Healthy and Sane

Entries Tagged as '30 Day Shred'

Run like the wind (in the sun)

April 9th, 2009 · 9 Comments · 30 Day Shred, Cooking Light, baking, breakfast, dessert, eggs, pizza, risotto, snacks

I’ve had really great food lately. It’s funny because honestly I go through stages where I just go through the motions, cook, try to be healthy (and not always succeed), try to blog (and not be too boring) but this week’s food really made me extra happy and gave me extra motivation to stay healthy. Having a weekend of many indulgences last weekend and another one coming up (we’re going to NY tomorrow!), also made it easier.  But in any case, the highlight of today was really my run. It was 60* here in Boston!!! I don’t remember the last time it was this warm here and I definitely can’t wait until this becomes a more frequent occasion and not just a random Thursday (when I’m mostly stuck at work). I think tomorrow it’s going to rain and by Monday we’ll be down to low 40’s again, so I took advantage of today’s glorious weather and went for a run… outside!  Last run outside went pretty well. I also have been running about 5 times a week for the last few weeks and that has been going well. So I wasn’t as scared to hit the road today.  I walked for 3 minutes on the treadmill (to warm up), then stretched, and then went outside. It was gorgeous and I seriously had a perma smile for the first 5 minutes… until I remembered that running is hard! Haha. In any case, I persevered… and completed my 40 minute planned run. I ran all the way to Cambridge and back.

Running for time instead of distance was liberating at first, but I also learned that I can’t run too fast, because I wouldn’t complete my run any faster if I did… just get more tired :) All in all, I was proud when I was done. This was the longest run I’ve done outside to date, without stopping to walk. A 10K will be even longer, so I really hope I get to do this more often (treadmill running does not compare, although it definitely helped me get to the point where I am today).  Workout stats:

  • Duration: 0:53 (that’s 40 minutes of running + 13 minutes of walking) + stretching
  • Calories: 514 (40% fat)
  • Ave HR:157 (81%); Max HR: 177 (91%)

Oh and I guess since we started with workout-talk today, I should mention that I also Shredded (level 3) this morning. I missed it, believe it or not… so I really enjoyed this morning’s workout. I also really liked that when I was done with work, I could have a glass of wine with some co-workers and not worry that I still had to exercise :) Shredding stats:

  • Duration: 0:25 + stretching
  • Calories: 178 (50% fat)
  • Ave HR: 132 (68%); Max HR: 161 (81%)

EATS

pre-workout morning snack: 2 dates

[42 calories]

3 mini ww bagel halves with whipped cream cheese and lox + 1 sliced pear

[400 calories]

3 ak maks with 2T sun dried tomato hummus + 2 boiled egg

[202 calories]

The snack above was kick-ass! Seriously I could not believe how amazing it was… and it was SUPER filling. 2.5 hours after I had it, I was still a little full, but I had to go on my run or I knew it wouldn’t happen.  I’ll be sure to keep this combo in mind!  Awesome awesome awesome!

The stars of lunch were cakes I made from leftover butternut squash risotto. I made 2 patties out of 1/4 of the recipe, dipped them in 1 egg white and about 2.5T of ww bread crumbs. I then pan fried them (in pan covered in EVOO spray) for a few minutes on each side until golden brown.

2 risotto cakes with mixed greens/carrots with Annie's woodstock dressing on the side

You know you want one ;)

risotto cake closeup

[452 calories]

For dinner, I was planning on making some crab cakes, but time totally escaped from me and at the last minute I decided to just bake the TJ’s wild mushroom and black truffle flatbread pizza we had in the freezer (for emergencies just like today). This is 1/2 of the pizza… and I’m going to say again that it’s the best (frozen) pizza ever! I’d choose this over take-out any day…. ok, unless I’m craving some veggies on it or something :) But yeah, this was decadent and indulgent and I want some more right now (I’m half-way kidding about that one… mmm truffled pizza).

