Most Talented Dog Ever

It's Wednesday afternoon and I should be getting ready to go to the gym, but I'm updating y'all on my eats and workouts instead because I am feeling lethargic. I want say it might have something to do with this heat wave, but lets face it - I'm am not outside all but maybe 10-15 minutes a day right now. I didn't get up the past few days in time to get my morning run in, so I went to my gym in the evening to run on the treadmill as it has been too freakin' hot and humid to function outdoors.

Monday

I was up in enough time to run for about thirty minutes so I munched on a bit of banana and honey, but then my body had a different idea so I stayed put and just got ready for work instead. I made a smoothie with water, cranberries, blackberries, spinach, and some PlantFusion protein powder. I haven't had this combo in a while and it was delicious.

I guess I should mention at this point that I have changed from my 4 eats (3 meals and 1 snack) every 4 hours to 5 eats (3 meals and 2 snacks) every 3 hours. I did this because I was feeling really hungry after 3 hours and I hadn't been able to lose any weight for a few weeks. I thought maybe it was because I had increased in my running time/mileage and was still eating around 1200 - 1300 calories. My goal is now more around 1350-1500. So not a big difference but we'll see if that helps.

Anywhoo -- I had a mid-morning snack of a rice cake covered in Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter.

Lunches for this week consist of a Morning Star Spicy Black Bean Veggie Burger, mozzarella cheese, pineapple slice, and some sweet potato rounds. This has become one of my new favorite lunches. It is very easy to make, delicious, and filling. I will try to change it up next week, but I give you no promises!

My afternoon snack was a White Chocolate Macadamia Luna Bar. I hadn't tried this flavor before and it was really good. I tend not to go for the Luna bars because it does contain processed food but they were on sale for $1/bar so I couldn't pass up on the savings.

I then took off to work out. I first hit up the Fitness Studio to do some toning and then headed off to MaxFitness to get my run in. I ran for 35 minutes and approximately 3.5 miles.

When I got home, it was time for dinner. I cooked up some Salmon and topped it off with Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ Sauce and blueberry-nectarine salsa.

Now time for intermission.... Jumpy the Border Collie:

...and now back to your regularly scheduled post.

Tuesday

I heard my first alarm go off and snoozed it and then never woke up again until I had 45 minutes until I had to leave to make it to work. I showered up and made a smoothie with mango, strawberries, protein powder, and some spinach.

My morning snack was a rice cake covered in Justin's Vanilla Almond Butter that I picked up at my local Fresh Market. I hadn't tried this flavor yet so I was going out on a limb to buy a whole jar but it just sounded so good... and Holy-Yum! I was right! I love this stuff!

Later in the afternoon I had a pear with a hard-boiled egg. Simple yet satisfying.

I got home, changed, and then hit up a spin class at Max Fitness. After that I hit up the treadmill but was having some discomfort in my calf muscle. I tried to go as long as I could, but could only make it to the 2 mile mark before I decided I would rather be safe then sorry.

I cooked up some ground chicken tostadas when I got home and it hit the spot. Have I ever mentioned how I love food that is so simple yet so delicious?! Well, I do. This meal is easy to make. Just brown up some ground chicken (or turkey, or even a lean ground beef), toast your corn tortillas, and serve it up with some lettuce, tomatoes, and black beans. Add some salsa for some added spice and wallah! You could even add in some other flavors if you wanted like corn, onions, and/or avocados!

Question: What kinds of things do you do to get past a plateau  Do you change what you eat or your workout schedule? Fill me in! I would love some ideas! 

Running Perks and June Recap

SATURDAY

I woke up in the morning feeling like p diddy and had a tablespoon of Justin's Maple Almond Butter and a Pomegranate Blueberry Pistachio Kind Plus bar. This was my first time having a Kind bar and it was really good. I had this to eat because I planned on running about 30 minutes after...

...but the 30 minutes turned in to over an hour before I actually hit that pavement. Oops!

My phone recently had an update and ever since then the GPS has not been working properly. I was running along and hit the one mile spot waiting for MapMyRun to read my total time and distance.. and I waited... and I waited. I thought maybe I had forgot to start it, but when I looked at my phone it was only reading .70 miles. Ugh. Frustrating. But I continued and said I would just have to guess by the total time. These are the split times they gave me, none of which I am trusting because it obviously didn't take me almost 38 minutes to do two miles.

 

I did some stretching when I finished and then found this weird gross thing on my shirt. I wonder how long he was along for the ride.

