Girl Can...

084. The Big Move and Breakfast Time

2010-02-03T14:24:00.001-06:00

The time had come! Girl Can has officially moved! Please update your blogrolls and Google readers accordingly.

http://girlcando.wordpress.com

Breakfast this morning was a bit of a change from my standard oatmeal. I left out the cranberry apple butter and tossed on some cinnamon.

Today’s oats: ½ c. oats, ¾ c. vanilla soy milk, ½ large banana mashed up, 1 T. peanut butter, cinnamon, and about ½ T. agave nectar.

(The photo is a bit blurry. I moved my phone too early.)

083. Dinner, Dresses, and Developments

2010-02-02T22:13:00.006-06:00

Dinner

Tonight I made a quickie dinner because we had a 7:30 appointment at David's Bridal for Nicki to try on wedding dresses and for me to try on bridesmaid dresses.

For dinner I made some roasted red potatoes and a veggie burger inspired by the Red Robin Bonzai Burger. It was a Morning Star patty, with Munster cheese, a bit of BBQ sauce and some pineapple chunks.
I don't remember if I've ever posted how I make my roasted potatoes. It's so super easy so if you're curious...

chop up potatoes and toss in a ziplock bag.
add 1-2 T of EVOO (depending on amount of potatoes)
add sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, and any other spices
shake vigerously
pour on top cookie sheer
bake at 350 for 30 - 40 minutes.

Dresses

The trip to David's Bridal was a huge success! Nicki found (and purchased) her dress!! I took a ton of pictures, but since one of the dresses was actually purchased I'm not going to be posting any of them.

We're also almost 100% on the bridesmaid's dresses, but we want at least one other bridesmaid to try it on. We're all pretty similar in body type, but it helps to see the dress on more than one person.

This is the actual dress...

...and these are the colors.

That brown dress was a size 24 so it was way too big to actually try on, but we wanted a picture of the color combo for the bridesmaids.

Initially we considered the tea length dress in the photo above, but I decided I'm just too short for tea length so we went with the full length. (I was given full control of bridesmaid dress selection.)

Developments

I have some big news my wonderful readers! I am going to be moving over to wordpress in the next week or so. I've been considering it for a while now as I've heard wordpress is a much better blogging platform, but I made my decision after one of my earlier posts got eaten by Blogger. Blogger has eaten one post too many! So keep your eye out for my new address!

082. The Blahs

2010-02-02T13:34:00.001-06:00

So February is off to a rockin start. (Note: that was sarcasm.) Yesterday was a pretty bad day all around. I was planning to get to work early only to have my train get delayed by switching problems. I ended up being 15 minutes late. Generally I'd just get over it; I'd chalk it up to "such is life on the CTA," but yesterday it really soured my mood...for the whole day. The more I thought about my bad mood the more I realized I've been in a bad mood for a while now, like, most of January. I've started thinking I have mild seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Especially after reading Tina’s post about SAD.

I hardly see sunlight since it's still dark when I leave for work and dark again when I leave to go home. Plus, the weather has been crappy. Crappy weather, grey skies, and snow are standard for January in Chicago, but that doesn’t make it any less depressing. I’ve had zero motivation to do anything. My last few weekend have primarily been spent laying on the couch watching my way through my Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs. This past Saturday I basically had to force myself off the couch and out for my friend Kelly’s birthday. I haven’t been blogging with any sort of regularity (clearly). I keep putting off basic things like laundry and cleaning up around the house. They’re not the most fun things to do, but I generally get them done.

In any case, something needs to change because I am not happy with the way things are going right now. I don’t like being no fun girl. I’ve been thinking about it, and I didn’t go through this last winter. So my first question of course is, “what’s different?” After thinking about it I noticed two key differences.

Last winter, I was living in LaGrange. My commute was shorter (about 20 minutes on the train), and I walked home from the train station. I saw more sunlight as a result. This winter, it takes me an hour to an hour and a half to get home on the train and bus. I only walk across the street and by that time it’s mostly dark anyway.

Last winter, I was working out hard core. This time last year was when I really started getting serious about loosing weight and living a more healthy and active lifestyle. I was running several days a week and doing Zumba weekly. This winter, I’m still working out, but not to the same extent. My work-outs have been one of the first things I’ve blown off. I’ve also had a few minor injuries that have slowed me down.

So what’s the plan?

First, I’m going to try and get out for a 5 or 10 minute walk at lunch every day. This is especially important on sunny days. Part two of the plan is do my workouts no matter what. I’m going to stick to my February goal of cardio 5 days a week and strength training 3 days a week. I’m also going to get my 2 (or 3) days of yoga in every week. I honestly think if I can getting back into serious work-outs will really go a long way to making me feel better.

So, in the interest of keeping myself accountable, I’m going to be posting my weekly work-out schedule. Here is this week’s:

Monday: 60 minutes of yoga, 30 minutes of swimming.
(I got a late start out the door to yoga class so this ended up being 60 minutes of yoga and about 15 minutes of high intensity running.)
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 60 minutes of yoga, 30 minutes of swimming
Thursday: 30 Day Shred video
Friday: Long run at the Pavilion
Saturday: 60 minutes of yoga, 30 minutes of swimming
Sunday: 60 minute spin class

Lunch today was left-overs from last night's burrito bowls. I was disappointed because I forgot my avocado at home. :( However, lunch was good none the less. I'm such a HUGE fan of brown rice with black beans and corn (and some tomato sauce!) mmmm...mmmm....mmm....

I'm not really sure what dinner is going to be tonight. Originally, the plan was Spaghetti Squash with marinana and sauteed zuchinni, but tonight I am embarking on the soul (and self-esteem) crushing adventure that is trying on bridesmaid's dresses. Nicki, my mom, and I have a 7:30 appointment at David's Bridal. We went on Sunday and found some stuff we liked (bridalgown and bridal party), but they were way too busy for us to be able to actually work with someone and try stuff on. I'm going to be bringing my mom's fancy camera to take photos so I'll be sure to post them later.

081. Things I Love About Being Healthy #1: Recovery Time

2010-02-02T09:15:00.001-06:00

There are a lot of things I’ve found I love about living a healthy lifestyle. There’s the generic “having more energy” and then there are more specific things. Currently, what I’m loving is how much my recovery time on illness and injury has improved.

As I mentioned (or more accurately complained about) last week, recently it seems like it’s been one thing after another with me. First the wrist, then the cold, then the back; however, none of these things have ailed me for very long.

I still think there’s an actual problem with my wrist – tendonitis or possibly a small stress fracture, but it’s not bothering me like it was two weeks ago. While my cold hit me like a ton of bricks and made me miserable for a couple days, it was gone in about a week. My back was totally better in about 3 days. It was uncomfortable to sit, stand, and move around on day one. Day two, I only noticed pain when I bendtover or twist around.

These are all things that, in the past, would have plagued me for weeks. I credit the decrease in recovery time 100% to my healthy lifestyle. I have a better awareness of my body, and I know when to take it easy. I know what kind of foods will help my body repair itself. I know how to take care of an injury better. Plus, my body is just healthier and better able to take care of itself. I also think (and I could be way off base here as I have minimal medical knowledge) that my body has become more efficient at repairing itself because it’s had to recover from my work-outs.

In any case, my decreasing recovery time is definitely something I love about being healthy.

BREAKFAST

This morning I made breakfast a la Tina. I rocked a 3-Minute Oatmeal Cookie for breakfast. For the most part I followed Tina's recipe. I used goji berries instead of raisin, and I added half a mashed up banana. I also topped it with a tablespoon of peanut butter.

I actually made one of these last night too as I was really craving a cookie. I can't lie; I was a bit skeptical at first, but I was really impressed with how these turned out. They're not quite the consistency I like it a cookie, but I defnintely see myself making a lot more of these. They're so quick and yummy!

080. Revisiting an Old Favorite

2010-01-29T06:34:00.005-06:00

This morning I decided to revisit a breakfast favorite from before I discovered I like oatmeal. I present to you...

The Egg Sammich!

I have always been a huge fan of breakfast sandwiches. Today's sandwich was an egg, sharp cheddar, cheese, and two slices of Canadian bacon on a whole wheat sandwich thin.

For the first time in a while, I just wasn't feeling oatmeal this morning. I also decided to go with my old friend in hopes that the extra protien will help my back heal-up faster.

By the way, I totally forgot to photo dinner last night. I made homemade BBQ chicken pizzas (8" sized) on whole wheat crusts. They were pretty fantastic.

After I made dinner I spent the rest of the night alternating between laying on the couch and trying to gently stretch out my back using cat and cow pose. While watching season 3 of Buffy.* Chris borrowed a couple of microwavable heating pads from his mom so I used those on my back as well. My back is feeling a lot better today, but it's definitely not 100%. I can sit without discomfort, but it still hurts to bed and twist.

*I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I am a huge Joss Whedon nerd. I've watched my way through the entire Buffy and Angel television serieses (?) on more than one occassion.

079. What Is Going On Here?

2010-01-28T06:15:00.002-06:00

Recently, it seems like every time I turn a corner; I've got some sort of injury. I really don't know what's going on. I've never been prone to injuries. (Well, not the kind of injuries that don't come from being a total klutz anyway.) Now it seems like I've got some sort of malady every week. Two weeks ago it was my wrist. Last week I was sick. Yesterday the lower leftside of my back started hurting. I think I may have pulled a muscle. What is going on here?!

I had a really hard time falling asleep last night. Pretty much every position I laid in caused my back to ache after a few minutes. I woke up this morning with it feeling super tight. I loosened it up some with a nice hot shower and a the "massage" setting on the shower head, but it's still really uncomfortable. Sitting in a chair is the worst; so I foresee a looooong day ahead of me at work.

Since I'm already off to a rough start I decided to treat myself to some of my chocolatey peanut butter and banana oats a day early. Helloooooo deliciousness!

078. Running Around Like a Chicken with my Head Cut Off

2010-01-27T18:24:00.003-06:00

Afternoon snack was a GIANT honeycrisp apple. It was fantastic - crisp and juicy! Sadly, the picture seems to have gotten eaten by my phone and/ or my computer.

I've decided I really don't like the fact that Wednesday night yoga is at 7:15. I much prefer the 7:45 class on Mondays.

I've been going nonstop since I got off the bus. My mom is coming to pick me up for yoga (Chris still had my car.) at 6:50, and the dinner I was planning tonight takes about 40 minutes. That leaves me about 10 minutes to eat said dinner. To some extent this was poor planning on my part. I need to plan faster meals on Wednesdays when I have less time to cook before class.

I was going to switch plans up, but I forgot a couple items when I went shopping yesterday (even though they were on my list, ugh!) so swapping one of the less time consuming meals on the agenda this week wasn't even an option.

So what was tonight's dinner. You might remember from my meal plans that tonight I'm made Southwest Chicken Stew. Honestly, the prep time wasn't bad, but the recipe calls for it to simmer 20 - 30 minutes. I think this might be one that would work out well in a slow cooker too.

I subbed chilli powder for the cumin since I didn't have cumin and didn't want to buy it for just this recipe. I also used a can of diced tomatoes. I think next time I might add a small can of tomato sauce to give it a little more liquid. I also only simmered it about 15 minutes.

You can't see it in the pictures, but I ate it on top of/ with 3/4 c. of brown rice. This is definitely a make again, but I can see myself changing it up a little bit next time.

077. February Goals + More Kashi Goodness

2010-01-27T13:21:00.005-06:00

As promised I've worked out my February goals. Yesterday, I spent some time thinking more about my goal-setting (why I stopped, how to make it better), and I’ve come to a couple conclusions.

First, I think part of the reason I stopped was because it was getting to the point where I was setting too many goals for myself. It’s hard to manage 15 goals in a month! A lot of them were simple things I was doing anyway. This made them less than meaningful and tedious to track. I drink water like the earth is going dry so it’s silly for me to set a goal to get my 8 glasses of water. Second, my goals, while not completely arbitrary, weren’t really working towards anything long term or any greater goal outside of “lose weight.”

So what does this mean for my February (and future) goals? First, I’m keeping it simple. I’m going to have 5 goals for February (though one of those five does have “mini-goals”). Second, most of them directly correlate with and help me achieve items on my 10 in 2010 list.

So without further ado…my February goals.

5lbs lost. – I want to finally reach my goal weight of 135lbs. (This is really still flexible for me. I’m not sure what my ideal weight is, but this seemed like a good starting point.) Ideally I’d like to do it by June so that I’ve lost all my weight prior to ordering my bridesmaid dress for my brother’s wedding. I don’t want to worry about losing weight once it’s been ordered and having to have additional alterations made. This means I need to lose 5 – 6 pounds a month. This is totally doable; I just need to frickin’ focus already!

Track daily – I’ve been really terrible about tracking my food lately. I’m not even talking calorie counting (though that is my actual goal); I’ve been bad just documenting what I’m eating. How many foodie posts have you seen around herelately? Exactly my point. Obviously this is going to help me achieve the reaching my goal weight goal.

Cardio 5 days a week
a. Swim 2 days
b. Spin 1 day
c. Run 2 days
d. Yoga 2 days
Obviously, this is the goal with mini-goals. I found a sprint distance triathlon on June 27th that I would like to do. Final details don’t become available until March (I believe it’s a small park district run event.), but right now I’m planning to sign up. The mini-goals provide me a skeleton for triathlon training and will help me reach my 10 in 2010 goal of competing in a sprint distance triathlon. And of course, we all know cardio is good for us anyway.

Strength training 3 days a week – This is the one goal that doesn’t directly correlate with any particular 10 in 2010 goal, but it’s one that will improve me over all. I always slack off when it comes to strength training. I need to work-out a more concrete plan, but I will make it happen.

Create weekly meal plans and go grocery shopping weekly – Like tracking, this is something I used to be really good about doing and then it sort of fell by the wayside. Creating weekly meal plans will help keep me organized, help keep me on track to meeting my goal weight and properly fueling my body for my work-outs and triathlon training, and help me save money (10 in 2010 #10).

So, in keeping with my goal to track everything. It's time for today's morning snackies and my lunch!

My morning snack was two mandarin oranges. I took a photo, but it's stuck in my iPhone right now. I'll post that when I get home.

Lunch was a new adventure. When I was at Jewel last night, they had a display of Kashi frozen entrees complete with coupons. I've been wanting to try some of the Kashi frozen entrees. I don't eat a whole lot of frozen meals, but I do think they're nice to have on hand just in case. I grabbed the Black Bean Mango entree, and brought it for lunch today.

Now, to be perfectly honest, I've yet to find a Kashi product I don't like. There's a few things I haven't LOVED, but everything I've tried so far I've liked enough to finish eating. For example I wasn't horribly impressed with the Dark Chocolate Coconut bars, but I liked them enough to finish the box.

I really enjoyed this lunch. As far as frozen meals go, Kashi does a top-notch job. This tasted more like reheated leftovers than a frozen entree.

I'd heard it was spicy so I was a bit scared (my spicy tolerance maxes out around mild salsa.) It wasn't as bad as I expected at all. There was definitely a kick to it, but it was balanced out by the sweetness of the mango and the rice.

It was also a perfect, filling portion. I ate it all without feeling stuffed or starved. Usually, I need to add something frozen entrees (e.g. Lean Cuisine), but this was plenty. It's been nearly two hours and I'm still feeling satisfied.

Overall, two thumbs up to Kashi on making a great frozen entry. I will definitely be keeping my eye our for coupons and sale so I can buy a couple more of these.

076.

2010-01-27T06:38:00.004-06:00

It still blows my mind that oatmeal has become my go-to breakfast. I was the girl who hated oatmeal! That was until the blogger world introduced me to "real" oatmeal as opposed to instant (read: crappy) oatmeal! Now I am in love.

This morning's oats were the usual peanut butter, cranberry apple butter, banana (sliced rather than mashed). I forgot to photograph before stirring. They look a little...well, less than appetizing. That's the only sad thing about oatmeal. It's not very photogenic.

I overslept a bit this morning so I need to get going to work.

075. At the Risk of Sounding Like a Broken Record...

2010-01-26T21:36:00.002-06:00

...I'm sorry for being a blogging lame. I swear. This week it is on like Donkey Kong. Starting right now!

I've had some major realization in the last week in regard to my weight loss and healthy living journey. I guess you could call this my "getting back on track post" even though I haven't been "off-track" per se; I've been maintaining my weight, eating healthy, and getting a couple work-outs in each week. I'm just not giving it 100% which would explain why the weight loss is going no where.

I started reading The Spark last week, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm pretty much only reading it during my commute though so I'm moving through it at a pretty slow pace. Anyway, even with just the two chapters I've read so far, I've had a major revelation.

From the beginning, there were two things that attracted me to SparkPeople. I love the proactive, goal-oriented nature of the site and the emphasis on planning. Setting my health and fitness goals, striving for them, and achieving them creates such a drive in me. It spreads to other areas of my life. Planning my meals and my fitness helps me keep other area of my life more organized. (If I know I'm going running after work then I have to structure the rest of my activities for the day accordingly so I can fit everything in.) I find myself more motivated in all areas of my life.

So given this, why the heck did I stop setting goals and making plans for myself?! I used to do monthly goal blogs and the occasional weekly goal blog; I had a weekly meal plan and fitness routine blogs then I just stopped. I have no idea why. Maybe got bored of setting the same goals. Maybe I got lazy. In any case, the time has come to change that.

So, starting February 1st*, I am back on the goal-setting wagon. I'm going to be writing them down in my planner. I'm going to make meal plans and fitness plans. I'm going to blog about these goals and plans to keep myself accountable. I'm getting back on the wagon!

I plan to have my February goals blog posted by Thursday at the latest. Keep an eye out for it.

*I am actually starting today and making meal and fitness plans for the remainder of the week, but my "official" start is going to be February 1st.

I took some time this evening to plan out the rest of the week's meals and make my grocery list. I really don't know why I stopped doing this. I makes life so much easier on so many levels! I also followed some of the advise of Tina over Trading Up Downtown and took stock of what I had in my pantry before choosing my meals to limit how much I needed to buy. This was especially important since I was going shopping at Jewel tonight. I hate going to Jewel because I always leave feeling ripped off. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to go all the way out to Trader Joe's tonight, and there aren't a lot of grocery store options in my immediate area. Anyway, here we go with the meal plans!

1/27
B: Oats with peanut butter and banana
L: Some Kashi frozen black bean mango thing I has a coupon for so I decided to try it.
D: Southwest Chicken Stew

1/28
B: Oats with banana, cinnamon, and brown sugar
L: Southwest Chicken Stew leftovers
D: Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza

1/29
B: Chocolate oats with peanut butter and banana
L: BBQ Chicken pizza leftovers
D: Burrito Bowls

1/30
B: Homemade Whole Wheat Waffles
L: Mac n Cheese (with tuna and veggies added)
D: Ginger Orange Tofu with brown rice

1/31
B: omelets with roasted red potatoes
L: Chick'n nuggets and tater tots
D: TBD (My goal is to go grocery shopping for next week on Sunday so I left this as a free-be)

Give-Away Alert! There are some really great blogger give-aways going on right now. You should go check 'em out!
Shannon at The Daily Balance has two give-aways going right now: a Manduka yoga mat sling and a Gaiam yoga mat.
Tina at Trading Up Downtown is giving away some chocolate inspired goodies. She's also got a 24-class pass at Healthworks up for grabs over on Carrots n Cake.

074. Chocolatey Peanut Butter Banana Oats

2010-01-20T10:34:00.003-06:00

First of all, I apologize for the lameness of my blog recently. My sick day on Monday turned into a wicked head cold mid-morning Tuesday, and I've been fighting that off. I've pretty much been in work, dinner, sleep, repeat mods since Tuesday. I'm finally feeling better (thank you Advil Cold & Sinus and 8+ hours of sleep per night!).

