The Good and The Bad

The good? My food today! I ate some mouth watering meals -- no lie.

The bad? My mood. My day started off on the wrong foot and I never could quite get back on track. Since I ran 12 miles yesterday I decided to just do yoga today. This morning I drove to my favorite yoga studio only to be greeted by a locked door. They changed their schedule but didn't change the class schedule on their website. Doh! Then I had an allergy attack that lasted a good portion of the day (headache, stuffy nose, etc.).

After my yoga debacle I headed to my favorite coffee joint for a latte and a breakfast treat. I had a Larabar in my purse but I just wasn't feeling it today so I decided to splurge on a muffin. This apple bran muffin may be the most delicious muffin I've ever had. I only ate the top and saved the "stump" for tomorrow. It was dense, moist and soooo delicious. The fact that I actually saved the stump just goes to show you how good it was.

Breakfast was wonderful but it didn't hold me for very long. My stomach was loudly growling by noon, but I held out for another hour before I assembled a bowl of leftovers for lunch. There's plain quinoa in the bottom of my bowl topped with greek salad and a scoop of beetroot tzatziki. Hit the spot!

I started to get snacky around 5:00 pm. I wanted something sweet, so I made a "dessert" sampler plate. Sliced banana + spoonful of natural peanut butter + crushed dark chocolate square = perfect snack.

For dinner I was CRAVING linguine primavera with an alfredo sauce. I made a healthy version using whole wheat linguine and a homemade, low fat alfredo sauce. It was awesome. Chris loved it, too. I added a sliced Niman Ranch sausage to his portion. We both cleaned our plates.

I based my alfredo sauce off of this recipe with a few tweaks. It's a keeper.

Sunday

Long run Sunday! I decided to not set an alarm and let myself wake up naturally this morning. As soon as I did wake up at 7:30 I ate a yogurt and let myself digest for about 20 minutes before heading out on a 12 mile run.

About half way through my run I broke out these sports beans and ate 75% of the bag. They gave me the boost I needed during the second half of my run but came back to haunt me at mile 11. I ended up walking the final mile of my run due to extreme stomach cramps. I blame the beans!

Once showered Chris and I headed out for brunch at Keke's. I ate about half of my veggie omelette and 90% of the mini stack of blueberry pancakes. I also drank a tall glass of water and two cups of coffee.

We were on the go for hours! After brunch we hit the outlet mall and walked and walked and walked. After my 12 mile run this morning my feet were TIRED by the time we got home. I drank a refreshing Vitamin Water for a hydration boost when we got home. I drank about 100 ounces of water today as well.

I made a Greek spread for dinner. I suddenly got really hungry while cooking so I ate about five pistachios and two big bites of plain quinoa. Perfect little snack to tide me over.

Dinner included...

- Greek salad (cucumber, cherry tomatoes, green & orange peppers, onion, olives)

- Homemade tzatziki

- Homemade beetroot tzatziki (REALLY good)

- Sabra hummus

- Black pepper feta

- Asiago & whole wheat flat bread

The spread...

Greek salad...

Beetroot tzatziki...

Tzatziki...

Hummus...

Feta...

My plate (and I had seconds)...

The star ingredient on the Greek salad was my favorite balsamic vinegar.

Chris and I had a wonderful Sunday and had a great discussion over Sunday night dinner. I highly recommend sitting at the table and having a proper meal with real conversation and no television. It's easy to eat in front of the TV, but so much nicer when you don't.

It's time for bed; the weekends go by so fast! Sigh.

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night!

Chris and I had a long day of errands ahead of us so I skipped my hardcore workout this morning in favor of some calming yoga. We hit the road at 10:00 am and our first stop was Starbucks.

I had a latte and a lemon Larabar for breakfast.

Around 1:30 pm we stopped for lunch at our favorite Turkish restaurant, Bosphorous. It was a hot day today and I was feeling parched so I ordered a large Pellegrino -- no sharing, it was all mine and I drank every drop!

We had lunch with a friend so we all shared the appetizer sampler with an order of lavas bread.

Heaven!

I also ordered a "small" house salad, although there's nothing small about this salad. I only managed to eat about 1/4 of it.

For dessert I hit up the local frozen yogurt joint and got a cup of original topped with blueberries, pineapple and chocolate chips. Chris helped me finish this guy...

Around 8pm we started to get hungry again, but didn't want anything too heavy so I surveyed our refrigerator and pantry and decided to give PF Chang's lettuce wraps a try. I found several knock off recipes online and I improvised based on what we had on hand.

I sauteed...

- onion

- garlic

- ginger

- carrot

- water chestnut

- tempeh

- quinoa

with...

- olive oil

- soy sauce

- teriyaki sauce

- rice wine vinegar

- sesame oil

Turned out GREAT! Tasty and much healthier than the restaurant version.

And now the requisite cute puppy shot taken this evening while lounging on the bed.

Good night!

Hungry Friday

I had a hungry day today! I got up and immediately ate a piece of Rudi's Organic cinnamon raisin toast with a very light spread of Lee Iacocca butter (yes, he makes heart healthy butter now!). After digesting for a bit I laced up and hit the pavement for an eight mile run.

Three miles into my run I got the shakes. My blood sugar dropped too low so I hightailed it back home for more food. I threw together a bowl of 0% Fage, a diced plum, a sprinkle of Honest Foods granola plank and a drizzle of raw honey for an extra glucose boost. As soon as I was done eating I continued my run and logged another three miles, for a total of six, with my plum dancing around my stomach. I cut my run short of the planned eight miles since my mid-run pit stop put me behind schedule. I had to get out the door to yoga class for a nice stretch.

I stopped by Starbucks on my way home from yoga and got a small latte. I love starting my day with a good workout.