I hopped on MapMyRun.com to fix the map as best as I could to see what my total distance was. I planned to do 5 and ended up doing 5.45 with an average pace of about 11 minutes/mile. I guess that just means that I will have to do 5.5 or 6 this coming weekend.

After I freshened up, I headed to IHOP for some delicious breakfast! Yes, I had bacon and waffles. My lovely aunt gave me some grief for posting this photo on Facebook but I explained to her that running has its perks. I ran over 5 miles and burned more than 800 calories, and the day was just getting started. The meal was about 660. It was probably less than that because I didn't get butter and I used sugar free syrup instead of regular. So, of you ran 5.45 miles, you could eat like this too! Well, technically anyone could have this but you can have it with less guilt if you ran first. Oh, and it is a fact All my running buddies know that we run so we can eat. :)

I then headed off to Tiffany Nails to get in the 4th of July spirit.

After the nail salon I headed to get my hair done. It was desperately in need of a cut but was talked in to just a trim as everyone said they liked my hair long, so long it stayed. I think I am going to chop it all off when I hit my goal weight but we will see.

When I got home from running around all afternoon, I was in the mood for something salty and crunchy. So I took a look into the Healthy Surprise box I received a few weeks ago and found some Sesame Dijon Zucchini Chips from Just Pure foods. These were really good and I was sad when the bag was gone! The whole bag is one serving for 170 calories and 5 grams of protein. I can handle that! But I just checked out their website and one bag is $7! Yikes! Not sure I will be buying more of these after all.

SUNDAY

I kicked off Sunday with a smoothie made of pineapple, orange, ginger, kale and protein powder and then headed out to see my friend Britni.

After spending some time with her I headed to the grocery store to get all the fixin's for the week. I didn't have that much on my list and ended up filling the cart (and my cupboards) with things that were not necessary like chips, protein and other healthy bars, zero calorie flavored waters. I guess I was a little hungry.

When I got home, and after everything was put in its place, I made breakfast for lunch. Just a couple of eggs seasoned with Mrs. Dash, an orange, and a half of an Ezekiel English Muffin with a Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb wedge.

I was getting ready to relax when I noticed I had a voicemail from my mom asking me to come help her, my dad and brother move my grandpa. So much for relaxing. It was up off the couch and ready to work.

When we got there we had to pack everything up and load it, take it to his new home and unpack it. We got the major things done first, the kitchen, bath, and bed rooms. I had to leave at 8:30 pm because I was exhausted and I had things to do to get ready for work on Monday.

JUNE RECAP

Question: What do you like to eat after a run or workout? Do you splurge every once in a while or stick to the diet?

Busy Bee

Yay! The weekend has arrived! Wow, this week has flown by and as you know I've been M.I.A. Sorry! I finished up training on Tuesday afternoon and I am back to working a real schedule and as you know I've been doing more cardio, trying to burn off as many calories as possible so I can win the weight loss competition.

I'm just going to do a quick summary of what I have had to eat these past few days along with what I've been doing to burn off those calories!

Breakfast

Tuesday: PlantFusion protein powder, banana, celery, romaine lettuce, water and mint smoothie.
Wednesday: Smoothie of strawberries, orange, spinach, coconut water, mint and protein powder.
Thursday: Pineapple, mango, cucumber, water, and mint with a scoop of PlantFusion protein powder.
Friday: Strawberry, mango, spinach, mint, water, and PlantFusion protein powder smoothie.

Lunch

Cauliflower, broccoli, ground chicken, Fountain of Heath Roasted Garlic Hummus and Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning. I have also made this with rice in it but left it out for a low-carb option.

Snacks

Tuesday: NutThins, cheese, with roasted garlic hummus.
Wednesday: Apple and cheese.
Thursday: Rice cake covered in Justin's Honey Peanut Butter with a banana.
Friday: Apple with Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter.

Dinner

Tuesday: Veggie burger with a Thousand Island and red onion dressing, topped with mozzarella cheese and pineapple, served on a bed of spinach. Delicious!
Wednesday: Egg white omelet topped with red onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, and cheddar cheese.
Thursday: Cumin rubbed chicken breast served with a cucumber relish (cucumber, tomato, onion, garlic, lemon peel, and lemon juice), topped with a greek honey yogurt dressing served on a bed of spinach. Yum!
Friday: Honey BBQ salmon served with a blueberry-nectarine salsa (blueberries, nectarine, and oven roasted pecans). Holy Yum!! This was soooo good!

Activities
Tuesday: I had intended to go to spin class but on my way home I stopped by a friends house to see if she wanted to join me and we ended up talking right through it. Oh well, time with her is more important.