I've got lots to update about (especially the meals from my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge which was this week despite my being sick.), but I'm getting ready for work right now so I need to make this a quickie. When I got up to get a glass of water around 3:00 this morning, I had a brilliant idea! Why not use chocolate soymilk to make myself chocolatey oats in the morning? I decided to change up my usual oats this morning in exactly this way.

So...I present to you, Chocolatey Peanut Butter Banana Oats

In my oats...

1/2 c. oats

3/4 c. Silk Light Chocolate Soymilk

1 medium banana mashed

1 T. peanut butter

Overall the oats were delicious. Not super chocolatey, but a nice subtle chocolate flavor. It's a great Friday morning treat.

Well, I'm back to updating regularly now, and I promise there will be plenty more posts in the next 24 hours! Until then, I hope you all have a fantastic Friday!

073. Sick Day

2010-01-19T06:15:00.002-06:00

So, yesterday I figured out the root of my laziness and lack of motivation on Saturday. It was my body telling me to take it easy so it could fight impending illness.

I woke up yesterday feeling like I was going to vomit. Needless to say, I spend yesterday on the couch as well.

I'm feeling much better this morning so I expect to be back in full (or near full) force today.

Longer post later! I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

072. On a Roll

2010-01-17T16:01:00.003-06:00

I've had a very productive afternoon, but I've got a lot of slacking to make up for so here's how I've done so far.

~~Shower~~
Laundry
Clean my house
Blogs, blogs, blogs,
~~Meal Planning~~
~~Grocery Shopping~~
~~PetCo~~
~~Kohl's~~
Pick Chris up at 5

I headed to Orland because I could hit all 4 stores I needed without having to go far between them.

My first stop was at Kohl's. I got a 30% off coupon in the mail, and since I'm still losing weight, I'm pretty much constantly needing new clothes. Plus there was so much stuff on clearance! Kohl's clearance + extra 30% off = crazy deals! I got two pairs of dress pants for about $10 each, a cashmere cardigan for about $25, and a couple other items. I also bought myself a Chicago Blackhawks hoodie. I'm one of the few people left in my group of friends who shows up to watch games without sporting team gear.

After Kohl's I hit Target. I forgot to add this to my list initially, but remembered I needed a few things when I was browsing my coupons. I got deodorant, Kashi granola bars, a gallon of bleach (If you didn't know, bleach is a cheap alternative to Liquid Plumber or any other drain clearing product. I pour a gallon of bleach down my tub every 2 - 3 months to help keep it clear.), and some Burt's Bees Deep Conditioner.

From Target I went to PetCo for a few items for Hermione. I got her a ball and some vitamin supplements. I'm worried about her getting enough vitamin C. Guinea pigs are really susceptible to scurvy.

Finally, I went grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. I absolutely love Trader Joe's. Living within a mile of Trader Joe's was probably the thing I loved most when I lived in LaGrange. I love that the organic items are really reasonably priced (especially compared to Jewel which is the primary grocery chain in my area.) I think on of my favorite things about the store is that it's not overwhelming. When I go into Jewel (or any chain grocery store), I feel really overwhelmed by all of the options. I mean, do we really need 15 different kinds of ketchup to choose from?! Unfortunately, 2:30 in the afternoon on a Sunday is not the time to go to Trader Joe's. The store was packed! Luckily, they're pretty darn efficient so I was still in and out pretty quick.

I ate a Luna bar in the car on my way home because I was starving! (Don't worry, I was safely stopped at a red light when I snapped this photo.) I'm going to make myself some lunch and get some cleaning done now. I'm also hoping to get a blog or two written before I head out to pick Chris up at 6. (He got an extra hour!)

It's time to make lunch and start cleaning. The kitchen, bathroom, living room, and bedroom are all in pretty dire need. I also need to get Hermione's cage cleaned. I think lunch is going to be a grilled cheese with apples.

Coming soon...

7 Day Vegetarian Challenge Meal Plan

YakTraks Review

Hermione photos!

071. An Excess of Lazy

2010-01-17T11:44:00.003-06:00

I've been having far, far too many lazy days recently. Last night I laid on the couch watching TV almost the entire day. While this is certainly okay every now and then, I was in seriously slacker mode last weekend as well. This is not okay.

Since I slacked off so much yesterday, I've got a ton of stuff to get done today.

So far I made it out for a 3.3 mile run, made and eaten breakfast, and taken Chris to work.

Before my run I ate a clementine to fuel myself up.

(See the painted nails, that was the one thing I managed to accomplish yesterday)

My run was miserable. I seriously need to get back into a routine with my running. I had to take several walking breaks in addition to the stop at my parent's house for a potty break. I clocked in at 47 minutes included my warm-up walk, cool-down walk, and my potty break. The run itself probably took 30 - 35 minutes.

After I got home I made egg scrambles and red potatoes for Chris and I.

My scramble included chopped red onion, spinach leaves, chopped broccoli, and some shredded Mexican blend cheese.

Here's what still needs to get done today.

Shower
Laundry
Cleaning my house
Blogs, blogs, blogs!
~~Meal planning~~ (I finished while writing this blog.)
Grocery Shopping
Go to PetCo for some stuff for Hermione
Go to Kohl's (I have a 30% off coupon, and I pretty much always need new clothes.)
Pick Chris up from work at 5.

There will be plenty of posts to come later including my dinner plans for my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge which starts today!

070. Excuse Me While I Rant for a Moment

2010-01-14T15:50:00.004-06:00

All politics aside, the healthcare system is so frustrating!

The other day at work, I noticed some pain in my wrist at work when I was using the two-hole punch. Later that night while I was Whittling My Middle, as I set myself up in plank, I got a sharp pain in my wrist and collapsed. There’s been a bit of a dull pain in my wrist ever since, and any time I put pressure on it, I get a sharp pain. Hello very first (since high school anyway) sport's injury!

I did a lot of Googling yesterday and I’m convinced I’ve got a small stress fracture in my right wrist. Everything I read about stress fractures lists symptoms as dull pain that worsen with exercise/ use – Bingo! I think it developed from too many planks and working on crane asana in yoga. That’s a lot of body weight on my hands/ wrists

Last night I went to yoga, but I took it very easy and was careful not to put pressure on my wrist. After class I swam for about 30 minutes. My wrist bothered me a little during both so on the way home I stopped at Walgreens bought an ACE bandage. I wrapped it and iced it last night. I’ve also got it wrapped today.

I decided it was probably time to see a doctor about it. I wasn’t really sure where to start so I figured primary care doctor. Making an appointment at my doctor’s office is always a frustrating experience. It’s usually a week before you can get an appointment, and the receptionists who answer the phone have such a horrible attitude. The tone in their voice makes it very clear they feel you are interrupting their day by calling. Today it was especially frustrating.

They wouldn’t give me an appointment. They told me it was probably tendonitis, to take some Advil and go get an x-ray at an urgent care center if it gets worse. I’m not convinced it is tendonitis. I have tendonitis in my elbows from years of swimming, and I know how that feels. This doesn’t feel the same or even similar.

Maybe it’s all my healthy-habits and my new awareness of what I’m putting in an on my body, but that just doesn’t make sense to me. I’m trying to be proactive, and I’m being told ‘No, come back when you’ve got a problem.’ They want me to take Advil which will make the pain go away, but it won’t do anything to solve the problem. It will simply mask the symptoms until the problem is more severe.

I’m in pain right now. That means there’s a problem right now.

I would really prefer not to end up with a broken wrist from what started out as a small stress fracture.

The getting an x-ray and the urgent care center is an entirely separate issue. I'm still trying to work out an issue between my insurance company and Palos Community Hospital to get my last urgent care visit paid for rather than having to pay $151 out of pocket! (I had to go in July for strep throat and a wicked ear infection.) The last thing I want to do is go back to the urgent care center and create another billing/ insurance issue for myself!

So, I’m doing the best I can. Right now, I don’t want to take medication for it. I’m going to continue to do modified planks when doing Whittle my Middle and take it easy in my yoga classes – no more cranes for a while – and strength training. I’ll keep it wrapped and keep icing it. I’m also going to look into other possible holistic approaches to treating it. If you have any suggestions, please throw them my way!

069. Better than Kraft Mac N Cheese

2010-01-13T18:39:00.008-06:00

Partially inspired by the grilled cheese with apple Caitlin made for her husband, and partially inspired by the fact I really wanted some mac n cheese (but not some lame out of the box mac n cheese), tonight I decided to make Better than Kraft Mac n Cheese. I made this one all on my own (no recipe) and it was AWESOME!

It's rotelle pasta, Dubliner cheese, reduced fat cheddar cheese, and some chopped up apples. It was so delicious and savory.

The cheesy deliciousness of dinner brings my to The Great Cheese Debate which will be coming tomorrow.

068. 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge: Details, Goals, and my Thoughts Going into the Challenge

2010-01-13T14:27:00.001-06:00

So, due to my case of the blahs and total lack of productivity over the weekend, I’ve decided to push back my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge until next week. I want to give myself some time to reflect and prepare so that I don’t decide being a vegetarian sucks and bail on my ultimate goal of a 30 day challenge.

What? Starting Sunday (1/17), I’m going to go 1 week eating 100% vegetarian. For this particular challenge this means no meat – including fish. This 7 days challenge is a pre-cursor to a 30 day challenge I plan to do later this year.

Why? There are several reasons I wanted to do this challenge.

Initially, I was inspired by a few things Laura’s post about reducing her meat consumption and transitioning to a flexitarian diet. Caitlin's post eating ethically also got me thinking. The Vegan Week/ Blogger Vegan 4 a Day Challenge that took place back in November also piqued my interest though I wasn't read to tackle that challenge at the time.

I already knew about the cruelty a lot of animals endure when they’re being raised and slaughtered. I also had an idea of the negative impact the meat industry, and factory farming as a whole, has on the environment. However, I’ve justified this in my own mind a million different ways.

It was a complete coincidence that I read Skinny Bitch as I was decided to start my first veggie challenge; however, reading the book fueled my plan. It’s also motivated me to learn more and stop trying to justify the cruelty and negative impact on the environment that my eating meat has.

Where is this going? I don’t think I will ever become a full-fledged vegetarian, but who knows. Maybe after I do my 30 days, but I doubt it. I do have a few goals in mind for this mini challenge and my upcoming longer challenge.

This will make my look at my meal plans for a week and make truly conscious decisions about what I'm eating since I'll need to make sure they're 100% meat free.

Prove to myself (and others) that you don't need meat to be healthy and get enough protien

Find more creative ways to incorporate fruits and vegetables in to my meals (rather than having meat with a side of veggies)

Increase the number of vegetarian meals I eat weekly and decrease the amount of meat I'm eating.

In eating less meat, I want to increase the quality of the meat I do eat (e.g. buying organic free range chicken rather than the giant bag of frozen chicken breast from Sam's Club.)

Learn more about factory farming and it's impact on the environment.

Find new and yummy recipes to add to my files.

Coming up...
Meal plans for my Challenge
New recipes I'm trying (complete with pictures and reviews)

067. Good Morning Beautiful People!

2010-01-13T08:30:00.001-06:00

I am quite sleepy this morning. I was up late cuddling with my new sweetie Hermione. I have to say; I'm in love!

This morning's breakfast was the usual bowl of oats with almond butter, cranberry apple butter and a drizzle of agave nectar. No photo because I think you've seen it enough!

I ran out of tea at work :( and the only green tea in the office is the Tazo China Green which I think tastes like dirt. (I usually have a cup of Tazo Zen in the morning.)

My friend Lauren and I decided to hit the 'Bucks. I was going to get tea, but since I'm seriously dragging, I went with a tall, skinny vanilla latte. YUM!

Well, time to get to work. My goal today is to stick to The 40/20 method and try to avoid multi-tasking too much!

Sent from my iPhone

066. A Blog I Thought My Phone Ate.

2010-01-12T22:24:00.000-06:00

(This was from Thursday, but I thought my phone ate it. I just found
it it my phone so I figured I'd post anyway.)

Today I'm in total meal repeat mode. Breakfast was exactly the same as
it was yesterday so I didn't even snap a photo.

Lunch is left over Tofu Fried Rice.

065. Welcome Hermione

2010-01-12T21:45:00.004-06:00

I would like to introduce you all to my new guinea pig Hermione...

Yes, she is named for Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. Had I gotten a boy it was going to be either Weasley or Potter. Yes, I know what a dork this probably makes me.

I bought her at PetCo. One of the things I really like about PetCo. (as opposed to PetSmart) is that the employees really seem to care about the animals. The cashier actually took little Hermione out of the box and gave her some loving while ringing us out. They also made sure to give us a crash course on guinea pig care.

Of course, I spend about 2 hours Googleing guinea pigs while at work yesterday (I had to cover the front desk for a while.). I wasn't about to buy a pet without learning about it first!

I did consider adopting a guinea pig as I always rank adopting an animal over buying one. Unfortunately, the nearest guinea pig rescue is nearly an hour away. That said, I definitely think I will adopt one in the future.

I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures to come. I didn't want to overwhelm her too much on her first night.

Before we headed out to the pet store, I made us burrito "bowls" for dinner. I made black beans and rice with corn and topped it with some Boca I sauteed with red onion, sharp cheddar cheese, more red onion, and what I could salvage from an over-ripened avocado.

It was mucho delish! (Also, check out that balancing act!)

064. A Change of Pace

2010-01-12T06:35:00.008-06:00

This morning I decided to change things up a bit and add almond butter to my usual oat.

You can totally see the difference can't you?

Okay, so honestly, I just ran out of peanut butter, but even still, changing things up every now and then is good.

We all need to evaluate ourselves, our plans, our routines, on occasion and change the things that aren't working for us. Recently for me, the area of my life most in need of a change is my fitness. I've mentioned in a few time in the past couple weeks, but I've been seriously slacking on my workouts since the cold weather and total lack of day light has set it. I love to run outside. Truly, it’s what makes me happiest. Unfortunately, we’ve been averaging single digit temps (or single digits after the wind chill). Assuming I embrace the frigid temps (which I have considered), the sun rises about 7:15 (about the time I’m getting on the train to work) and sets around 4:45 (about the time I’m getting on the train home). This pretty much leaves me the weekends. You all know how I feel about the dreadmill. Despite finding some pretty great treadmill work outs thanks to Tina, I still can’t handle being on the treadmill more than once or twice a week. I don’t mind running on the indoor track. Unfortunately, now that it’s resolution season, the indoor track has been incredibly packed during the evening hours.

Cleary, this isn’t working for me. So what’s my solution?

Triathlon training!

One of the items on my 10 in 2010 is to complete a sprint (or possibly olympic) distance triathlon. What better time to start training than the dead of winter when running isn’t working out so well.

I have two goals to get me started

#1 Find (and register for) a triathlon. I found a Sprint distance triathlon near me that is in a pool, but it’s not until August 8th. There’s two problems with that 1) I don’t think I’m going to need 8 months to train and 2) I’m planning to do the Chicago Half Marathon in September which will require me to be training from June (or so) on. There are several other triathlons in the area earlier in the year, but I’m really nervous about doing the swimming in a lake. Should I just bite the bullet and go for it?

#2 Find a training plan. Since it is the dead of winter here in Chicago, I’m pretty limited in terms of what I can do outside. I’m thinking I’m going to do a bit of “pre-training” until it warms up and thaws a bit outside. Here’s my preliminary game plan for the next few weeks:

Monday: Treadmill workout (short distance run, intervals/ speed work)
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Swim (drill work)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Swim (endurance)
Saturday: Long Run (indoor track or outdoors weather permitting)
Sunday: Spin class (I’m thinking this is my best bet for winter bike training)

Have you ever participated in a triathlon? What distance? How long did you train? Did you use a particular training plan/ is there a training plan you would recommend for a first timer? Any advice for a novice?

063. Christmas Tree Disposal.

2010-01-11T22:33:00.006-06:00

So, how do you get rid of a dried out, dying Christmas tree when you live in a second floor condo without making a mess through the entire building?

Why you throw it off the balcony of course!

Some how I managed to not take a picture of the tree in the yard. Here's where it landed though.

Tomorrow is trash day so we needed to get the tree out tonight.

Tonight my dad and brother came by to install my new dishwasher. They were in my kitchen when dinner was done so I didn't snap a picture (too much going on), but I made a really yummy quiche. Chris love quiche, and I think it's a great way to use whatever produce I have hanging out in the fridge. Tonight's quiche included broccoli, a chopped onion, a couple cloves of chopped garlic, spinach, and Dubliner cheese I picked up at Trader Joe's. The quiche tasted awesome!

My dishwasher is currently doing it's first load. We'll see how the dishes come out in the morning (and if this dishwasher can handle my oatmeal bowls!), but for now, here it is in all it's dishwashing glory.

I didn't make it to yoga tonight due to dishwasher installation, but I did stop slacking and Whittle My Middle. Unfortunately, while I was doing my core work, I discovered there's something wrong with my wrist. When I did my first plank, I collapse almost immediately from a sharp pain in my right wrist. I'm going to ice it tonight, and see how it feels over the next couple days, but if it doesn't start getting better a trip to the doctor may be in my near future. In the mean time, I'll be doing some modified planks.

062. Blogger Fail

2010-01-08T06:26:00.006-06:00

I was a bad blogger this weekend. Yesterday was my planned work/ blogging day, but I had a serious case of the blahs so rather than be productive I called up my mom to go shopping/ run errands. I’m feeling much better today though. We’ll do a quick recap of my weekend. Unfortunately since I was in bad blogger mode, I don’t have photos for you.

Friday Evening
After work we headed out for a happy hour for my co-worker/ friend Lauren’s birthday. My plan was to have a beer or two and call it an early night. Things did not go quite as planned. Several Effen and cranberries and a few shots later, we were both pretty tipsy and getting on the El to go home around 10:00! Ooops!

Saturday
I woke up early Saturday morning because I had agreed to help my friend Jennie and John move into their new house. I also needed to get to the post office to pick up my copy of The Spark and (finally!) mail the care package to my friend Dan. The majority of my day was spent helping load and unload the truck and unpack things.

My tip for moving/ unpacking: Unpack the kitchen first. Having piles and piles of boxes staring you in the face begging to be unpacked is overwhelming, and it’s usually hard to decide where to even start. I’ve found the kitchen is always the best place to start.

Unpacking a kitchen is fairly straight forward. Most items are going to go in to cabinets or on the counter top. The only decision you really have to make is which specific cabinet. I’ve almost always used the same organization pattern in my kitchen, and it’s based on what I grew up with. This makes the “where to put it” decision easier. Plus, you’ll end up refining your kitchen organization as you use it.

Getting an entire room unpacked reduces the amount of boxes looking back at you and gives you a sense of accomplishment. I find this usually provides me with enough motivation to tackle something else. (Generally I go for the bedroom next and unpack clothes and my every day items.)

Having a functional kitchen is important if you want to be able to cook for yourself and eat. Since cooking and eating are some of my favorite things to do, the kitchen is definitely a priority for me.

Sunday
As I mentioned Sunday was shopping and running errands with my mom. The highlight of my day was purchasing a new dishwasher for my condo. I went with the Whirlpool DU1300 in white. The reviews I’ve read are all pretty positive saying it’s a good machine particularly for the price. It was delivered about an hour ago so I’m very excited to go home and wash my first load of dirty dishes!

(On a side note: Isn’t it kind of lame the things we get really excited about as we get older?)

I ate dinner at my parent’s house, and after I picked Chris up from work we watched Angels & Demons.

Angels & Demons quick review
Angels & Demons was pretty much what I expected. I went it expecting it to be similar to The Da Vinci Code in terms of direction and production. I was dead on. Overall, I felt the movie was slow moving, but was a good adaptation to the screen.