Several hours later I was hungry for lunch. I decided on a loaded veggie burger with raw veggies and a few pretzel sticks on the side.

This may have been the best veggie burger I've ever made. I used my last sprouted grain bun and topped it with swiss, avocado, onion, lettuce and spicy brown mustard.

I drank a 10 calorie vitamin water with lunch for a change of pace. I usually drink water. I love this flavor, it reminds me of jello.

Around 5:00 pm I was hot and antsy. I wanted a pina colada but I was still working and I don't have any liquor in the house so I settled on what I'm calling a Cherry Lime Cooler. It hit the spot!

I blended the following ingredients...

- lots of ice

- small scoop of 0% Fage yogurt

- large squirt of key lime juice

- dollop of black cherry preserves

- large splash of 1% milk

- large splash of water

- sprinkle of raw sugar

And I topped the result with some organic whipped cream and a maraschino cherry!

It was cool, creamy, guilt free deliciousness.

I enjoyed my Cherry Lime Cooler on the couch while my dog stared at me.

Chris and I went out for a late dinner at a local Thai restaurant. Of course I forgot my camera, so Chris graciously snapped these dinner photos on his phone. I started with a glass of Chardonnay.

And for a starter I got the vegetarian tofu fresh rolls with peanut dipping sauce. I also ate two pieces of Chris's tempura broccoli.

And for my entree I ordered tofu green curry with brown rice. It was pretty good. I ate most of the rice and about 1/3 of the curry. Some of the veggies had a strange fishy flavor.

When we left the restaurant it was POURING rain and we did not park nearby since we had planned on taking an after dinner stroll. Chris was sweet and ran to the car and pulled it around for me. What a guy!

When we got home I made Chris a Cherry Lime Cooler for dessert! He loved it, but requested more cherry next time. As I heard his straw hit the bottom of the cup he asked "How bad is this for me?" I was pleased to report that besides the bit of sugar it's actually GOOD for you! That's the kind of dessert I like!

Lights Out

I was planning to work all morning and all day, then head to the downtown gym for a long run and then a yoga class at the nearby yoga studio. Well, plans changed.

I fueled for my day with a delicious bowl of oats.

- 1/3 cup oats cooked w/ 1/2 of a banana, 1/3 cup 1% milk & 1/3 cup water

- mixed in 1 tablespoon flax and 1 teaspoon cinnamon at the end of cooking

- topped with 1/2 banana, blueberries, scoop of 0% Fage, almonds & coconut

I decided to eat breakfast in the bedroom while trying to catch up on some reading.

Bella joined me and got to lick the oatmeal bowl.

After breakfast we migrated into the office to get to work. Besides my lap, her second favorite spot is on top of any type of bag. Suitcase, backpack, briefcase, it does not matter. If it's a bag, she loves it. Here she is chewing on her bone on my backpack.

About 5 minutes after I took the above picture our power went out. It was clear blue skies so I know it wasn't weather related. And I pay the bills, so I know we weren't overdue. I waited about 30 minutes and then went over to the neighbors to check to see if they had power. They didn't and they had called the power company and were told it would be hours. UGH. No phone and no internet -- a telecommuter's nightmare.

I decided to try Barnes & Noble's free WiFi. I honestly didn't want coffee, but I felt like a freeloader not buying anything so I got a small drip. However, I wouldn't have purchased the small drip had I known I would not be able to find a power source! The battery life on my laptop is pathetic so I only had enough juice to log into the network and turn my email "out of office" on. I killed some time at B&N before heading back home.

Yay! Power! Fortunately it only took a few hours to get the power restored. I got engrossed in work and lost track of time. I'm not sure when this happened but my stomach started yelling at me so I made a spinach smoothie.

- X-Large handful of spinach

- 1/2 of a frozen banana

- 3 frozen peach slices

- scoop of 0% fage

- 2 tablespoons flax

- ice

- splash of water

Popeye would approve. It was VERY spinachy. I used the full-grown, mature spinach with slightly woody stems so the spinach flavor was robust. At first I didn't like it, but about five sips into it the flavor grew on me and I ended up enjoying it.

I also munched on a few handfuls of Optimum Slim dry cereal and decided to blow off my workout today. The whole power outage threw me off. I hate it when that happens.

For dinner I had an Amy's Organic black bean burrito with a pile of sauteed veggies (kale, onion, bell pepper & tomato).

Ok, I think I'm done eating for the day.

Kundalini Wednesday

I ran a pleasant 4 miles first thing this morning and then headed to the yoga studio for a 90 minute Kundalini class. It was my first experience with Kundalini yoga and it was wild! It felt like a private class since there were only two of us and the teacher. My favorite part of the class was the ego eradicator with fire breath! Crazy stuff!

I wasn't hungry for breakfast this morning. All I wanted was coffee. Even after running and yoga I didn't want anything to eat. I grabbed a coffee on my way home from yoga.

I didn't get hungry until 2:30 pm! I was ready to EAT when I finally did get hungry. I had a veggie burger with lettuce tomato and onion on a sprouted grain bun with an apple on the side.

And for dessert I had a diced plum over cottage cheese.

And for my REAL dessert I had a square of dark chocolate with a teaspoon of almond butter and a cup of tea.

Chris called me requesting Outback for dinner so I met him there around 8:00 pm. I inhaled my house salad (no croutons, dressing on the side) before I even thought about a picture! And I forgot my camera at home, so these dinner shots are courtesy of Chris's blackberry.

I passed on the bread and the bloomin' onion, but I did order veggie pasta.

I ate nearly all of the veggies and about half of the pasta. Here's the after shot.

When we got home I had a nightcap of an ounce of toffee liqueur.