniel and his crew were in prison, they refused to eat the "kings food" that the other prisoners were given. Daniel and co. ate only whole grains, fruits and veggies. Many churches and groups use this fast. You can eat unlimited calories, but NO added sweeteners ( natural or otherwise...even honey) NO alcohol, NO animal products ( completely vegan), No chemicals ( organic, and preservative free products only) and NO....wait for it....caffeine ( Yikes!)

The research question is how participating in this fast ( which is 21 days long by the way) will affect certain biomarkers, and other health considerations.

First of all, when my professor asked if I would participate in the study, I eagerly agreed. I thought, it would be easy for actually, because I eat really clean anyway, no problem eliminating a little sugar and animal product. Boy was I wrong. I always knew, in my head that tons of stuff had sugar in it, however until you grocery shop for 3 weeks worth of sugar-less food, you have NO IDEA!!! I feel like sugar is this little ninja that changes its name and appearance and sneaks into everything I eat!!!!

I started the fast last Friday, and that morning, I had to report to the lab in a completely 12 hour fasted state for my intake tests. I took a pregnancy test ( nerve wracking!), to make sure I could participate, and when 1 little line popped up, I was clear to fast! In the lab I had to answer a few general questions about my health, sleep habits, exercise habits, and energy levels. Then the lab techs ( aka, my fellow students) took my resting heart rate, blood pressure, height, weight, body fat percentage using skinfold calipers ( ouch!) and circumference measurements. All of that was done twice to ensure it was correct. Nothing like having your fat pinched by a guy who sits next to you in stats!

Next I got a DEXA scan. For those of you who don't know, a dexa scan can tell body composition, but is mostly used for bone density measurements. You lie on a table and get basically a full body xray! Very cool. Then you have all this awesome info that prints out, like the exact density of each major bone, where you fall in your age, race, and gender categories, and yet another measure of body fat. Here I am:

Don't I look pretty? :)

After the Dexa, I rested for 10 minutes on a table, while my professor drew blood from me to check my lipid panel, complete blood count, antioxidant levels, oxidative stress levels, and insulin sensitivity.

SO basically I was prodded inside and out, and every last inch of me was examined! I am very interested to see how all of that changes in 2 more weeks when I go back for my exit tests.

The thing that was the hardest so far, was caffeine withdrawal. I expected to have a headache, which I did and luckily that was gone by Saturday afternoon. The thing I did not expect was the severe joint and muscle pain!!! My legs and back hurt SO bad that I actually cried. Agh! Luckily that pretty much ended Monday, and now I feel pretty good! My energy levels are up and if I am being perfectly honest, its not THAT hard to follow the fast. I DO miss my Kashi cereal and sweet vanilla soymilk, and I think that will be the first thing I eat when this is all over!!!!

Have you ever been a lab rat? Or sacrificed in the name of science before? Ever done a fast?

I RAN WITH KARA GOUCHER!!! Part 2

2009-09-16T10:30:00.005-04:00

I totally had a blonde moment and forgot to blog about my actual RUN with Kara!

The length of the run was 3 miles but included a warm up and stretching!

The run was divided into 7:00 pace and faster (not me), 8:00-9:00 pace (where I jumped in), and 9:00 beyond. The run was against the normal running traffic and was mostly UPHILL for the first 2.5 miles. I was sucking wind, but I did not stop until I had to tie my shoe.

Mr. Nike Triax timed me at 32:00 total and I was pissed when I looked at it. PISSED. That's like a 10:15 minute mile??? I haven't run like that in a looong time. I continued to be disappointed in myself until I LOOKED at my results and pace on Ms. Apple (my computer). Hello dummy, I we ran 3.6 miles (I'm guessing that's with the warm-up) and my pace was an average of 9:00 miles. WHEW! I was RELIEVED!!! Recap:

Distance: 3.6 miles

Time: 32:00

Pace: 9:00

Why are night runs so hard for me??? Why am I TERRIBLE at waking up early??? My goal by the end of this year (gasp!) is to become an EARILER riser.

And just so you remember my new BFF:

I RAN WITH KARA GOUCHER!!!

2009-09-14T15:31:00.005-04:00

I can say that Fashion's Night Out was a SUCCESS! It's not everyday you get to meet your running idol! Let's recap, shall we!

I arrived at Niketown just slightly before 6pm. Checked my bags, looked over the running merchandise. Didn't buy anything (which I will cover later).

Waited around, met some runners, chatted about Kara, NYRR, the Nike Runs, NYC Marathon.

At the check-in table, if you wished, you could submit a question for Kara to answer. Of course, I had millions of questions, but what did I write down?

"Will you be my running bff?"

Kara arrives, the Nike head coach person, went over her recent results, talked about her training and she answered a few training questions.

Highlights:

When she's training for a marathon she runs 120 miles per week

Tempo runs are 16-18 miles varying between 5:10 and 5:30 minute miles

New York Marathon is hard! (even for Kara)

Writes a letter to her family before each race (cute)

Is very emotional after a race, and although we may not see it on TV, she says she cries at EVERYTHING (even while talking about crying at everything after a marathon)

She is taking the next few months off (I think she and her husband, Adam, are trying to have a baby-that's only my guess!)

This is how close I had to sit to Kara: (Not that I minded, but it was a weird angle)

She is TALL! And she is little, but she is also lean and strong. She is gorgeous and has a fantastic smile!

Then came time for the submitted questions! My question was the first one asked, and besides saying "Yes!", she laughed. It lightened the mood and I think I asked the question that everyone was thinking.

Me and my new BFF Kara!

YIPPEE FOR NIKE!!

Now, Fashion's Night Out was all around Manhattan (Tiffany rolled out a BLUE Carpet) and this was the exit from Bergdorfs:

Madness I tell you, madness! But the overall mood was excellent and the weather was PERFECT! I couldn't ask for a better night! (Only I wish Anna was there!)

Fashion's Night Out

2009-09-09T15:50:00.004-04:00

In honor of Fashion Week in NYC, Random Celebrities will be at random venues doing secret random things. Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen will be at Bloomingdale's Restaurant Bartending; Justin Timberlake and Robin (aka Trace Ayala) will be at Saks announcing something (that he's marrying me), and more.

Today at 1:00pm EST, in my Facebook inbox, I received the best news of all the celebrities:

KARA GOUCHER WILL BE RUNNING TOMORROW AT NIKETOWN!!!

WTF, how excited am I? So!!!!! So excited!!!! I cannot wait. My mind is racing: I need a new running outfit; should I wear my running skirt (TBD)? What color looks best on me (blues, pinks, black, white); Should I spray tan myself (TBD)? How should I wear my hair (up); What time should I get there (6am); Should I do a run prior (yes); what should I eat for lunch (omg, who knows, maybe a Larabar?); and I need a real camera. Plus, I need to practice my picture taking skills- not my skills, my learning to be more photogenic and less idiotic.

Girl's got a lot on her mind. It's not everyday you get to meet your running superhero.

I will probably not sleep tonight.

I need a list of questions to ask her... More than likely I will end up looking like a deer in headlights, but with a huge grin slapped on my face!

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

Happy Labor Day!

2009-09-07T20:30:00.002-04:00

Hey there! Miss me?

School started back this week, so my life is upside down and inside out! I am hoping to find more time to blog as my schedule settles a bit. This is a super-duper quickie, and I promise there is more coming, but I wanted to forward this AWESOME tool on the all of you! Any runners out there, please clicky:

Most excellent running website

Whew! It's Been a While!

2009-09-03T13:18:00.008-04:00

I will do a quick synopsis of the past weekish:

Sushi Night at Sekisui in Memphis with my mom, Anna, Sister and Brother in Law:

Anna and I went for a 7 mile run that included 3 uphill sprints. We post run refueled with GM's of course, and with curly straws!

Post run photo op:

Saturday, I went to Little Rock, Arkansas (my old stomping grounds) for Carol's Bachelorette Party and boy was it a wild time! Here are a few pictures!

Bride and Maid of Honor (me)

Carol, Ashley, Myself, Rebecca (my sister)

Seductive poses in front of the fan

Before heading into Disco aka Dirty

FINALLY, Live In and I got our table and chairs and we have enjoyed dinner there almost every night (with the expection of going out to dinner). YIPEE!!

I whipped up baked tofu, baked squash, and couscous, topped with what else, ARUGULA!!

I read from cover to cover on the plane back to NYC: Jillian Michael's Master Your Metabolism-which is mostly a Whole Foods type of diet, which I already follow. However, the education on the endocrine system is what I needed. Because with all this working out and not losing weight is just plain ridiculous. Not that I am TRYING to lose a ton of weight, but I want to cut out some fat and it's just not budging. UGH! This book totally makes sense-I'm taking Spirnolactone for my Acne Cysts (which I get maybe once or twice a year) and the doc put me on the highest dose possible. This medication decreases my testosterone levels, almost to zero, and DUH! I need the testosterone to lose weight! So I have cut my dose by 75% and I am only taking it every 2-3 days. Next week I will get a metabolic panel, just in case!

My $13 salad bar lunch- I ate EVERY BITE! Fruit, Baked Chickem, Spoonful Mac and Cheese, Tomato & Mozzarella Salad. Avocado Salad (Just Avocado, really)

I hope everyone has had a nice last week of summer! :(

My buddies Tish and Stacey are here this weekend, so Wednesday (when I am back at work again), I will recap our adventures!

Happy Labor Day Everyone!

Fantastico!

2009-08-28T09:57:00.003-04:00

I've somehow managed to wake up early and run twice this week! That's exactly 2 more times than normal! Suh. Weet!

I've been scrambling around getting ready to head to Memphis this afternoon, then to Little Rock Saturday for Carol's bachelorette party. I'M SOOOO FRIGGIN' EXCITED! We've had some damn good memories come from Little Rock and I am certain that Carol's Bachelorette party will top the list! Being Maid of Honor, I've whipped up a nice goody bag for everyone this week. In midst of all that, I miraculously made a homemade, healthy dinner in less than an hour. WHAT? Let me share.

Since I went to Whole Foods on Sunday and purchased an on sale! eggplant ($1.00), I've been dreaming of Eggplant Parmigiana. This is my mother's favorite dish-we even lugged ourselves to EVERY restaurant in Little Italy to find some authentic Eggplant Parmigiana, and had no luck. I digress, so I googled the basics to "baked eggplant Parmesan" and then I followed my own ideas. And, I used homemade breadcrumbs. Ok, I already had those on hand, but still. Homemade breadcrumbs.

Baked Eggplant Parmesan

1 eggplant cut into thick slices
1 egg
whole wheat bread crumbs and a few tablespoons of panko mixed in (3/4 cup? I suck at measurements.)
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes
dried basil
Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350. In one bowl, crack open egg into and beat. In another bowl, combine breadcrumbs, panko, spices (to taste). Mix around with fingers. Dip eggplant into egg, then into bread crumb mixture. Place onto foil lined baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes one side, 5 the other, then crank the oven to 400 and add slices of fresh mozzarella cheese. When the cheese begin to bubble, they are done. Remove and top with Vodka sauce (follows) and what else ARUGULA and fresh Parmesan!!!!

Almost Homemade Vodka Sauce

1 jar of your favorite marinara/tomato sauce (I use Classico's Spicy Tomato and Basil and I also eat it by the spoonful)
3/4 cup vodka
about 3/4 cup light cream

In a saucepan, simmer jar of sauce and vodka together for about 20 minutes. Slowly add cream to sauce. (I always add to taste.) I think I used about 3/4 cup. Maybe. Always taste. Remove from heat and dump over eggplant. Scarf down.
I also made a quick salad of spinach, fresh mozzarella, onion, tomato and spicy olives with a little drizzle of olive oil and freshly ground pepper. And we also enjoyed some crispy green beans.

Cheap and Fancy aren't oxymorons in our house!!!

Happy Friday All!

Really.

2009-08-27T08:41:00.002-04:00

Welp, I guess we better all stop running immediately. Can't have people feeling good, that wouldn't be right.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32573781/ns/health-fitness/

Weekend of Glutton Part Tres

2009-08-26T10:13:00.005-04:00

In continuation of the weekend foodie theme and also in light of my new arugula theme, Sunday night Live In and I made the most delicious meal, probably ever. No joke.

Angle 1:

Everybody say YUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!

Blackened Chicken on top of Spaghetti with sauteed spinach, onions and asparagus, topped with fresh arugula and shaved parmesan.

View 2:

It was just so darn good and also very easy to make!

Sauteed Veggies

Sauteed 1/2 onion
2 garlic cloves
spinach (1 package of frozen spinach)
1.5 tbsp of olive oil.

Add chopped asparagus in the last 2 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. You can also leave the onion out or not.

Blackened Chicken
Coat lightly oiled chicken breasts with a mixture of the following (about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp each)

White pepper
Cajun seasoning
Cumin
Salt
Cayenne Pepper
Smoked Paprika
Onion Powder

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a cast iron skillet with 2 tbsp of butter. When hot, add chicken and cook for about 2 minutes each side.

Throw in the oven until chicken is done (internal temp of 160)
We also throw a pat of butter on each breast in the last five minutes of cooking.

Spaghetti (Whole Wheat)
Follow the directions on the box

Mix sauteed vegetables in with spaghetti and add more olive oil, if your little heart desires.

After plated, top with handful of arugula and shaved parmesan. Your taste buds will thank me. I don't lie.

Whew! All that cooking makes one sleepy little puppy!

Night Night

Happy Tummy

2009-08-25T22:51:00.002-04:00

Tonight I feel like this:

Because I FINALLY got on a real shoe and was able to spin! I almost barfed. I love it. My heart was happy too. When I got home I was in the mood for some serious comfort food.

Bob's Scottish oats with vanilla soymilk, white chocolate peanut butter, and about 1/3 of a mushed up nanner. Happy happy tummy.

I did a little back to school shopping today:

I am teaching Pilates this semester, so I HAD to be prepared, duh. What kind of teacher would I be if I didn't have a good (pink) mat and (baby blue) no-slip towel?

All my happiness was short-lived however, when I took a look at my planner for the week.

Yowza! makes me feel like this:

*note: please do not judge sweaty post spin class pics.

Now I am headed to the shower, and the bed for a LOOOOONNNGG day tomorrow. Nitey-nite!

Say it aint so

2009-08-24T23:19:00.003-04:00

In light of Morgan's awesome rocking female athlete bod post ( which I love) I decided to eat 2 cookies and appriciate my own athletic bod for the evening!

But I have some bad news....

