071. An Excess of Lazy

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!

064. A Change of Pace

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?

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

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

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.

049. Running Log

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

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.

045. My Whittle My Middle

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.

043. Back to Work

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.

018. Happy Thanksgiving

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.

015. Mid-Month Funk

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.