Thirsty Thursday

Today was my Friday! In about 12 hours I’ll be en route to Seattle for a nice relaxing weekend with my family and friends… so necessary right now!

My day today was light on meetings but heavy on the number of things on my to-do list before finishing out my week. I fueled up for the day with a waldorf salad of sorts. I packed plain yogurt sprinkled with cinnamon, and added 1/2 a chopped apple, 2 tbsp coconut, and 2 tbsp walnuts to it when I got into the office. It was tasty! Next time I’ll try vanilla yogurt instead of plain, and perhaps throw some pineapple in instead of apple?

Doesn’t look like much but I promise it was good!

I spent my morning emailing away, checking up on how signature gathering is going with members (we’re collecting signatures of parents in support of the school board reinstating the music, library, and PE teachers that were cut last year during the upcoming budget process – we’re at 300+ since last week!), and scheduling meetings for next week. I was also SUPER thirsty – I emptied my 20 ounce Nalgene bottle three times by lunch!

Lunch today was a huge mound of salad with a couple of apple slices. I find salads so refreshing! Yeah, lettuce, spring mix or spinach really aren’t that exciting and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone to eat it alone – so it’s really the fun additions that make a salad appealing. I try to mix up my salads so they don’t get boring, and so every bite is a different combo of tastes.

In my pile of veg: spring mix, feta, banana peppers, chopped turkey breast, cucumber and sprouts. I had the other half of my apple sliced alongside.

That is piled HIGH!!

My lunch held me surprisingly well until 3 pm despite the lack of carbs. On my way out I grabbed a package of chocolate chip Heart Thrive “cookies” (do they even warrant that label?) and gobbled one on my way to the gym.

These babies are calorie dense – about 160 cals for one – but they pack a punch. I believe the stats are 40% of your fiber, 20% protein and ~30% calcium as well?

That’s something I can get behind. Heart Thrive snacks definitely taste healthy, and are a good cookie alternative if you have a craving for something sweet but healthy and more substantial than, say, a Clif Z bar. The apple and raisin spice ones are great too.

I had a great run at the gym! I ran 6.25 mi in 50 min and felt fabulous the whole time. My foot was really bugging me on Monday and I was getting worried, but today I had no problems. Must have been a muscular issue rather than a stress fracture, since icing it the other night helped. Thank goodness!!

I had a personal appt right after and ate some snap peas during that… sorry no pic. Then I had to hightail it out to Gresham for a school board meeting. Tonight was an eating on the run night so I stopped by Jamba Juice for a smoothie and some wheat grass to pump up my veg intake for the day. I was just going to get a 16 oz Jamba and plan to eat something at home after the school board meeting, but it was OFFICIALLY Thirsty Thursday for them, which meant I could upgrade to a 24 oz for the same price!

24 oz Protein Berry Workout with Whey Protein (basically, soy milk, strawberry, naners, and protein) + 2 oz wheatgrass:

I won’t lie, wheatgrass is not exactly the tastiest little shot in the world, but it is SO good for you! Every ounce of wheatgrass provides the nutritional equivalent of 2.2 pounds of vegetables! That’s hard to beat so I try to suck it down now and again.

The school board meeting dragged on… and on… and on. No big surprise that my smoothie didn’t hold me long despite it being huge and calorie dense (370 cals). I had to shovel down my other Heart Thrive cookie, bar, snack, whatever on my way home because my tummy was sure growlin by 10pm!! I feel better now and my headache is starting to go away… so I think I might do some baking Maybe I should have a  beer in honor of real Thirsty Thursday though. Hmm decisions decisions.

In any case, it’s my Friday – so I can do what I want!!

Enjoy YOUR Friday!

Fake Thursday!

I love short weeks!! One more (long) day until I’m heading up to Seattle for the weekend!!

I was a lazy butt and didn’t really prepare my breakfast/lunch for today last night so food was quite haphazard…. i.e. it was a carbfest all day, which I didn’t realize until I was making din, reviewing my food today, and realizing there was a serious lack of all thing fruit and veggie.

Breakfast was lame but still tasty. I toasted a slice of Dave’s Killer Bread Robust Raisin and slathered on some PB. Coffee was a necessity today to say the least.