Wednesday:  I completed my run in the morning with an average pace of 10:41. After work I dashed off to spin class. I was, once again, the only person in the class. But that's ok with me. The instructor is super nice and she actually remembered my name, which really surprised me.

Thursday: Another morning run? Sure, why not?! I've been good about getting up and getting it done. But I have noticed that when I work out in the morning, I feel more hungry throughout the day. My run on Thursday had an average pace of 10:30.

My GPS got funky and all of a sudden decided that I could run like Dash from the Incredibles:

Friday: Rest Day!! I did go for a little walk with the pup to warm up my muscles so I could do some stretching but that was it.

Article
Although I have been doing my runs in the morning, they seem harder and I'm more willing to give in to walking. I was wondering what the difference was and like magic I ran across an article from Runners World. Here are a few of the tips they suggested that I'm going to have to try:

Give your blood sugar levels a little pick-me-up prior to running by eating half a banana, 6-8 ounces of juice or a toast and jam 15-20 minutes prior to your run.  Your body will tell you what it can handle and what it prefers.  It may mean waking up a few minutes earlier, but it will pay off because your mind will wake up and you will have plenty of energy to get you through your run. 

Walk for at least 5 minutes to properly warm your body up before you run.  It takes a little longer to warm up in the morning so start with an easy walking pace and gradually increase it to a brisk walking pace.  Walking for five minutes will make all the difference in allowing your body to more efficiently prepare for the transition to running. 

After the five minute walking warm up, run easy for 5-10 minutes.  Your body will reward you with a strong performance if you gradually bring it up to speed.  Like warming up a car in the winter, your body needs time to wake up, warm up and run!  You won't believe the difference!  If that doesn't help, alternate running for a minute or two and power walking for a minute before you hit your running tempo.  Run-walking works wonders in transitioning to running, especially in the morning.

It may mean waking up earlier (ugh!) but if it will improve my performance I'm game.

Question: Do you run in the morning? What are some things you do before you hit the pavement? Share with me in the comments below!

Running to BPM

Tuesday's breakfast was a smoothie made almond milk, PlantFusion protein powder, basil, celery, orange, blueberries, and ginger. For some reason, this smoothie was really cold. It was still delicious, it just took a little longer to drink trying to avoid getting a brain freeze!

I had the turkey mixture for lunch, and had an afternoon snack of an apple with some Justin's Honey Peanut Butter.

When I got home from work, the tempature was around 80 and was perfect for a run. So I quickly changed and grabbed Roxie for a run.

I was really trying to focus on my stride during this run and I think it worked out pretty well. I was pretty pleased with the run as my pace was faster per mile. After my run, I did some stretches, rolled out my shins and calves, and rested on the floor with my Roxie for a bit while I read an article on Shape Magazine's website with a top 10 list of 80's workout songs according to RunHundred.com. Who doesn't love the 80's? If you don't, I would make an appointment to see your doctor... Just kidding! Ok, not really.

Anyway, the article contained the top 10 and also listed their Beats Per Minute (BPM). Haven't heard about BPM? I talked a little bit about it in a post from over a year ago. Well, now that I am offically back into running - yes, it took me over a year to get back to it - I started thinking about my running music and how it can affect my running pace. The question is, what BPM is best for my pace?

I looked online and found a couple of different a sites that talked about it. eHow has a relativly short post on how to figure it out, and SelfGrowth has a longer post but gives a chart that shows steps per minute (or BPM) with the MPH for walking, running, and cycling. At this point it seems that I should be choosing songs with a 150 BPM.

If you read my previous blog post, you would know that I have had downloaded the trial version of beaTunes that would do the BPM for my music libaray; however, my computer crashed and I no longer have it. I might conisder downloading it again and paying the price unless I can find another similar website to use. You could also use RunHundred.com or jog.fm to find songs that match your deisred BPM.

What I am I really interested in is a site and/or program that would allow me to edit songs for a playlist. For example, when I'm doing my run/walk days it would be nice to be able to have the playlist set up to change songs for each run/walk time so I know when to change. I haven't looked into it yet, but will when I have some more time.

My tummy grumbled and I knew it was time to cook up some dinner. I made some spicy-ranch chicken and bell pepper, served on a bed of lettuce topped with salsa and cheese. I typically serve it with a gluten-free tortilla but I needed to cut back some calories so I did lettuce instead. It was just as delicious as before!

Question: Do you run with BPM or make edited playlists? What sites and/or programs do you use? Let me know in the comments below!