TJ's mushroom truffle oil pizza

[350 calories]

And then I had one of the chocolate-pecan macaroons I made earlier in the night (and that’s why I had no time left to make “real” dinner). I made them for my parents for passover – they use matzo meal and I thought they’d like them. They did! I made them extra decadent by adding chocolate chips to the batter. I’d say the chips were key! Oh and mine were much flatter than the ones in the Cooking Light picture, but they were also a bit bigger… I made 23 (instead of 26). Whatever, they were yummy (but honestly not amazing… pretty good for flourless cookies though).

chocolate pecan choc chip macaroon cookie

[113 calories] + I later had another 1/2… another 56 calories

After finishing dinner, my husband and I went to my parents’ house to deliver the cookies. I had another 1.25 glasses of red wine there (+ as mentioned above 1 glass with co-workers after work)… that’s 2.25 glasses (~225 calories]

Total calories consumed today:1922 (eek!)

I’m leaving for NY tomorrow afternoon. I probably won’t be able to blog during the weekend, but I’ll definitely be back with a full recap. I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear that we have no plans but eat and drink for 2.5 days straight! :)

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Henrietta’s Table + more running questions

April 2nd, 2009 · 16 Comments · 30 Day Shred, Boston, Cooking Light, Eating out, breakfast, fish, restaurant reviews, snacks, yogurt

Another busy but fun day today. I woke up early again, and as hard as it is to get going in the morning, I really do think it makes for a better rest of the day. By 7am, I already Shredded, showered and started making breakfast (and that meant extra time to relax after work!).  Usually I’m not even out of bed by then! But first let’s jump to the end of the day. I had a fabulous dinner, with fabulous company (hi Katie! :D ) at Henrietta’s Table in Cambridge, MA. I think their “mission statement” says it all…

Our goal at Henrietta’s is to deliver the freshest available food, through proper cooking techniques and excellent service,” says Executive Chef Peter Davis.  This attitude is reflected in the Henrietta’s reliance on local farms and fisherman to keep her kitchen stocked.  We at Henrietta’s aim to provide you with the best experience possible while we share our home with you.

I liked that they use local farms for their produce – it really appeals to what I’m all about these days. And when was the last time you heard a restaurant refer to itself as “home.” Love it!

Minutes after being seated we were served some fresh warm bread. There were 2 nice little fruit and nut bread slices, 2 ww slices and 1 little sourdough roll. Why just 1 of this one? I had a slice of the fruit and nut bread (awesome!), tried the ww bread (tasted like nothing!) and split the sourdough roll with Katie. Oh and of course I used some butter with the bread :D

HT bread basket

I also ordered a glass of Cabernet. Somehow I forget to take pictures of wine… maybe because you all know what a glass of wine looks like, right? Well, I had 2 of them throughout the night :)

Katie and I talk a lot but finally after a waiter came back like 4 times to ask us if we need more time, we decided to order. I was all ready to start with a fresh salad of mixed field greens and champagne lemon herb vinaigrette. It sounded a little boring but I knew I wanted 3 courses and everything else seemed much more substantial. BUT literally as I was asking all sorts of onion related questions, Katie noticed they had specials. I saw a salad there that silly me of course can’t describe now (and it’s not online because it was a special!) Ok ok – it had mixed greens, pickled beets, sliced almonds and some kind of cheese in the blue cheese family. I don’t like blue cheese and because I ordered without really analyzing this item, I had to pick the cheese off. Everything else was fantastic though. The pickled beets were awesome, they pared nicely with lemony greens and the addition of the almonds added a nice crunchy texture. This is definitely my kind of salad, except I’d replace the blue cheese with goat cheese next time :)

HT salad

The food came out strangely fast. I know time flies when you’re having fun and Katie and I (as aforementioned talked A LOT) but seriously I feel like everything came out in minutes. So yeah, as soon as our appetizer plates were taken away, we got our entrees. When I eat out I like to order things I’m least likely to make at home, so I went with the House Smoked and Grilled Free Range Duck Breast, Confit Leg, Cranberry Compote, Port Wine Reduction… and a side of roasted root vegetables.