1. You may have noticed no pics recently. That's becasue my camera is on the fritz! Ew. Electronics. I swear I would be happy with everything in my world being Flinstone-style. I am a technology grandma.

2. School starts...well, now ish. I did go buy a ( unpictured) load of school supplies, and a shiny new pink binder which will most assuredly make me smarter. I also bought a pack of the new multi colored sharpie pens, Yay for school supplies. This week is crazy with faculty meetings, GA meetings, and a department cookout. I am interested to see how healthy the "Health and Sports Sciences" department cookout is. Look out for a blog on that. My classes start next week. I will be taking an Exercise Physiology/ muscle morphology class, a research design and writing class, and a statistics class, so I can understand all of this research I will be desiging and writing about. I am teaching pilates. I am actually very excited in a nerdy way to impart wisdom on young minds! Hopefully my students will be engaged and actually care about this class. I would, pilates rocks. Can I wear a running skirt to teach in? Hmm.....

3. My training has been crappy these last couple of weeks! Although, ( silver lining up ahead) my lovely staph infection is MUCH better, and I actually put on a real shoe today, with laces and everything! Now if this huge scab would just magically dissappear overnight, I would be one happy camper.

4. I am already stressed about school starting back, but what I am most worried about is ( duh) nutrition when classes start back. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I will be teaching 3 hours of pilates, followed by an hour of spin that evening. What's a girl to eat?

What are some of your fave on the go foods? Help me out here people, I need a game plan!

Weekend of Glutton-Part Deux

2009-08-23T19:51:00.005-04:00

Saturday, I wanted to have another adventure in the city, umfortunely, Hurricane Bill didn't want us to ride bikes. I decided I wanted to try out Brooklyn: Park Slope and Clinton Hill/Ft. Greene and then have some pizza and wine at the wonderful Graziella's. Brooklyn did not disappoint-Park Slope, Clinton Hill and Ft. Greene are the cutest little pockets in Brooklyn.

Now on to Graziella's. Dear. Lord. It's the best pizza ever. No lie. Hands down, the arugula parmesan pizza is the best I've ever had. I'll be back in 2 weeks, Graziella's! (This photo does not do this pizza justice!)

The rooftop dining area only adds the awesome factor to this secret pizza joint!

Sweating it out on the subway in my 2008 Final 4 T-Shirt

New Running Skirt, by Nike. (do not look above my waist. Don't. I know you just did. Avert your eyes!!)

I'm still not sure how I feel about a running skirt. I feel a tad bit like a fraud. But yet, oh so girly! I also bought some Blue Nike Shorts and a Fall Sweatshirt (for Running!!)

Ok, Fall, bring it on. I'm ready!

Weekend of Glutton-Part One

2009-08-23T19:35:00.004-04:00

I love a weekend of good food!

The weekend started out with a trip to The Mermaid Inn for a fantastic seafood dinner. We started out with Shrimp Cocktail and ordered a bottle of Verdejo (a Spanish white wine) Paso y Paso- a first for me to have more than a sip of white wine.

For dinner, I ordered Spaghetti and a Salad-different, but fantastic. The dish was spaghetti, olive oil, steamed clams and littleneckes (a first) with arugula and shaved parmesan on top! The taste and texture was out of this world-I think I have a new favorite dish idea!

There really wasn't enough protein for me, but I went with it. A first for me to let loose with my food!

Side of sauteed spinach-

Live in ordered the Lobster Roll-

Nom Nom Nom

Desert was a chocolate pudding and a Fortune Fish!

The air was too stagnant outside for our fortune fish, so I saved him for another day!

Too be continued!

Fat Day

2009-08-21T17:47:00.004-04:00

Everybody has those so called "fat days".

After looking at my tree stumps (aka, legs) in the gym mirror and deciding I should probably cut out all pasta type foods, wheat, anything over 100 calories, etc, I get an nice compliment from a fellow gym-goer. Muscle lifter said (in his opinion) I have "the perfect athletic body". I really did thank him because I was having a low self esteem body day. (Of course I realize men are always trying to get in girls' pants, so I said "thanks" and moved on).

But why am I posting this: because it goes to show that a. women CAN have athletic bodies and look fantastic and 2. because so many women are down on themselves and their appearance-it's ok to receive a compliment and TAKE IT!!!

Glamour Magazine (September 2009) did a month long story on a woman and how she felt daily about her body-and took pictures each day in the same bathing suit, in the same pose. The pictures were to prove that she looked the same each day to other people, even if she felt like like a giant walrus.
I also think body image has a lot to do with the food we eat. I know when I eat like crap, I feel like crap, thus making me have a low body image. I don't like to feel bad or look bad so this is why I eat healthy and work out. Plus I am uber competitive and I like to compete with mostly, myself.

I am posting my favorite strong, female athletes. And they also just so happen to be hot!

Who is your favorite female athlete?
(PS: I don't consider Nascar [driving] a sport therefore Danica Patrick will not be on my list])

Jennie Finch and Kara Goucher

Brandy Chastain

Various Awesome Blogs

2009-08-20T12:11:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, I stumbled upon awesome blog after awesome blog and I thought I would share. Because that's what I do.

Eat, Live, Run: written by Jenna-I've been reading hers for a while (my first blog to read!!). She has easy lunch and dinner ideas. Also, she's a pastry chef. Saywhat? We'll be right over, Jenna!
http://eatliverun.com/

Healthy Tipping Point: written by Caitlin-I read about 75 pages yesterday. Me likey. Very positive and motivational!
http://www.healthytippingpoint.com/

No Meat Athlete: written by Matt, a marathoner, vegetarian! Yipee for no meat marathons! Also nice to have a male's point of view.
http://www.nomeatathlete.com/

The Runner's Kitchen: written by Megan-a runner since high school (and she's fast, people!). Also fellow New Yorker. I like to see where her NYC adventures take her!
http://runnerskitchen.wordpress.com/

Fitnessista: One of Anna's fave's. I like her recipes! Healthy and they look delicious!
http://www.fitnessista.com/

Things to do While Unemployed: And of course, one of my besties, Stacey Logan. Hers is foul and funny, kinda like a married version of Tucker Max. SO really, nothing like Tucker Max, 'cept writing styles.
http://thingstodowhileunemployed.blogspot.com/

I hope these keep you busy, yanno for a rainy day!

Deuces!

Things I have learned this summer

2009-08-18T21:33:00.004-04:00

Sigh. I am in my last week of summer vacation. I realize most 29 year olds don't get summer vacation, but since I am a grad student, I do. And I needed it. During the semester I am a full on crazy person, stressed out to the max, and exhausted and cranky. This summer break has been great.....but i didn't totally turn my brain off! I learned some things. Some I learned through research, or my awesome job, some I learned the hard way ( which is evidently my fave way to learn.) So without further adue ( how do you spell that word?)

Top 10 Things I learned This Summer

10. Shaq is really good at alot of sports.

9. I am a pretty smart cookie. I believe my education is sticking. Good.

8. I am even more obsessed with peanut butter than I originally thought.

7. Gall Bladder surgery is serious business.

6. My husband is an excellent ceiling fan installer.

5. Time magazine is ridiculously ignorant.

4. If you treat your body nice, it will return the favor. It is your Temple. Respect it.

3. Fire ants are black....who knew?

2. Pei Wei's veggie and tofu substitution for meat in their dishes is unbelievable. So Super Duper Yummy

And the #1 thing I learned this summer:

ANT BITES SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Caution:

I Hate You, Spin Class

2009-08-18T20:05:00.004-04:00

Memba that time when I was so mad during spin class, I cried? Yeah, I do. I hadn't taken a spin class in ohh, about 8 months because it makes my vaginal area hurt. Bad. More on that later.

*WARNING EXPLICIT BLOG AHEAD*

Let's start from 10am.....(play the dream sequence sounds in your head)

My boss calls me to say she was "slammed" from a superior because I asked a question to someone in the legal department. Just a simple question to keep the ball rolling on an agreement while my boss was on vacation. But apparently our department isn't supposed to "talk to her". WTF? Seriously?! Is this lady the Queen of England? Ugh. I felt so bad for my boss, even though she is more on the side of "fuck it", but still. I guess that's what happens when I try and keep things moving along.
Anyway, after those shenanigans, I had a pretty normal day. Busy, which I like. And yesterday, my package from Target came. Of course, UPS did not leave it, so I called the number. The lady on the phone says it's at the UPS pick up center (which is located damn near in New Jersey) and I can pick it up. Sweet! Forty-five minutes later (2 bus rides and 10 minutes of waiting for a subway that never came) I get there. Man scans the bar code. Ma'am, your package is on the truck for delivery-they attempted to deliver it at 1:32pm. AAAAHHHHHHHHH! If at this point I could have blown fire out of my mouth like a kick ass dragon, then I would have. For sure. UPS man gives me the "manager's" phone number. I call and I don't lose my cool, but I am straight forward with this manager about my inconvenience. I say "LEAVE THE PACKAGE TOMORROW". Click.

At this point, I wanted to go to a bar and drink. But I didn't, because I was really looking forward to spin class. Plus, I had a reservation with Mr. Schwinn, bike 12.
I rush to class and barely make it by 6:30. People are already warming up as I walk in. I look at Mr. 12, BROKEN. Shoe holder thingy is on the floor, not attached to the pedal. Knob is missing from the seat adjustment part. My water bottle is too big to fit into the holder. And my ass/giny area already hurts. I adjust my seat, reattach my pedal shoe thingy as the instructor watches (not helping), sit in the seat, ow, readjust the seat, sit, ow. Deal with it. Ok, this will be fine.
When we start doing hills, I imagine I'm in France with Lance Armstrong and we are riding the Tour de France course together, cheering each other on over the hills. I also imagine the guy in front of me is Lance, although twas not. People in class are "hooting and hollerin' and woo-hooing". Yeah, this is gonna be good! Ass hurts, but ok.
I need to tighten my shoe thingy. RIP. I break the metal piece. Way to go dummy, but I think it's no big deal, I'm a pedalin'. Instructor says "Pick up the pace, let's go! Double time!! Double time!!" Cycle, Cycle, Cycle, Slip. F&$K! My left foot slips out of the pedal, no big deal, it wasn't bad. I slip my foot back in the broken pedal and realize I can't go too fast without my foot falling out. Fine.
I crank up the resistance and pedal. Woo, I'm pedaling like I'm in the friggin Olympics. Faster and faster then BAM. My left foot comes out and now is dangling while my right foot is still attached and the bike is still spinning. Up and down, up and down I go. My giny bangs the seat a few times. F@*K, OUCH. The instructor comes over and says "Are you ok?". I reply with a "Yes and the pedal thing is broken." He doesn't care. "PEDAL FASTER, LET'S GO!!!!!!!"

Now I am so angry by the hazing I have received from this fucking bike that I contemplate getting off, shoving it, flipping off the class and then walking the f out.
I'm putting my left foot back in the broken pedal, again and I'm angry. And what happens to Morgan Beene when she gets angry, she cries. Yes, I cried in spin class. Not real tears cry, but a pissed off cry. No tears.
I tell myself to suck it up-this totally merits a new bottle of wine for dinner. Meanwhile, I am trying my best and Mr. Awesome Teacher is pointing out the star spinners of the class giving a thumbs up. Fuck off.
Finally 45 minutes later, class is over and I Usain Bolt the fark outta there.

I want to love spin class, I really do. It's a great cardio workout and plus it's friggin' awesome cross training for running. But it's almost as if spin class doesn't want to like me. Terd. Next week I will try it again (somewhere embedded in my bones is perseverance-also embedded: competitiveness). I will need to a. not reserve a jacked up bike, and 2. wear 35 depends on my ass for cushion.

Mr. Schwinn, I will conquer you. Mark. My. Words. I'm coming after you.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things!

2009-08-12T12:15:00.003-04:00

Anna and I were gchatting about our top 5 foods and if we were stranded on a deserted island, what would the 5 foods be?

Morgan:
1. Avocadoes-duh
2. Coconut Milk (for drinking and also for making ice cream)
3. MiMi Roll from Sekisui-except I would change the imitation crab to Prime Tuna-yanno, for the health factor
4. Sweet potatoes-to make sweet potato fries, baked, mashed, smashed, tempura-ed, and sweet potato hash
5. Cheese-again, duh.

Oh! But I need to get wine on that list too! Hmmmmm. Well, I cannot get rid of ANY of those items! Maybe I can get rid of the cheese. Nooooo, I will need that for protein. Ok, I've decided to get rid of GULP, sweet potatoes. Sad, yes! Goodbye! But hello Red Grapes and Wine!

Then I decided I would need 2 condiments, which are very necessary:
1. Agave Nectar
2. Olive Oil infused with Salt, pepper, and crushed red peppers

This list could change tomorrow-who knows. I might want to add spinach, but no, not really. I'm on a deserted island, so obviously, my deserted island is a tropical one and if Anna and I are stranded together, then, well, she can pick 5 other items and we can share!

What are your top 5 foods?

ANT BITES GO AWAY!!!!!

2009-08-11T13:49:00.003-04:00

See this? This is what happens when you step in an ant hill. I know I destroyed their home, but geeze! It was an accident! Those little jerks climbed inside my shoe and bit me repeatedly. this was over a week ago, and they are STILL itching so bad it keeps me up at night. Ugh!

I tried to do a 5 mile run yesterday for the first time since I had the cold, then got the bites. It has been painful/ itchy to put a shoe on that foot, because, like I said, the tiny jerks climbed in my shoe and bit me repeatedly. It was a very HOT HUMID and ITCHY run. Kind of like torture. It was 94˚ and about 96% humidity. And noon. I confess that was bad planning on my part, but I wanted to run SO bad! I ended up having to take several walk breaks, which I don't usually do anymore, but I had to reattach the duct tape and Band-Aids I had covering the bites ( I was trying to prevent rubbing because rubbing = itching like crazy) and hydrate. I ended up with a slow 3 miles, but hey.....better than no run, right?

BTDub....why did I just now try the little individual powder packs of G2?! Economical, portable, and refreshing!

I had an awesome salad for lunch today:

It was comprised of leftovers from my grilling and veggie roasting extravaganza this weekend!

mmm....sweet taters.

The combo of the warm sweet potatoes and roasted squash and zucchini over the cool spinach was divine. I also had a little feta under there that softened under the heat. YYYUUUUMMMEERRRSSS!

I love the hot/ cold combo. Like ice cream on a hot brownie or warm apple pie. Cold daiquiri on the hot sand.......HAHA!! What are some of your favorite hot/ cold combos?