I did prefer The Da Vinci Code to Angels & Demons; however, I think it’s because I saw movie before I read the book. With Angels & Demons, I already knew all the “interesting stuff” about it so in some ways it was just a slow-moving movie.

In addition to being a bad blogger this weekend, I also failed at getting any work-outs in. I've taken about 6 rest days from Whittle My Middle this past week, but I'm ready to get my act together this week!

I'm also pushing back my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge a week, but that post will come a little later.

061. Blogging in a Winter Wonderland

2010-01-07T06:34:00.004-06:00

It is a snowy winter day here in Chicago. It's very pretty, but it's making it very difficult for me to want to leave the house, ya'know, to go to work. I am hoping to get in some sort of winter wonderland work-out tonight after work.

This morning's breakfast was my usual peanut butter, cranberry apple butter, and banana oats with one small twist. I was really craving sweet this morning so I squirted about a tablespoon of agave nectar on top of my oats. It was perfect! Totally satisfied my sweets craving and my need for a nice warm winter-proofing breakfast!

I need to get my butt moving; have a terrific Thursday everyone!

060. Book Review: Skinny Bitch

2010-01-06T23:03:00.008-06:00

I finished reading Skinny Bitch on my bus ride home yesterday so it's time for my review.

Before I get into the review, I want to preface it by saying I honestly never had any intention of reading this book. I had absolutely no interest in it when it first came out, and having heard other people's mixed opinions I wasn't really struck with any intense desire to read it. I basically read it by accident. It was sitting on the counter at Chris' mom's house and while he was on the hunt for his black dress shirt I picked it up and started reading the first Chapter to busy myself. I had finished Chapter 1 by the time Chris determined he wasn't going to find his shirt so I figured I might as well borrow the book and read the whole thing.

I started this as a pro’s and con’s list initially, but about half way through I decided it might be better if I reviewed the book topically.

Warning: If you’re easily offended by cursing, this book is not for you. I however have the mouth that could give a sailor a run for his money so I loved it. At first it was the no b.s. attitude of the authors that I pulled me into the book. They’re sarcastic and funny. A few chapters in that started to get a little old, and by the end I felt the authors were getting a little bit judgmental, condescending and, well, bitchy. To some extent, I’m sure that was the point. It worked for a while; then it made me want to slap them.

The book basically promotes a vegan diet as a way to lose-weight, be skinny, and stay healthy. It was nice to read a book that explains how healthy veganism (and by association vegetarianism) can be. The author’s make great points about how the factory-farm industry wants you to think you can’t live a healthy life without meat, dairy, and eggs. The authors were a little over zealous at times, however, which can be off-putting to readers. There were points in the book where I felt as though the authors were saying ‘if you’re not a vegan, you’re an idiot.’

The authors really encouraged thinking for yourself, using your head, and questioning authorities – even them – when it comes to what you put in your body. They provided a great deal of information, sources, and additional reading about how government agencies like the USDA and the FDA are in bed with the meat and dairy industry. This isn’t something that came as a shock to me (I’m of the opinion it’s rare to find a politician that isn’t in bed one corporation or another.), but a lot of people blindly follow the recommendations of the USDA and FDA (and other “authorities”) without question. Lots of diet pills are FDA approved; that doesn’t make them safe or good for you. In my opinion, anything that gets people to question authority and think critically is a good thing.

One of my favorite things about the book is at the end the authors provided an extensive list of product recommendations broken up by meal. Even if you don’t plan on going vegan, like me, integrating more vegetarian and vegan-friendly products into your diet can’t hurt. I definitely plan on integrating some of the vegan snack foods into my diet as I struggle with finding good healthy snacks. I also really liked that they provided an entire month worth of meal plans. Both of these are really helpful in showing the reader this is a totally feasible lifestyle change as long as you’re willing to make the sacrifices and adjustments required.

The thing I disliked most about the book was the fact that they spent 5 pages promoting fasting as something that is good for you and cleansing to the body. I’ve never bought into fasting and cleanses as healthy. In my mind, fasting is nothing more than short term anorexia. I’ve never tried it, but I’ve heard very few positive opinions from people who have. Personally, I get very hangry when I don’t eat. I would be an absolutely nightmare to be around if I were fasting. Additionally, there were also only 3 sources listed for this section none of which seemed to be medical studies showing fasting/ cleanses to be healthy or effective.

My other beef with the book was “don’t be a cheap asshole” approach to buying organic (pg. 179). There’s no question that more often than not organic products are more expensive. The authors make a point when they say, “But we spend countless dollars on clothes jewelery, manicures, magazines…” (pg. 179), but it really got on my nerves when they continued that with “…rent or mortgages, car payments and other bullshit.” (pg. 179). I’m more than willing to sacrifice a monthly manicure in order to buy organic food, but my mortgage? my car payment? If it comes to organic bananas versus my mortgage, I’m choosing the mortgage. I’m kind of a fan of having someplace to live. Organic broccoli versus car payment, car payment wins. If I lose the car I’m not going to be able to get myself to the store to buy organic broccoli anyway. They did go on to mention you should focus on buying organic for produce you eat without peeling away the skin, but I wish they would have spent more time focusing on practicality or buying organic on a budget.

Overall Opinion: I feel the book is totally worth the read. It reads really fast. (I finished it in about 3 hours total.) For the most part, the authors are entertaining, and there is a lot of good information in the book for anyone trying to live a healthy lifestyle even if they aren’t adopting the more hard-core skinny bitch diet.

I probably won’t be converting to a vegan, or even a full-blown vegetarian, anytime soon. I may be “chemically addicted to cheese” (pg. 127), but I’m not sure I care. I don’t eat that much cheese. Having read this book, I will definitely put more thought into the things I’m putting in to (and on) my body especially those products that are of animal origin. It’s a nice little coincidence that I read this book right before beginning my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge and with the mind-set of doing a 30 day challenge in the future. One of my goals with my vegetarian challenge is to reduce my overall meat consumption and limit it to high quality, organic, lean meats. After having read this book, I think I’ll be looking to purchase more organic dairy and eggs as well. I’ll also be more aware of who is certifying products as organic (USDA vs. an independent, non-governmental agency). I may not have ever intended to read this book, but having done so, I am glad I did.

Have you read Skinny Bitch? What was your opinion of the book? Love it? Hate it?

059. Practice for my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge: Tofu Fried Rice

2010-01-06T21:56:00.008-06:00

Lunch with my friend Colleen today was awesome. I didn't get a picture because I forgot my phone at the office and my camera is still with my dad. As I mentioned earlier, we met at Roti; it was so much better than I remember! We were at a different location and my order was slightly different, but damn was it good. I had the Chicken Roti Sandwich which was Roti chicken on flatbread. I added a little bit of hummus, lettuce, feta cheese, and some of their garlic sauce. It was stellar!

Moving right along to dinner, with my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge on the horizon, I decided to go for a test run tonight. For dinner, I made Vegetarian Tofu Fried Rice.

It's a little blurry, I must've moved my phone. Oops!

(Notice the cute, fancy plate and different background!)

The linked name above will take you to the recipe on SparkRecipes, but here's what was in my nutritious and delicious fried rice:

broccoli
snow pea pods
pea shoots
red onions
carrot
corn
tofu
egg

I think this was hands down the best fried rice I have ever made! I ended up going back a second helping (only half a serving though.) I'm actually kind of sad we're going out for lunch tomorrow for a co-workers birthday, and I can't eat the left overs.

Turning the Dreadmill into...well, something a little less dreadful.

To go along with my amazing dinner, I got in a really great workout today. I've been really struggling with my running/ work-outs because I cannot stand running on the treadmill. I make it about 15 minutes before I start losing it. I started thinking about how last winter I had no problems running on the treadmill, and I finally realized the difference. Last winter I had just started the Couch to 5K program. I wasn't running on the treadmill endlessly, going no where. I was running intervals. That's when it hit me. If I want to survive winter on the dreadmill, I need to be mixing it up! I decided to seek out some treadmill workouts to keep me going.

In her post earlier today, Tina mentioned MotionTraxx and how much she was digging the downloads. I decided to check it out. On the site I found three podcasts for interval workouts from Fitness Magazine which, oddly enough, a friend on SparkPeople had mentioned to me earlier today.

I downloaded all three of the Fitness Magazine "Lose 10lbs" podcasts and tonight I did "The Countdown." It was an awesome workout! If you're looking something to make the treadmill (or even elliptical) a little less miserable, check out these podcasts. I'm not usually a big fan of dance/ techno music (It's something I really need to be in the mood for.), but it really got me going. I managed to burn 550 calories in 35 minutes according to my heart rate monitor.

After my kick booty treadmill work out, I hit the 60 minute yoga class with my mom. I really do love yoga. I always feel so relaxed and centered after I finish. I also love that I get to go to class with my mom!

It's getting late so I need to go Whittle My Middle and get in the shower!

I'll be back tomorrow with more eats, a review of the book Skinny Bitch, and some Veggie Challenge related posts.

058. Pizza, Blackhawks, and Breakfast

2010-01-06T06:34:00.006-06:00

Last night the plan was to make a tofu fried rice, but Tina's pizza posts over at TradingUpDowntown got my craving pizza. I decided to make pizza last night instead of fried rice. I went for a bacon and garlic pizza. It wasn't the most nutritionally sound pizza (hello, bacon?!), but I did what I could. Plus it was really yummy.

I used a pre-made in a can crust from Jewel. Next time I'm definitely going to seek out a whole wheat pre-made crust that's not in a can. The last two canned crusts I've used have been nightmares. For the sauce I used some no salt added tomato sauce I had left over in my fridge from a previously meal. I added garlic powder, oregano, time, and some minced dried onion. The I chopped up some fresh garlic (5 cloves actually).

I topped it with 1/2 c of reduced fat mozzarella cheese, 4 strips of cooked, chopped bacon, and a 1/4 of a red onion. Sadly, my phone ate the photo of the finished product.

After dinner, I headed to my friend Mike's house to hang out with friends and watch some hockey. We watched the Blackhawk's dominate the Minnesota Wild and flipped to the Junior Gold Medal game just in time to see the US score it's winning goal over Canada. (Sorry Angela!)

I ended up staying out later than originally planned, so I'm a bit sleepy today. I had a fantastic time though so I'll survive! I did managed to still wake up in plenty of time to make myself a yummy bowl of oatmeal this morning. It was the usual 1/2 c. oats, 3/4 cup vanilla soymilk, 1 T. peanut butter, and 1 T. Cranberry Applebutter. I also have bananas in the house so I mashed one of those up and added it in.

I've decided I need to start investing in some cuter dishware. My pictures all look the same (and boring) on these dishes!

This afternoon I'm meeting my new friend Colleen for lunch. (Colleen is my friend Shake's girlfriend of, like a year, that I just met at the wedding this past weekend. Like I said, I'm making it a point to reconnect with friends I haven't seen in a while.) We're going to meet at Roti. I'm not realy big on Mediterranean/ Middle Eastern food; however,I've been here once before, and the food is good.

Tonight I need to get in a serious and solid work-out. I've been a mega-slacker lately. I'm going to hit yoga at the gym with my mom and get at least 30 minutes on the dreadmill. I think I'm going to do some intense intervals. I also need to do my Whittle My Middle workout tonight as well.

057. 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge

2010-01-04T16:02:00.002-06:00

One of the items on my 10 in 2010 is a 30 Day Vegetarian Challenge. However, before I take on a full month of going veggie, I want to do a week long test run.

So, next week I’m going to be doing my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge. This week I’m going to be planning my meals for next week to make sure I’m 100% meat-free. (Also, I’ve been really terrible about meal planning lately, and I think this would be a great time/ way to get back into the habit.) I’ll be going shopping over the weekend so I can buy ingredients for the weeks meals (and because I want to get back into the habit of shopping weekly as well.)

Does anyone have suggestions of really great vegetarian meals I should try?

This is a precursor to the 30 day challenge I’ll be doing later in the year so the more Vegetarian-friendly recipes I can collect the better.

Hopefully my camera will be working (or replaced) by next week so I can fully document my challenge.

I’ve got a ton of posts in the works right now. So keep your eyes open for these upcoming posts…

Preliminary thoughts/ reflections on my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge
Awesome Ideas for Applesauce (I’ve been working on this one for a while)
Meal plans/ recipes for my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge
Book review of Skinny Bitch (which I randomly picked up and started reading this weekend)

056. It's a Sad Blogger Day for Me

2010-01-03T15:14:00.004-06:00

So, I wish I could say I have all kinds of fantastic pictures of the wedding last night to share with you all, but sadly I don't. I think my camera is dying a slow and painful death. Every picture I took last night came out super blurry. I noticed this problem in my New Years Eve pictures a little bit, but it wasn't terrible. My dad is trying to see if he can fix it, but I might be in the market for a new one very soon. Until the problem is resolved my photos are going to be pretty limits and taken with my iPhone.

The wedding was fantastic. It was such a great time, and it was so awesome to see a bunch of my friends that I haven't seen in at least a year. My friend Dan managed to break his nose. How does one manage to break their nose during a wedding reception you ask. Well, back in high school at a NYE party this tradition of singing along to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody got started. It starts with the guys and the girls in circles swaying and singing along. When the song reaches the "heavy" part the girls get the hell out of the way and the guys start moshing. Once the song slows back down we all end up in one big circle. This was repeated at every party and major even through high school and college. We even managed to pull it off at senior prom. It's also been part of every wedding as well. The whole thing is ridiculous, and to an outside observer we probably look positively insane, but it's part of the tradition of our friendships. Anyway, during the moshing Dan's nose connected with our friend Atom's head and Atom's head won.

I definitely drank a bit more than originally intended, but I only had a slight hangover this morning. It was nothing a couple huge glasses of water couldn't fix.

This morning I went out with my family for a late breakfast at Flapjack's Pancake House which is my favorite place to go for breakfast. I had stuffed French toast with apple compote and a side of hash browns.

My mom and I ran some errands. I managed to get my hands on a pair of YakTrax. Now I just need the temp needs to increase a few degrees so I can test them out. I would really like to go out for a run this afternoon, but it's so cold outside breathing would be a struggle. I do think I'm going to head over to the indoor track once Chris gets home from work.

I really need to get some run time in. I'm running a virtual 5K on January 23rd. The three girls I ran with for the Santa Shuffle 5K and I are going to run a 5K on treadmills on the 23rd and report back to each other. It's a pretty brilliant idea if you ask me. A great way to keep ourselves motivated since it's not really race season in the Midwest right now.

Since breakfast was huge, I had half an everything bagel with some onion and chive cream cheese for lunch just now.

I'm quite tired today so I'm going to go relax on the couch and read a book (I've got both of my container gardening books to get through, and I just started reading Skinny Bitch.) or watch some TV with a cup of tea. I also need to decide what to make for dinner tonight. Any suggestions?

055. Going to the Chapel...where my friends are getting married

2010-01-02T10:22:00.005-06:00

My friends Jennie and John are getting married today!!!! I've very excited for them, and who doesn't love weddings? They're so much fun! My goal today is to keep the drinking in check. This should be somewhat easy as I am driving. I also want to make sure I fully document the evening so I can share.

Quick morning recap: breakfast was an open face fried egg sammie with sharp cheddar and some of the potatoes I had left over from yesterday morning.

After I ate I Whittled My Middle, and Chris and I had to make a trip over to his mom's house to try and find his black dress shirt. We didn't have any luck.

I am absolutely in l-o-v-e with my dress/ outfit for today. I picked up the dress at H&M for about $35. I was the first (and only) dress I even tried on.

I loathe dress shopping. I'm very top heavy (large chest, wide back, swimmer shoulder's and tiny little hips on chicken legs) which makes it very difficult to find dresses that fit properly in all the "right" places. Add to that the fact that nothing causes my self esteem to plummet quite like dress shopping. Anyone with me on that one? I find when I'm dress shopping, I always end up having to go at least a size or two larger than my pants/ shirt size. I'm currently in a M top and size 8 bottom so why is my dress a 14? I know size is just a number, and I generally don't put much thought into it, but really, I just don't get how stores size clothing?!

Anyway, I'm sure you can imagine how stoked I was when I not only found a dress I loved that fit perfectly!

I paired the dress with the sweater and shoes I bought Wednesday and a bracelet one of my co-workers bought me for Christmas. Personally, I think I look adorable! Not to toot my own horn or anything. :)

I'll be sure to post all about the wedding tomorrow.

054. Adventures in Baking

2010-01-01T21:38:00.002-06:00

I decided I should bring something with me to Kristin's house. I've been wanting to make this Cranberry Apple Bread for a few days now so I went ahead and whipped it up to take with me.

While making this, I ran into a slight issue that required me to employ some of my newly found kitchen experimentation skills. Here's the ingredient list.

Ingredients

1 1/2 c. flour (I substituted whole wheat flour)

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. basking soda

1 t. ground cinnamon

2 c. chopped, peeled apples (I used pink lady apples that I had in my fridge)

3/4 c. sugar

2 T. melted butter

1 large egg

1 c. fresh cranberries

Does anyone else see the problem here? This recipe calls for virtually no liquids! I mixed all of the ingredient together per the instructions (below) and wound up with just slightly moistened flour. There was no way it was going to bake into bread though! I started by adding about 1/4 c. of water and then it was Musselman's to the rescue! I poured in some applesauce and stirred until the batter reach the consistency I was looking for. I think it probably amounted to about 1/2 c. of applesauce that I ended up adding.

Directions

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon; set aside. Mix apples, sugar and butter. Add egg; mix well. Add flour mixture; stir just until moistened. (Batter will be thick.) gently stir in the cranberries

Spread the batter into greased loaf pan

Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let stand in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

The bread turned out really great. It was very moist and had an awesome flavor. I really liked the tart cranberry flavor against the sweetness of the apples. I didn't snap a picture because I was running late so I wrapped it up and headed out the door; however, I plan on making another loaf tomorrow or Sunday (I still have half a bag of cranberries left) so I'll be sure to get a picture then.

053. Happy New Year!!

2010-01-01T10:34:00.006-06:00

(Side note: I wrote this post this morning, but my internet went down right before I hit publish. I had to leave before it came back up hence the delay.)

Last night was a pretty fantastic way to start the new year!

To start the evening Chris and I had his mom, grandma, and brother over for dinner. I made a fabulously healthy dinner that everyone really enjoyed! I was so glad to share a healthy meal with people I care about and have them really love it. So what was on the menu you ask? I made spaghetti squash with marinara (and a little Boca "meat" for some protein) and topped it with sauteed garlic and zuchini. We also had some fresh mozzarella to top it all off with.

While I was finishing up dinner, the guys were teaching their mom and grandma how to play Wii bowling!

Grandma getting her Wii bowling on.

I made some Ghirardelli chocolate brownies for dessert. I used some of my seemingly infinite supply of apple sauce instead of oil. Man were the brownies good. They were super moist and cake-like.

Right as we were finishing up dinner Chris' buddy Mike came over and the party began. We played Rock Band and Wii. It was a total blast. This is definitely my favorite way to ring in a new year! We also managed to switch to TV just in time to see the ball drop in Time Square.

I was by far the best Rock Band singer of the night.

Hello? Mario? Are you there?

Mike decided to bust out the robot.

Then Chris joined in.

And Tim couldn't be left out of the fun.

The kiss at midnight. We kind of look like awkward teenagers.

Chris's bowl of snacks - a giant brownie and some chips.

I ended up over-indulging just a bit on the alcohol side. I definitely ended up the drunkest in the room. Oops! My drinks were just so tasty though! I started with a couple glasses of pinot grigio. Later in the evening I made myself some pomegranate martinis from Effen Raspberry vodka and some pomegranate juice I had in the fridge. Thankfully, I had the good sense to take a few Advil and drink two glasses of water before bed so I'm not suffering today.