HT duck

HT root veggies

This kind of reminded me of a fancy Thanksgiving dinner! The duck was cooked 2 ways – both great preparations. I removed all the big fat layers. I ended up leaving a small little piece of meat (+all the fat). The root veggies were honestly kind of bland – I’ve made better! I ate 1/2 of this dish and took the rest home.

Guess what? I had room for dessert. I know you’re shocked :lol: I got Henrietta’s World Famous Chocolate Bread Pudding with Rum Caramelized Bananas, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. This was my first time having bread pudding. I never thought it was my thing until I saw it on Bobby Flay’s Throwdown and noticed the amount of chocolate that goes into it. With that much chocolate, the thing must be good, right? I’m going to say that this particular chocolate bread pudding was too sweet for me (the rum banana sauce) and not chocolaty enough. There were a few nice pockets of chocolate but otherwise it was intensely sweet but not necessarily satisfying. I saw like 20 pieces of chocolate mouse cake pass by after polishing off my plate and definitely got plate envy. I totally would have ordered it if the menu appropriate identified it as such. Oh well… I still liked the place and would come back there!  I think Katie liked her food too (she said the crab cakes were awesome!).

bread pudding with caramelized bananas + ice cream

OTHER EATS

I know I said I liked the staying power of oats, but I missed my yogurt… so I had some today.  In this bowl I combined 2/3 cup of oikos with 1/2 banana, blackberries, Kashi Golean, pb puffins, hazelnuts and Erin Baker’s chocolate granola (the last of it!).

yogurt concoction

Instead of the usual coffee with breakfast, I decided to try the POM juice straight up. I liked it! It was very sweet… and kind of tasted like cherries but I love cherries :D I think diluting it with something could be nice (more volume for the same calories)… and just that half a cup had a crazy amount of antioxidants. Gotta love that!

yogurt medley + pom juice

[394 calories]

I still had coffee a few hours later at work (unpictured)…42 calories.

almond & coconut KIND bar

I haven’t had a KIND bar in a while, but after just the first bite I realized how much I missed them.  The whole nuts “glued” together with honey and thin coconut chunks just made me very happy. This bar was not overly sweet either (like some of them are) and got me through a busy afternoon at work, until I was ready to finally sit down for lunch (about 3.5 hours later).

closeup of kind bar

[190 calories]

I have a detailed review of FIVE other KIND bars I’ve been meaning to post about. Stay tuned :D

I made this for dinner last night but never got to eat it (still too full from the crazy delicious cookies)… so I had it for lunch today.  This is haddock in coconut red-curry sauce with a blend of grains on the side. For the fish, I used this recipe from Cooking Light found through Lauren’s blog, substituted haddock for halibut (it was on sale at our local grocery store), used a little less oil, no onions or scallions, and about double the amount of red curry paste.  It took a little longer to cook the fish than the recipe specified, but it ended up being nice and flaky and the sauce was fantastic!  Oh, picture some additional grape tomatoes + asparagus on the side of this :)

haddock with coconut red curry sauce + couscous medley

[~440 calories]

Btw, the grains on the side are TJ’s Harvest Grains blend: a savory blend of Israeli style couscous, orzo, baby garbanzo beans, orzo, and red quinoa. Pretty cool to have all these goodies in one package! This was actually my husband’s find at TJ’s… I love how he craves healthier foods now. He loved these grains (and so did I!).

grain blend closeup

Delicious, delicious foods today! :)

WORKOUTS

So I did level 3 of Shred this morning. I think I’m on day 23. It was tough! The cardio parts now include weights, and the strength training parts now include cardio. What’s up with that? Can’t we get a break?! :lol: I loved it of course… except for those last jumps at the end. Had to revert to Anita’s version. I want to be a badass like Natalie! ;) Shredding stats:

  • Duration: 0:25 (+ stretching)
  • Calories burnt: 185 (55%)
  • Ave HR: 134 (69%); Max HR: 208 (107%)