Comfort Food

2009-08-10T11:16:00.005-04:00

Tonight I made my first whole roasted chicken and I used Ina Garten's recipe called The Perfect Roasted Chicken. I've been hearing how easy this recipe is and how it's foolproof and it's also A-MAZE-ING! I've been craving roasted chicken and potatoes and vegetables lately and this HIT the spot! The recipe is simple and you need only a few ingredients!

courtesy of the Food Network and Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients

1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken (Organic Free Range)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
1 lemon, halved
1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges
Olive oil

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.
Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

Chopped Vegetables and Potatoes in my beautiful cast iron pot (that I lugged around for 3 blocks)

I followed the recipe to a T. Well, almost. Here are some changes I would make:

Add more vegetables, I like a ton of veggies with it and I would add an entire bag of carrots and also another onion.
Less salt. I was mega liberal with the salt and it was just a tad too salty

More Thyme inside

Whole Garlic Cloves with the veggies

I added Red Roasting Potatoes to the veggies too-turned out awesome

Here, after carving and with the jus from the bottom of the pot:

It was just a tad salty (which was my fault) but OMG the juiciness of the chicken and the taste, oh the taste! Is it lunchtime yet-I'm excited to eat these leftovers!

The health factor of this dish-well its already healthy. There isn't anything to substitute. Probably the butter, but it's only a tablespoon-ish on the skin to make it crispy, and you can remove that.

As a side I made Smoked Pimiento and Cheese Grits. Hello new favorite dish! When it's tweaked a little better, I will post the recipe! (and sorry for the blurry picture, Joey was bumping my arm-she went CRAZY for the chicken!)

And I couldn't complete a meal without dessert!!

Array of mini desserts from Whole Foods: Petite Vanilla Cheesecake, Petite Fruit Tart, Carrot Cake, Cannoli, Mini Vanilla Cupcake (perfect size!)

Now, get to cooking people!!

Live-in and I spent Saturday biking around NYC and Staten Island (don't go) and it was just amazing-like I was a kid again! NYC Summer Streets is here every Saturday where Park Avenue was closed from 72nd to the Brooklyn Bridge from 7am-1pm. It's refreshing to see all the bikers, runners, walkers, skaters instead of cars!

See: (yes, I took this picture while riding and it was hard!)

This is the bike I want! Jamis Commuter 2 in Pacific Blue, just in case!!

Get out there and get busy!

Excitement!

2009-08-09T19:11:00.003-04:00

In the spirit of Julie and Julia, the movie, and awesome cookbooks, food bloggers and chefs worldwide, Anna and I have decided to choose a favorite Chef/cookbook Author and recreate their dishes BUT with healthy substitutions. For example, if a dish calls for 4 eggs, the substitution could be 3 egg white and 2 eggs. We are really excited about this (and so our our boyfriends/husbands)!!!! Cooking is a passion of both of ours, and making "healthier" versions, well, I just can't say how awesome it will be!!!!

Anna will be taking Giada de Laurentiis and I've picked Ina Garten.

I am making the first recipe tonight, so stay tuned!!!!!!!!

Cooking is hip again!

2009-08-07T22:24:00.003-04:00

I don't know about ya'll, but I am so glad that cooking at home is hip again. Remember in the late 90's/ early 2000's when Sex and the City meant girls night drinking cosmos out on the town? It wasn't even cool to eat at home, much less spend time cooking the meal you were eating. Eating at home meant you didn't have big fancy plans to go out with your friends in your super duper low rise jeans and highest pointiest-toed heels. I sure am glad that era has passed. I don't know if it's that I'm almost 30, or if I am lazy, and while I ADORE dressing up, I would almost always rather be home, with a pup and a book, watching the Food Network.

Well, thanks to so many awesome books, Food Network personalities like Paula Deen, Giada DeLaurentis, and yes, even Rachael Ray, cooking is hip!!!! I for one could not be happier. Some of my earliest childhood memories involve helping my mom peel vegetables for dinner, baking cookies with my maternal grandmother, and helping my dad's mom decorate wedding cakes which people ordered from her by the dozens in a tee-tiny Arkansas town. For as long as I can remember, these women just knew how to cook, and their cooking was the way they loved their families. Some of the funniest memories I have of my grandfather are of him and I watching Justin Wilson drink the majority of his bottle of wine with just a splash left for whatever dish he intended it to go into.

In the south, our livelihood is often food. We celebrated with food, we loved with food, and when someone needed it, we healed with food. New neighbors? Basket of baked goods. Friend had surgery or a death in the family? Casseroles. Good report card? Well....you get the idea.

It wasn't until recently that I realized all of the southern cooking I grew up loving, and the dishes I aspired to replicate actually had very healthy aspects. Sure we fried our fish, but it was caught fresh and cleaned by my grandfather. My other grandfather made his entire living with his crops. Rarely in the summer did I ever eat a fruit or vegetable that wasn't "MawMaw's purple hull peas" or "PawPaw's watermelon". In fact every Thanksgiving and Christmas there is at least one pecan pie with "MawMaws pecans" and one apple pie with "MawMaws apples". Let's not forget"Nannies' greens".

I love baking, chopping, stirring, mixing and pouring. I don't know if it is because of the recession, or what, but I am so excited that so many of my friends seem to be cooking at home more often these days. When you cook at home, you can control the quality and quantity of the ingredients you use. And benefit from having a very impressed man around the house. Afterall, the way to a man's heart really is through his stomach. Did Carrie Bradshaw ever think of that?

With this weekends release of Julie and Julia, I hope that people will fall in love with cooking the way I did when I was young. And I am so glad to tell my grandmas how long they have been "hip"!

COOKIES...ME NEED COOOOKIES

2009-08-06T16:43:00.002-04:00

Me Cookie Monster, me need cookies.

During college, one of my classes had a symposium of sorts (Psychology) and of course there was catering. I head straight for the cookies only to find one of my favorite teachers hanging around the cookie jar too. We discussed our love for cookies and agreed that cookies were in fact, the best food on Earth. When your professor says it, it's true.

It's definitely a week for cookies. I bought both boxes of cookies and the Le Petit Ecolier are gone. I shared veerry few with my coworkers. Very few. I pretty much ate them all.

The Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies are still available, as I type this. But I am pretty sure when I get home I plan on devouring them. Oops. Plus, so good dipped in Vanilla Coconut Milk.

This week has been a regular ol' week. Eatin' the leftovers of the gumbo and lasagna (go me!) is a rare feat and I also made tortilla pizzas last night and was STUFFED after one. Might be the fact that I shoved fresh Mozzarella in my face as I was slicing (one for you, 2 for me)!

Me and my boy, we got our new sofa this week and as soon as the apartment is clean, I will post some pics of me modeling how awesome it is. And when the table and chairs arrive, I will post ACTUAL MEALS at the table! I'm BEYOND stoked for a table. It's time to start setting the table again for dinner (yay) and talking instead of watching the tele hunched over our food.

T-minus 4 minutes until the end of my work day! Happy Thursday!

Ouch My Legs!

2009-08-05T12:52:00.003-04:00

Sniff, sneeze, cough, cough, sniff. Those are the sounds i have been making for almost a week now. Dumb. This cold/flu thing I came down with last Thursday is hanging around! Luckily I do have a bit more energy today, adn I had a bit more last night. Good thing, becasue I had a super full spin class counting on me! We did a KILLER workout in class, and my legs are a bit sore today.

Speaking of muscle soreness, here is an educational tidbit for you. There is so much false info out there in what "delayed onset muscle soreness" really is, i htought I should fill you in.

The soreness that appears out of nowhere 1 to 2 days after a workout is actually tiny little microscopic tears in your muscles. The pain comes from that inflammation, and your body trying to heal it. That is why if you will move those muscles the day after a workout, your muscle soreness won't be as bad, and will go away sooner. Increasing the circulation to that area can actually speed healing by delivering more oxegyn and nutrients, and removing waste.

Did you know that the eccentric portion ( or the "lowering phase") of an exercise is what causes the damage to tissue, creating those microscopic tears? So if you want to really feel your workout the next day, try concentrating on "Negatives", or slowing down that eccentric phase. Try taking twice as long to lower the weight as you did to lift it. For a quad shredding workout, try this!

Leg extension on machine, 3 sets x 12 reps @ 60 lbs ( concentrating on lowering portion)
Walking lunges with 20 lb dumbells in each hand, 3 sets x 20 reps
High bar back squats with a 45 lb power bar, 3 sets x 12 reps
Bench step ups with 10 lb dumbells in each hand, or load on shoulders to stress spine, 3 sets x 10 reps on each leg

Italiano Night!

2009-08-03T13:34:00.003-04:00

Yay for healthy, homemade Lasagna! Since I am lazy this week, yes and it's only Monday, I went ahead and prepared this weeks meals: Gumbo and Turkey Lasagna or should I say it's a lasagna with a turkey meat sauce!
You'll need

1 pound of ground turkey
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cans crushed tomatoes-I use one regular and one with jalapenos!
1 small can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce-I use 1/2 the can
1 small onion-diced
1/2 green pepper (you can use a whole one, but I am saving the other 1/2 for pizza night) diced
3-4 handfuls of spinach
fresh mozzarella
shredded mozzarella
Ricotta Cheese made from Skim milk
Whole wheat lasagna-about 7
basil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, italian seasoning-all to taste
Bottle of wine!

75% of the cans

Brown turkey meat-drain. Set aside. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When it's warm, add the onions, garlic and bell peppers and sautee for 5 or so minutes.

Exhibit A

Preheat oven to 350

Dump in your 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, 1/2 can tomato sauce, and the whole can of tomato paste. Stir. Add spices (remember to taste the sauce). After about 10 minutes add the turkey meat. Continue to cook covered-for about 20 minutes . When almost done, stir in the handfuls of spinach a few handfuls at a time and let the leaves wilt.

See

Now with the spinach:

Meanwhile in another pot, bring salted water to a boil and cook lasagna according to the instructions on the box. Drain and let cool for a few minutes.

In a long rectangular casserole dish, spread some sauce on the bottom so the noodles don't stick to the pan. Add a layer of noodles, layer of ricotta cheese, layer of sauce and a few sprinkles of the shredded mozzarella. Repeat. When you have reached the final layer with the sauce on top, add a few thin slices of the fresh mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. The last 5 minutes, uncover and add more of the shredded mozzarella, if desired. Yes, I desired. Take out of the oven and be sure to turn the oven off! Let cool for a few, then DIG IN!

Finished product!!! With a slice of garlic toast and an iceberg lettuce wedge!

Enjoy!

Good Enough To Eat

2009-08-02T15:41:00.003-04:00

Why, yes, it is Good Enough To Eat!
Good Enough To Eat is a VERY popular breakfast joint in my hood. The line is always long and I don't like waiting for long to eat, especially if its Brunch!
I ordered the "Good Enough To Eat" French Toast topped with sugar, raisins and walnuts and a side of Turkey Sausage! The meal came with 3, THREE!!!! slices of french toast and there's no way I could have eaten 3! Whew!
It sure was good though-Good Enough To Eat, for sure!

I hope everyone has a nice rest of their Sunday!

Restful, rainy, lazy weekend

2009-08-02T14:53:00.007-04:00

The weekend started with a rainy Friday. It was super yucky out! Since I had a long training run (Thanks NYRR!) on Saturday, I wanted to eat light and healthy and no dairy. But since it was raining, I CRAVED soup! For soup I went to Europa Cafe and picked up a small cup of Spinach and White Bean Soup. No dairy and no meat-and it was creamy and EXCELLENT!!! I also had a toasted peanut butter and sugar free jelly sandwich-on Ezekiel bread!

After work, I headed to the gym for a 45 minute cardio workout with just a few strength training on my shoulders and back and some core work!
Then I headed to Whole Foods to pick up some supplies to make Anna's Gumbo!

The changes I made:

No black beans
I used loads of Emeril's Seasoning and Cajun spices
My Chicken Sausage was a Chicken Andouille Sausage
2 cups of okra
Frozen Corn (I have an aversion to canned corn)

This soup is velvety rich and so excellent! I ate 2 whole cups of it along with a Cheesy Biscuit from Whole Foods! (Those were Live In's tots! I MAY have had 3 or 4!)

Saturday I woke up early and ran 16.5 miles with the NYRR's Long Training Run in Central Park! I am so grateful they organize a training run... for about $10 you can choose to run between 6-20 miles and they provide pace leaders, water, goo, porti- potties, and even a few spectators! But Central Park is one hilly B&^%H! Yes, I definitely ice bathed after the run and today I am not sore one bit!

Saturday the weather was so nice-there wasn't a cloud in the sky. After a re-fuel with some Gumbo and a Grilled Cheese and Cherries and Carrots, I went to Central Park to lie in the grass and soaked in some Vitamin D! It was HOT HOT HOT and there wasn't much of a breeze but I sucked it up and caught some rays!

For Dinner, Live In and I ordered from Cafe Blossom-a vegan, kosher Cafe across the street from us. We both ALWAYS order the same thing: LI a Sloppy Joe and I a Tofu BLT! My sandwich comes with fried tofu, tempeh, lettuce, tomato, and a chipotle aioli on foccacia bread-not low in calories, but DEEEELICIOUS! I even have some leftover for a snack/dinner tonight-which it's raining-AGAIN!

I want to make for dinner this week a spicy, smoky cheese grits, with blackened chicken and tempura okra! A fusion of many spices and tastes, but comes together nicely. This is my "Signature Dish". which still needs a bit of tweaking. When I was unemployed, I watched HOURS on HOURS of the Food Network and I decided that I needed a "Signature Dish"-a go to dish when I needed to whip up something tasty and impressive, with my personality in the dish as well. So that's what I came up with.
A few others I have:

Seared Sesame Tuna with a Wasabi Mustard with Crispy Green Beans
Southern Fried Buttermilk Chicken-Light (a "lighter" version, if you will)
Edamame Goat Cheese Dip-I found this recipe in Food and Wine and ever since I made it, it's been a hit.
Bite-Sized Spicy Spinach Croissant Rolls

Does anyone else have a "Signature Dish" and what is it?

Seared Tuna with Crispy Green Beans and a Cheese Crostini

Grilled Steak with a Chipotle Sauce and Smoked Gouda Cheese Grits

Yowza!

2009-07-30T22:21:00.003-04:00

Lookie what was right by my house tonight!!!!

Yikes! We are safe and sound, and thankful. More details tomorrow.

Hello Caffeine

2009-07-30T11:51:00.005-04:00

Starbucks, the place I love to hate and hate to love. Overpriced coffee sucks, but awesome coffee rocks. What a dichotomy! Recently, I have learned to love Iced Coffee. There's nothing better than guzzling a cold freshly brewed coffee on a hot summer morning!