Since Chris had to work at 10:00 this morning, we did call it a night pretty early. We were in bed by 1:30. All in all it was a fantastic night!

How was your New Years Eve? What did you do to ring in the New Year.

I had to take Chris to work this morning since I need my car today. After I got back I made myself some breakfast - scrambled eggs with mozzarella cheese mixed in and some red potato hash browns with garlic and red onions.

This afternoon I'm heading over to my friend Kristin's house to watch the Winter Classic. Right now I'm making a loaf of Cranberry Apple bread to take with me. I need to go Whittle My Middle and then get in the shower.

Have a fantastic first day of 2010!

052. Breakfast Mash-Up

2009-12-31T08:36:00.001-06:00

First things first my dear friends, HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVE!

Is everyone ready to put 2009 behind them and start fresh?

While 2009 was by no means a bad year for me (I made a lot of really positive changes in myself and my life,) I am so ready for a new year to begin. I’m really looking forward to making even more progress in my life and my happiness this year. I’m looking forward to checking of most (if not all!) of the items on my 10 in 2010 list!

This morning was one of those mornings where there wasn’t anything particular I wanted to eat. I wasn’t in the mood for oatmeal which has been my go-to breakfast recently. I ended up throwing together a totally random breakfast. I had an open-face egg sammie with a bit of sharp cheddar cheese and a bowl of vanilla Okios with a sliced up banana and a ¼ c. of Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal. (Holy protein Batman!) Despite my not being in the mood for anything, my breakfast really hit the spot.

This evening Chris’ mom, grandma, and brother (and possibly his friend Mike) are coming over for dinner. His mom and grandma haven’t seen our place yet, and they wanted to come see our tree and Christmas decorations before they get taken down. I figured tonight would be a perfect night for that since I’ll be getting out of work early which will give me lots of time to cook.

I’m planning to make spaghetti squash with marinara topped with sautéed garlic and zucchini and some fresh mozzarella. I’ll probably add some Boca crumbles to the sauce as well.

What are your plans for this evening? Do you do it up big on NYE or keep it low key?

I think NYE as a whole is pretty over-rated. I much prefer a low key evening with friends to heading out to a big party downtown somewhere. In high school, my friends Scott and Sarah always had a big party for all of us at their house. This kind of celebration is definitely my favorite way to ring in a New Year.

Chris and I decided last night to stay in tonight and have a few people over to have some drinks and play some Wii or Rock Band on the xBox. His brother Tim is coming and his friend Mike. I invited my friend Nicky over as well. My friend Jennie is having people to her house as well for I may go over there for an hour or two. Like I said before, I much prefer low-key celebrations with friends.

051. Errand Girl

2009-12-30T21:31:00.002-06:00

Tonight I ran a bunch of errands. I had three missions tonight.

Buy some YakTrax so I can try and start getting some outdoor runs in again.
Check out books on container gardening from the library
Get a cute black crop sweater/ shrug to wear over my dress on Saturday.

I was successful in 2 out of the 3.

Mission One: Buy YakTrax Verdict: Mission Failed

My friend Courtney has mentioned getting a pair Yaktrax on a couple occasions. I finally got curious and Googled them. For those of you unfamiliar Yaktrax is a traction device for running (or walking) on snow and ice. The snow and ice has really put a damper on my running recently. I loathe the dreadmill, and while I do have access (free!) to a nice indoor track, I really prefer running outdoors. I'm sure this is true for most runners.

I've read a couple reviews of Yaktrax and the majority of reviews on Amazon are positive, and I really want to give them a try. I decided to hit Sport's Authority as it fit neatly in the path of the rest of my errands. Unfortunately, they only had 4 pairs of the Taktrax walkers left - no Yaktrax Pro. The sales girl said their truck comes on Tuesday so to try back then. I'll probably call first.

Mission Two: Get books on container gardening from the library Verdict: Mission Accomplished

One of the things I want to do in the coming year, and I forgot to consider in my 10 in 2010, is to grow some of my own produce. Since I don't have a yard, I'm limited to container gardening. Unfortunately I know next to nothing about gardening and even less about container gardening. I'm not much of a green thumb either. I'm the girl who has killed three basil plants in two years. I really want to have my own garden though. It's cost effective, healthy, and green. What more can a girl ask for.

Since it's the dead of winter here in Chicago (hence the need for the YakTrax and probably also the reason I didn't think to include "start a container garden" in my 10 in 2010), I'm going to spend some time doing my homework and researching container gardening. Hopefully this will up my chances of successfully growing some edible fruits and veggies (and herbs). Tonight I picked Container Gardening for Dummies and Reader's Digest Crops in Pots. I'll be sure to post reviews as I get through them. I'll probably also do a post (or series or posts) on container gardening as I learn more about it.

If anyone has any additional suggestions on books about container gardening, or gardening in general, I should read, please share!

Mission Three: Get cute crop sweater Verdict: Mission Accomplished.

Initially my plan was to go to Kohl's, but I decided I might have been luck at one of the "trendy" stores. They just opened a Forever 21 in the mall near my house so I decided to check it out. I ended up finding a black 3/4 sleeve sweater similar to this one. (I could go take a picture of the actual sweater, but I'm feeling lazy. Maybe tomorrow)

I must voice a couple complaints though. What is up with the sizing?! First of all in all the sweater browsing I did, I don't think I saw a single item bigger than a size medium. What, is it store policy to not carry anything larger than a medium? Second of all, who the hell do they size this stuff for, children? The sweater I ended up buying is a medium, but it only kind of fits. I'm not even close to being able to button it. I can't even get it to close over my boobs. It serves the purpose I need it to serve - covering my shoulders at a January 2nd wedding in cold, snowy Chicago, but seriously, what the hell people?! I've never understood why stores size their clothes for infants.

I did accept an extra mission of buying a pair of shoes for the wedding as well. I was wandering the shoes section at Kohl's and came across these. They are totally not my style, but I was instantly attracted to them. I carried them around the store with me for at least 15 minutes debating, and I sent a photo text to my best friend for her opinion. Ultimately I ended up buying them (they were $30) with the thought that if they don't look good with the dress I can always return them.

Anyway, it's already 10:30, and I still need to take a quick shower so it's time to call it a night.

050. Flexing the Kitchen Creativity Muscle (& my 50th post milestone!)

2009-12-30T06:01:00.004-06:00

This morning I faithfully got up to Whittle My Middle.

I also discovered I forgot to put my soy milk back in the fridge after making my oatmeal yesterday. :( It was almost a full carton too - what a bummer.

Since I usually use soy milk to make my oatmeal, I decided to flex my kitchen creativity muscles. As you probably remember, I currently have an abundance of applesauce after winning Shannon's Musselman's Gift Basket Give-Away. I decided to put some of that applesauce to work this morning, and so I present to you...

Apple-Pomegranate Oats

1/2c. oats
1/2c. Musselman's natural, unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c. pomegranate juice.

Cooked on the stove-top for about 5 minutes, stirring occassionally.

I topped the oats off with a pinch of shredded coconut and some goji berries.

So what's the verdict on my Apple-Pomegranate Oats?

Well, the smell was a little funky (not sure if it was the cooking applesauce or pomegranate juice) and the texture left something to be desired (It was again sticky, but that could be the oats I bought as I discussed in my post yesterday). The flavor, however, was to die for! It was the balance of apple and pomegranate. There was a bit of tartness that was offset really well by the sweetened coconut.

Overall, this was an awesome breakfast. I'll definitely be making these oats again sometime soon!

049. Running Log

2009-12-29T21:12:00.002-06:00

Tuesday 12/29

3 mile, indoor track, 30 minutes, 10 min/ mile average pace.

Wednesday 1/6

35 minute "The Countdown" interval workout on the treadmill.

048. A Family Adventure to the Gym

2009-12-29T20:58:00.005-06:00

Tonight became an impromptu, family trip to the Oak Lawn Pavilion. My plan for the evening was to come home, make dinner, and head over for a run. I've been seriously neglecting my running lately, and I need to get back on track - especially since a half marathon and a sprint distance triathlon are part of my 10 in 2010.

When I got home from work, Chris told me his mom wanted us to come over for dinner. I knew if I went over there first and came back in to change after, I would not make it back out to go running so I threw on my running clothes and packed my bag so I could drop him off after his mom's and go right to the track - no excuses.

Chris' mom has a membership to the Pavilion, and his brother Tim got a membership for Christmas. Tim was planning to go over there tonight as was their mom. Of course, because no one wants to leave the house when it's below freezing outside, their mom had decided she wasn't going to go. Tim and I not only convinced her to come, but we got Chris to come with as well! All four of us headed over to the Pavilion for a little indoor track action! I ran three miles and the three of them walked about 2.

My run started out a little rough. I did the first mile at a pace of just under 11:00. I usually run just under 10:00. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. I ended up picking it up and finished averaging a 10:00 pace, but I was hurting.

I so prefer the indoor track to the dreadmill. If I could never set foot on a treadmill for the rest of my life I would die a happy woman. Running outside is always my favorite, but it's cold, snowy and icy out. I'm a mega-klutz so I'm waiting for the snow and ice to melt before I hit the road again. The indoor track is a great alternative. I can zone out and run my circles, but still feel like I'm going somewhere.

Now I'm home, I'm going to shower, clean up my kitchen - it's a total disaster zone - and then get to bed. My plan is to get up at 5:45 again tomorrow to Whittle My Middle before work.

047. Chicago French Market.

2009-12-29T15:34:00.004-06:00

Today for lunch we headed over to the Chicago French Market in the Northwestern Train Station. This was a really interesting experience. I was definitely caught off guard as I thought we were going to a restaurant, but I was very impressed. I will definitely be going back, and I foresee many trips once it warms up.

About the Chicago French Market

The Chicago French Market brings together a unique collection of local vendors that were hand selected for their individual passions and high-quality products. Bringing together the best-of-the-best from Chicago neighborhoods and outlying areas, Chicago French Market is largely comprised of entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses and accomplished purveyors.

The Bensidoun family, the largest market operator in and around Paris since 1953, co-developed the market with Chicago-based U.S. Equities Realty, and operates and manages Chicago French Market. The family operates nearly 100 open-air and indoor markets throughout the U.S. and Europe, including 11 Chicagoland outdoor, summer weekend markets.

As with all local markets, our goal is to bring a sense of community found in the markets of Europe, and provide a place to gather, socialize and purchase quality goods.

The set-up was a bit overwhelming at first. It’s similar to a farmer’s market with the various vendor booths. We walked in at the City Market which is basically the produce, meat and seafood sections of a grocery store. I didn’t look around too much, but everything looked very fresh. Most of the restaurant vendors use local and organic ingredients, and everything looked so fresh. One could easily spend an hour wandering around.

For lunch I had a rotisserie chicken sandwich from Chicago Organic. I was actually some pretty disappointed with it. It was good, but there was definitely a lack of flavor. There were so many other options, I’m sure I could have found something better.

The five of us shared some fries from Frietkoten. They were very tasty. I love fries and these were amazing. They came topped with ketchup, mayonnaise, and chopped red onions. They were perfectly golden and crispy. They were definitely the best fries I’ve had in a while.

We also shared some dessert from Delightful Pastries. We had dark chocolate covered strawberries, tiramisu, an éclair, a lemon bar, and a pecan bar. I had half the éclair, a strawberry, and one bite of the lemon bar. They were all delish!

I definitely plan to go back and visit Raw which is an all-organic and vegan. I had a sample of the garden burger, and I definitely want more! I also want to try FLiP Crepes at some point.

If you’re ever in downtown Chicago, I recommend you check this place out. It’s well worth the trip. It’s just a hop, skip, and jump from the Sear’s Tower (I will never call it Willis Tower.) and Union Station.

046. Lessons Learned.

2009-12-29T06:39:00.007-06:00

This morning I discovered two things.

First, I waste a lot of time in the morning. I'm not really sure ~~how~~ why. I get way too easily distracted by reading blogs and checking email or Facebook or SparkPeople first thing in the morning. I woke up at 5:45 this morning to get my Whittle My Middle done for the day. This is 15 minutes earier than usual. I spent about 10 minutes doing core work and yet I was still running late. I really need to work on being more efficient with my time in the morning. Any suggestions on morning time management?

Second, I learned that generic oats are not just as good. At least not in the case of the oats I bought from Jewel on Sunday night. There was a giant can of oats in the Jewel brand. I figured with as fast as I've been going through oats recently, the bigger the better. I was sorely disappointed when I made my breakfast this morning. My oatmeal, which I made the same way as I always have - 3/4 c. vanilla soy milk, 1/2 c. oats cooked on the stove, stirring occassionally - were not nearly as good. The texture was much stickier. I'm not a fan of sticky oatmeal.

Now that I'm thinking about this though, it could be the difference is that the oats I bought from Jewel are not organic. Previously I've purchased organic oats from the bulk bins at Whole Foods and a can of organic oats from Trader Joe's.

I added 1 T. of peanut butter and 2 T. of Cranberry Apple Butter.

I am absolutely in love with this Trader Joe's Cranberry Apple Butter. It's got a great strong cranberry flavor that isn't too tart or too sweet. It tastes just like the canned cranberry sauce - but better. You really only need a tablespoon or two to add really great flavor.

045. My Whittle My Middle

2009-12-28T21:28:00.012-06:00

As I mentioned earlier today, I'm going to be doing a Whittle My Middle Challenge along with Angela. I'm using her format, but I'm altering some of the exercises.

When? Angela is starting her new challenge January 1, but I'm going to start today and finish January 30th.

Who? Anyone can join! Check out Angela's Official Whittle My Middle Challenge Page

What? Here is what I will be doing:
1) PICTURES: Before and after pictures on January 1st and January 30th, respectively.
2) MEASUREMENTS: Before and after measurements of my ‘smallest’ waist (above belly button for me), widest waist (just below my belly button.), and hips (over fullest part of butt)- same dates as above.
3) CORE WORK: 6-10 minute core workout, 5 days a week, doing the following exercises:

Plank (I'll likely start out with a Modified Plank)
Side plank (again, I'll probably start with a Modified Side Plank)
Stability Ball Jackknifes
Pendulums
Reverse Crunches
Supermans

6 - 10 minutes total, 5 days a week for 30 days (well, 37 days). Challenge ends January 30th. My plan is to gradually work up the total minutes spent as well as the number of reps (or length of time holding the planks).

Before Measurements
Smallest part of my waist (just above belly button): 33.5"
Widest part of waist (just below belly button): 35.5"
Hips: 42"

Before Pictures to come

After Measurements
Smallest part of my waist (just above belly button):
Widest part of waist (just below belly button):
Hips:

After Pictures

Day1 (Monday 12/28)
Rest

Day 2 (Tuesday 12/29)

Plank: 35 seconds (arms fully extended)
Side Planks: L, 30 seconds R, 30 seconds
Jackknifes with ball: 15 reps
Pendulums: 20 reps (10 to each side)
Reverse Crunches: 15 reps
Supermans: 35 seconds

Day 3 (Wednesday 12/30)

Plank: 30 seconds (arms fully extended)
Side Planks: L, 30 seconds R, 30 seconds
Jackknifes with ball: 15 reps
Pendulums: 20 reps (10 to each side)
Reverse Crunches: 15 reps
Supermans: 33 seconds

Day 4 (Thursday 12/31)
Rest

Day 5 (Friday 1/1)

Plank: 40 seconds (arms fully extended)
Side Planks: L, 33 seconds R, 35 seconds
Jackknifes with ball: 15 reps
Pendulums: 20 reps (10 to each side)
Reverse Crunches: 15 reps
Supermans: 33 seconds

Day 6 (Saturday 1/2)

I accidentally cleared the stop watch before I recorded the time for my plank, side planks, and superman. They were about the same as they have been the last few days.
Plank: (arms fully extended)
Side Planks: L, R,
Jackknifes with ball: 15 reps
Pendulums: 20 reps (10 to each side)
Reverse Crunches: 15 reps
Supermans:

Day 7 (Sunday 1/3)
Rest Day

Day 8 (Monday 1/4)
Plank: 41 seconds (arms fully extended)
Side Planks: L, 34 seconds R, 35 seconds
Jackknifes with ball: 20 reps
Pendulums: 30 reps (15 to each side)
Reverse Crunches: 20 reps
Supermans: 39 seconds

Day 9 (Tuesday 1/5)
Rest Day

Day 10 (Wednesday 1/6)
Plank: 32 seconds (arms fully extended)
Side Planks: L, 24 seconds R, 33 seconds
Jackknifes with ball: 15 reps
Pendulums: 20 reps (10 to each side)
Reverse Crunches: 15 reps
Supermans: 34 seconds
(I think my abs were tired from yoga tonight. The instructor loves to make us hold plank forever.)

Day 11 (Thursday 1/7) - Day 14 (Sunday 1/10)
I went into serious slacker mode and didn't do any of my core work. Ooops!

Day 15 (Monday 1/11)
Plank: 30 seconds (modified plank, due to wrist pain)
Side Planks: L, 34 seconds R, 32 seconds
Jackknifes with ball: 10 reps
Pendulums: 20 reps (10 to each side)
Reverse Crunches: 10 reps
Supermans: 31 seconds

Day 16 (Tuesday 1/12)
I suck and managed to delete my times again.
Plank: (modified)
Side Planks: L, R,
Jackknifes with ball: 15 reps
Pendulums: 20 reps (10 to each side)
Reverse Crunches: 15 reps
Supermans:

Day 17 (Wednesday 1/13)
Yoga was a ton of ab work so I skipped WMM. I'll call this my second Rest Day though.

044. Everything but the...Quiche

2009-12-28T21:22:00.003-06:00

So, I ended up making a quiche for dinner. Some of my veggies were starting to look a little sad so I decided to make the quiche tonight before stuff started going rotten. So I started tossing things together and came out with my Everything but the...Quiche

In my quiche was spinach, red pepper, broccoli, Canadian bacon, and mild and sharp cheddar cheese.

While I was making dinner I snacked on some Goldfish crackers.

I've been really hungry all day today. I think my blood sugar is a bit out of control from all of my holiday indulgences. I need to get that back under control, and then I think my constant hunger will subside some.

Also, I apologize for the poor photo quality today. My camera battery was dead so I've been relying on my iPhone for photos today.

043. Back to Work

2009-12-28T16:22:00.006-06:00

The first day back to work after a long weekend is always a mess for me. I am really awful when it comes to getting my stuff together the night before (e.g. making my lunch, knowing where everything I need to take to work is located), and it’s even worse when I’ve had a long weekend. Of course this left me running for the bus this morning.

I made the bus though, and overall, I’ve been having a pretty excellent day.

Breakfast this morning was a bowl of Kashi GoLean Crunch Honey Almond Flax Cereal. I think this is hands down my favorite cereal – not counting Cinnamon Toast Crunch of course which I could inhale by the boxful given the change. The cereal reminds me of HoneySmaks which I loved as a kid,

(Notice my little snowman salt and pepper shakers. They were part of my Christmas present from my brother's and Nicki. I love them!)

Lunch was a very boring, and highly unphotogenic, bowl of Campbell’s Chunky Healthy Request New England Clam Chowder. It was unimpressive and not all that satisfying, but that’s what happens when I fail to be mindful of packing a lunch. Tomorrow’s lunch will be better!

I noshed on a pretty tasty Clementine at my desk this afternoon.

Also, two of the small pieces of this Baklava may have found their way into my mouth. How do you say no to puff pastry with honey and pistachios?

I’m currently debating what to make for dinner tonight. The options are spaghetti squash, with sautéed zucchini and tomato basil marinara sauce or a quiche with spinach, broccoli, onion, cheese, red pepper and anything else in the fridge that looks good.