Spinning Class and Spinning Clouds

Today is a great day, isn't it?! Here are two reasons why:

1.  I woke up in my bed, not in a field.

My area had some heavy storms last night full of funnel clouds, heavy winds, hail, rain, and all the potential for a tornado. Luckily, my area only experienced (to my knowledge) a thunderstorm.

2. A pair of "skinnier" pants fit! Yay!!

I put on a pair of pants this morning that I haven't been able to wear properly, let alone comfortably, for years. Even though they're the same size as the other pants that I've been able to wear, the cut is very different. So regardless of what the tag says, I know I'm smaller because they didn't fit 5 months ago! I'll take it!

Moving on...

Breakfast

Yesterday kicked off with a yummy cucumber green smoothie. I put in a scoop of Vanilla Bean PlantFusion protein powder, cucumber, celery, parsley, ginger, and banana with some Naked coconut water into my Ninja blender until it was well blended. It was very light and the cucumber was very prominent and delicious!

Lunch

Here's a shocker: chicken vegetable soup!

Snack

I got out of training (for a recent promotion) early and ate my snack when I got home. I had a medium sized apple with a packet of Justin's Honey Peanut Butter. Apparently I was so excited about eating my snack that I didn't bother to snap a picture.

Activity

According to my training plan, today I was supposed to do a treadmill run. Although my shins weren't as sore as they have been in the past (I'm going to thank KT Tape and my medical compression socks for that), I decided to go to a 6pm spin class at the MaxFitness on the NE side of town. I normally go to the NW location but I didn't want to wait until 7:30. After all, the storm was coming and I wanted to be home.

Apparently, other people were really concerned about the storm because I turned out to be the only person to show up. So I received a one-on-one class. Which could have been awkward, but wasn't because the spin instructor was very interactive.

Dinner

For dinner I made a quick and easy omelet using egg whites, tomatoes, mushrooms, and onions. I topped it off with a couple of tablespoons of salsa.

Shortly after dinner the storm started to roll in and then the tornado sirens started to go off. I kept a close eye on the storm for a while, looking for rotation, but I never saw anything. The watch expired around 9:15 and they stated that the rotation seemed to clear and reduced it to thunderstorm warning only -- accompanied by a flash flood warning of course!

On my way to work, I did see that one of the surrounding rivers had risen a considerable amount and heard on the radio that several streets were closed. I really hope that all the people affected by the floods a couple of weeks ago didn't get another dose of it last night.

Question: Do you keep or have you kept any of your "skinny" clothes to use as a goal?

Quick 'n' Easy Monday

I started yesterday off with a green smoothie. I put some Naked pure coconut water, blueberries, parsley, and romaine lettuce in my Ninja blender until it was well blended. When it was done, I poured it into travel cup and headed to work.

I added two tablespoons of some PlantFusion plant protein so I wouldn't be starving in a couple of hours. I was running a little behind schedule and forgot to snap a picture of the finished product. Just so you know, it looked delicious and it was delicious.

For lunch I had a bowl of homemade vegetable soup. I generally make a large batch of one thing to pack for lunches. It makes the prep pretty easy and then when it's all done, I divide it into tupperware containers so it is ready to grab on my way out the door. This keeps me in control of what I consume and keeps the cost low.

Later I snacked on a rice cake covered in Justin's Honey Peanut Butter and a banana. I was really excited when I found Justin's because they're pre-portioned squeeze packs. They also sell jars but the packs are perfect because there is no prep, it's just grab and go. I believe they also have a regular Almond Butter, Maple Almond Butter, and a Chocolate Hazelnut Butter. They're all good but my favorites are the Maple Almond Butter and the Honey Peanut Butter.

After work, I headed to The Fitness Studio for some Zumba action. My shins are still a hot mess and we had a sub that tends to have a lot of jumping/bouncing, so I focused on making it low-impact.

I headed home and made some Turkey Tostadas made with ground turkey, black beans, tomatoes, lettuce, and then topped with salsa. I served it with two toasted corn tortillas. You could serve it without the tortillas if you wanted and just have it as a salad. Either way, they're easy to make and delicious!

As you can tell, I like things that are quick and easy. Working a full time job and working out after doesn't leave too many night-time hours to spend creating masterpieces in the kitchen. Plus, by time I'm done working out I want to eat. Not in an hour but immediately. By having healthy and easy meals planned it lessens the chances of me snacking on things I shouldn't snack on.

Question: What are some of your go-to meals/snacks?