Here is what I order to stay low-cal:

black grande iced coffee-zero calories
shot of sugar free vanilla syrup-zero calories
(leave room for milk)
I add my own Silk French Vanilla Creamer-about 1/4 cup, a little more if I'm feeling vanilla-y.

I think Silk has about 30 calories for a tablespoon, so I use about 75 calories. Maybe more, maybe less!!
Oh yeah, this drink is only $1.95 (before tax)!!

Y'all Stay caffeinated now, ya hear!

Gumbo and Sniffles

2009-07-29T21:24:00.003-04:00

So.....I've been feeling under the weather this week, all week. Nothing major, just a bit.....oogy. My neck has been hurting, and energy has been low, and dull headaches have popped up at the most inopportune times. No big deal, just a little nagging annoying feeling. So I thought I should combat that with some major comfort food!!!! This is one of my all time fave breakfast/ lunch/ dinners. I know it's not exactly gourmet, but it is delish and makes me happy every time I eat it!!!!

Ezekial muffin with peanut butter and strawberry rhubarb preserves. Ohhhhhh so happy in my belly. :) If food could hug.

So yesterday, I had the morning off, and it was raining all morning. I sat around lazy drinking joe until 10:00! It was glorious. So, what with the rain, and accompanying thunder/ lightning I decided to make gumbo! I have never made gumbo before, but I had some home grown okra in my freezer, just begging to be either fried or put in soup. Like the good little healthy eater I am, I opted for soup. Now I am not sure what the real gumbo recipes have in them, but mine was DE-LISH. And only about 160 calories per cup to boot!!!!

So steamy.

I had a cup with a 1/2 grilled cheese on ezekial bread.

Makes ya wanna curl up on the couch with a book and puppy, huh?

The gumbo got rave reviews, and now the 5.5 quarts I made yesterday at lunch are gone.....and I only got ONE cup. My mother in law requested the recipe, and our friend Chris told me "I don't want the recipe, I just want you to cook this for me all the time whenever I want it." Haha! I'll take that as a compliment...I think.

Today I started with an early client so I had my usual 4:50 am wake up, and guess what. BAM!!!!!!!! I got hit with a yucky crud summer cold. Sore throat, coughing, aches, chills, snot, ew, ouch. Even my skin hurts. I believe my body is telling me to SLEEP. I had a couple of naps this week that should have clued me in on my lack of Z's, because they were so deep. Ya know the kind I'm talking about? When you wake up and feel like you have sandbags strapped to you weighing you down? I also noticed I did not wake up when my alarm clock was going off all week. Why do I find it difficult to listen to my body until it SCREAMS at me? Do any of you ever feel that way? What are some signs you recognize from your body? Do you notice when it tells you to put on the brakes a little bit? Or does your body have to screech to a halt before you will pay attention?

This is my date for the evening:

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

8 andouille chicken sausage links
6 oz rotisserie chicken breast, shredded with forks
2 tbsp creole seasoning
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
8 oz chicken stock
16 oz water
1/2 C leftover spaghetti sauce I found in the freezer
20 ish baby carrots, chopped
okra
1 can of corn, drained and rinsed
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 c brown rice
salt and pepper to taste

Brown chicken sausage in bottom of soup pot, then sweat out onions, garlic and carrots. Add, chicken stock and stir, making sure to pick up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the rest of the veggies, and cover with water, then add tomato sauce and rice. Bring to a bubble, then simmer for 20 minutes or until rice puffs. This is a very quick cooking soup, because all the ingredients are already cooked, or just need to be heated through! This made 5.5 quarts, and 1 C = approx 160 calories. Yum yum!

See ya soon!

- A

Awesome Product Alert!

2009-07-29T13:29:00.003-04:00

Ahhhh look at it's heavenly glow! I've been reading in almost EVERY girly magazine about the sheer awesomeness of Moroccan Oil-for your hair. Saturday, I headed to Ricky's of NYC to see what the fuss was about. I picked up a bottle of the Oil, came home, showered, threw a dime size amount in my hand and smoothed it on my hair, from mid shaft to the ends.

1. The smell is wonderfully fresh and very summer-like
2. The oil absorbs into your hair VERY fast
3. It sure does make you hair soft!

Using it over time I hope to see a pretty big change, as that is what the other reviewers are saying- "it decreases drying time", "makes your hair very shiny and less frizzy", "protects from UV damage"... the list goes on! It's also a big hit with celebs!

Take a trip on over to http://www.moroccanoil.com/ to read about the awesome benefits from Moroccan Oil.

The bottle retails for about $35.

Yay for awesome new products!

Monday Night Dinner

2009-07-29T13:16:00.004-04:00

After my 2+ hour gym adventure, I needed to refuel! For dinner the Live In and I had:

Stuffed Chicken (stuffed with sauteed spinach, onions, and feta cheese)
*edited to include the recipe
preheat oven to 375

what you'll need:

2 garlic cloves, minced
feta cheese
3-4 large handfuls of spinach
onion, diced
salt, pepper-to taste
Plus, 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

In a large skillet,over medium heat, add olive oil
when the oil is heated, add minced garlic
when garlic is fragrant, add onions and salt and pepper, just a little to taste, stir around so nothing burns- cook until onions are almost caramelized, then add spinach
stir around after spinach is added until the spinach is just wilted
remove from heat

Next:
pound your chicken (beat your meat!!) until it's pretty thin
spoon the spinach mixture into the chicken, then add the feta cheese-maybe a tablespoon or so for each breast and roll up and secure with toothpicks
place into glass dish with 2 tbsp of butter (it will melt into the dish-to keep it from drying out)

Cooking times vary so use your meat thermometer!
This was baked for about 30 minutes or until the chicken reached 165 degrees

You can really add any spices you'd like to this dish. It would be good with some cracked red pepper or some freshly chopped basil too!
I know your mouth is watering!!!

Couscous with sauteed Asparagus

Sauteed Asparagus is my new favorite way to make asparagus and it's really easy!

Sauteed Asparagus

1 clove garlic
Asparagus-servings for 2-3
olive oil

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and when warm add the garlic. When the garlic becomes fragrant (3ish minutes) throw in the asparagus. Stir around in your skillet for 5 minutes or until the asparagus is a bright green! Remove from heat and enjoy or add to your couscous, like I did!
(I added green peppers to my mix because the pepper was going bad and I needed to use it!!)

Of course don't forget your glass of a light red wine or white wine-whatever floats your boat!!

Holy Antioxidants Batman!

2009-07-29T12:48:00.004-04:00

Check out my antioxidant rich dinner last night:

Baked Sweet Potato, topped with 1/3 cup Greek Yogurt and a pinch of Kosher salt; Amy's Cream of Tomato Soup (1 1/4 cup) with 1 tablespoons of super sharp Vermont Cheddar Cheese and of course, freshly ground black pepper. DELISH!

Monday: I did a hardcore workout, and it brought back memories from my taekwondo days when ALL of my workouts wiped me out!! It felt MARVELOUS!!

I started out with a 30 minute treadmill run at a 9:00 pace, then for 5 minutes I ran at an 8.0 incline for 5 minutes-'twas a slow run, but it was a hill for crying out loud!

Then I hopped over to the stair stepper machine where I did 5 minutes at a level 9. I'm not sure what that means, but I think I climbed 25 flights of stairs.

Next I worked on my arms and legs:

Pulley cable rows (3 x 12)
Tricep dips (3 x 10)
Overhead Shoulder press (3 x 10)
Squat Press at 140 pounds (2 x 20)

THEN (as if that wasn't enough) I took the Cardio Sculpt Class at my Gym. WHOA!!!! Totally awesome class!!! First, the instructor was PUMPED to be there and his energy level was high-I like that. It translates well into a class. He wouldn't let anyone slow down either! The class is a wonderful mix of cardio, with light weight training for the ultimate fat burn! If there's an Equinox near you, I suggest you try the class!! I'm quite certain I saw sparkles, but it felt so good.

Coming out of the subway, I nearly fainted, so I grabbed a banana at the corner deli before hopping on the bus to head home. Thank God for NYC and it's endless supply of corner delis!

Happy sweating to you!

Dang it!

2009-07-28T23:54:00.001-04:00

WHAT?!?!?! Ugh, why are we all so stupid until we get close to 30?!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32187497/ns/health-cancer/

I guess this means even MORE berries for me.

Monday Detox

2009-07-27T13:24:00.004-04:00

In retrospect, pizza is bad. I only "feel good" eating pizza after a couple of hard weeks of running and working out, working hard, eating right, etc. Plus, being fully hydrated helps when scarfing down salty, cheesy goodness. I definitely gained some water weight this weekend and I plan on shredding that today and I hope it takes a few fat pounds with it!

I think also, when I eat bagels, the same feeling happens to me....swelling, puffiness, etc. Pattern: white flour + Salt. Back away Beene. BAD! I can't believe I would eat a bagel a day just a few years ago!!! Now, it's a bagel twice a month!

When I eat "bad" I feel mentally foggy. I can't read anything, can't think right, etc. Does anyone else get this feeling? This is why I am OCD about my nutrition, not just for training, but for my brain too!

Today's plan not exceed 1200 calories:

Ginger Lemon Green Tea
Green Monster SuperFood

Salad: spinach, onion, sunflower seeds, chick peas, boiled egg, 1 tbsp blue cheese dressing
pumpernickel roll

Dinner: Steamed Veggies, Baked Chicken, Jasmine Rice.

Gym: Running 45minutes, Cardio Sculpt Class

What do you do when you eat badly and feel bad too?

Not In College Anymore

2009-07-27T13:12:00.003-04:00

I just realized that I have some form of OCD. I’m sure others have known this about me since day one.

I gave myself this past weekend to be “off”. I didn’t run or workout because I felt as if I needed a slight break. I don’t want to become burned out from running; the marathon is still 3 months away!!!
Friday, live in and I went to High Life Bar and Grill where they serve Japanese food as well as your usual bar classics. We ordered and shared the following: steamed vegetable dumplings, wok seared edamame, tuna and mango roll, salmon and cilantro roll, and a vegetable roll. A bigger plus is before 7pm, sushi rolls were half price!!! Cheap and tasty!
Next in our adventure we headed to our most favorite (new) bar: Dive 75. They have a fantastic Organic wine, candy is in dishes all over the bar, the jukebox is pretty good, and they have board games! to play! Brian and I started with Connect 4 (we tied) then moved to Scrabble where we couldn’t remember the exact rules for playing, so we stopped after my words were better than his. HAHA! This bar also has a fish tank and the fish like to stare. (Rude.) Alcoholic Beverages+ fish tanks=good conversation with the fish.

We got home and made some Morning Star Farms Spinach and Artichoke bites. YUM YUM!

Saturday, I slept in (usual) and woke up to a starving household. We headed over to Lenny’s and ordered breakfast/lunch: everything bagel, toasted, cream cheese; container of fruit and a black hazelnut coffee. I have an addiction to everything bagels. I am trying to stay away from white flour, as it is empty carbs, but throw an H&H bagel in there and it’s soooooo dang hard to resist temptation!

Live in and I had a nice little Saturday planned. Home Depot, Bed Bath and Beyond, if we have time! We made it to only Bed Bath and Beyond, where live in was grouchy (hungry) so we walked across the street for a quick bite. PJ Clarkes, has no “quick bites”. Their appetizer list is about 3 fried dishes deep. So we decided to share the turkey burger, with onion strings (mistake) and a salad. I opted to only eat ½ of my half and no bread, but I finished my salad and I had a handful of the onion strings. The burger was good-it had jalapeno mixed in but I doubt we will go back. The place was WAAAAYYY over priced.

During lunch (at 6pm, mind you) live in says we should go out for a fun dinner, Rosa Mexicana or Spice Market. Well, Spice Market was “fully committed” for the evening but my friend Melanie wanted to hang out in the Soho area. Live in and I strapped on our college party shoes, and headed out. We met Mel in the Soho Grand lounge where we had a few cocktails. Mel wanted to booty dance. Badly. In New York, to booty dance, you must pay at least a bijillion dollars when going to a “club”.

In the end we trekked over to Bleeker Street, found a bar that was playing loud music and settled in. Danced a little, sang out loud and OF COURSE proceeded to Pizza Booth at 2am. Pizza Booth is probably the best pizza in Manhattan, so I ordered an ENTIRE pizza. Why? Who let’s me make decisions? I’m paying for it now. Although I didn’t eat any that night, for Sunday lunch live in and I shared 3 slices and a salad. Pizza isn’t for everyday, nor is it for me when I am dehydrated because now I am all puffy and swollen. Today is detox day. I already feel a little better, but I am sssllleeeeppppyyy!!! YAWN! This is gonna be a long week!!

Quickie Friday Round-up

2009-07-24T21:33:00.002-04:00

Hey Kiddos!

So it's Friday, and I packed up all my gear to spend the weekend with the folks, but I forgot my camera! I will have to update with pics later.

The day started, of course, with a GM around 5 am. They just give me energy for hours, which is so important when you are expecting your clients to be energetic, and put a lot of effort into their workouts. I had a couple training clients, then a little break for Free Coffee Friday which is every Friday until 9 am at the coffee shop across from my gym! How awesome is that? I am trying to cut out the use of Coffeemate, so I had mine with just a teeny splash of skim milk and a shot of sugar free hazelnut syrup. It was OK, no special treat, but it got the job done.

I snacked on a honey graham z bar, and then finished up with another client. After work, I ran home, got my stuff and did a mini grocery shop at the fanciest Kroger ever, They have a whole section of fancy cheeses. I found one today I really want to try some time, but it's more of a special occasion thing. It was a Stilton with blueberries in it! Oh it smelled DIVINE. Kind of like a blueberry cheesecake, but not as sweet. I scooped up some avocados, Amy's cheddar burgers, coconut milk for the hubby ( which I predict will be gone by the time he gets back in town :) ), and some larabars.

Lunch was a mound of guac on one of the cheddar veggie burgers, and a few organic blue corn chips on the side. It was yum.

Khaki and I settled in for a nice afternoon nap, and ever since I woke up, I have been SO lethargic! I had a night time run all planned out, which was especially important since my spin class was so full Tuesday that I didn't even get a bike! I just don't see that happening. I don't know what it is, maybe I am not getting enough sleep or water or something. I am also going to up my food intake over the next couple of days, maybe I am not getting enough. Hmmmm. any ideas? Anyone?