And mid-day I sneaked out of the office to do my scheduled 3 mile run. I read today that you’re not supposed to run at your fastest pace unless they’re interval or tempo runs. I find it hard not to push myself to my limit but hopefully that means less injury and actually will improve my running, rather than hold me back. I’m still confused… sounds a little counterproductive. Do you push yourself during every run (or other workout) you do? I used to, but I’m trying to think long term! So yeah, I warmed up for 0.15 miles at 4.3mph, then 0.15 miles at 6.2 mph and then did another 2.85 miles at 6.5-6.6 mph and cooled down for another 0.15 miles at 4.3 mph. And then I stretched a bunch. I’m totally paranoid about shin splints! Speaking of that, what (if anything) do you do to prevent them? Any special exercises or stretches? I’d love to hear from all of you experts :D Running stats:

  • Duration: 0:32 (includes about a minute of stretching – I forgot to turn off my HRM)
  • Calories burnt: 295 (30% fat)
  • Ave HR: 152 (78%); Max HR: 164 (85%)

Ok, it’s way past my bedtime. See you later. I can’t believe it’s Friday tomorrow (well, technically today!). Yay!!

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I am SO ready for spring

April 1st, 2009 · 11 Comments · 30 Day Shred, breakfast, dessert, oats, pasta

Eh, it’s so gross out… again! After a longish day at work, I decided to walk home only to stumble upon a rain storm. What?! I didn’t know it was going to rain! Thankfully there was a cab nearby so I didn’t get too wet. :) Still it was gross and freezing cold and I am really ready for spring… it couldn’t come any sooner!

Today was interesting. I discovered this morning that our blender wasn’t working. Dead. It was on its last legs this weekend when I whipped up the peach pie smoothie (took a while but I made it happen) but this morning it wanted to do nothing with my blended spinach oats alla Heather.  Yeah, kitchen gadget malfunctioning is just what I need at 6:30 in the morning! Good thing I chose to go straight to breakfast instead of working out this morning… which gave me plenty of time to prepare my breakfast.  I scraped everything out of the blender and plopped it in the food processor.  Wasn’t as creamy as I would have liked but it got the job done :D

So yeah, today’s interesting food was spinach oats! I used 1/2 c dry oats again (made with 1/2 c skim milk, 1/2 c water + 1/2 banana on stove top), then added a bunch of raw spinach to the oats and blended them in the food processor. Toppings included some choc chips, dried bing cherries (so plump + no sugar added!) and 1T TJ’s almond butter. I’m out of Barney Butter which makes me sad, but I think I’m back to liking raw TJ’s AB. It’s kind of grainy so I understand why many people don’t love it and it’s no BB but still pretty delicious in its own way :)

So did the spinach oats taste like spinach? Yeah, they kinda did. I prefer avocado oats :D The color was gorgeous though!

spinach oats + coffee

I love all the geometric shapes in this pic :)

closeup of spinach oats

[479 calories]

This bowl held me over for 4.5 hours. I think having more oats is the key to preventing mid-morning hunger pains. I need to go easier on the toppings, though. This was a bit too much calorie wise for this girl :) Oops, I went a little crazy adding stuff in :lol:

Lunch was 2oz of whole what pasta with creamy paprika mushrooms. It was delicious but even with the pear I was hungry 1.5 hours later!

pasta + pear

ww pasta with creamy mushrooms

[441 calories]

So I had lots of snacks. I was a bottomless pit today!!

orange

[86 calories]

strawberry chobs

[140 calories]

1/2 odwalla banana nut bar

I ate 1/2 of the bar above. After reading Ashley’s post on the Odwalla banana nut bar, I went to the grocery store the same day and bought it… how could I not after such a review?! Today was the day to finally give it a go.  What did I think? Not bad… I liked the strong banana aroma the moment I opened it, but the crunchy bits (oats?) distracted me. I prefer banana bread Larabar :D

[120 calories]

Then I wanted chocolate, so I had this…

TJ's 100 calorie dark chocolate bar

[100 calories]