The morning flew by because I was chatting away with the women in my office about the difficulties we encounter organizing people around improving education and strategies for dealing with them. My job totally attracts type-A, super go getter, control-freak type people that don’t tend to take failure lightly – yet we work with volunteers. There is a lot out of my control in my work and I find that disquieting a lot of time. How do you deal with things out of your control?

The rest of my afternoon was spent in a meeting with an elementary principal, training a new leader, and giving a presentation to a parent group. In between the first 2 I ate a quick lunch at a coffee shop. Sadly the best option was a bagel with CC. I ate half and had a honey vanilla Oikos with 1/2 banana mixed in, plus some black coffee.

Somehow I remembered to grab the naner and yogurt from the office but left behind my snap peas and apple. Daaaang.

Next up in today’s carb fest was a huge cranberry white chocolate macadamia cookie at another coffee shop while working in between meetings. I’d say it was worth most of the calories but not all I ate about 1/3. Check out those tasty chunks of white choc!!

My presentation went really well, so my day ended on a high note. On my way home I remembered my disc of The Wire was due back to the vid store this afternoon so I set out on the ~1.5 mi walk to the store to return it. The three mile round trip walk was the perfect amount of exercise for the day since my bootay was SORE from Boot Camp yesterday, and I haven’t had much rest since my half marathon.

Dinner finally incorporated some veggies but sadly my camera batteries died!! It didn’t occur to me until after I chowed down to take an iPhone photo. Anyway, it wasn’t super exciting. I sauteed a spinach and feta chicken sausage and some fresh spinach, steamed broccoli, and topped it all with a healthy serving of tomato sauce and some grated parm. I had some Dave’s Killer Bread Good Seed toast (best toast EVER) to round it out.

Not sure what the rest of my night holds but I am searching Allrecipes for recipes with coconut and chocolate chips!!

Drowning in dressing

My week is half over! Whooooooo! I am heading up to Seattle to visit my parents and friends on Friday and am soooo ready for a three-day weekend.

I was supposed to have a meeting out in Gresham at 9 am this morning that I would have had to leave at 8:15 for, so was planning on a quick breakfast at home. When I checked my phone this morning though my meeting was cancelled – so I had a nice leisurely breakfast at home, since I knew my day was going to be long anyway. More time in the morning = special oatmeal!

Today’s mix:

• 1/2 c oats
• 1/3 c unsweetened applesauce (awesome natural sweetener for oats)
• 1 c frozen blueberries
• pinch of granola
• 1 tbsp coconut <— best combo EVER with blueberries!!

It was the perfect way to start my morning and made up (a little) for my super tiredness. I think my late night on Sun caught up to me today. Obvi a big@$$ cup of coffee was in order. I ran by Baker and Spice on my way to work for 16 oz of sunshine (I wish, we could use it here in OR!). Don’t know where my pic went but never to worry – I go there all the time and you’ll see it plenty!

On the way into work, I was listening to our local NPR station and the topic for the call in show (Think Out Loud) was about quarter life crises. I found it SO relatable. Basically the discussion was around the phenomenon that’s emerged in the last 5 years or so where 20-somethings experience intense worry about where their lives are, total uncertainty about who they are, and unsure of what their future could and should hold. I don’t know if crisis is the right word for my feelings, but I definitely share some of this worry about whether I’m on the right path, or on a path at all, and how to get there.

Do you relate to this at all, or have you ever??

Back to eats… lunch included my first Bagel Thin sandwich, which was just ok (probably because it wasn’t toasted), a clementine, and two Hershey’s miniatures.

My Bagel Thin had ginger apple mustard, roasted turkey breast, spring mix and alfalfa sprouts. Definitely would have been better toasted so I’m not writing these off yet. I can’t anyway because I have a Costco package!!

After my second to last meeting of the day ended at 4:15, I ate a big apple on my way to the gym for a boot camp class. The apple was mealy so I only ate about 2/3 What a disappointment!

That’s the elementary school where I was meeting with a teacher about getting him involved in our efforts. This is what I spend the majority of my time doing, FYI – meeting with people or giving presentations to school staffs and parent groups about Stand for Children and getting them involved in our efforts to improve schools and elevate children’s issues in the political arena. I also spend a lot of time talking with school board members and district officials as well.