Anywho, this girl is having a very relaxing night snuggling with Khaki and catching up on some reading. I am trying to finish Chasing Harry Winston, but it's just kind of......meh. I can't wait to finish though, so I can start on my new Jillian Michaels Master your Metabolism. Should be an interesting read. i am not sure how I feel about a non-degreed trainer educating me on my endocrine system, but I saw that many docs were consulted. I am sure to learn something, right? :)

Hope all y'all have a great fuzzy snuggly bud tonight too! Happy weekend!

Woah Nelly!

2009-07-23T23:49:00.004-04:00

SOMEONE is behind on her blogging.....er....me. Sorry about that, I am recovering from the craziness of last week still I guess.

My mom had her esophageal dilation today and is good as new, thanks for asking. :)

So I guess I will start this week-re cap with Morgan's visit last weekend! We, your friendly bloggers, had a 10 mile adventure run. It. Was. Awesome. Duh.

The weather here in Memphis was absolutely beautiful! I have been whining and bellyaching ( literally) about the oppressive heat we have had this summer, and last weekend was absolutely gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky, and I believe it was about 68˙ when we started running.

What's an adventure run? I'm glad you asked. An adventure run is when you slather on the sunscreen, and lace up your fave shoes, stick a 5er in your pocket and head out the door with no plan or schedule. This particular adventure run began with hopping a fence to get out of the gated community! The 2 of us weren't heavy enough to equal a car's weight on the sensor ( thank goodness).

We ran an we ran, and we ran, and we chatted, and laughed and let our imaginations run wild ( hands down the best part of an adventure run, btw)and we ran and we ran right into Fleet Feet, my fave Memphis running specialty store. We touched things, and I put a thing or 2 on hold to go back for later, and then we ran some more. On the run we fueled with Gatorade Fierce grape, which is super yummy. I love grape artificial flavor. I know I know, it's all sugar and artificial, but those sports drinks are necessary to keep my electrolytes in check, y'all!

Post-run we refueled with a dope GREEN MONSTER, and a glass of coconut milk.

Nothing like a GM in a Coors Light glass! haha!

Then lunch was a mishmash of yummy veggie goods.

It was the perfect run!

Later in the week, I finally made Hubby banana- creme. I call it that because its not ice cream, but it is "creamy" so i figure the European spelling works in this case.

He LOVED it! he could not get over the fact that it was completely non-dairy, and no sugar added!!! He is currently eating a dairy free diet for professional reasons, and he is a milk lover, so I am excited to get creative! I see lots of almond and coconut milk in our future. :) Fine by me.

Today was a stressful day with my mom's procedure ( evidently they gave her that Michael Jackson drug, and she said she would be disappointed if she couldn't moon walk when she came out!) I was glad to teach a killer spin class tonight! My legs were burning and i was a sweaty sweaty mess by the end. Prior to spin, I did a little hamstring resistance training. I did :

3x 16 walking lunges with 20 lb dumbbells
3x 12 deadlifts with the 45 lb power bar
3 x 12 leg curls on the machine, at 60 lbs.

Yowza. My hammies are tight tonight! I think I'm going to try a yoga class tomorrow to stretch them out. I normally HATE yoga. HATE. But I am trying to like it because I need the flexibility work. Ill have a full report for you tomorrow!

Take Me Out for a Seafood Dinner

2009-07-22T15:53:00.005-04:00

And never call me again! You guys should know what movie that's from...

Actually, Live-In ordered IN a seafood dinner. That counts.

We ordered from our usual place, Haru. There isn't a Sekisui here, and there is nothing comparable to their sushi. Which is ok, because when I go back to Memphis, I appreciate it a lot more.
I digress, so Haru has ok sushi rolls and I am convinced that crunchies make everything better.

I ordered my usual:

Edamame
Avocado Roll, inside out with crunchies
Vegetable Tempura Roll

Then we tested 2 new rolls:

Yellowtail Scallion (I made no amendments)
White Tuna Jalapeno Roll (added Japanese mayo and Crunchies)

WTJR was fantastic!! It needed some sort of "sauce" drizzled over it, but other than that, it was a firework explosion in my mouth!

If Jimmy Ishii (Owner of the Sekisui MegaSuhsi Empire) would back us, I would love to open a Sekisui/Blue Fin in Manhattan. These Yanks wouldn't know what hit 'em. Hit me up on my 2-way Jim!

Heaven on Earth?

2009-07-22T13:14:00.005-04:00

How have I never been to Chipotle? How?

Of course I was indecisive about what I wanted for lunch, per usual, so I ventured out of the cube and down to the street. I started walking towards Cosi, when I noticed Chipotle across the street. I thought, I've never been there, why don't I check it out?! I got in line and immediately decided upon the vegetarian something-either the burrito or burrito bowl. I didn't really want to 'up' my white flour intake for the week, so I settled with a Burrito Bowl. And dear Lord, I could not have made a better decision. There is nothing you can't LOVE: black beans, gooood; sauteed peppers and onions, gooood; lettuce and salsa, gooood; hot sauce, goood; guacamole, goooooooooooooood!

I was telling my friend Jamie that I went to Chipotle and her first statement was "They don't have anything healthy, go look at their website". Oh Contraire, young grasshopper, but this is indeed very healthy!
I headed to http://www.chipotle.com/ and I found their philosophy:

"The hallmarks of Food With Integrity include things like unprocessed, seasonal, family-farmed, sustainable, nutritious, naturally raised, added hormone free, organic, and artisanal. And, since embracing this philosophy, it's had tremendous impact on how we run our restaurants and our business."

Saaaay whhhaaat??!!! This should be EVERYONE'S philosophy!

Chipotle is pure magic and I'm hopping on!

I probably could have settled for only eating half; such is life!

Give Us Your Money, We're Your Best Friends

2009-07-21T15:07:00.003-04:00

Soon, we will be hittin' up each and every one of you for a donation to Best Friends Animal Society. It's also their 25th Anniversary; this couldn't come at a better time!

This November, Anna and I are running for all the helpless animals out there. They have no voice, so we are running to a place that gives every Animal a voice and a home: Best Friends Animal Society. If you have never heard of Best Friends, I suggest you hop on over to their website and read about their organization. This organization is responsible for rescuing animals during hurricane Katrina, taking in 22 Vicktory Dogs, and not to mention saving animals from being thrown away, tortured and abused. Their staff is amazing and talented. Their love goes way beyond their call of duty and they are truly everyday HEROES!!

It's also possible we can have a bake sale, or sell a virtual cookbook, or sell magic unicorns to raise money for Best Friends.

We will hound dog (hahaha get it!) you for your money, because it's for a damn good cause!! Plus, it's tax deductible. Double plus. To add one more plus, we will have a PayPal Account so you can electronically donate money.
Three pluses and Environmentally friendly, geeze, US Olympic Committee, give us a gold medal already.

It's Raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring

2009-07-21T14:24:00.005-04:00

I need a nap. I'm cranky and can't breathe out of one nostril. Maybe I need a cookie. Yeah that's the ticket.

Since it has been raining cats and dogs today, I really craved a hot delicious soup. I scooted my little toosh across the street to Europa Cafe and picked up a small cup of Potato Leek Spinach Soup (220kcal) to go with my 1/2 Grilled Chicken and 2 Eggplant slices. And, of course, I picked up a Pumpernickel Rye Roll to dip in the soup. My colleague gave me some Cherries and you can see where this is why I need a nap!!

Yes, I eat at my desk while I am working.

Yesterday, I was so exhausted after work, there was an internal struggle to get my hiney to the gym. 30 minutes and 3.5 miles later, I am grateful that the "sporty" side of my brain won that argument. I left much more energized after the run and strength training session. Thanks Sporty Neurons!
Let's just hope this rain doesn't smack talk me today. Imma whoop up on it if it does.
Today, I plan on forgoing gymnastics because Joey gave me the most depressed face any dog could give a human as I was leaving for work this morning. After a 45 minute strength training session, I am planning on taking her for a run (weather permitting) or taking her to the pet store so she can window shop. It's true, she's got a wish list.

I hope your day isn't watered out!

It's Pizza, It's Piizzaaaa Time

2009-07-21T13:39:00.003-04:00

When I don't get home until 7-7:30 at night, it's hard to muster up some energy to cook everything from "scratch". And, it only makes it worse when you don't know what you want to eat AND you're famished.

I hit up live-in's 2 way and asked him what he was craving. And the typical boy/bachelor in him said "pizza". Ding! Tortilla pizzas!

Since we were out of tortillas, mozzarella, sauce and other various toppings, I journeyed to the local store and picked up 12" unbleached flour tortillas, Classico's Spicy Tomato and Basil Red Sauce, and some mozzarella.

When I got back to the hizzy, I stuck the pizza stone in the oven and cranked it up to 450 degrees and let the stone heat up (40 minutes) while I chopped up some toppings and whipped together a salad.

Yes, this is the same recipe as a few weeks ago, but since not everything was homemade, adjustments need to be made.

Toppings:
Margherita Pizza

3-4 spoonfuls of the sauce (which needs to be heated lightly-5 minutes medium heat prior to putting it on the tortilla)
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese-I cut mine into thin strips
Chopped Fresh Basil (from my garden)
Lay all the toppings on and bake for 7-11 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is bubbling.

Veggie/Protein pizza

1 slice Turkey Salami, diced
1 Slice Turkey Ham, diced
Red Onion, diced
Green Pepper, Diced
Green Olives, Diced

(stick in the oven in a foil packet for a few minutes to pre-heat it.)

Again, sauce, toppings, cheese, basil. You get the gist. Bake 7-11 minutes maybe a tad longer, until the cheese is bubbly and you start drooling on the stove top.

Normally, throughout the week, I tend to repeat meals because 1. I can perfect them and 2. it's easy that way. I will try not to most multiple food items, only if I have made adjustments.

Of course, how do you not have pizza without a glass of red wine and a salad?

Note: This is a nice alternative to semi-home make a pizza and not use a crust. The tortillas I currently have on hand are 231 kcal, 39 Carbs, 6 protein, per tortilla. Certainly you can use whole wheat, fewer calories, etc. I like the fact that I am eating pizza, but yet, I know the ingredients and the caloric content and I can control the carb to protein ratio.

I think this recipe will become a staple in my weekly menu!

Finally, back home

2009-07-20T15:03:00.003-04:00

This past weekend I was in Memphis for one of my very best girlfriends (and my "oldest" friend) Carol-it was her wedding shower. I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

I made it home around 6:30 and Live-In had plans to grill me dinner! Woot!

He grilled up eggplant and asparagus and Italian chicken. The chicken had been marinating in Newman's Own Italian Dressing for about 4 hours-the chicken was so dang tasty and juicy!!!

The eggplant was topped with goat cheese and basil (from our garden!!) and the asparagus was topped with some Parmesan cheese!

Dessert was a cannoli and a tiny cup of tiramisu from Whole Foods!

I had a glass or 2 of wine- Adobe Red: a blend (and maybe 2 glasses more on the plane!)

I need to add that I found a FANTASTIC Zinfandel in Memphis-Fritz Zinfandel. OMG. Light, fruity, no bitter aftertaste. Perfection. Plus, it's not very expensive-$22. Not bad for a 2005 vintage. Go. Get. It. Now.

For lunch today, I need to add that my dinner became a salad: spinach, grilled chicken, asparagus, eggplant. I cannot count how many compliments I got on the salad just on looks alone. Plus, any salad that does not need dressing, is the best salad in the world, to me!

Happy Monday everyone-it's almost Tuesday!

Two photos from the plane:

Lower Manhattan:

Central Park and My Hood

Needles, needles, everywhere

2009-07-20T14:32:00.006-04:00

Acupuncture just may be what every injury needs. Well, yanno, not broken bones or surgery, but for pulled muscles, tennis elbow, aches and pains, migraines, you get the picture.

So, lately, I've had a recurring nagging pain in my right knee. It's called Runner's Knee. It's not sore all the time, but it's a nagging pain that takes months to heal. My lifestyle does not support injuries.

Back in 2006, when Anna and I were training for St. Jude (Our first marathon), my IT band started to give me major trouble. I stretched, strengthened, iced, etc. On race day, I was in agnogizing pain and taking anti-inflammatories during a marathon of running causes the kidney to hold onto salts in the body, causing the body to swell. I was a swollen mess at the finish.

After the marathon, I consulted with (at my then job) the acupuncturist, Chuck Sullivan. I remember sitting in the chair waiting for the needles (expecting there to be immense pain) but there was no pain! Now, you can't move, because the needles are at certain points in the body, some of them being pressure points.
After my first session, I had some IT band pain, but the pain was definitely decreased. I went back for another session, and BAM. No more pain. I could run over 5 miles without IT problems!!! I was stoked-still am. Even the most non-believers have turned to acupuncture for help (my boss' boss). To this day, I've never had any more problems with my IT band!!!

So, back to the runner's knee. I made an appointment with Chuck Sullivan for last Friday and he worked his magic. I went for a run the next day and I am pain free in my knee!

I'm also having trouble with my right elbow (from using a mouse too much), but I know that will take more than one session. So, I shall be returning for more acupuncture soon!

Thanks, Master Chuck!

For any information on HOW acupuncture works, I suggest reading journal articles (PubMed) about the art.

Chuck Sullivan

Healing Arts Group

5575 Poplar Avenue #320

Memphis, TN 38119

901-763-0909

SUPER DUPER YUMMY ALERT

2009-07-17T17:47:00.002-04:00

Hey kids. So I don't know how many of you read a bunch of food blogs, but there has been a new "ice cream" taking the blog world by storm, and I made my own version of it today. HO- LY CRAP this is good! And I might be magic because I literally just turned a banana into ice cream.

Here's my recipe:

1 frozen banana
tee-tiny sploosh of soymilk ( like maybe a tbsp)
.5 tbsp PB and Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter

Put in blender, and let her rip for about 45 sec.

The end. Thats it, and I kid you not, it's better than the best fro-yo in the world. I can't wait to make more combos! Im planning my own strawberry-banana- maple peanut-butter flavor even as I type. I wish i had my camera with me to show you a pic, but soon my friends, soon. To top it off, this makes about a cup and comes in around 120 calories. Beat that Edy's!!!!!

When will the craziness end????

2009-07-16T10:55:00.003-04:00

Hey there bloggies!

Well if you thought I was having a crazy few days before ( with the mom in the ER, etc) get ready, because it got crazier around here. For starters, we have had a houseguest. Meet my baby, Khaki!