I’m hitting yoga at the gym with my mom tonight. I also want to get in some strength training at home. Angela is starting another Whittle My Middle challenge. I am going to participate and stick with it this time!

Also, I don’t remember if I mentioned this or not, but the Musselman’s gift basket I won over at The Daily Balance arrived on the 23rd. Since I now have an abundance of applesauce, I’m looking for creative things to do with it. Watch for my upcoming post Awesome Ideas for Applesauce.

042. It's a Love Story Baby Just Say Yes.

2009-12-27T16:03:00.003-06:00

It's taken me forever, but it's finally here. The Nick and Nicki engagement post!

So, last Saturday, the 19th, my brother Nick and his girlfriend Nicki graduated from Eastern Illinois University. My whole family, Nicki's mom, her brother Rob, and Rob's wife Lillie all made the trek down to Charleston for the ceremonies. Yes, ceremonies, unfortunately they're in different colleges. Nick was in the College of Business and Applied Sciences and Nicki was in the College of Science.

Front Row (left to right): Rob, Nicki's mom, my mom, my dad
Back Row (left to right): Lillie, Nicki, Alex

After Nicki's ceremony, I went with my parents to check-in at the hotel, and everyone went back to Nick and Nicki's apartment so she could change before dinner. We went to dinner at The Alamo Steakhouse & Saloon which is pretty much the only non-fast food restaurant in the Charleston area. They're food is actually really good as well.

We ate dinner and had a great time chatting. While we were waiting for dessert to arrive my brother starts talking. He thanks us all for coming down, especially Rob and Lillie who were heading back to Hawaii on a 10:00 flight the next morning, and how much it meant to him and Nicki to have us all there. He kept going on though which is really out of character for Nick. He talked about what a big step this was in their lives (the usual college graduation-type stuff). The whole time he was talking I couldn't help but think 'What the heck is going on here. We get it Nick; you're glad we're here.' The he started talking about her. That's when it hit me. My first thought was 'There's no way,' and then I realized 'Holy crap! My brother is about to propose!' He finished by telling her how much he loved her and how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her!

Obviously, she said yes. It was so sweet! I totally cried.

Unfortunately, my mom didn't give me any sort of warning that this was going to happen so I was sitting next to them. This, combined with the fact that I really didn't know what was going on at first, limited my photo ops.

We finished up our meal and headed back to their apartment to celebrate some more!

My brother picked out the ring by himself, and he really did an amazing job. It is positively gorgeous. He took our mom and her mom with him, but he actually picked out the ring. Apparently the ring he chose was the first one he saw. The sales women spent 20 minutes trying to show him other rings, but he was dead set on the first one. It worked out well because she loves it!

In food blogger fashion, I did snap a couple pictures of my eats, but they didn't turn out that great. I did get a decent shot of the most amazing martini I think I've ever had. It was a Snicker Bar martini and it was divine.

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041. 10 in 2010

2009-12-27T15:40:00.002-06:00

I just love Angela's 10 in 2010 so I decided it was high time I did my own. I've always been really terrible about setting goals and making lists and not following through, but this is a new year and a new me. This is a healthier, more driven me.

So here we go...10 things I want to accomplish in 2010.

Run a half marathon
I'm thinking this will happen in September. My best friend's little sister has run a half in September the last two years. When I started running she suggested I run with her. I laughed at the idea, but I'm actually really interested now. It's definitely something I'd like to do.
Complete a sprint distance triathlon
I used to swim competitively, and I've always loved biking recreationally. I don't foresee ever putting myself through the training for a half or full ironman, but I could definitely handle training for a sprint, or maybe even olympic, distance triathlon.
Get back in school
I've wanted to go back to school pretty much since I graduated. The problem has been I didn't know what I wanted to go back for. Since I began my personal journey to a healthy lifestyle, I've become very passionate about sharing my knowledge. I want to go back to school for health science. I've still got some things to consider (like how I'm going to pay for it and what I want the end result to be), but I'd really like to be back in school by the end of the year.
Reach my goal weight of 135lbs.
Set a new PR for my 5K time (sub 29:30)
Really get my blog going
I want to be posting regularly with meals, work-outs, and daily life stuff as well as posting "feature articles"
Find a volunteer organization that's a good fit and volunteer.
I did steal this directly from Julie's 10 in 2010; however, it's something I've been wanting to do for a while now. I used to volunteer all the time in high school. I'd really like to get back to volunteering at least a couple times a month.
Do a 30 Day Vegetarian Challenge
I think I've mentioned here before that I want to really reduce my meat consumption and do a 7 day vegetarian challenge. I'll probably do this sometime in January as a jumping off point. I'd like to do a full month challenge too though. This will really give me an idea of what living a vegetarian lifestyle is like, and it will force me to get creative.
Be the best maid of honor I can be
Nicki asked me to be her main of honor in her and my brother's wedding. I don't really know what a maid of honor is supposed to do exactly, but I'm really honored she asked me.
Save Money!
I think this is pretty high on everyone's list of things to do. I really want to start saving so that I can renovate my kitchen and bathrooms. I also want to get rid of my carpet because it's super ugly and I hate carpet. I'd like to replace it with wood laminate.

040. Christmas Recap!

2009-12-26T09:09:00.015-06:00

Happy Boxing Day to all my Canadian/ British blogger friends! I've got about 3 posts to get written up today, but I figured I'd start with the Christmas recap.

Christmas started Wednesday afternoon. I got out of work early and headed home to spend some quality time with my future sister-in-law Nicki. We baked cookies, got sushi, drank wine, and watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. (We're both HUGE Harry Potter nerds.)

We made chocolate dipped shortbread cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, and Snickerdoodles.

Triple chocolate shortbread cookies - dripped in white chocolate and then drizzled with dark chocolate and milk chocolate. Talk about yum!

Somehow, the Snickerdoodles went unphotographed.

Nicki and I enjoyed a couple pretzels before going out to get sushi and sitting down to watch HP. The goofy looks can probably be attributed to the bottle of wine we polished off.

Christmas Eve

My family used to spend Christmas Eve with my dad's family because it was my Grandma Ruth's birthday. After both my grandparent's had passed, we started the tradition of having the most indulgent dinner ever on Christmas Eve. Every year we have Alaskan King Crab legs, steak (filets), and creme brulee for dessert.

This year we added lamb to the mix. Nicki's mom and brother Jon joined us for dinner as well.

Sitting down to eat dinner.

This is one of the reasons I love Nicki. She is always a great time. Nicki! Don't play with your food!

The chaos and carnage.

My dad schooling us all in how to torch creme brulee.

My dessert plate. My mom's amazing creme brulee and a Snickerdoodle (the ones that didn't got photographed on Wednesday.) I was only able to eat about 1/4 of the creme brulee because I have a pretty low tolerance for dairy.

After dinner we opened one present each and then headed off to play some Wii and entertain ourselves (or in my case nap) until it was time to go to midnight mass.

I got a double boiler. I assume my mom got this because I stole hers on Wednesday to make my cookies.

Nicki got a page-a-day, brain teaser's calendar from Alex.

Nick was really excited about his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Wii game.

A little Wii Bowling tournament. Nicki's mom kicked our butts. Beginners luck?

And a few Wii Tennis matches. Look at Nicki's mom's form!

I came home after church and Chris and I exchanged gifts before going to bed. I bought him Rockband 2 for XBox, and he got my a new computer monitor which I really needed. Mine had one foot in the grave.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning Chris and I headed over to my parent's house for presents and Christmas Day brunch which, you may remember, I was making. We got to my parent's just after 9am, and I started cooking while Chris played Wii with my brother. The menu for the day was Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip and Pumpkin Spice Stix, from Angela over at Oh She Glows. I also served a fruit tray of slice apples, pears, and grapes. All of these went really well with the dip. The main course was a breakfast casserol I made based on a recipe I found over at SparkRecipes.com. We also had mimosa's with a splash of passion fruit juice. Everything was delicious and thoroughly enjoyed by all family members.

I did have a bit of a kitchen mishap while making the casserole. You needed to bake the hashbrowns for about 10 minutes and then pressed them down into the bottom of the pan before adding the meat, veggies, and eggs. While I was pressing the hasbrowns down, I caught my wrist on the edge of the pans, and burned myself! I got it under cold running water right away, but it's a little raw and definitely stings a bit!
We opened presents while the breakfast casserole was baking. Santa was very nice to me this year. He brought me a Wii, with Wii Fit Plus and Wii Play. He also brought me some various Wii accessories. My brothers and Nicki got me a box full of Christmas kitchen/ dinner room stuff all matching the snowman placemats I currently have. I got a cookie jar, salt and pepper shakers, two placements, a couple hand towels, mugs, and a serving platter. I'm really excited about this stuff. I love snowman stuff because you can leave it out all winter long, not just during the Christmas season! Chris got some large cereal bowls (so he can stop complaining about how small ours are), a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, and a really nice Columbia fleece jacket.

Other gift highlights from the day were Nicki got a new wakeboard and bindings from my brother, my dad got a Snuggie, my mom got muffin top pans and an iPod touch, Nick got new wakeboard bindings and a new computer monitor, and Alex got a new stereo complete with a giant sub-woofer.

Christmas Evening

After spending Christmas morning at my parent's house, Chris and I came home so I could shower and get ready (and he could play some Rockband) before we headed to his mom's house for Christmas dinner and more gifts. Dinner was all the traditional holiday dishes - turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, seven layer salad, cranberry sauce, corn casserole - and a few other dishes - polish sausage, pierogis, sweet and sour carrot salad. Desserts were even more Christmas cookies!

Santa brought Chris and me even more cool stuff. We got wine glasses, a wine chiller and electronic bottle opener, a Christmas tree serving platter, some other white serving dishes, a set of 6 Pyrex bowls, and a Chris got some clothing and other fun stuff.

Grandma got a Snuggie too. It must be the year of the Snuggie.

Nick was jealous he didn't get a Snuggie so he put his robe on backwards.

Chris and I were nearly buried alive by our (really heavy) gifts.

The post gift unwrapping chaos.

So there's my lengthy Christmas re-cap. I have so many more photos. They're all over on my Picasa site if you want to take a look.

My mom's going to be picking me up to go to yoga and the gym soon. I need to start working off some of these Christmas calories! My ringworm is nearly cleared up, and it doesn't itch when I sweat so running starts again today. I think I'm going to revise and get back on track with my 15K training plan. I abandoned that about 2 weeks in.

I also plan to get caught up on blogging. I'm going to be on a blogging roll today!

Still to come...

My brother's engagement
My 10 in 2010
My re-focused fitness plan

039. Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T08:33:00.004-06:00

I've been a horrible blogger lately, and I apologize to you all. I've just been SO busy. I feel like I barely have enough time to do what needs to be done let alone the things I want to do.

Hopefully now that the holidays are winding down, I'll be back in full force. Until then, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and I leave you with a couple photos of Christmas Eve with my family.

038. Crazy Busy

2009-12-21T16:04:00.003-06:00

I know I promised a recap of Nick and Nicki’s graduation and engagement last night, but I was so beat by the time I got home last night I didn’t have it in me to do anything but curl up under a blanket and watch a movie with Chris. I hope to be able to get that post up this evening. I’m not making any promises though. I’ve got so much to get done in the next three days.

(There should be pictures here, but my phone doesn't want to cooperate with me and Blogger so I'll add them when I get home.)

Here’s some highlights on my to-do list. (This is at least partially for my own reference/ sanity.)

Figure out the menu for Christmas morning breakfast/ brunch. Initially I invited my family over for Christmas morning brunch, but then we realized it would be far more practical for Chris and I to go to my parent’s house rather than the 5 of them coming to our place. Shortly after typing this up, but before actually posting it, I finalized my menu for Christmas day. Here it is:

Pumpkin Spice Stix
Peanut Butter Yogurt dip
(These first two are from Angela over at Oh She Glows)
Fruit Tray (apples, bananas, grapes and pears – “winter fruits” that I thought would go well with the peanut butter yogurt dip.)
Christmas Day Breakfast Casserole (I'm sure I'll make some adjustments)
Mimosas (I’m going to take a tip from Adobo Grill and add a splash of passion fruit juice)

Meal Planning and Grocery shopping. I’ve been really terrible lately when it comes to grocery shopping before the fridge and pantry are all but bare! I need to figure out the menu above first though. I also need to do this tonight! The closer we get to Christmas the crazier the grocery stores get!

Exercise!!!! I’ve been so lazy about my running/ working out lately. Right now the ringworm is a significant contributing factor as sweating seriously irritates it, but I was slacking way before that. I’d like to get in at least one run (maybe 2) and some yoga sessions. I also want to start doing some ab work again. I was doing really great with Whittle My Middle and then somewhere in the middle of the challenge, I just quit.

Finish Dan’s care package. I’m sending a care package to my friend Dan who’s currently in Iraq. He asked me to pick up add a couple more items so I need to go to Target and pick that stuff up. I also need to write a note/ letter to include (and print some pictures to send over). Finally I need to take the box to the post office to mail! I did learn that you only have to pay domestic postage rates to ship things to overseas military bases. This is great because you can ship a large flat rate box (any weight) for just $11.95!

Graduation/ Engagement Blog as mentioned above

037. Fantastic News!

2009-12-19T21:05:00.002-06:00

So this will be quick because I'm posting via text, but I couldn't wait to share! Tonight Nick (my brother) proposed to Nicki (his girlfriend who was basically my sister anyway)!!! (Obviously she said yes!) I took a ton of pictures which I'll be posting tomorrow!

036. Update to Come

2009-12-18T22:27:00.002-06:00

I really wanted to post a blog recapping the concert last night, but the day just got away from me. It's already 10:30, and I really need to get to bed. I have to be up at 5:00am to make the 3 hours drive to EIU to see my brother and Nicki graduate. I'll be gone most of the weekend so hopefully I'll get a post (or two, or three) up Sunday night.

I've got one quick photo and item to share though. I managed to find all 4 of the Celestial Seasonings Holiday teas at the Dominick's near my house. I'm currently sipping on Gingerbread Spice.

035. Today Just Keeps Getting Better

2009-12-17T13:01:00.002-06:00

Lunch today was fantastic (though I now realize I totally forgot to photograph it.)

I had half of my tuna from last night left over so I made a really simple spinach salad from it. Sadly, I only had about 2 cups of spinach that hadn't gone bad. :(

2c. baby spinach leaves
1/2 my Sesame Seared Hawaiian Tuna from Tavern on Rush
3/4c. frozen mixed berries (blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries)

The frozen berries were perfect because as they thawed they created their own "dressing" for the salad!

I just wish I had more spinach. It would have been a bit more filling.

The real excitment of the afternoon, however, is being the winner of Shannon's Musselman's giftbasket give-away! I am so one of those people that never wins anything (except a wakeboard handle at INT Nationals two years ago which was really helpful given all the wakeboarding I do...or not.) so I was super excited when I checked my email after lunch and saw Laura posted to my Facebook wall about having won the contest!

034. Happy Rise Against Day! (and an Ode to Oatmeal)

2009-12-17T08:50:00.003-06:00

Tonight I'm going to see Rise Against, and I am SO excited! They're definitely one of my all time favorite bands ever! I've missed a couple of opportunities to see them in the past so I was elated when we got tickets.

Since Rise Against is from Chicago, shows in town generally sell out really quickly.

I started my day strong with more peanut and pumpkin oats. I'm so happy I've finally found a way to really enjoy oatmeal. For the longest time, I hated oatmeal because all I'd ever had was Quaker Instant Oatmeal. I couldn't stand the texture of that stuff. (I actually still have issue with the texture of oatmeal if it't too creamy/ mushy, or I try to eat it too fast.) For a while I could get myself to eat the cinnamon instant oatmeal if I chopped up an apple and tossed that in with the oatmeal. That got old, and really incovenient, fast though so I gave up on oatmeal.

I never knew cooking oats could be just as quick and easy - and so much yummier! - as the instant stuff. Now, I throw the oats on the stove while I'm getting dressed or doing my hair. I come in to stir them a few times, and breakfast is ready to go just in time!

I owe a great deal of thanks to fellow bloggers for that. Caitlin, Tina, and all the other food bloggers out there who showcase their oatmeal. I've been inspired by them to try new flavor combinations in my oatmeal. One of these days I'm going to try some lunch or dinner oats like Angela made.

033. Holiday Dinners

2009-12-16T22:21:00.006-06:00

As I mentioned earlier, tonight we had dinner with one of out agents. We write quite a bit of business with him, and my boss used to work with him at another company. We went to Tavern on Rush.

We started with the Seafood Combination for Two which, really was more like the Seafood Combination for 4, and some fried calamari. Everything one the platter was excellent. I'm not a huge fan of cold crab meat, but this was delish!

(I apologize in advance for the poor picture quality. I used my iPhone.)

For dinner I ordered the Seared Sesame Hawaiian Tuna. It was really delicious. Possibly the best seared tuna of any kind I've had in the Midwest! It was melt in your mouth which isn't something I've experienced since I was in California visiting Emily.

With appetizers and dinner I nursed a mango martini. This was one hell of a martini. I'm pretty certain it was 100% booze. I also had a glass of red wine - I don't know what kind as my boss ordered it.

I ordered the Chocolate Marble Tiramisu for dessert.

The two other women on my team ordered the Decadent Chocolate Bundt Cake and the Anna's Banana Cream Pie. We all shared the desserts, and let me tell you, they were all excellent! The banana cream pie had big slices of real banana in it.

The rest of my eats weren't anything to rave about. For breakfast I made oats with 1.5 T of pumpkin butter, a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice, and .5 T of peanut butter (for protein).

Lunch was even less fabulous. I ended up eating Easy Mac with a can of tuna mixed it. I also ended up eating at my desk.

I'm still feeling pretty buzzed from my drinks at the restaurant so I'm going to enjoy a glass of water and get to bed. Cheers!

I've got another long day ahead of me tomorrow. I'm going to see Rise Against at the House of Blues with a few friends!!! Rise Against is one of my favorite bands of all time, and I've been waiting forever to see them. Needless to say I'm pretty excited!

032. New Moon Review and Tea Time

2009-12-16T10:22:00.004-06:00

I finally saw New Moon last night. Chris and I went after I got home from work. I have to say, I was not horribly impressed with it

Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed the movie. I also liked it better than Twilight. However, I was still a bit disappointed. At least part of my disappointment is based in my own wants and expectations of the film. I just feel like they could have done so much more with these films. The books were such a hit, but the movies (particularly Twilight) seem so low-budget. Honestly, I want Harry Potter level production values.

I think my biggest problem is I just don’t like Kristen Stewart. I think she is a terrible actress. I don’t like her constant brooding. I understand that Bella is whiney and brooding, especially in New Moon, but I think Kristen really is over the top about it. I’ve seen her in other movies (e.g. Adventureland) and didn’t care her for much in those roles either.

Somewhat related to my distaste for Kristen Stewart as an actress, there was something missing in the acting. I don’t know if it was Kristen, the chemistry between the actors in general, or the direction of the movie, but I just didn’t feel the emotion I felt when I read the book. When I read the book, I cried (and I am not a crier!) a lot. It was heartbreaking. It was like reliving every nasty high school break-up I ever went through. I could feel Bella’s pain like it were my own. I got very emo during that book; I didn’t get that in the movie. Her pain is the driving force behind the entire plot of that book. Without that pain being conveyed, her actions just seem ridiculous.

I can’t be completely negative though. The wolves were awesome! I think they did a great job with the CGI and effects in those scenes. It was so cool to watch Jacob phase in mid-air. And hello Taylor Lautner! I felt like such a dirty old lady every time he showed up on screen shirtless.