Boot camp was TOUGH!! It was taught by one of my favorite teachers and was 50 mins of butt kicking. There were stations set up with exercises like jump ropes, pushups on bosu balls, lunges with a weight for torso twisting, and some others I’ve probably blocked out of my memory. We did a station for 3 minutes straight then did 3 minutes of some sort of cardio exercise, then rotated. I’ll feel that burn tomorrow – hurts so good! I definitely think I did something to my left foot on Saturday though during my race… not sure if it’s bone, muscle or tendon but it hurts…

I ran to Panera for a quick din din before heading back out for an evening community input about establishing school based health clinics. OR just passed a law requiring companies to put calorie info up and it looks like Panera already did! It was nice to have that info at my fingertips. I made a smart choice with a You Pick 2 combo of a Mediterranean Salmon salad and a cup of chicken noodle soup for a total of 320 calories. I forgot to ask for dressing on the side and my salad came literally DRENCHED.

You probably can’t tell because Panera had craptastic lighting but it was pretty yucky. I was hungry so I ate what I could but argggggggg. Must remember to ask for no dressing next time! I saved the apple for another day. The muffin in the background? They had a deal where you can add a pastry for 99 cents so I figured I’d crumble it on some oatmeal over the next couple days. That’s a 470 cal bad boy though so it better last!!

The final meeting of the night went smoothly and now that I’m home, I’m pooped and ready for bed soon! I WILL crack open Intuitive Eating tonight since last night our power went out and my plan to start was thwarted!! Right now I am eating some undocumented m n m’s but THEN I’ll get to it

Night!

Bad habits (we all have them…)

Howdy! I am mmmmm’ing my way through my dinner right now. It’s all an too common occurrence that I eat while I’m doing something else, which I know is a big faux pas in the intuitive eating world. Speaking of intuitive eating, that’s a practice I’m trying to slowly build into my life and plan to crack that book (Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole)  open tonight! Watch out for a review in a couple of weeks. Not that I’ll be the first blogger to do so, but I’m excited to see how this can play out in my life.

Before I get to my din though let’s go through my day!

I’m in the habit of taking my breakfast to work and eating it at my desk as I check my email in the morning (mainly so I can sleep in a few more minutes!). This morning I packed 1/3 c oats, cinnamon, 1 cup frozen strawberries and half a banana. I nuked it all together using the fruit as a natural sweetener, then added 1/4 cup TJ’s lowfat berry granola from my drawer stash for some crunch! Enjoyed it with coffee from home – that’s my pink tumbler in the back.

My morning was spent in a staff meeting talking about a million things – mostly Oregon’s pathetic Race to the Top application and what our endorsement process for governor and state treasurer will look like. One thing I really like about my organization is that we have really productive meetings and I never feel like I just wasted my time. When your day is jampacked it’s good to feel you really got stuff DONE.

My breakfast must have had all the components of a perfect meal, because my tummy didn’t start growling until about 1:15, over 4 hours later! Lunch was a delicious salad packed from home alongside a Yoplait strawberry greek yog.

World’s lamest salad picture, sorry. In the mix was: spring mix, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, shredded carrots, reduced fat feta, and 3 oz turkey breast. No dressing for me today.

I had 2 meetings this afternoon, one with the superintendent of one of the districts I organize in and one with a union rep there. The afternoon flew by – so thankful for that on a Monday! I had a skim SF almond latte at my 2nd meeting as well. No pic since it didn’t seem super appropriate. I’m sure you can use your lovely imagination to figure out what that looked like

I stopped off at Costco on my way home for a tub of spring mix greens and of course spent $30 when I went in for one thing! Also there was a major sample deficit. Note to self: don’t go to Costco on weekdays! I still managed to snag a sample of creamy tomato bisque and a Stacy’s pita chip with hummus though. It was still a good trip because I walked out with a box of 12 apples for $4 and the bagel thins I’ve seen popping up everywhere! I eat at least one apple almost every day and those things get expensive, man.

I was starved by the time I got home at 6pm though since I didn’t really do an afternoon snack so I threw together something SOUPer fast. Haha lame joke, whatev.

Dinner was 1/2 a nuked sweet potato with cinnamon; spring mix with some Newman’s own spray balsamic dressing (love this stuff, chemicals and all!); and 1.5 cups Pacific Black Bean Soup topped with a bit of cheddar and a dollop of plain yogurt. Yum yum! Even though I plan to go to the gym later I had a splash of wine since I was home alone and needed a pick me up in the absence of my smiley boyfriend!