When I said the big "I do's" and moved in with the hub, Khaki stayed with my parents. It was for the best, because there is often nobody at our house for 12 hours a day, but I will tell you that the hardest part of adjusting to married life for me was not having my little snuggle buddy in my bed everynight! Is that a little pathetic? I miss her terribly and occasionally kidnap her to come stay with me for a while.

After my first long run for this marathon training plan, these things have been kind of useless this week.

My legs look deceivingly long in this picture.

So, house guest, check, dead legs, check, what am I forgetting in my crazy week?..... Oh yes. so the Hubby got rear ended by an ambulance. He was stopped at a red light, minding his own business, when a freaking 6 ton ambulance hit him from behind going 25- 30 mph. The ambulance wasn't transporting a patient, so their lights weren't on, they were just driving....and didn't stop until after they hit my hubby! Everything is fine, but we had yet another night in the ER. I'm getting sick of that place! Luckily the bonk on the head didn't result in any serious damage, just a bit of whiplash. Nothing some potent anti-inflammatories and a muscle relaxer here and there can't fix.

One thing I have learned this week is to be very thankful. While I have had to be in the ER 2 times less than a week apart, both events turned out to be relatively minor. Another thing I learned is that it is so super important to take care of your body, especially in times of stress! Healthy foods and exercise can really be a pick me up, and nurture your body when it needs it the most. While both mom and hubby are fine, I can really tell the difference in my body over the last 7 days. It just doesn't run as well when dealing with even this amount of worry and stress. I attribute this stress to the reason my legs have not quite recovered the way I normally like, so I decided to up my healthy fats and protein intake this week.

My new favorite meal is a healthy version of eggs benedict!

This is an ezekial english muffin, with Canadian bacon ( VERY lean, 60 kcals for 3 slices), poached eggs, and a sprinkle of feta on top! Of course about 2 tablespoons of homeade guac on the side. i find everything is better when you smear a little guac on it. This combo was so yummy, and eggs were cooked so perfectly I didn't even notice the lack of hollandaise.

Yummy peach on the side.

Dinners this week have been a hodge-podge of leftovers. This is a huge salad with one of everything I could find in my fridge in it. So tasty. i love adding beans to salads, they just bump the quality up a notch.

And I have been finishing off my Amy's split pea soup. I don't know why I have been craving soup this week. Maybe it's comfort eating.

Kind of looks like baby food, huh?

So in light of all the ups and downs of my week, what are some ways all of you deal with stress? Do you turn to comfort foods? Exercise more? Or maybe you have a hard time keeping balance in times of stress? I know sometimes I can!

Sometimes, I Crave Kid Foods

2009-07-14T15:43:00.007-04:00

Do you remember what you ate as a kid and do you ever crave those meals? Besides the hardy servings of fried okra in my childhood, I ate simple, easy foods, like most kids do.

Last night I craved a grilled cheese and soup. To compromise with the Live-In, we had Annie's Mac and Cheese (made just like the last post, plus a little added feta to make it a fancier), tomato soup ( I haven't trained Live-In to NOT buy products with High Fructose Corn Syrup, yet.) and a Morningstar Farms Chick'n Patty.

The Chick'n Patties are deeeelicious! I love all of Morninstar's products and I've often said we should buy stock in them!

My top 3 favs are:

1. corn dogs

2. chick'n patty

3. buffalo wings

Of course I can't end my day without a scoop of Coconut Milk Ice Cream and a glass of coconut milk.

Joey joins us for dinner each night, staring and drooling over our food. Last night, she found a new spot to hide her mac and cheese:

Haha! She literally had no idea the noodle was there. Oops!

Prior to dinner, I hit the treadmill for 30 minutes at a 8:49 pace and then did strength training.

Seated pulley row-23 pounds

Shoulder press-17 pounds

Lateral Pull 25 pounds

Leg Press machine 90 pounds

Joey also likes to wake me up between 4-5am to go outside to go to the bathroom. So this morning, she wakes me up at 4:11am and I smell smoke. I swear the smoke smell is coming from our building. I walk outside, smell it and look around. I don't see our building or adjoining buildings on fire. But I still smell smoke. I check every room in our apartment and decide to wake LI up.

He wakes up and smells it too. We decide it's not our building, but we see lights from a fire truck so we decide to go out front and see what's going on. I walk out (I forgot my camera, doh!) and count 7, SEVEN firetrucks just on our street! The ladders were hoisted into the air-it looks like we just missed them saving someone!

We were not sure what had caught fire, but it looked as if everyone made it out ok; so we went back to bed.

This morning I go take a look and it was our hang out spot, Comida, that had caught fire! Live In did a walk by this morning and said you could see through the floor, so the fire must have been in the kitchen! Yikes!

This message is for all, please have smoke detectors and check them and also have a few fire extinguishers stashed in your house! Fire gets out of control so quickly. And make sure your local fire department knows about your pets!

Xoxo

Annie's Mac and Cheese

2009-07-13T15:34:00.002-04:00

Oh Annie, how I love your Mac and Cheese!

I substitute milk for a bit of Greek Yogurt and butter, salt and pepper and red pepper flakes, and you have a tangy, creamy mac and cheese!

I cooked the pasta as directed, drained, added the cheese packet, spoonful of Earth Balance, and Greek Yogurt a tiny bit at a time. Delicious! I love finding new methods of substitution-and this is a good one, no doubt, plus the added benefits of Greek Yogurt.

Slacker City

2009-07-12T19:15:00.007-04:00

I haven't technically been slacking, per se, but I've had out of town visitors, Beth and Edgin. Boy, oh, boy, did we have a fun filled weekend! I love being a tourist in my own city (especially because I've only been here a little while) and I love taking out of towners to the fun restaurants, that I think only the "locals" have knowledge of.

Thursday, I took Beth and Edgin for an after work drink in Grand Central Station. This building is old as the dickens and the details are spectacular. The bars are popular after work venues because some commuters have a long commute home. Anyhoot, we went to Oysters Bar and had a nice glass of wine and a little snack of fried calamari and oysters.

Friday, I planned a super secret dinner at a totally awesome, hip place. This place is like no other. I didn't tell Beth and Edgin where we were going because I didn't want them to look it up. We went to La Esquina, in SoHo, and I'm not going to mention much because I want to take others there and I don't want to ruin the essence of the place. I will say it's a Mexican restaurant, delicious foods, hip ambiance.
Next, we went to The Volstead and met up with Melanie and Anna's boyfriend Adam. Oh yeah, Anna went to dinner with us, as well as Live In and his colleague.
The Volstead is a place where you go for a few drinks, but not to stay and party all night. Plus, they have FUNFUNFUN DJs so, we, DANCED!!!

Saturday, I had a tiny bit of a hangover, nothing a little coffee, bagel, fruit, and ibuprofen couldn't cure.

We spent Saturday exploring the Brooklyn Bridge, scarfing down Brooklyn Pizza and Brooklyn Beer before we headed to the Museum of Sex. Yes, we did. It was interesting, one could say. Not a place to take your mother.
We *tried* so hard to go to Grimaldi's, but the line for the best pizza in New York was over an hour and a half long. Dang. So we went around the corner to a place called The Pizza. The pizza was delicious, but I thought the crust was too thin and it became a tad bit soggy from the sauce. My favorite pizza places are 1. Bleeker Street Pizza and 2. Cafe Daniello on 2nd Ave.

Saturday night, the Live In and I went to a restaurant around the corner, Ocean Grill. I love all of the BR Guest Restaurants, my MOST favorite being Blue Water Grill. I will need to dedicate 3-4 posts on it!
I ordered Crab Encrusted Mahi Mahi with Coconut Rice and I had a Roasted Beet Salad with Macadamia Encrusted Goat Cheese. Both dishes were good, but nothing to have again.
The presentation was beautiful though:

Sunday I had a Long Training Run through the New York Road Runners. The training runs are only $10 and I must say it is a very well organized event, complete with fuel and water stations and pace leaders. Totally worth it! You can choose to run between 6-20 miles and today I ran a little over 13.
Central Park is a hilly B$#&* and I forget it every. single. time. My legs were sore/jelly by mile 6, but I soldiered on! I started out with the 9:30 pace group, but I think we ended up running a 9:00 pace, so I slowed down a bit and ended up with a 9:38 pace after the first loop. The second loop, I waited around for the 10:00 pace group and we ended up running most of it at a 9:45 pace. Even passerby runners, were looking at their pace watches and said, that's a fast 10:00. It sure was. I gooed, then finished by running the rest of the way home.
Post run, I refueld with a Green Monster (best refuel ever).

Tonight, we ate grilled BBQ Chicken, Corn and Zucchini Quinoa (from the NYT-link below) and grilled corn. Dessert is Mocha Almond Fudge Coconut Milk Ice Cream.
It feels so good to fuel properly.
I think all the cheese from the pizza did a number on my stomach-which is why I limit the amount of pizza I eat.

I'm off to watch Entourage, then to bed so I can read my new book, Love Is a Mix Tape! Thanks, Stacey for the read!

Edgin and Beth, I had a great time and I'm glad you guys came to visit!!

Link to Recipe: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/health/nutrition/07recipehealth.html?ref=fitnessandnutrition

Good night!

Road Race Series Eve

2009-07-11T22:54:00.005-04:00

So, I have had a busy few days! Whew! My world has been crazy this week. It was wonderful to see my brother and sis in law, but I am ready to get back to my normal eating routine. Do any of you find it is harder to eat normally when you have out of town guests? My mom just kept feeding us, adn we just kept eating it!

I did manage to sneak in an AWESOME monster salad.

Thursday night, my sister in law cooked this beautiful sopisticated dinner that the whole family was planning on enjoying together. I had to teach spin class, so i was late arriving. SIL cooked bacon wrapped steak, with rosemary and goat cheese, as well as a rosemary garlic balsalmic reduction. There were some roasted asparagi and potatoes too. Now, I am not really a red meat eater. There is the RARE PMS cheeseburger attack ( I mean 3 times a year rare) and the even rar-er steak. in fact I am not sure I have even had steak in a year, and normally would not have eaten it, except she worked really hard on it, adn was really proud of her meal, so I had about 2 oz. And they were delish. Im talking ALMOST turn me into a straight up carnivore delish. Almost.

By the time I got to my parents house, my mom wasn't at the table. Uh-oh. Turns out, her first bite of steak was caught in her esophagus, and trying to force itself out. This has happened to her before, and her mother, so we already knew there were some esophageal issues. She was breathing ok, not choking, but in this situation, if the bolus came 1/2 way out, it potentially could get really dangerous really quickly. So off we went to the er, mom hiccupping, and gagging forcefully the whole way. It was enough to make you cry, becasue she was in so much pain, and frustrated the stupid steak wouldnt just come up already. Long story short, she had an endoscopy done ( accompanied by a nice demerol and valium drip) and by 3 am we were on our way home. Everybody is fine now, but we were all SO worn out Friday, and mom had a very sore throat, and instructions to eat only soft foods. For lunch, like the golden child I am ( haha) , I made her some potato soupd that was quite tasty if i do say so myself. It was VERY low in fast and high in veggies. I even threw in some of the leftover roasted asparagus as a topper.

yum yum. Healthy comfort food is the best. :)

Tonight I went to a friends 30th bday party, and we did it kid-style with a Harry Potter theme. It was so fun, adn I love the idea of a kids style bday party for the big milestones. One of our brilliant friends even made a cake that looks just like the golden snitch! I wish I had a picture of that. It was so fancy.

So tomorrow starts one of my favorite events, the Memphis Runners Track Club Road Race Series!!!!! This series starts in July, and continues through November. 2 races a month, a different distance each month. we start with 5k tomorrow, and by November, we will do 1/2 marathons!!! It is the perfect training lead in for the St. Jude Marathon and 1/2 Marathon in December. Morgan and I did our first RRS at its 10 year anniversary, and there were only about 250 runners. This year there are almost 800 people signed up and it hasn't even started yet!!!! I will be running 8 miles total tomorrow, so I am glad to have a few buddies for at least part of it. Now off to watch Paul Blart mall Cop with Hubby. Come to think of it...where is he? Goodnight bbs!

Woowee!

2009-07-09T15:24:00.000-04:00

Know what's good? Coconut milk in my coffee. Yummers.

How to be a Super Woman, and other things you NEED to know

2009-07-08T17:03:00.002-04:00

OK, Girls. Let's talk. Pull up a chair. We are going to have a little chit chat about strength training. I want you to listen to me, and I want you to listen good. Whilst listening, I want you to turn off that little voice in your head that regurgitates all that stuff you read in cosmo, and in People, and US weekly. They don't care about you like I do, and they LIE to you.

Here are some of the things I hear everyday come out of women's mouths, that are....well, they are dumb. Now I don't blame you, I blame the lies you have been fed, and I want to educate you a little bit, so you don't say the same dumb things.

" I just want to tone up, I don't want to bulk up."

" I am going to do pilates, because I want to be long and lean."

" I am going to lift these little sissy weights because I am a girl."

Ok, I don't hear that last one, but it's true.

Strength training is SO super important, especially for women! It can make your bones denser, and stronger, it can make your heart stronger, and work better, it can help control blood sugar, it can help regulate blood pressure, it can make you run faster, and jump higher, and deliver O2 to muscles better, it fights oxidative stress, .....are you getting the picture? It's REAL good for ya. Not to mention it makes you look like Megan Fox, and Jessica Biel, and there is the added bonus that if you need to move around your furniture, or lift something heavy at home, you can just do it yourself.

Here are some things to keep in mind when strength training:

1.You are NOT going to bulk up. I repeat, you are NOT going to bulk up. One more time, you are NOT going to bulk up.

- Most women do not have the amount of testosterone in their body to gain muscle mass like men do. We just aren't made to do it. God wanted us to be soft and pretty. The women that you have seen pics of that look like dudes spend about 6 hours a day in the gym, and supplement TONS of protein, and generally are on massive amounts of steroids. So don't be scared because it's NOT going to happen. Now, don't tell me this little comment I have often heard, " Well, i have lifted before, and I started to gain alot of muscle mass". No you didn't. Look back at pics. You didn't.

2. It's not the pilates that makes you long and lean. Pilates is strength training. You do it, you build muscle. If you have long legs, it is not due to pilates, it is due to genetics. If you have short legs, they are not going to grow no matter how many "hundreds" you do. Pilates is a good form of core strength training, but it is not enough!

3. You must, I repeat, you must pick up a weight that is heavier than your purse. I do not let my clients touch a weight below 8 lb dumbells unless we are working rotator cuff. You are capable of lifting heavy objects, so do it. Don't be scared! Remember- you are not going to bulk up. ( But US weekly says lift light weights and do pilates and I will look like Gisiele...) Nope. Sorry. Waste of time. You have to stress your body to make it adapt and get stronger. If you are using 5 lb dumbells ( unless coming off an injury) you really aren't stressing anything.