After the movie we made a quick trip to Whole Foods because I needed more tea. I was planning to walk over to the Whole Foods near my office during lunch, but I decided it was too cold to make the mile walk over there. Sadly the Whole Foods nearest my house is a good 20 – 30 minutes away so it requires a special trip. Luckily, the theater that had the best show time for New Moon is relatively close to Whole Foods.

I was on a quest for more green tea and the Celestial Seasoning’s Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride. I got my green tea, but I had no luck on the Sugar Cookie tea. I’m getting the feeling this is like the holy grail of teas!

I went to the Celestial Seasoning’s website and supposedly the Dominick’s near my house carriers the Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride as well as the Gingerbread Spice which sounds equally as amazing. I think I might have to head over there after I get home tonight.

The bright side is Tazo teas were on sale!

I picked up Zen which is a spearmint green tea.

I also grabbed Refresh which is a peppemint and spearmint herbal.

I do love mint teas!

Chris and I also grabbed a couple pizzas to heat up for dinner since we didn’t eat before the movie and we were both starving by the time we got out! We bought the Whole Foods 365 brand pizza.

He got Four Cheese and I got BBQ Chicken. I have to admit I ended up eating the whole thing. Ooops! Both were yummy, but I definitely prefer the pizzas from Trader Joe’s.

Tonight I have a dinner after work with one of the agents we work with a great deal. We’re going to Tavern on Rush which I’ve heard great things about. I’ll be sure to report back on how it was. I’ve looked at the menu, and there’s already a few dishes I’m drooling over. I’m thinking seared tuna is definitely in my future.

Finally – make sure you head over to The Daily Balance and check out Shannon’s Musselman’s Gift Basket Give-Away because who doesn’t love free stuff!?

031. Why you should not ignore medical issues in hopes that they will go away...

2009-12-14T15:02:00.007-06:00

So, two or three weeks ago this dry, kind of scaly patch of skin showed up on my stomach. I didn't think much of it at first. It seemed like it was getting better and it wasn't really itchy or bothering me. I had my mom look at it, she didn't think it looked like anything to worry about.

Over the last week or so I've broken out into a really bad rash all over my chest, the top half of my stomach, and a little bit on my back. I had no idea what caused this rash because I haven't changed soap or laundry detergent, or worn any sort of new/ different fibers, or eaten new foods, or any other the things one generally associates with an allergic reaction/ getting a rash.

Toward the middle of the week, it started to get really bad/ annoying. It was quite itchy and it was worse when I was in the shower. I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for Saturday already so I just dealt with it. Well, unfortunately for me, there was a cross in the wires and the appointment I had wasn't actually an appointment with the doctor. It was just an appointment to get my blood drawn for follow-up bloodwork. The doctor wasn't even in the office yet so I couldn't even as to see her.

Before we started Gingerbread Fest I was showing my mom and Nicki the rash and how bad it was getting. Nicki looks at it and proclaims "That looks like ringworm if you ask me." I figured there was no way it could be ringworm; from where/ how the hell could I have possibly gotten ringworm!?

When I got home I started googling and I checked out WebMD, and after about 5 minutes, I was 95% sure Nicki was right. I more than likely have ringworm. I've got the round patch that shows up in all the example pictures. It gets worse/ itchier when I sweat or when I'm in a hot shower (heat and humidity).

I did learn a lot about ringworm in my 10 minutes of searching.

It's not actually a worm, or even a parasite, it's a fungal infection
It's actually the same thing as athlete's foot or jock itch.
It can generally be cured with over the counter anti-fingal cream/ ointment like Lamisil or Lotramin.

I went to Target Sunday afternoon after I dropped Chris off at work (conveniently he works in the same stripmall as Target) and picked up some Lotramin. I have to apply it twice daily for 4 weeks. I am definitely going to need more.

I'm a little annoyed with myself because I'm generally not one to ignore medical issues. As soon as I feel a sore throat or earache coming on, I get my happy ass to the doctor for meds. Had I gotten the little spot looked at (or even looked into what it was) when it first showed up, I wouldn't be cover in an itchy and gross rash. I also wouldn't be needed to wash all my clothes including dry cleaning several sweaters.

The only thing we're still not sure of is how I could have possibly gotten ringworm. My stomach is always covered unless I'm in the shower, changing, etc. I haven't really been to the gym in well over month so I doubt I picked it up from a machine at the gym. It's possible I picked it up form the one time I had to use the gym's yoga mat, but that was well before my little red spot showed up and even then my stomach was covered.

My mom's hypothesis is possibly that I picked it up trying on clothes at a store or wearing a new shirt I hadn't washed yet. I don't know if that's actually feasible though.

Anyone else out there ever had ringworm? Any tips for treating it? Any ideas from where I may have gotten it?

030. Gingerbread Fest 2009

2009-12-14T14:49:00.004-06:00

Saturday was Gingerbread Fest 2009. I talked a little bit about Gingerbread Fest in this post which included some of the pictures from the prep work my mom and I did Wednesday night. We started around 10am Saturday morning.

Bring on the photos!

We fueled up for Gingerbread Fest on homemade Belgian waffles. Mine was whole wheat, blueberry.

Nicki enjoying her waffle.

Alex not looking too happy about being awake or photographed.

You can't tell from this picture, but I loathe rolling out dough (of any kind). It find it incredibly frustrating, and it makes me want to cry. One time I almost through my rolling pin across the dining room while rolling out pizza dough.

Clearly, Nicki doesn't mind as much.

Nicki had to cut out her pieces. Look at that focus.

In case you're curious, this is what approximately $50 worth of Christmas themed candy looks like.

Various pieces in their stages of decoration/ construction.

The gingerbread chaos!

Nicki and Alex working on getting his house standing. Judging from the look on her face, I think Nicki has eaten too much of the candy and the sugar mania is starting to set in.

Building gingerbread houses is hard work so mom made us wraps to refuel.
Here's mine - turkey, cheddar jack shredded cheese, spinach and bacon bits. It was delish!

My mom is the gingerbread queen. She actually does this as a project with the students in her Culinary Arts (advanced foods) classes.

Shortly after the above photo was taken, the disposable pastry bag exploded in Nicki's hands. See the picture below for the end results of that.
This is the small, individual house I made to bring home with me. It's currently residing on my coffee table.
My house.

My mom's house.

Nicki's house. She did a Chicago Bears themed house. It's angry because the Bears suck this season.
Alex's house. Every year Alex makes it a point to build the ghetto/ white trash house. This year he went for the redneck theme.

The completed village.

This is about half the photos from the day; the rest of the pictures can be found in my Google Picasa album. Gingerbread Fest 2009.

Gingerbread Fest was kind of a mess this year. We had several broken pieces. My mom and Nicki's houses both broke, but those were able to be "glued" back together with frosting. I was not as lucky. I had to re-cut and bake the front of my house for the village as well as the front of the small house I made to take home with me. We also ran out of merguine powder so we couldn't make enough frosting to finish on Saturday afternoon. I ended up going back Sunday afternoon to finish things up with my mom.

I definitely consumed more sugar than necessary on Saturday, but I know it was less than in years past so kudos to me!

Despite all the trouble we had this year, we came out with a very nice village to display in my parent's living room.

I'm going to post the recipes for the dough and the Royal Icing as well as the template for the pieces when I get home tonight. I think it's a great tradition to start with kids or cousins or siblings! - I'm going to have to post this later. Apparently my mom didn't actually give me these recipes in the binder she put together for me like 5 years ago. I'll have to get them from her.

As a side note: After posting all these pictures, I am convinced I need blogging software. Anyone have any suggestions? The freer the better. I'm kinda broke right now.

029. Partying Hard

2009-12-13T12:55:00.003-06:00

I wanted to get this blog (as well as three others) written over the weekend, but that didn't happen.

So Friday I had my office Holiday Party as well as my Nicki's brother's wedding reception. Both were a great time with a lot of fried foods and even more booze.

First the office Holiday Party. I love my office holiday parties because it's not just a sit around stuffing your face and chatting event. For the last two years, we've got to Lucky Strike Lanes. We have a bowling tournament and there are prizes for the winning team, highest female score, highest male score, and lowest score. They even got little trophies.

We all piled on our school bus at 11:30 to head to the bowling alley.

I didn't get pictures of the food, but the menu was pretty fantastic. The only downside was all of the appetizers were fried. We had potstickers, mac n cheese bites, coconut shrimp, and chicken satay as appetizers. Lunch was pomegranate turkey breast, tri-colored veggies, traditional stuffing, pumpkin risotto, and mostacolli. Finally dessert was pumpkin cheesecake which was AMAZING, and a cookie tray with chocolate chip and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. I had a little bit of everything but the mostacolli.

We we at the bowling alley until 3:30 then headed to Timothy O'Toole's Pub a couple blocks away to continue the party. Unfortunately I was only able to stay about an hour because I needed to head back home to go to the wedding reception.

Rob and Lillie's first dance at the reception.

The wedding reception was really nice. The bride (Lillie) and groom (Rob) actually got married in Hawaii (where Rob is stationed and Lillie lives), but they are here for about a week while Rob is on leave so his mom had a reception/ party for them.

My brothers Nick and Alex, Nicki (Nick's girlfriend) and her brother Rob at the "DJ booth".

My brothers were the DJs as the kid who was supposed to do it backed out Thursday night. Thankfully we have a PA system from when Nick had a band in high school. Dinner was your standard midwest catering food - fired chicken, beef sandwiches, baked mostacolli, and salad. There was an open bar which meant more Malibu and pineapple juice for me!

I ended up leaving the reception early becuase my stomach was bothering me. I think I'd had too much booze and fried food throughout the day.

All in all Friday was an awesome day, and I had a blast at both of the parties! There was definitely some over indulgences, but both were special occassions! What's the point if you can celebrate with friends and family every now and then.

Here are other photos from the wedding reception and my work party.

028. Plans

2009-12-10T15:43:00.005-06:00

My calendar is filing up very quickly. I didn’t realize how much I had planned until I took the time to write it all out.
You should know -I always carry a planner with me, but I’m awful about actually writing in it. I always have the best intentions and the worst execution when it comes to organization.

Despite that looking pretty jam-packed (and even missing a few commitments) things have been falling into place nicely though so I don’t feel like I’m over-doing it or passing on things I want to do because I don’t have time.

Tomorrow is out company holiday party. The bus leaves the office for Lucky Strike Lanes at 11:30. Woo-hoo half day of work! I’m sure the party will be a great time. I’ll also be forced to keep my drinking in check because…

…I have a doctor’s appointment first thing Saturday morning and they’re doing follow-up blood work. This means Friday will be an early night since I can’t eat or drink anything after about 8pm.

After my doctor’s appointment, I’m going right to my parent’s for Gingerbread Fest ’09.

Sunday I’m meeting my friend Colleen for lunch. She’s one of those friends I wished I got to see much more often, but our schedules are so conflicting we’re lucky if we can get together once every other month.

I also hope to finish off the rest of my Christmas shopping on Sunday. My two brothers are really the only two I have left to shop for, and I am totally stumped on what to buy for them. What do you get a 22 year old and a 16 year old that basically have everything they could need/ want? I told them if they didn’t get me ideas soon they were both getting socks and underwear.

Next week I have dinner with an agent on Wednesday evening and lunch with an agent on Friday afternoon.

Saturday morning we’re packing up to head down to Eastern Illinois University to watch Nick and Nicki (my brother and his girlfriend). We’ll also be packing up the rest of Nicki’s stuff to move her back home. We’re spending Saturday night in Charleston (College bars here I come! lol), and then on Sunday I’m stopping in Urbana to visit with my friend Emily.

This actually could not have worked out any better. Emily was my last roommate in college (and one of two to whom I still speak), and she’s currently in grad school at UCSB. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to make it up to Chicago to visit while she’s home on break. Since Urbana is literally on the way to/ from Charleston, it would be silly for me not to stop and visit.

Then we’re just a few days form Christmas. On the 23rd we have out Children’s Party at work. People bring their kids (or grandkids) to work and we have crafts and games and pizza and Santa. We also more or less get a half day out of the deal.

This (holy crap!) bring us to Christmas plans!

I’ll be spending Christmas Eve with my family: Dinner at my parent’s house and then midnight mass. We used to spend Christmas Eve with my dad’s side of the family since it was my grandmother’s birthday, but since she passed and the only other relatives on my dad’s side live in Colorado, we not just spend the evening doing dinner and church. We have a pretty decadent and indulgent dinner though. Every year we have Alaskan king crab legs, filet mignon, and crème brulee for dessert. It’s gotten to the point where we don’t even make vegetables with the meal anymore. I think I might lobby for (or bring) some broccoli. My healthy conscious won’t allow me to not eat at least a little bit of veggies.

Christmas Day Chris and I will be heading to my parent’s in the morning and his mom’s in the evening. I’m going to make breakfast at my parent’s house and then we’ll open gifts and hang out for a while. Originally, I invited my family to my place for breakfast and gifts, but it seemed easier for the two of us (Chris and I) to go to them rather than the six of them come to us. In the late afternoon/ early evening we’ll head over to Chris’ mom’s house for Christmas dinner and more gifting.

This post actually went off in an entirely different direction that I think I originally intended. Oh well! What are your plans for the Christmas? If you don’t celebrate Christmas, do you celebrate a winter holiday? Which one? What are you plans for that?

027. It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

2009-12-09T16:12:00.005-06:00

This is the first year in a long time I'm actually in the Christmas spirit and enjoying winter. Yesterday/ today is the first snow of the year. It's actually pretty disgusting outside right now. It was raining/ sleeting last night, and tomorrow the high is about 9 so it's going to be good and icy in the morning.

My Christmas tree is all decorated and lookin good. There's even presents underneath it.
Today started Gingerbread Fest 2009. Every year my mom, my brother, my other brother's girlfriend, and I get together and build gingerbread house. It's basically become an all day event. We each build our own house and then put them together on a ceiling tile to make a gingerbread village.

Tonight my mom and I went on our mission for candy. $50 later, we had everything we could need/ want. We also started baking the pieces. Oh yes, we do the whole project from scratch. Make the dough, cut and bake the pieces, make the Royal Icing - all of it. It really is a great time, and it's definitely a tradition I hope to carry on when I have my own kids.

Patterns for the various pieces. We're doing slightly larger houses this year because my mom left her usual templates at work.

Pieces laid out on the dough being cut out. Rolling out the dough is my least favorite part. I find it so frustrating. This year I just made my mom do it.

It's quite difficult to take a picture of yourself while operating a pizza wheel to cut out gingerbread house pieces. Trust me.

On the cookie sheet ready for the oven.

Finished product ready to be assembled into houses.

Saturday we're getting together to build the houses, and I will be taking lots of pictures!

026. Oatmeal Solutions

2009-12-08T08:43:00.001-06:00

So I think I’ve solved my oatmeal problems. The solution is making it on the stove instead of in the microwave. It takes only a minute or two longer than trying to make it in the microwave, and since I had to stop the microwave every 30 seconds or so to prevent the oatmeal from exploding all over my microwave, cooking it on the stovetop might actually be a little faster!

This morning I made PBB&J oatmeal. (Picture to come when I get home from work)

Ingredients included:
½ c. oats
¾ c. vanilla soy milk
1 medium banana, mashed
1 T. peanut butter
1 T. Sorrell Ridge 100% Fruit Spread in Black Raspberry

I cooked the oatmeal, combined the other three ingredients in a bowl, and then added the oatmeal to the bowl when it was done cooking.

It was really delicious; like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the "sticking-to-the-roof-of-my-mouth" ickiness. Oatmeal is on of those foods that completely lacks visual appeal. I think I need to invest in some cute oatmeal bowls.

My other problem with oatmeal is the texture. I hate it. If I eat oatmeal too fast (like I did near the end of the bowl this morning), it makes me gag. I guess this isn’t such a bad thing since it forces me to slow down while eating.

025. Santa Shuffle 5K Weekend and Race Recap

2009-12-06T12:41:00.007-06:00

So this weekend I met up with some friends from Sparkpeople to run a 5K. Courtney, Sarah, Tara, and I all ran in the Santa Shuffle in beautiful Lincoln Park. Sarah's fiance Jon also ran with us.

Friday after work, we all met up at Sarah's place to head to Universal Sole and pick up our race packets. We snapped a few photos and browsed the merch. Some of us needed some more cold running gear.

Courtney and Sarah hanging out on the other side of the running shoe display. Pretty perfect if you ask me!

We headed back to Sarah's place where she modeled the sweet Santa hat, bead, and jacket t-shirt we got in our race packets.

The we hit Old Town Pub for dinner. I had the Hawaiian Ham Panini with tater tots which was pretty much amazing. Ham, Swiss cheese, pineapple, and onions. The chipotle mayo on the side was a little too spicy for my liking.

Saturday morning I got up bright and early (which was really only 7am). I made myself a tasty bowl of apple cinnamon breakfast quinoa, but I didn't get a photo because my camera was also packed up in my bag and I didn't want to forget to bring it!

I met Sarah, Jon, and Courtney on the walk to the race course. We met up with Tara and her husband along the way.

A sea of Santas at the starting line.

The course map. We got to run around the Lincoln Park Zoo.

The upside to cold weather running is I can carry my camera in my pocket so I was able to get some action shots during the race.

Courtney managed to look this adorable in pretty much every picture I took!

Hydration station - very important! This race actually had water at miles 2 and 3!

This was Tara's first race and Sarah, Courtney, and I were all on board to support her. We finished in just under 45 minutes shattering Tara's goal of running it in under 50 minutes!

After the race we went back to Sarah and Jon's place to warm up and change into some clothes that weren't drenched in sweat before we headed out to brunch at Adobo Grill.

We got pretty much the yummiest mimosa I have ever had. It was your usual champagne and orange juice, but it also had a splash of passion fruit juice which gave it a nice kick.
To eat I got blue corn plantain pancakes with eggs and chorizo. It was delish!
For the few remaining pics from the race check out my Picasa album.

024. Oatmeal Woes

2009-12-04T14:20:00.003-06:00

My mom is a food’s teacher. I took cooking classes as a kid, and I’ve been cooking since then. I know how to follow a recipe. I've even gotten better at winging it. I know how to cook.

So why can’t I make oatmeal without issues?!

I’ve yet to make oatmeal that’s not edible, but I’m made oatmeal that’s too mushy. I’ve made oatmeal that’s not mushy enough. I’ve exploded oatmeal all over my microwave. My new goal in life is to make the perfect bowl of oatmeal so you can all expect a great deal of oatmeal to show up in this blog over the next couple weeks.

Here’s today’s oatmeal.

1/2c. oats
1 c. water
4oz. banana, mashed
2 T. shredded coconut
1 t. flax seeds.

This ended up all but exploding all over my microwave. I’m assuming the solution to that problem is to just buy some bigger bowls. This morning’s oatmeal was also too mushy/ creamy. I hate instant oatmeal because I don’t like the texture of it. I don’t like the mushy creaminess. The solution is add less water, but I need to perfect how much less.

In non oatmeal related news, I got an email from a friend of mine/ college roommate asking me for some of my favorite healthy recipes and tips and resources. Her boyfriend has decided he wants to start eating healthier, and she’s on board with the idea hoping it will make it easier for her to get back down to her pre-pregnancy weight after she has her baby. Plus, eating healthy – d’uh. J Of course, I was stoked to help her out! I started this blog is to share the things I’ve learned in my journey, so why wouldn’t I want to help a friend!? So what does this mean for all of my lovely blog readers…

…Coming this weekend My Beginner’s Guide to Healthy Eating: Tips, Tricks, and Recipes to Get You Started.

023. Feeling Better

2009-12-02T21:27:00.003-06:00

I've still been feeling pretty awful today, but around 8:00 this evening, I really started to feel a heck of a lot better. My stomach isn't hurting nearly as much, and I actually wanted to eat!