I just picked up my bowl and drank the rest of it. What a barbarian. Can’t leave me alone.

I’m going to chill for awhile then head to the gym for a quick run and SWIM!! If I’m going to do a sprint triathlon this summer, I best get my booty back in the pool. I swam competitively growing up (more on that in future posts) but I haven’t really spent much time in the pool the last couple years. A swim tonight could be a huge bruise to my former swimmer’s ego, but that’s the only way to get better!

Have a fabulous night!!

** Edited to add: I did a 3.2 mi run on the treadmill in 25 minutes before some weird stabbing pain in my foot got to me. Guess I should stay off it for a few days? Also did 2 x 50 crunches on the ball; 2 x 30 torso twists with a 10 lb weight; 2 x 15 hamstring rollouts on ball; and 2 x 25 side crunches on each side. Then I swam a mile in 25 minutes! Definitely going to be doing more of that, it was great.

I also ate a Snack Pack when I got home – feels like being a kid Mmm puddin’!

Happy Eats-ter

Whew, what a day!! I thought holidays were supposed to be relaxing!! It’s midnight and I’m just now able to blog for all of today!

We did get to sleep in a bit this morning, which was nice because last night we went to Rogue Brewery for a sampler platter. Rogue is one of Portland’s amazing microbreweries, and has one of the longest lists of beers on tap that they make around.

Jacob and I each ordered the 4 pour sampler, which gave us a total of eight different 4 oz pours.

All were delicious, but I’m partial to dark beers… so the Mocha Porter and Chocolate Stout were my favorites (far right). Beer + coffee + chocolate? Three of my favorite things? Yes please!

My half marathon hunger and Jacob’s dinner nibblings caught up to us after the beer, so we got some black bean dip as well. Scrumptious! I think it was black beans with sour cream and spices, topped with sour cream and salsa – chips on side. I had about 10 chips and ~ 1/3 cup dip?

Then we hit the sack in prep for our busy day today.

Before heading to church this a.m., I had a quick cup of coffee and inhaled (literally, we had NO time this morning!) plain yogurt, 1/2 cup Quaker Oatmeal Squares, and 1/2 banana mixed up with a little honey on top.

We were so rushed I had to bring my bowl in the car with me! Not ideal for mindful eating, but worth it to make it to mass on time. We still hard to stand but it was still a great experience. I am not really religious, so going to a Catholic mass with Jacob was a new experience!

We’d been meaning to see the movie Ghost Writer (Ewan McGregor, mmm, Pierce Brosnan, mmm) for awhile and planned on a 1pm show. Elephants Delicatessen was next door, so we grabbed a quick bite to hold us through the movie.

This place was great! It’s basically a gourmet deli with both made-to-order and grab n go food. I had to hold myself back from everything, considering I wasn’t hungry at all!

Tasty drinks:

Grab n go:

Goooood lookin cookies:

My lunch: cup of Tomato Orange Soup and a side salad, + coffee. I ate all the soup – what a combo!! – and most of the salad. I will have to do some shopping around to find a similar soup recipe and tangle with it. I’m really picky on creamy soups but this was perfect. Creamy and indulgent but still tasted healthy.

The movie was great. I really liked all the actors, and the political intrigue was just right. Good twists that keep you on the edge of your seat!

We squeezed in a quick gym session right after and I had a very sweaty 45 min elliptical workout. My legs needed a good stretch after yesterday!

We had like the quickest turnaround ever before heading to Jacob’s dad’s for Easter dinner. His stepmom, stepbrother, his wife and two kids were there, as well as J’s brother. We had quite the spread!!

Apps, plus my carrot cakes:

My apps plate: 2 fruit skewers, plus a skewer with tortellinis, cheese, salami (I think?), olives and tomatoes.

Beautiful table:

My plate: (from left) 1 piece fried chicken, spinach + strawberry salad, carrot + raisin salad, ham, bread, potato salad, asparagus. YUM!!

Everything was delicious. Jacob’s stepmom is an amazing cook so I take the opportunity to (over)indulge when I’m there. It was healthy for the most part, minus the potato salad and fried chicken. Even the chicken was relatively nongreasy… rationalize much??

Of course, holiday dinners aren’t holiday dinners without dessert, no matter how full you are…  check out the cookie bouquet Jacob’s stepmom (Kathy) made!