4. The appropriate way to pick what weight to use, is trial and error. Start conservative if you are just starting a strength training regimen to avoid injury, you can always add more. I recommend doing 3 sets of 12-15 reps of an exercise. If you have used an appropriate weight, the last rep of the last set will be impossible. To gain the most benefit from your resistance training, always go to failure. Failure means just that, you fail to complete the last rep.

5. There is no such thing as "toning". You can build muscle, and make it stronger, but it does not just get a little nicer. What you think of as "toning" is actually called hypertrophy. Building muscle.

6. But I read that lifting weights will make me gain weight. You know what? At first, it might, but it will not make you gain fat. It will actually burn calories and help you get rid of some fat. A few things happen when you start lifting. Your blood volume increases. Your bone mineral depositing improves making bones heavier. You gain a little muscle. Your muscles learn to work better, therefore they hold more water, water is heavy. The pay off is WAY bigger in the long run than the 3 lbs you might put on a month in!!!!

So now you aren't scared of strength training anymore. Good thing we cleared up all that false information out there. Any time you want to get started with a strength training program ( now is a good time) I recommend meeting with a qualified trainer to make sure you have proper form, so as to prevent injury and get the most out of your workout. And of course if you have had any surgeries or recent injuries, get a doctors clearance before starting any new exercise, and disclose this to your trainer.

If you need any scientific sources for this info I can get it for you, but all this came from my big ole brain because I am super duper smart. Like WWAAAAYYYYY smarter than your average bear. ;) Don't hesitate to post any questions you may have in the comments section, I PROMISE somebody else was wondering the same thing.

Go Lift!

Sup with saturated fat?

2009-07-08T12:17:00.005-04:00

Anna and I have been enjoying the tasty benefits of So Delicious' Coconut Milk (if you haven't picked up a carton- run along to the store now). I know many of you read nutrition labels and if you don't know this little tidbit about Medium Chain Fatty Acids (a saturated fat), you might gawk at the label. The FDA (do not agree with 95% of what they do or say) and some cardiologists make us scared of a saturated fat, but you need to know there are animal saturated fats (super scary) and plant saturated fats (very polite, kind).

Note: I'm only using the term "super scary" because I'm hilarious. Poultry and fish and leeeaaann beefs do not contain a lot of saturated fats. Think about fatty meats (sirloin) and butter, heavy cream, 2% milk. As always, everything in moderation! Basically, you should think, "how active is my protein source" before buying. Cows (not very by FDA/USA standards) to fish (very, very active). The more active your protein is, the fewer bad fats it will have. This is a statement I just thought of, well, because I'm a genius.

Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFA) are nothing to be scared of. Look, I will draw you one: C6H12O2 (caproic acid)

Lauric acid: C12H24O2

Your body breaks down and utilizes the animal vs plant saturated fats in two different manners.

Animals saturated fats (baaad)

animal fat (mostly saturated) is solid at room temperature
long chain fatty acid=stored in your arteries for blockage

Plant saturated fats (good)

Medium chain, broken down and used for energy
also supports immune system
also found in nuts, seeds (pecans, macadamia, etc)

Coconut milk is praised by many cultures for its healthy, healing values. You can research it yourself, as there is a laundry list of "pluses" on the coconut side.

If you have any questions, please ask. I like information session blogs. I think the next topic should be strength training and why EVERYONE NEEDS IT!! That would be Anna's info session/area of expertise!

Have a coconutty day!

2009-07-07T22:05:00.003-04:00

Pizza is the way to a girl's heart, er, or maybe pizza with diamonds on it.
I had zero energy after I left strength training so I skipped my run and decided to please my inner fat girl. Tonight I wanted to attempt to make different type of pizza... a tortilla crust pizza. I saw this recipe in the newest edition on Food and Wine Magazine, and what did I do? I adapted.
Tortilla Pizzas:
Heat oven to 450 and stick your pizza stone in there for 40 minutes to get it nice and hot.

Pizza sauce:

1 can crushed tomatoes-I used Fire Roasted Organic
1 can tomato paste
1/2 diced sweet onion
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
red pepper flakes
fennel seeds (just a small pinch-around 10 seeds!)
dried basil and oregano
kosher salt
freshly cracked pepper

heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. saute for 5 or so minutes. Add tomatoes, paste, spices and to taste. Heat, but only to meld the flavors. It will continue to cook on the pizza. Blend in blender to make a puree or use your immersion blender.

Set aside

Chop whatever you want on your pizza-I made 2 margherita pizzas and 1 veggie (green olives, tomato, red peppers)/turkey bacon pizza.
Most importantly-USE FRESH MOZZARELLA!!! (Cut it into shreds though!)

Spoon sauce on tortillas (I used unbleached flour tortillas), lay your cheese down
cook for 8 minutes or until the crust is browning and just after the cheese melts.

for the veggie/TB pizza-put cheese down, veggies, then more cheese, then TB
again cook for 8 minutes

Remove from oven (and be careful)

Add chopped fresh basil to the top!

Try not to eat it all before you sit down!

Spinach Salad
This recipe was crafted by one of my bffs Stacey Garrett Logan. I've known her damn near since middle school. She knows a lot of crap about me, so I try not to piss her off.

Mozzarella (fresh) cut into cubes
red onion, cut into half moons
tomatoes
green olives
few gianormous handfuls of Spinach
top with cooked crispy turkey bacon

Mix together in a bowl!
You really don't need a dressing for this. Just add some black pepper. (and Stacey typically uses black olives and artichoke hearts-but I had none of those items)

SEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dessert was of course coconut milk ice cream with 5 Reece's Pieces on top of a Crunchy Granola Cookie.

I'm planning on waking up early for a 45 minute run pre-work so I need to hit the sack about 2 hours ago.
Good night my healthy loves!

I promise I will work on taking more pictures throughout the day!

It's Gettin' Hot Up Heerrrreee

2009-07-07T15:27:00.003-04:00

So Take off all your clothes. Wait, what?

Yesterday I ended my day by hitting the gym right after work for some strength training. I focus on my entire body in strength training 4-5 times per week. When the ING New York Marathon is roughly 2 months away I will cut back, but not until then. I read all the time about Kara Goucher and her speed/strength/distance running, and hey, she's a hot momma and a fantastic runner-so let's do it!!

I always see some strangely shaped bodies while running in Central Park. Por ejemplo: yesterday I saw a very speedy woman with a 12 year old boys body. No lie. I know being fast is a goal, but if that body is the result, then thanks, but no thanks! I like my muscles with a side of curves.

Yesterday I did:

10 minutes on elliptical for a warm up (at level 3)

single arm rows with 22 pounds 3x15 on each arm

bicep rows (I know, I need pictures) 3x 15 on each side 17.5 pounds

20 squats with 25 pound bar

walked the floor 4 times doing walking lunges

chest press with 15 pound weights 2x12

overhead press with 10 pound weights 20 times

40 crunches on the stability ball

40 twist crunches

20 leg raises (lying flat on back, raise butt off ground to work lower abs)

10 v-ups

THEN I went home and took my pokey puppy on a run. She got a little overheated so I had to take my run slow with her and we ran a little over 3.6 miles.

I came home to live-in making dinner...honey chicken, breaded with whole wheat bread crumbs, and baked in the oven, jasmine rice, and spicy green beans. I was pretty exhausted afterwards, so after 4 bites (from the carton) of CoMIC (Coconut Milk Ice Cream), I passed out!

This morning I woke up late (doh!) and was in a tad bit of a hurry so I had a quick bowl of Kashi Go Lean with CoM, banana and blueberries.

For lunch I had leftovers from dinner last night.

Snacks: 1.5 cups watermelon, 3 kashi crackers and 1 light Laughing Cow Swiss Wedge and 1 bottle Chocolate Soy Milk!

For dinner tonight, I am attempting a "low carb" pizza. It shall be interesting.

Training for tonight will be (weather permitting) 5 mile run (No puppy so I can get some serious pace training in) and of course, strength training. Go Muscles!!!!!

Happy Tuesday!

2009-07-07T11:39:00.009-04:00

Ahhh, Tuesdays. I love Tuesdays this summer. I do not have any classes this summer, and being a personal trainer, I work whenever my clients want to meet. And most Tuesdays, my clients do not want to exercise! Lol. That leaves me plenty of time for blogging, cleaning, cooking, and my own workouts!

I hope everyone had an awesome July 4th weekend! I know I did. It was a fun family time. My brother and sister in law are only in town a few more days :( , but we made the most of our weekend!

Friday night I ran the Firecracker 5 K for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital with BOTH sis in laws, and another family friend! we had a blast. The only problem is that the 3 of them are all about 5'8" to 5'10" and LONG and LEAN, and I am 5'5" ( although my Hubby says 5'4") and definately not long. Here is a pic:

Which one of these things is not like the others? Haha!

Anyway, we had a blast, then we went to Whole Foods and got some good grub to take back to my parents house for dinner. We got pita chips, avocados for guac ( duh), and some drunken goat cheese. YUM.

Saturday for lunch the fam and some friends came over for a cookout. I threw together a delish appetizer tray of hummus, veggies, and some Mary's Gone Crackers. The crackers are so good that even my red meat eating, velveeta cheese loving brother asked where to get them! It's always nice when we can sneak some healthy stuff in our loved ones bellies without them knowing it. ;)

We had a huge spread with guacomole, apple pie, and anything and everything else you can imagine. Including turkey dogs, and these veggie-dogs:

The veggies dogs were..........well, they were gross. Which was a MAJOR dissapointment. I was so encouraged becasue they grilled up so nicely, even if they were a little purple. The texture was even ok, but they did not pass the taste test. Oh well, I will find one I like one of these days!

After GMs and watermelon martini's for dinner ( that's right, watermelon martini's), a big group of girls headed downtown to party and watch fireworks. And party we did. thanks GOODNESS I brought along a baggie of carrots to snack on, and I found a bowl of fruit, otherwise it would have been disastorous.

Monday morning came super early ( as mondays often do) and I spent the ENTIRE day peeling wallpaper off a bathroom in my parents house for my mom. It was her B-day and we decided to paint the bathroom for her present. Yowza. Lets just say it is still not finished. Not even close.

Well, I'm off to grill some chicken for the week, do a nice long run, and teach spin tonight!

By they way, have you seen this? Truly disturbing.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31329422/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/

Watermelon Martinis

4 C watermelon
1 C organic pineapple juice
1 tbsp agave nectar
1 jigger vodka

In blender, puree watermelon, then strain to remove pulp and seeds. Return juice ( and pulp if you want more of a "shake" texture) to the blender, add pineapple juice and agave, and blend. Combine in martini shaker with vodka, and ice. Shake, pour, and enjoy!!!

American Meals

2009-07-06T12:58:00.003-04:00

What can one eat for America's B-day? Duh-burgers, mac and cheese, baked beans, and corn on the cob!

For the 4th, Live in and I stayed at home for a nice evening of grilling Turkey Burgers with smoked Gouda, with some sides of Annie's Mac and Cheese, Vegetarian Baked Beans, and grilled corn on the cob! I think we win the best American Award! Hahaha. Yes, everything is a contest with me.
Everything we ate is pretty straightforward, the burgers were a recipe live- in found online; the recipe includes mayo and breadcrumbs. My only suggestion is to ALWAYS purchase 20% fat when making any type of burger. This holds in flavor without making the burger dry.

Baked beans (adapted from Paula Deen's recipe)

can of Bush's Vegetarian

1/2 a sweet onion

1/2 red apple (diced)

top with 5 slices of turkey bacon

fold in apple and onion, top with TB, cover with foil. Heat at 300 for 30 minutes, uncover and continue baking for 10 more.

Obviously the Mac and Cheese came from a box (which I recycled) and the corn (grown in America) is pretty straightforward. Grill it.

I had some tasty glasses of wine, from Napa (again, American) before jetting off to see the Macy's fireworks!

(If you look closely, you can see the interstate is packed like sardines with spectators!)

Sunday was a beach day!
A nice relaxing day at the beach, playing in the cold water. Note to self, when adults try to build sandcastles by themselves, it apparently looks odd-or something. Unless you have sandcastle building gadgets.
And I can neither deny nor confirm that I ate about 1/2 a bag of nacho cheese Combos.

For dinner live-in and I went to scarf down some sushi before checking out Away We Go and super cute and funny indie movie. I recommend, if you like indie movies. John Krasinski is just the cutest I want to eat his face off! And Maya Rudolph is amazing-she is a fantastic actress!

My tummy is growling-I need some LUNCH!

Even though I started today off with a Green Monster and a snack of a Laughing Cow Light Swiss Wedge with 3 Kashi Crackers-I'm starving!!!!!!!

Everyone have a wonderful Monday! It's already almost Tuesday!

I already miss the weekend!

2009-07-06T12:10:00.005-04:00

Why do weekends fly by when the week seems to pass at a glacial pace? It's just not fair. (can you hear me pouting?)

I am trying to convince my boss to adapt to a European work style-they have it made over there! I wonder if it will work?

I forgot where I left off! Ah, yes, I remember.

Friday: I had a nice run with my running partner, Joey. It was hot (80ish) and sunny! I love a good summertime run sweat! Joey, on the other hand, spent all her energy during the first 20 minutes lunging after fellow doggys. But I made her march onward-she may slow me down, but she's no quitter!

Friday night live-in and I made a most delicious meal consisting of:

Grilled blackened Mahi Mahi with a Vanilla Beurre Blanc Sauce with a Quinoa Risotto and Grilled Asparagus with a Blue Cheese Sauce and a Smoked Gouda Crostini! Fancy and YUM!

For the Asparagus:

grill or bake in the oven
melt blue cheese crumbles on during the last 5 minutes or so

The Quinoa Risotto wasn't as superb as I imagined, but delicious none the less. If you do a google search, you will get plenty of results, but I chose the least complicated method. Risotto, from what I understand, is somewhat difficult to prepare. At least the food competition TV shows make me think that. hehehehe.

The blackened Mahi is still under "testing"! This week, we will be testing grilled blackened Swordfish! If the result is as outstanding as the Mahi, then I will post the recipe.

I also believe the Vanilla sauce would have been better had it been more of a cream sauce and not a beurre blanc, to combat the spiciness of the Mahi!

Dessert was of course coconut milk ice cream-cookie dough, and I tell you it takes so much will power to NOT eat the entire container in one sitting.