I've been forcing myself to eat over the last two days because I've had zero appetite. I've stuck to the blandest foods I've got (toast, plain scrambled eggs, rice...lots of rice...) and until this evening they've still been upsetting my stomach. However, about an hour ago, I ate TWO bowls of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal!

Hopefully when I get up tomorrow I'll still be feeling good so I can make it in to work. I really hate having to take sick days.

For now though, I'm heading back to camp out on my couch watching Charmed Season 1 (Charmed is one of my top 5 TV shows of all time. I own all of the seasons, and it's been forever since I've watched them!), and drink some peppermint tea out of my super awesome Christmas mug!

Cheers!

022. Sick

2009-11-30T21:55:00.004-06:00

So, I'm pretty sure I'm coming down with a flu or something. I feel terrible. I'm not even sure if I'm going to make it out to Chris's dad's house.

Oh wait, I was supposed to leave almost 3 hours ago. Why am I still at home you ask?

Well, apparently, someone hit Chris's car in the parking lot while he was at work. Thankfully someone saw it happened and got the cops there before the person who hit his car could get away. Chris's are is still driveable, but he didn't want to take it out on the hour drive to his dad's.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), as the night as gone on, I've started to feel much worse. I've got chills and I keep getting this horrible stomach pains. They're awful.

I look so sick and pathetic don't I?

I'm considering walking over to the CVS across the street to buy a thermometer (I lost mine in the move.) and possibly some meds. I'm pretty sure I have a fever. I don't know what to buy though. I want my mommy. :( I am such a huge baby when I get sick. Thankfully it doesn't happen very often.

021. Totally Random Smattering

2009-11-30T18:49:00.006-06:00

So, first of all, I've got a few photos of random eats photos that never got posted. These are from the last two weeks or so.

Broccoli, onion, canadian bacon, and sharp cheddar cheese omelet.

Homemade whole wheat toaster waffles with pomegranite arils and a pumpkin sauce.

French toast stuffed with cream cheese frosting.

Lightened up Chicken Parm - there was also a heaping pile of spaghetti squash that was eaten later due to unforeseen circumstances (i.e. Chris bought a squash too big to fit in the microwave so I had to bake it.)

Alright, now on to today's eats.
Breakfast was an Arnold Sandwich Thin with Trader Joe's Almond Butter and Sorell Ridge Black Raspbery 100% Fruit spread.

The photo is actually from dinner last night, but lunch today was leftover Pasta e Fagioli.

Dinner was just some scrambled eggs. My stomach has been bothering me most of the afternoon so I opted for something pretty bland.

I believe I also promised pictures of my Christmas decorations thus far.

From the inside...(I apologize, it's a pretty poor picture)

and from the outside...

Obviously, I'm the top left unit.

I need to get going. I was supposed to be on the road to Chris' dad's about an hour ago, but since I overslept this morning and was late for work, I ended up staying a late. Time to pack up and head out for more Christmas decorating tomorrow!

I've got the camera packed!

020. Financial Health is Important Too!

2009-11-30T15:32:00.003-06:00

I’m pretty sure Caitlin is a mind reader. This afternoon she posted her Responsible Spending Challenge, and the post couldn’t have been more timely.

I’m not bad with money, but recently my spending has been out of control. I actually saw a “negative number”* in my checking account for the first time ever!

I know the two primary reasons I’ve been spending so much lately, but it really needs to stop. The first reason I’ve been spending so much is my condo. I’ve bought a lot of stuff for the condo in the last two month. A lot of that spending was a one time thing. Now that we’re getting settled things should start to taper off. The second reason I’ve been spending a lot is my weight loss. In the last two months I’ve bought a TON of clothes – way more clothing that I would ever buy in the same time period – because I’ve really needed them. My work clothes were starting to look really sloppy because they were just too big. I’ve got enough clothes now, and I shouldn’t need to buy more for a while.

So what are the goals of my responsible spending challenge?

- Limit eating out to once a week. – I/ We really don’t eat out that often, but this is a quick and easy way to cut costs.
- Find a plan for splitting grocery costs with Chris – for the most part I’ve been footing the grocery bill because I make more money. I really don’t mind this; however, after seeing how much we actually DO spend on groceries in a month, I realize we need to come up with a set split for the bill.
- Set up a mint.com account to analyze spending.
- Create a monthly budget. – I am horrible at budgeting. Seriously. I’m awful at it. Hopefully after my analysis, I can create something.
- Figure out a workable amount to put into savings each pay period and set up my direct deposit to automatically deposit that amount into my savings. - I spent about 75% of my savings on condo stuff (paint, a drier, etc.), and I haven't put anything back into it. Luckily, my savings account has a minimum balance of $2,500 so I do always have that cushion if I get into a pinch.

I may add goals after I do my spending analysis and create my budget.

*As a side note, I deduct my bills from my check register really far in advance. Most of the time I have my bills subtracted so far in advance, I get at least one pay check before the bills actually clear. Because of this, the balance in my check register is always significantly lower than the amount of money actually in my account; so while my check register showed a negative number, I actually had plenty of money in my account.

019. Shorty Post

2009-11-30T11:32:00.002-06:00

My most recent Operation Beautiful contribution was posted today. Operation Beautiful is such an amazing movement! Seriously.

My whole day is off due to the fact that I overslept this morning. I re-set my alarm last night (after a glorious 4.5 day weekend!), but I forgot to turn it back on! Ooops! I ended up oversleeping about an hour and was late for work.

I promise a weekend recap and some photos when get home tonight. I wanted to get it done yesterday, but I got distracted by Bride Wars on TV.

Tonight Chris and I are heading out to his dad's house to help put up Christmas decorations. 'Tis the season! I always love going out to see his dad and step-mom. I'm planning to go for a run out there tomorrow morning and conquer the giant hill they live on!

018. Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T12:38:00.003-06:00

This year I went with Chris to Thanksgiving with his dad's side of the family. It's always interesting to experience the holiday traditions of other families, and sometimes it's a little frustrating too! My family is small, and Chris' family is, well, not small. I think it takes a lot more work to orchestrate a meal with that many people.

My camera battery was dead and then I forgot to take it with me so I didn't get any pictures from turkey day, but c'est la vie.

Chris and I started Thursday morning with omelets and hash browns. I made hash browns from sliced baby red potatoes with onions and chopped garlic, and we at them with our Canadian bacon, onion and cheese (and broccoli for me!) omelets. We ate breakfast around 10:30 or 11:00 am (we slept in and it was glorious!) and dinner was planned for 6:30. Since breakfast was incredibly filling, I had a snack of an apple and almond butter around 4:00. I figured I would be fine, and I would have been...except dinner didn't hit the table until almost 8pm! I snacked on some cheese when we got to Chris' cousin Annie's house. I had maybe an ounce or two, but I was totally famished by the time we actually sat down to eat! We had the usual Thanksgiving fare - turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberries - as well as some traditional Korean dishes since Annie's fiance is Korean and his family came to dinner as well. Overall it was pretty phenomenal.

I've had some really good runs lately. Thanksgiving morning I went out and ran just shy of 4 miles around the neighborhood. Yesterday and today I knocked out about 3 miles each running through the St. Xavier University campus. For having lived so close my entire life, yesterday was actually the first time I'd set foot on the University campus. It really is a gorgeous campus. There's a small lake, Lake Marion, on campus with a trail around it. It really is gorgeous.

Yesterday I ran all over campus and down around the Br. Rice and Mother McAuley high school campuses which share the same area with the University. Today I stuck to running the trail around Lake Marion. I also integrated some strength training intervals on one of the benches along the lake.

It's about 1/3 of a mile around the lake, and it's about 2/3 of a mile from my house to the lake path. I ran there, did 5 laps, and ran home for an even 3 miles.

First lap around I did some incline push-ups. Second lap I did calf raises. Third lap was seated knee lifts, and the fourth lap was tricep dips (which are incredibly hard!)

I'm going to take tomorrow off I think, but my next run, I'm going to do a strength interval at each of the 6 benches around the lake.

I think I've finally figured out the key to getting myself to do strength training. It needs to be in short intervals. I hate the idea of going to the gym and moving from machine to machine. I also don't like the concept of having a 30 minute strength work-out. If I can do strength exercises here and there - like the 30 Day Shred video a couple days a week, 5 - 10 minutes of ab work in the evening, strength intervals in my runs - I do them. If I set out to "do strength training" I totally blow it off.

Today I'm heading to my parent's house to put Christmas lights up on their roof. My dad and Nick (the older of my two brothers) are afraid of heights so they won't get up there. Alex will go up there, but he won't go alone. I've also got to go steal some Christmas decorations for my place. It's Nick's (22nd) birthday, and as his gift, I'm his designated driver for the evening. My camera battery is in the charger so there will be plenty of pics tomorrow!

I should make myself some lunch and get on with my day.

017. Back in the Groove for Real

2009-11-24T16:21:00.003-06:00

So, recently I’ve been eating WAY too much processed junk-foods. I’m really starting to feel gross. I’ve also started to notice a pattern over the last couple months. I start the month really strong with a lot of ambitious goals. Near the middle of the month, I fall into a funk where I start slipping on my work-outs and not eating as well. After a week – week and a half, I get my act together again and finish the month off strong. Even my blogging has suffered this month which rarely happens because I really enjoy blogging! Of course, I do manage to do a lot of damage in the week – week and a half. So, in attempt to remedy this, I’m going to stop focusing on monthly goals try to set goals for a longer period of time.

I haven’t talked a lot in this blog about my specific weight loss goals or goals I’ve been setting to get to my goal weight. There are two reasons for this. First, this is more about getting healthy than loosing weight. I’m really not in much of a hurry to loose the weight. I’ll get there when I get there. Second, I started this blog after I set my November goals and I just never posted about it. I want to start monitoring my goals more actively on this blog.

As a way of managing these three things here are my goals for the next 6 weeks (until the end of the year.)

End the year at 150lbs (This is about -6lbs.)
Track all meals here and track calories over at SparkPeople
2 a. Limit eating out to once per week
2 b. Stick with weekly meal plans
Track all Work-Outs here.
3 a. Work on including more cross training (spin class and swimming)
3 b. Strength training (including 30 Day Shred) at least 3 days a week.
3 c. Keep up with Whittle my Middle Challenge
Log 75 miles between now and the end of the year (I still have a couple left in the Pile on the Miles challenge!)
4 a. Run 10 miles at least once.

So there you have it. My goals for the next 6 weeks. I tried to keep them simple and not too overly ambitious. I figured I should ease myself in to this.

There is one other challenge I want to do for myself and that is going vegetarian for a week. At this point, I have no intention of ever going totally vegetarian, but recently I have found myself wanting to reduce the amount of meat I consume and find more creative ways to integrate protien. I've been wanting to follow a more "flexitarian" model over eating - especially after Laura posted about it last month. I'm going to wait until after Thanksgiving to start that challenge though. We're going to Chris' counsin's house for T-Day, and since a) I love turkey and b) I have no control over the food, it seems like a bad day to be experimenting with vegetarianism.

016. Back in the Grove

2009-11-19T13:35:00.002-06:00

I’ve had a pretty terrible week so far. Yesterday I had a minor melt-down in my one boss’ office. I didn’t intend to become a crying disaster when I walked in there, but things went south fast.

Before I go on, there’s probably one thing you need to know about me. You know how some people laugh at inappropriate times – when they’re nervous or stressed or in an awkward situation? Well, I cry at inappropriate times. This is amplified when I’m tired or stressed out. Anyway, on to the story…

I’ve been really swamped at work lately. It was getting to the point where my desk was so cluttered it was nearly invisible. Yesterday I couldn’t handle it anymore. I felt like things were starting to encroach on me. It was making me really claustrophobic and stressed out. I went into my boss’ office to tell him if there was anything that he needed me to take care of right away to hand it directly to me because I was going to spend the day trying to get my desk in order. He asked me what was up, and I just lost it. Next thing I knew I was sitting in his office crying and letting it all out. He let me hang out and just chatted with me until I got myself collected enough to return to my desk without looking a hot mess. Just getting things out made me feel loads better, but I also spent the day reigning in the chaos of my desk. I pitched 4 months worth of old files we no longer needed. I never fully realized how incredibly cathartic I find throwing things away to be. (I think this is part of the reason I’ve had to buy all new clothes as I’ve lost weight. I never saved the too small stuff because I love getting rid of things!) By the end of the day I was much more relaxed!

Of course there were other co-worker related factors that were stressing me out, but because of the disaster that was my desk, I have having a very difficult time just letting those things go. It’s amazing how much stress our environment alone can cause us!

As a result of all the stress I’ve been feeling lately, I’ve also been slacking on the exercise front. I haven’t run at all since my race on Saturday. I have been keeping up with some strength training, and I did start, albeit a week late, the Whittle My Middle challenge. For the most part I’ve been seriously slacking though. Of course, I’m sure skipping my work-outs probably only added to my stress. It really is a vicious cycle isn’t it!? I skip my work-outs because I’m stressed, and I’m stressed because I skip my work-outs.

However, after yesterday, I’m feeling much less stressed, and I think I’m back in exercise mode. This morning I got up at 5:30 to do my Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred. I am not a morning exercise person at all, but I got up this morning and did it. I have plans to go out tonight, but I think I’m going to try and squeeze in a shorty 2 mile run.

Last night I made a really great dinner. I’m pretty proud of myself because I came up with it all on my own. I had two goals with this recipes: 1) Make it vegetarian because I’ve been trying to integrate more vegetarian meals into my repertoire; and 2) Use tofu. This is also the first time I’ve used/ made tofu. It could probably use a little tweaking, but I’m still new at the making-it-up-as-I-go-along game.

Tofu, Spinach, and Cheese Quinoa Stuffed Squash

Ingredients:
1 medium acorn squash
½ c. quinoa
1 – 2 servings of extra firm tofu
2 c. baby spinach leaves
Swiss cheese – enough for ½ c. grated
1T. olive oil
Seasalt, to taste

Directions

Part I. To get started…
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Cut squash roughly in half. – I did more of a ¾ - ¼ split so I had one side deeper than the other. – and remove seeds and guts.
Place facedown on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes.

Part II. While squash is baking…
Prepare quinoa as directed.

Part III. While squash is baking and quinoa is cooking…
Cube tofu and grate cheese.
Combine tofu, cheese, and spinach leaves in a bowl (I chose to tear up my spinach leaves.) and toss with olive oil and seasalt.
Add quinoa to this mix once it is finished cooking.

Part IV. Once squash is done baking…
Remove squash from oven and stuff with the quinoa mixture.
Return squash to the oven for an additional 25 minutes, until squash is tender.

I only filled one side (the larger) of the squash with the quinoa mixture. I chopped up and apple, mixed it with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and stuff the smaller side of the squash with that mixture for dessert. The recipe does make enough filling to cut the squash evenly in half and fill both sides.

Review: Chris (my not super picky, but definitely a junk-foody boyfriend) really liked it except for the tofu part. He didn't dig the tofu.. There are a couple things I would tweak for next time. First, I would probably bake the tofu a little while before mixing it in with the other ingredients. Second, I might use a stronger cheese. The Swiss tasted fine and it worked (since it was all I had in the house), but I think it could use a stronger flavor.

Last, but certainly not least, My Whittle My Middle work-out from last night.

60 second plank

15 jackknifes with swiss ball

5 kneeling rollouts with ball (I have a REALLY hard time with these!)

30 second side plank on left; 30 second side plank on right

30 second plank with swiss ball

015. Mid-Month Funk

2009-11-17T13:20:00.004-06:00

I'm defintely beginning to notice a pattern. I always end up in a sort of funk near the middle of the month. I need to figure out how to avoid this. Any suggestions?

This morning was one of those mornings were I laid in bed seriously considering calling in sick. I just did not want to get out of bed and go to work. Ultimately, I got my butt out of bed after about 10 minutes because calling in today would have made tomorrow that much worse. As much as I generally do like my job, that is a major down side. If I'm out of the office unexpectedly stuff seriously piles up.

As a treat for getting myself out of bed, I decided to make some stuffed French Toast for breakfast. Last week I made Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting, and I've had the leftover frosting in my fridge ever since.

I spread 2 T. of the frosting on one slice Pepperidge Farm Double Fiber Whole Wheat bread, topped it with the other slice sandwich style and dipped it in my egg mix. The egg mix was 2 eggs, a splash of skim milk, some vanilla extract, a few shakes of cinnamon and a couple shakes of nutmeg. This was the first time I'd put nutmeg in my French Toast egg mix, and it was brilliant. I'd really forgotten how much I enjoy nutmeg.

Tonight Chris and I are going to do some shopping; he needs new shoes and I'm pretty much always in need of new clothes since I keep shrinking. Afterward, we're heading to Chris' mom's house for dinner since his Grandma is back from Florida. Hopefully whatever she makes isn't too much of a caloric nightmare.

I was a a bad girl yesterday and skipped my planned 6.5 mile run. I ran a bunch of errands and then when I got home my toilet would not stop running so I had my dad come over to look at it. That unexpectedly consumed a good chunk of my evening.

I did do my first day of the Whittle My Middle challenge though. I'm a week late in starting, but better late than never. I also kind of threw it together last night while watching TV. I'll post mesurements today when I get home, and I'm going to start tracking it here daily.

Lsat night I did...

60 second plank
30 second plank
15 Stability Ball Crunches
15 Stability Ball Jackknifes

I also did a couple Sun Salutations before I went to bed. Tomorrow's plan is to get up early for another day of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I also have yoga class in the evening and the I'll be doing some speedwork on the treadmill afterwards.

Also, you can expect a pretty big post soon which more or less explains why I haven't been posting as much lately.

014. Girls on the Run 5K

2009-11-14T10:12:00.008-06:00

I know I've been super lame about posting recently. I've started about 4 blogs that haven't finished. I've had a lot rolling around in my head lately. Add to that the fact that I've been super busy at work (which, let's be honest, is where I type up a lot of my blogs!) There will be a major coming soon. I promise.

In the mean time, I ran the Girls of the Run 5K this morning. It was seriously an amazing event! It was so awesome to see all these girls out there running with their parents and coaches and friends. It makes me want to get involved with the program even more! The race took place at Toyota Park which is home to the Chicago Fire and the Chicago Red Stars. I'm not a soccer fan at all (in fact it's quite possibly my LEAST favorite sport ever), but it was really cool to get to finish inside the stadium. I could only imagine how totally awesome it would be if I were 10 years old!

And now what you all really want...photos!!!

Walking up from my car. I got there about 45 minutes before start time and there were a TON of people there already!

Toyota Park main entrance.

The pink signs where the meeting places for the various program groups. There were over 50 schools represented. It was massive and totally awesome!

They had face-painting and tiara decorating. No, I didn't do either. I figured I'd save that for the girls.

We all know how important it is to warm up before a race. The three photos above are some girls getting their stretch on, the group leading the warm-up (two girls from Bally's Total Fitness, The Chicago Fire mascot Sparky, the Chicago Wolves mascot Skates, some superhero type guy, the Fox weather-woman Amy Freeze (Yes, that's actually her last name), and Ella Masar from the Chicago Red Stars.

The starting line. I made sure I was toward the front because I hate feeling like I'm going to step on someone!The sea of people behind me at the starting line. It was amazing how many people were there. You can't even see all the shorty kiddos that were there!

Here's the finish line inside the stadium. I was a little disappointed we didn't get to finish on the field, but the Fire does have a game tonight so we wouldn't wanna mess up the grass.Some of the runners coming around the final bend to the finish line.

They were broadcasting the finishes on the jumbo-tron which was pretty cool. Sadly my mom didn't come with me so there was no one there to take a picture of me finishing. It's cool though.