I had a cookie and a carrot cupcake. Oh yeah and I had about 7 oz of wine tonight as well?

I left quite stuffed but happy with what I ate. Good thing I worked out today! Back to healthier ways tomorrow.

What were your Easter eats like? Do you let yourself indulge more on holidays or when you’re with family?

We still had chores and I had work to do when I got home, which pushed our night pretty late. It’s 12:30 now – way past my bedtime! Nighty night!

Veggies or bust

I have this weird thing lately where I’m really not all that hungry on days when I do long runs! Last Sunday, I did 10 mi in preparation for this morning’s Vernonia Half Marathon, and I had to force down a smoothie and dinner later on! Wtf, body! Same thing today. For having burned 1250 calories this morning, you’d think I’d be a bit hungrier for dinner (though it might have something to do with finger lickin’ while making mini carrot cakes to take to Easter dinner tomorrow!).

Din din tonight is small… trying that whole “honor your hunger thing.”

I steamed a couple of cups of TJ’s stir fry mix (brocc, snow peas, bok choy, cabbage, carrots), heated up a gardenburger in the nuker, and put some sweet chili sauce on top. Voila, an easy peasy dinner. It did its trick too – my serious veg craving is gone! Though I wasn’t really hungry today, the only thing that sounded appealing was veggies. I guess that’s a good thing! *pats self on back for listening to body cues*

Today’s half marathon was… interesting. I don’t really have pics since, well, I just started the blog like 5 mins ago But the weather was naaaasty. It was 35 and rain mixed with snow came down on us for most of it. Also, the trail was advertised as flat, fast and mostly paved. I guess those words are open to interpretation, because that’s not how it seemed to me!! About 3 mi of the path were on gravel road, which in this weather basically meant puddles of snow, ice and mud. My shoes are so gross!!

That’s my finishers medal on top. J and I booked it right after I finished so I’m not sure if I medaled or not – Jacob said only about 10 women finished ahead of me, so maybe I medaled in my age group? Now, that doesn’t mean I’m awesome or anything – just not that a lot of people 20-24 enter I finished the half in 1:47:something – 2.5 mins off my PR from January. I was upset today but I did the best I could under really crappy circumstances on a way hillier course than I was expecting! Oh yeah… my headphones died at mile 10 and I had to run the last 3.1 WITH NO MUSIC!! Needless to say that was pretty rough. Anyway enough whining about the bad conditions, I still ran 13.1 miles today!

My afternoon was spent running errands, including grocery shopping for supplies for these beauties:

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese and Toasted Coconut Frosting

Adapted from Cooking Light

• Cake:
• 3/4  cup  all-purpose flour (*I used whole wheat)
• 1/4  cup  quick-cooking oats
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon
• 1  teaspoon  baking powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1  cup  granulated sugar
• 1/4  cup  canola oil (*I used 1/4 cup applesauce – I healthified Cooking Light!)
• 1  (2 1/2-ounce) jar carrot baby food
• 2  large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/4  cups  shredded carrot
• 1/2  cup  golden raisins
• Cooking spray
  Frosting:
• 1/3  cup  (3 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1  tablespoon  butter, softened
• 1 1/4  cups  powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/2  teaspoon  vanilla extract (* I used 1 teaspoon)
• 1/4  cup  flaked sweetened coconut, toasted

How to:

Preheat oven to 325°. Combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt in bowl; whisk to combined. Place flour mixture in a large bowl. Combine sugar, applesauce, baby food, and eggs; whisk. Add to flour mixture; stir just moistened. Stir in grated carrot and raisins. Spray cupcake tray with cooking spray, and ladle batter into cups until 2/3 full. Bake at 325° for 20 minutes**, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

** Bake time should be carefully watched. Cooking Light’s recipe was for an 8 inch square cake rather than cupcakes, and called for 40 min bake time. I only need to bake mine for 20 mins so be careful!

To make frosting, beat cream cheese and butter with mixer until smooth. Gradually add in powdered sugar and vanilla, beating at a low speed until chunks are gone. Frost each cupcake and top with coconut.

–

I haven’t tried a cupcake yet but Jacob said they were fabulous! Looking forward to taking them to his parents’ for dinner tomorrow.

We’re off to Rogue Brewery for some burrrrr. A sampler platter is in my future. (It’s a good recovery drink, ok?)