But what I really wanted was this…

Paradise bakery chocolate chip cookie

And no, this is not a stand-in photo. I actually went out and bought this these cookies. There are actually TWO of them (1 still in the bag). I didn’t plan on eating both (they are BOGO free) but I did. These are wonderful. I love them and I felt good enough about myself and knew I wouldn’t feel guilty or be mad at myself for indulging. And I’m not… BUT I discovered something interesting after eating them. I finally found out the nutritional info on these. You see, these are full of fat and butter and delicious chocolate and I never ever pretended like they were health food, but because I didn’t know exactly how many calories they are, I either didn’t input them at all into Sparkpeople or just estimated (and the estimate really depended on the day). Well, FINALLY, somebody discovered that they are 300 calories a pop. That makes the 2 cookies I consumed (on top of all the other food I already did right before that) 600 calories!! Let me repeat – I do not feel guilty for eating them, BUT knowing their exact calorie count will surely prevent me from eating 2 at a time the next time around. I’m sure I could be happy with just one :)

Total calories consumed up until this point: 1967 … I haven’t had dinner yet, but of course I’m not hungry after all of this. I still have to do my run + Shred and I’m usually not hungry after working out. We’ll see what happens :) There was fish on the menu for tonight and I bet my husband didn’t eat 2 ginormous cookies for a snack earlier ;)

Lastly, I should mention that I went to a sports yoga class today and it was intense but amazing. This is my favorite yoga class ever! I wish it wasn’t smack in the middle of the day (at 3:15pm) when I am rarely able to sneak out of the office.  I definitely toned my leg muscles with crazy poses that we did but I also stretched many muscles that definitely needed some love.  I’ll edit this post with my workout stats from my run. I don’t want to do it, but I am not deviating from my training schedule unless there is a really good reason (which there isn’t tonight) so you’ll definitely hear back from me. All right, I’m off… :D

*Edited to add* I just finished my 9×200 interval run + level 2 of Shred and feel fantastic!! I LOVE exercise! So for the run, I started with 0.15 mile walk at 4.3mph to warm up, then did another 0.15 mile run at 6.3mph and got started on my 9 intervals of 0.13 miles at 8.0 mph. I rested between each interval at 6.3mph for about 0.13-0.20 miles.  Nine intervals is a lot mentally but because they were so short, I knew I could do it. At the end I actually had a bunch of energy, but I just did another 0.15 mile run at 6.3 mph and 0.15 mile walk at 4.3 mph and got off the treadmill to stretch. So total running amounted to exactly 3.o miles + 0.3 miles of walking, for a total 30 minutes on the treadmill. I think next time I can even slightly increase the pace on the fast intervals (maybe 8.2 mph?) and see how that goes.

I was super pumped after finishing this run and my Shredding was extra energetic :) Total workout stats (for both):

  • Duration: 0:55 (+stretching)
  • Calories burnt: 496 (30% fat)
  • Ave HR: 151 (78%); Max HR: 169 (87%)

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I didn’t die

March 31st, 2009 · 14 Comments · 30 Day Shred, breakfast, oats, snacks

Today was awesome.  I worked until almost 8pm, but I didn’t care. I was in a great mood.  Actually I was totally in the zone doing my thing – it felt great to feel like I’m good at what I’m doing… kind of reminded me why I work where I work :) The other thing that made me super happy is the fact that I went for a run OUTSIDE during lunch and didn’t die!  Seriously, you guys know I’m seriously scared of running outside, but today was awesome! I was psyched for the run (planned a 4 mile route) and despite crazy winds and much lower temperatures than expected… I did it! Oh and I was wearing a tank top and capri pants so people looked at me like I was a crazy woman… but that that just made me run faster :D So yeah, I ran 4.15 miles in 36:19… by my calculations that makes it 8:45 minutes/mile. Awesome awesome awesome (I would have been happy with under 10 and ecstatic with 9, but 8:45 is just seriously amazing to me!).  Workout stats (include warm up + cooldown walks):

  • Duration: 0:45 (+stretching before and after the run)
  • Calories burnt: 440 calories (35% fat)
  • Ave HR: 157 (87%); Max HR: 220 (113%)

Heh, almost forgot… after work I did level 2 of Shred (I think I’m on day 23, but I skipped a few days here and there so I’m going to stick with level 2 for a few more days).