Saturday:
I woke up to a beautiful morning and had a banana with some White Chocolate PB and a cup of coffee and 1/2 liter of water. About an hour later, I went for a nice long-ish run of 9 miles. I did a full loop around Central Park and the outside loop around the reservoir. I believe I held about a 9:22-9:45 pace, which is a perfect Saturday morning pace!

When I came home, I was sticky and starving! After I unstunk myself, I began making my newest creation: The Best Burrito Ever- or BBE for short.

My BBE has fantastic layers of spicy black beans, greek yogurt, homemade guacamole, onions and tomatoes, and a pinch of cheese, all wrapped in an unbleached flour tortilla!

OH MAN! What have I done? I created a food monster in my belly! Everytime I eat, my belly monster wants a BBE. Sigh!

Guacamole: (I vary this from time to time, but this is the recipe I used)

1 Avocado
1/2 tomato, diced
1/2 sweet Vaidalia onion, diced
1/4 jalapeno, diced
juice of 1 lime
kosher salt, generous pinch of cayenne

Once the veggies are diced, I mash the avocado and lime juice together in a separate bowl. Fold in veggies and season to taste. Sometimes I use a bit of garlic, cilantro, corn (from frozen) cumin, orange juice. I usually prefer the very basic recipe though!

Black Beans:

1 can no salt added black beans-drain most of the bean juice out
1/2 Vaidalia onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno, diced
kosher salt, cayenne pepper, hot sauce

In a saucepan, add beans at a medium-low heat (so they don't burn), fold in veggies and spices and heat throughly.

The trick is to heat the tortillas! Wrap tortillas in foil and heat for about 10 minutes at 350.

On the tortilla: slap down some Greek yogurt (I use in the place of sour cream-much healthier with very similar tastes), shredded lettuce, 2.5 scoops of beans, 2 scoops of guacamole (ok, maybe 3 scoops), pinch of cheddar cheese, tomatoes and onions.
On the side I had some guac and chili lime chips!

If that's not perfection, I'm not sure what is!!!!!!

Plus it's the perfect recovery fuel!

Oh, by the way, I don't have a microwave, and I highly recommend not having one! Invigorating!

Up Next, Saturday and Sunday!!! Oh the Excitement!

Family time

2009-07-03T17:48:00.002-04:00

Hey Kiddos!

Sorry to be so long between posts, but I have hardly sat down the past couple of days! My brother and his wife are in town, and so I have been hanging out with them. On top of that, my whole family is coming over to my house tomorrow for a cookout, so I have been cleaning like a crazy woman!

It's been a big rush around here, so I dont have food pics to show you, but I do have some food stories!

Yesterday for lunch I had an Amy's Indian Samosas wrap. It tasted soooo good, but even after my shower, and sweating it out in spin class I still smelled like curry!!!! Its like it was seeping out of my pores. Even my hubby said he smelled it. Blech! No more samosas for me.

Today I started with a green monster. The Hubby had some early bird work to do, so I was trying to get his tea/ breakfast ready while I got myself ready and out the door all by 6 a.m.! At work I snacked on a honey graham z bar, then came home to have lunch. I mad a BLAT. Veggie bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado. It was super yummy, and of course I had some cherries on the side. I have eaten almost this whoel bag of cherries by myself!!!

I am about to head out to go run the Firecracker 5K. Both of my sisters in law, and a friend are running, and since it's 93˙ at least, I will probably just stick to their pace and do a nice slow jog. I am planning on a nice long run in the morning, and I dont want tired legs to start that off. Sometimes it is fun to just enjoy the company of your friends and family, especially on holidays. A lot of times we lose focus that the most important thing is to have fun, and that is what I plan on doing tonight! ( Plus the calorie burn for 3 miles is about the same if you do it fast or slow!...If you are slow, you are running longer, if you are fast, you are running harder, but shorter!)

Hope youa re all having a great holiday weekend, and I will catch up soon with pics!

-A

Good Wine, Good Food, Good Friends

2009-07-03T12:47:00.005-04:00

Last night I had drinks and an appetizer with a friend from Memphis who lives in the big bad NYC now. We've known each other since middle school-yikes! She and my sister were cheerleading buddies.
Anyhoo, we went to a restaurant slash bar called The Volstead where the DJ was "spinning" some awesome dance tunes! I ordered a glass of Cabernet and we shared Mac and Cheese pops. What are Mac and Cheese Pops, you ask? Mac and Cheese Pops are bite- size, fried pieces of mac and cheese- all on a stick! Saaaayyyy whaaaat? Anything 1. fried and 2. on a stick is automatically delicious.
We parted ways and I came back over to the west side to have second appetizers/dinner with live in.

We went to the Mexican restaurant across the street, Comida. I ordered a tempranillo (bold red wine) and grilled cactus quesadillas with a side of plantains. I must say, grilled cactus has a very unique texture and taste-kinda like a hybrid of a mushroom and a bell pepper! Delicious when you add the guacamole and pico de gallo! Plantains are my very favorite-I could eat them every day! The combination of the salty queso and the sweet plantain makes a savory delight in my mouth! I left perfectly full, but not stuffed! Thanks for sharing with me live in!

This was my day to sleep in and I did it RIGHT! I did not get out of the bed until 11:20 and BOY IT FELT GOOD!
I woke up and made myself a delicious brunch of toasted Ezekiel English muffins- 1/2 with peanut butter and raspberry preserves and the other half with Swiss cheese and a veggie sausage and a side of blueberries and a nice mug of green tea + kombucha! YUM!

I hope everyone has a wonderful vacation day! I''m off to run for an hour!

XOXO

Long Weekend Ahead!

2009-07-02T09:44:00.002-04:00

I'm so thrilled we have a long weekend ahead of us! Since I am still "new" in my job, I'm not "supposed" to take a vacation day until September. Boooooo! So I relish in each holiday given to me!
Plans for the weekend:

Beach (Long Beach) I love the beach. If I could love on the beach and never leave, I would. Not really a Florida beach because I appreciate the seasons, but Northern California or my backyard, Long Island. There is something so freeing, invigorating, when I'm in the water at the beach riding the waves in, building sandcastles, or digging to China. I just hope we don't have a repeat of last weekend and almost get struck by lightening.

Rooftop Party for Macy's 4th of July Firework Extravaganza: I'm hoping to enjoy the fireworks from a rooftop. From what I understand, the fireworks are pretty awesome and you can't get any better than seeing them from an unobstructed view.

Party at my new friends' new apartment on the East Side-whether it be board games, drinking games, or reindeer games, I'm in.

Yard Work, yard work, yardwork I have a 12ft by 3 ft "area" where I need some plants. Anyone have a green thumb? This weekend, I plan on purchasing a hydragena bush to plant and I would also like to pot some herbs and I NEED CITRONELLA PLANTS!!!!!

I can attest that when a holiday rolls around, the not eating "junk" food is pretty hard. It's hard to resist chips and dip when you are starving, so I attempt to eat a small snack before I go, so I am not starving (usually doesn't work) or I try and limit myself to a small handful of chips. I'm just thankful cheese dip isn't prevalent in the northeast, no there's no Pancho's Cheese Dip and yes, the Yanks don't know what Rotel is.

I am working on posting a few "healthy" options for appetizers/snack foods. Does anyone have any healthy recipes they'd like to share. I know Anna makes a MEAN BEAN dip. And let's dip into our creativity, and limit our dips...fruit kebobs anyone? Cheese plate?

What are your plans for the weekend?

Have a safe and happy 4th! Please don't drink and drive...

Ode to Coconut Milk

2009-07-02T09:38:00.002-04:00

Coconut milk, how I love thee, let me count the ways:

I love you in a glass with a spoonful of white chocolate peanut butter

I love you mixed with coconut milk ice cream

So delicious, so creamy

You brighten my day

With a frozen banana, blended in the blender

In my belly, straight from the carton

Oh, Coconut milk, please never go away!

Sleepy Bear

2009-07-01T23:23:00.004-04:00

Hey there kiddos!

It's been a long day! Good thing I started with a green monster and some berries!

I headed to work to teach my class , then train a client. In between I had time to squeeze in a quick, speedy run. It was not QUITE as hot today, so that was nice.
I saw the cutest thing today. At the gym where I work, we have had a nest with 5 baby birds in it on our porch. They have just been hanging out, and waiting for mom and dad to bring food. When I go there today, all but one of the birds were gone! They flew out yesterday. One little feathered buddy remained. So we did what you should always do when you have lonely animals around, we fed him raisin bread. And lo and behold within 10 minutes of eathing the raisin bread, he flew out of the nest! He would get right on the edge, and lean forward ever so cautiously, then flap his wings and jump right back into the nest. Finally he commited to the moment, and jumped! You could just see the panic in the way his little wings were flap-flap-flapping, and within seconds he was clinging to the side of the building, looking back towards his nest. Instantly his dad flew over near him, flying in circles and chirping at him as if to say "See, Junior? This is how you do it." Then they flew off together. As many of you who know me know, i do not love birds, but this was one of the neatest things I have ever seen! It was so cool to see the interaction and communication between the little birdie family.
After work I came home and had an Amys burrito with avocado for lunch, with some cherries, and grandma pickles on the side. yum yum.

Obviously I hated it.

Then I went to my parents house because my HUGE shipment of Amazing Meal ( the veggie protein powder I put in my GMs ) came there today! YAY! And I had to get a few snuggles off the pup.
It was while I was there that I found out my brother has a completely torn ACL and will have to have reconstruction. YOWZA. He will be in town this weekend, so hopefully I will get some crazy swollen knee pics up here for yall to see. ;)
Dinner was out with my buddybudz, Lana, at Humdingers. Look at how much zucchini I had!!!!!!!

We ended our "date" with a trip to Whole Foods so she could get the ingredients for a GM.
While we were there I saw these little tiny baby bananas. Have yall ever seen these? I had not. I guess I usually buy my nanners at Costco, and therefore don't hang out in Whole Foods banana section.

Now I am at home, watching SoYou Think You can Dance ( love it) and snacking on more cherries! I cant get enough!

So did anybody see this in the news today? I think it's ridiculous, what's your take?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31664672/ns/health-fitness/

Tofu Makes the World Go 'Round

2009-07-01T21:57:00.000-04:00

Whew! Sorry I was MIA yesterday... gymnastics wears me out at night!
Quick synopsis of my meals yesterday and today:
Tuesday:

Breakfast:Green Monster, same as Monday, but slightly more coconut milk and I shared it with live-in
Lunch: Sushi- tuna avocado roll, sweet potato tempura roll, plus salad and miso soup. I only had a few slurps of the miso.
Snack: pink lady apple and cheddar cheese "stick" cheese
Dinner: Amy's Quarter pounder Veggie burger-I suggest you run out and get immediately. So filling and tons of protein! with one slice of Swiss cheese, on a slice of Ezekiel bread with baked sweet potato fries (tomorrow I will give you the recipe for sweet potato fries!)

Wednesday (Wow, I can't believe tomorrow is Thursday!)

Breakfast: sadly, no Green Monster, because UPS refuses to leave my package from Amazing Grass, even though I FOLLOWED ALL THE APPROPRIATE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE FORM-ugh
Lunch: I was late for work (what's new), only had time to make a white chocolate peanut butter and raspberry preserves sandwich on regular wheat bread. I picked up a cup of Healthy Choice Chicken Noodle soup and ate 1 stick cheddar cheese (It's stick because it doesn't break into strings)
Snack: apple and stick cheese
Dinner: Stir-fry: edamame, onion, asparagus, red bell pepper in sesame oil; udon noodles; tempura vegetables and tofu YUM!

So I am convinced that if Japanese people eat tempura veggies once in a while, that I can too because look how healthy they are. So eat your, er, tempura veggies!!
While I was at it, I baked 1/2 of the package of tofu in a splash of soy sauce for my lunch tomorrow. I'll let you know if it turns out how I hope!

Tomorrow I promise I will get you some recipes!

Training for the 2012 Olympics...in Gymnastics!

2009-07-01T15:49:00.000-04:00

Tuesday is the best day of the week. "Why", you ask? Tuesday is the day I go to Adult Gymnastics class!!!

Sidebar: If you are a fan of gymnastics, please call or email Coach Murphy at Wimbleton and beg, I mean ask, him to please start an Adult Gymnastics class. I only say this because, 1. what I am about to write will make to turn green with envy and 2. Beth and Edgin are coming to NYC next week and are planning on taking gymnastics with me. They will bring back to Memphis how freaking AWESOME! it is.

Ok, gymnastics, what I love is that they treat the adults, who are giddy with excitement, like any other student and they make us work hard!
Our class starts with 35 minutes of warming up-running, high knees, butt kicks, side steps, "floor punches", jumping. Then we move to stretching, splits (which I can't do to save my life), bridges (backbends), pikes (on the floor). Then we move to the conditioning part of the warm-up.

We do sets of 15 V-ups, 10 push-ups, and repeat. But this part changes each week, yet we still know we are doing those v-ups. And I love it!

And to make this "warm-up" even more awesome, the coach has a Romanian accent, so most of the time I imagine I am at the Bela Karolyi Ranch being trained by the man himself.

Then we split into 2 groups: the beginners (me) and intermediates.
The beginners cannot do a round-off back handspring or a front handspring. Once those are mastered, you move up a level!

The coaches now instruct us for line drills:
front rolls, front rolls from a handstand, dive rolls
backwards rolls (can't do these, either), backward rolls to a handstand (oddly, can aaallllllllmost do one)
cartwheels, roundoffs

Now onto tumbling!
We slowly move into front handsprings: using 3-4 mechanisms to aid with "how to perform one correctly"
The final 20 minutes is spent on back handsprings.

I will post pictures next week, of Beth, Jamie, Edgin and me tearin' it up at Chelsea Piers.

For now, be content on reading this article about adult gymnastics and be jealous because you WILL see me at the 2012 Olympics.
I can't wait to hear Bob Costas give the commentary on my floor exercise!!!

http://www.onlyagame.org/2009/02/adult-gymnastics/

Muy Caliente!

2009-06-30T17:17:00.000-04:00

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

2009-06-29T22:20:00.000-04:00

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

2009-06-29T20:09:00.000-04:00

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"

2009-06-29T01:47:00.000-04:00

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.

2009-06-29T00:01:00.000-04:00

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.

2009-06-28T21:45:00.000-04:00

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

2009-06-28T21:16:00.000-04:00

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.

2009-06-28T21:01:00.000-04:00

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

2009-06-28T19:35:00.001-04:00

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?