Here's my Operation Beautiful-ized race number. It says "You are STRONG! You are POWERFUL! You are BEAUTIFUL!" You are strong and you are powerful are both GOTR mantras.

Seriously, coolest.goodie-bag.ever! Awesome long sleeve t-shirt, some yummy mini-luna bars, ponytail holders, a GOTR/ New Balance water bottle (which is awesome since I can't find my water bottle!), and an issue of American Girl Magazine. I used to love AG Magazine. I subscribed to it forever!

Those are about half my pictures from the event. It was so awesome, and I will definitely be looking for a way to be more involved next year!

Oh, and as for how I did. I finished in 30:10 which is 40 seconds slower than my first 5K. I'm happy with it though. I was running alone, and my pacing was definitely a little off. I thought we were a lot closer to the finish than we actually were so I picked up the pace a little too early. Either way 30:10 is still a really great time so I'm happy about it. Besides, I knew it would be hard to be my first 5K time anyway!

013. 30 Things I've Learned on my Weight Loss Journey

2009-11-11T16:15:00.002-06:00

30 Things I’ve Learned on My Weight Loss Journey

1) I am the only person that can change me.
2) Friends are an invaluable resource – even if they’re “only” internet friends.
3) With hard work and dedication, there is nothing I cannot accomplish.
4) Life is all about balance.
5) I can run.
6) Anything worth doing is scary.
7) There are no short cuts and no “easy buttons;” the hard is what makes it great.
8) Nothing is off limits as long as I can find balance.
9) Making a change to improve my health has motivated me to make changes improving other areas of my life.
10) Life is short, embrace every minute of it.
11) Losing weight has given me the confidence I need to make myself happier.
12) Living healthy is worth it.
13) Eating like garbage = feeling like garbage
14) Exercise truly is the greatest stress reliever.
15) I want to be an inspiration and motivation to others, and I want to lead by example.
16) Somewhere along the line, I forgot what it was like to feel passionately about something. I’ve remembered because I’ve found a passion for healthy living.
17) I’m not as picky as I thought.
18) I like vegetables. I also like oatmeal.
19) I’m not going to like everything I try, but that doesn’t mean these things aren’t worth trying.
20) Most fast food is overrated.
21) I really do love to cook.
22) There is no such thing as perfect.
23) Exercise is addicting.
24) I want to help others find, understand, and appreciate the benefits of a healthy lifestyle as much as I do.
25) I love tea.
26) Yoga is amazing.
27) Start small. Small changes lead to big accomplishments.
28) There’s nothing wrong with being afraid as long as fear doesn’t stop you from accomplishing your goals.
29) Weight loss can be a slow, and sometimes painful process, but it’s worth sticking with it.
30) I know I have it in me to take that extra step when I feel like I can't make it any futher.

012. It's all about Pizza and Fro-Yo

2009-11-07T16:47:00.009-06:00

I don't know what it is, but I've been on a huge pizza and fro-yo kick recently. Seriously. I could probably eat it 3 times a day! At least I'm making it work for me though.

Well start off with the rest of yesterday's eats. Lunch was the left over BBQ chicken pizza from Uno's.
After I ate lunch, I went with some co-worker's who were grabbing lunch, and I got some Freshii fro-yo with shredded coconut and organic granola. Once again, the staff could not grasp my trying to order half the usual serving. Once again, I threw half of it in the garbage.

My afternoon snack today was a 1/4c. of Trader Joe's ABC Trek Mix. I love it because it's a mix of almonds (my most favorite nut ever!) and dried blueberries and cranberries and some golden raisins for good measure. Yummy yummy! I actually wrote a blog via email about this, but it never posted. I'm going to have to work on that because what's the point of having a super sweet iPhone if you can't even blog from it right?

Dinner was a "burrito bowl" with brown rice, black beans, corn, ground Boca "meat" and some sharp cheddar. Sadly, I didn't have any avocado in the house. :( I took a picture but this meal is seriously lacking in the visual appeal department. Actually, it looks kind of gross. It was yummy though (and at least I have cute plates!)

The base was a mix of minute brown rice, organic black beans, organic frozen corn, and about a quarter cup V-8 because I didn't have any tomato sauce. then I added 1/2c. Boca crumbles and 1/4c. reduced fat.sharp cheddar.

After dinner I had some of the Trader Joe's fro-yo. I said I was on a kick didn't I?

1/2 c. TJ's non-fat Plain Frozen Yogurt
1/4 c. pomegranate arils
2 T. shredded coconut
1/4c. oats.

Unfortunately yesterday took a turn for the worst. They were predicting gorgeous weather today so I decided to blow off my 6 mile run at the indoor track in favor of heading out this morning for 6 miles outside. Chris and I ended up laying on the couch watching Season 1 of How I Met Your Mother on DVD and noshing on the Halloween candy his mom sent home with us. Too much eating definitely occurred.

However, as promised, I got up at 7:45 and went for my 6 mile run. I really wish I'd had my camera, or at least my phone with me, because it was absolutely gorgeous, but since I run with as little stuff on me as possible, I didn't. Maybe tomorrow I'll ride my bike on the route I rant today and take some pics.

The run itself was really well. Previously the furthest I've run outside was 4.75 miles, but I figured 6 wouldn't be a problem since I had run 7 on the indoor track without much problem. I've always struggled more outside than anywhere else. I started off pretty slow, but I finished the whole run (including a short warm-up and cool-down) in 65 minutes so I managed to maintain about a 10:30 minute/ mile pace. I'll totally take that. I also wasn't hurting too much. I was definitely feeling it in that last mile, but it was a good push.

After my run, I toasted a homemade toaster waffle and topped it with the pumpkin filling Caitlin used in her Sweet Breakfast Burritos. I was too lazy to make pancakes and too hungry to take pictures, but it was delicious. After breakfast I did some serious shopping. I ended up getting 3 pairs of dress pants (size 10!), 3 camis (M!), a cardigan sweater, and a pair of jeans (size 8!) from Penny's and 5 Old Nave Fleece scarves (Hey it was $1 scarf day, and my BFF works at Old Navy!) Check it out!
Post shopping lunch was mini BBQ Chicken pizzas! Seriously, I think I've developed an addiction or something! I'm going to need pizza rehab soon.

Arnold Sandwich thin
2 T. Culinary Circle, Sweet Applewood BBQ sauce
1.5 oz grilled chicken breast (It was left over in my fridge)
red onion
1/4 c. reduced fat sharp cheddar
1/4c. part-skim mozzarella

Put it all together and popped it in the toaster oven for about 7 minutes at 425.

I've got a birthday party for a friend tonight in Indiana. I'll try to take some picture for you all to enjoy. Right now I need to pull together some dinner and get myself ready.

011. A Whole Mess of Random

2009-11-06T15:31:00.004-06:00

(Warning: this blog ended up pretty lengthy and random. Sorry in advance, it’s kind of scattered. Also, photos will be added once I get home from work. - Sorry I'm late with the pictures!!)

Breakfast this morning was not a success. The upside is even though I only ate half of it I made still made it to 10am before I needed my morning snack. I’m going to have to work on perfecting this breakfast as it clearly keeps me pretty full. So what was my breakfast flop? Pumpkin-Pie Yogurt
1 container Trader Joe’s Organic Non-Fat Greek Style Yogurt – vanilla
½ c. canned pumpkin
1 t. pumpkin pie spice
1 T. rolled oats
2 T. shredded coconut (which was added a few bits in)

I think I may have gotten a bit over-zealous with the pumpkin pie spice. It wasn’t bad – it was good enough for me to eat half of it, but it definitely wasn’t great. Live and learn right?

I’ll try it again adding the various ingredients slowly until I get a good flavor combo. I might also try plain yogurt instead of vanilla. I’m still getting used to combining flavors and finding things that work well together. Truly, this was my first attempt at putting something together on my own so I’m proud that it was at least edible. I can cook, but I’ve always been a follow the recipe kind of gal. I’ve also spent most of my life being INCREDIBLY picky when it comes to food. This has resulted in a pretty redundant meal repertoire. I’ve been so inspired by recently by the food blogs I’ve been reading (Healthy Tipping Point, Carrots n Cake, Oh She Glows), and other resources out there. I’ve got such a strong desire to expand my horizons when it comes to cooking and eating now. Maybe I jumped in head first a little too soon. Oh well, like most things, this is guaranteed to be a learning experience.

My morning snack today was my old standby Kashi Trail Mix Chewy Bar. I do love me some Kashi products.

Lunch today is leftovers from last night’s dinner out – which I need to discuss, right now. Last night the BF and I did dinner and a movie. We went to dinner at Uno’s Chicago Grill, and it ended up being a perfect dinner out. We struck fantastic compromises and split everything. The food was delicious, and it didn’t destroy my calorie count for the day too badly. We started with a mozzarella sticks appetizer (his choice), but they were the best mozzarella sticks. They were really crispy, but they weren’t super greasy. I enjoy mozzarella sticks, but I don’t like when they come swimming in a pool of oil so I generally don’t bother with them. I didn’t get a picture because I keep forgetting. (One day I’ll get used to this!)

We split the BBQ Chicken Flatbread Pizza (my choice, but I compromised on the regular crust instead of the 5 grain, whole wheat they offer) which was also phenomenal. Again, I didn’t get a picture before we dug in, but here’s what it looked like re-heated on my plate for lunch today. I’m sure you can imagine how amazing it must have looked fresh on the table.

Dessert was the highlight of the night though. Generally I avoid restaurant desserts since they’re usually caloric nightmares and aren’t anything I couldn’t throw together at home. (Plus, I’m usually plenty full when dessert time arrives anyway.) However, when I saw this on the menu, I knew I would be angry with myself if I didn’t order it so I made sure to save room. For dessert we had pumpkin tiramisu. This was hands-down the most amazing restaurant dessert I’ve ever had. Seriously, I didn’t want it to ever end. I don’t think I’ve even eaten something so slowly in my life. I almost didn’t get a picture of it because I was so enamored with it, but Chris actually reminded me. So here it is in its half eaten glory…

When I got home, I looked up the calories online to assess just how much damage I had done, and I was pleasantly surprised. The dessert was two servings and each serving clocked in at 390 calories. Yes, this is more than I usually eat at breakfast, but if you consider the fact that some restaurant desserts have an entire day’s worth of calories in them, 390 isn’t so bad. It was totally worth every single calorie.

I’ve failed at blogging my food recently so here are some eats from the last couple days.

This morning’s Kashi Trail Mix bar.

Wednesday’s breakfast – homemade toaster waffle with ¾ c. frozen mixed berries, 1T. light syrup and 1t. flaxseeds.

Wednesday’s dinner and Thursday’s lunch – Sausage and Apples on Whole Wheat Rotelle pasta. This is something my college roommate Emily and I created (mostly Emily) when we had an excess of apples and a tube of breakfast sausage in our apartment.

Tube Reduced-Fat pork sausage
½ an onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 T. of light maple syrup
2 T. water
3 T. white wine
2 medium apples, chopped
½ c. reduced fat shredded sharp cheddar
½ c. rotelle pasta
The recipe is linked above.

Thursday’s breakfast was inspired by Carrots n Cake – ½ c. oatmeal, ½ of a leftover baked apples and acorn squash.

I have a 6 mile run on the indoor track planned for tonight. I’m hoping it goes well. I’ve had pretty solid runs so far this week, but I haven’t been able to break 4 miles since I ran 7 a couple weeks ago. I’m hoping since my running funk seems to have lifted tonight’s run will be awesome.

I’m going shopping this weekend. I’ve been holding out on buying dress pants, but Wednesday a co-worker said to me “I hate to break it to ya girl, but you really need to buy some new pants.” That’s the downside of living a healthy lifestyle and loosing weight. Your clothes get too big and you have to buy new ones. Okay, I suppose that’s really only a downside if, like me, you don’t have a lot of extra money to be spending on new cloths because you recently acquired yourself a mortgage. Anyway, back to the point, I plan on leaving a whole mess of Operation Beautiful notes on fitting room mirrors since I’m sure I’ll be trying on many things.

That's enough for now.

010. The "Fat Gap"

2009-11-04T16:09:00.000-06:00

If you haven’t noticed, I tend to blog in spurts. I have a lot to say for a day or two and then nothing for a while. Maybe one day I’ll balance that out, but until then, here’s post #2 for today.

This morning on the bus I was reading this article in the RedEye. The article, which originally ran in the Miami Herald, is about the “fat gap.” While there’s nothing ground-breaking about the article, and it certainly didn’t come as “news” or a shock, I could relate.

I was definitely one of those people who didn’t see me as obese (even though my BMI said otherwise) because I was still smaller than a lot of people I knew or would see on the street. Sure, I knew I could stand to loose a few pounds, but to call myself obese seemed a little over-dramatic to me – like when the girls in high school who weighed 95lbs soaking wet would talk about how they really needed to loose 5lbs.

Even when I started my journey to a healthy lifestyle, it wasn’t about loosing weight. I still wasn’t totally convinced I needed to loose weight, but I was convinced I needed to get myself healthier. After all, I didn’t want to be 25 years old with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and a future filled with prescriptions and doctors appointments and hospital visits.

Even now, with everything I have learned in the last year, I’m still a victim of this “fat gap.” My perception is still skewed, or is it? Where do we draw the line between realism and skewed perceptions of ourselves? I’m still considered overweight by BMI standards, but I don’t feel overweight at all. I feel fit and healthier than I have since high school. Heck, I feel better than I did in high school because I’m eating so much better. My blood pressure is normal – good even. My cholesterol is still high, but my ratio of HDL to total cholesterol is good. (I’ve got a giant genetic uphill battle to fight on this one. I’m pretty sure EVERY member of my family has high cholesterol. My grandmother’s is over 300 hundred and she doesn’t have any of the problems that are caused by cholesterol levels that high.) Is my perception that I’m “not” overweight still a skewed perception based on the “fat gap” or is it caused by the fact that I am getting healthier and fitter (and closer to a normal BMI) every day. I may still be overweight, but I could out run some of the skinny girls I know any day of the week.

My first instinct is to ask how in the world we, as a society, got to a place where this “fat gap” even exists. But if you spend even half a minute considering that, the answer seems pretty obvious. So I guess the question becomes not how did we get here, but how do we get away from here.

The one thing I find ironic about this idea of the “fat gap” is the fact that while our perceptions of what is a “normal” body size/ weight have gotten larger, or beauty ideals have remained the same, or even gotten smaller and more unrealistic. There has been some movement in getting real women into magazines and advertisements (think Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty), but on the whole magazines and ads are airbrushed to the point where models/ celebrities are too perfect looking to even be real. It seems to me that the opposite should be happening here.

What do you all think of the “fat gap?” Have you experienced this in your own lives? How do you think society can get back to a place where “normal” really is “normal” or are we doomed?

009. Girls on the Run

2009-11-04T09:11:00.000-06:00

I just recently heard about the Girls on the Run organization (I saw an ad on a CTA bus actually.), and I am totally in love with it. I really want to volunteer as a coach, but right now it's not an option due to scheduling (and also winter in Chicago).

Girls on the Run is an afterschool program for girls ages 8 to 12 that combines 5K training with lessons in self-esteem and self-acceptance. As a feminist and someone constantly striving to live a healthy lifestyle, I think this is . Monday night I signed up to run the Girls on the Run 5K. Today Fit Bottomed Girls featured an article about the organization and an interview with the founder Molly Barker.

If you haven't already, you need to go to the site, read the article, and comment on it. For each comment left, FGB will donate $1 to GOTR up to $500. In addition, New Balance, who is a major sponsor of the GOTR 5K (and running shoe maker of my choice), will match the FBG donation and donate an additional $1 up to $500 for each comment.

So start your day by making a difference. Go comment!

008. Just a quicky

2009-11-03T22:16:00.000-06:00

I went for a quick run today. I had no energy (and there for no desire to run) because I didn't sleep very well last night, but I'm really trying to stick to the training schedule I developed. I did the 2 miles in 18:41 which is a 9:20 min/ mile pace. I did do my run outside. I'm definitely going to make sure I'm doing at least one run a week outside as it gets colder; otherwise I'm going to have a really hard time breathing during the Santa Shuffle 5K on December 5th. The cold air really stings my lungs.

I was really in the mood for pizza tonight. I think it was Caitlin's Vegetarian BBQ Pizza post that got it in my head. I made a Hawaiian pizza tonight for the BF and I. It clocked in at about 185 calories per slice which isn't too bad. Plus, I have leftover to eat for lunch tomorrow!

Not the most appetizing picture - I forgot to take one before I cut it up - but it was really yummy. I used a pre-made crust like Pillsbury's only I bought the generic brand (which actually had fewer calories and less fat.). The crust was a total nightmare. I tried rolling it out myself because I like a really thin crust. That ended up being my worst idea of the night and nearly resulted in my rolling pin getting tossed across the room! Anyway, I topped the pizza with

55 g red onion
1/4 c. reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 c. part-skim mozzarella cheese
8 oz of pineapple chunks
6 slices of Rose Canadian Bacon
1/2 c. Culinary Circle Sweet Applewood BBQ Sauce

For dessert I had 1/2c. of Trader Joe's Non-Fat Plain Frozen Yogurt with 2T. sweetened shredded coconut, 5g of goji berries and 1T of rolled oats. It was really yummy!

Well, I don't have much else to say today. I also want to get to bed a little early tonight since I didn't sleep so well last night. I promise a more exciting post tomorrow!

007. Girl Can Run...again!

2009-11-02T22:10:00.000-06:00

I haven't talked much about my running in this blog yet, and that's primary because I was in some sort of running funk recently. Last Monday I had the run from hell, Wednesday I did okay with the interval training, but I didn't feel good about it, and Friday when I tried to run I had absolutely nothing in me. I wanted to do a quick two miles, but I ended up just walking the last 1/2 mile home. I literally had nothing in me to finish - physically or mentally. My legs were like lead weights and neither my heart nor my head were in it. It seems (hopefully) the funk has been lifted as off today.

Today as I was writing up my October recap/ November goals blog, I decided I need a more structure running plan. It's getting cold here and race season is basically over so I'm not training for anything in particular, but I felt like the only way for me to keep making progress is to pretend like I'm training for something. I decided to Google 15K training plans since my goal for November is to run 9 miles by the end of the month and log at least 50 miles run. I ended up kind of creating my own training plan based on the Novice and Intermediate plans on Hal Higdon's website. This is my training plan for now. I'm sure it'll vary a little from week to week depending on my schedule.

So, per the plan, I ran 4 miles tonight at the indoor track. It started out a little rough, but toward the end I was feeling good. I did figure out part of my problem is I'm starting off too hard and not pacing myself properly. I ran my first mile in about 9:15 which is really great, but that's not a pace I can maintain for 4 miles (not yet anyway) once I realized this I forced myself to slow down some. That was when I started hitting my stride. I finished the whole run in about 40 minutes. I was okay maintaining the 10 minute mile pace, but I'm definitely going to need to slow down to start increasing my distance.

I also realized I need to stop going to the Pavilion during "peak hours" because I am seeing way too many people I never wanted to see again! Tonight there were three guys I went to junior high with in the weight room (which has windows to the track.) Let me just say I now understand how goldfish feel. I could feel them looking at my every time I ran past. It made me feel really awkward for about the first 2 miles until I was finally able to just ignore their presence. I felt like I was being judged, but I wasn't going to leave and let them ruin my run. I'm too old for that crap.

And finally, last but not least, my food for the day. I didn't get photos of breakfast and lunch because a) I forgot and b) they were lame anyway. Breakfast was a bowl of Kashi GoLean Honey Almond Flax and lunch was left over mac n cheese from yesterday. Dinner however, was a pretty tastey Crustless Broccoli, Bacon, and Cheese Quiche with a honeycrisp apple.

In the pan....to on the plate...