  • Duration: 0:25 (+stretching)
  • Calories burnt: 179 (50%) – it’s getting easier! :)
  • Ave HR: 132 (68%); Max HR: 211 (109%)

Oh and just for kicks, I thought I’d include a very old post from my days of blogging on Sparkpeople about my first run outside (completed last summer)… such a blast from the past :D

Today I had a 15 min abs class + a 45 min run planned for a workout. I am considering doing a 5K race in two weeks, and should really start running again (I mean I’ve been running but not as consistently as I should be to improve my time from last year’s race, which was 28:41). As I was walking to the abs class, I thought that I should plan a run outside sometime soon if the weather is nice. Running outside is SO different from running on a treadmill. There are so many external factors (weather, hills, etc.) and keeping a good pace is so much harder when the risk of flying off the treadmill isn’t there. Well, as I was waiting for the instructor for the class, I realized that today was a really nice day out. I thought after the class I should just run outside and then come back to the gym and shower before returning to work. I didn’t plan out my route, and didn’t have a watch, which was a bit annoying (I had a clock on my ipod but that’s not the same) but it worked out. It was soooooooo HOT outside and I was dying after about 20 minutes. I kept on trying to visualize how good it would feel to finish without stopping (after all, I’ve run up to 80 minutes without stopping on the treadmill) but after a really large hill I had to stop and walk for about 1.5 minutes. Then I realized I was walking down hill and that actually it would be a pretty easy run and picked up again. I made two laps around one of the parks so after the same hill, I walked again. With addition of heat, that hill was a KILLER! I made it though!!!! Final tally was a 40 minute run + 10 min walk (about 3 min warm up, two 1.5 min stops, plus 4 min cooldown). I mapped my run and it was 4.44 miles together. Not bad! Does running in the heat burn more calories? I don’t know, but I was exhausted (and proud!).

BEST MEAL OF THE DAY

I decided to start waking up earlier in order to eat breakfast at home (I know I’ve said it before but we’ll try this again). Yesterday’s oats in the afternoon (only a small instant oats packet) filled me up for way too many hours, so I thought this kind of staying power is something I could definitely use in the morning.  I’m not a big fan of microwaved oats anymore, so that requires waking up early. Today I didn’t mind it, because my oats were fantastic! This bowl is inspired by Tina’s almond joy oats (sorry, I couldn’t find the link to her oats… she made them like last October when I first discovered her blog). I made mine today with extra oats (1/2 cup dry) cooked with 1/2 c soy milk, 1/2 c water + 1/2 banana… then topped it with almond slices (oops – burnt them twice on the stove), choc chips, shredded coconut and “frosting” (oikos + agave nectar).

almond joy oats

Yum! Btw, I think oats + chocolate + yogurt = heaven!!

almond joy oats closeup

[389 calories]

OTHER EATS

1/3 Zoe's chocolate peanut butter granola bar

[100 calories]

Ok, so when I had the first half of this bar, I hated it! I thought it tasted completely weird – kind of salty (and almost spicy)… just very very strange. I reached for the other half today because I don’t like throwing food away, especially food that would be decent run fuel. Well, today I thought it was pretty good. Maybe because I had VERY low expectations, but seriously… it wasn’t bad at all. I have another one of these babies, so maybe I’ll provide a true review once I decide what I really think of it :)

1/2 Ezekiel english muffin + laughing cow cheese + chickpea cutlet with carrot sticks and grape tomatoes on side

[394 calories]

sugar snap peas + almonds

[71 calories]

Total calories for the day: 986 – Not sure what’s going on with my stomach, but the snack above totally kicked my ass. It’s been sitting like a huge rock in my stomach. I ate it over 4 hours ago, and sweated through Shred in between, and I still can’t stomach the idea of food. Too much fiber again? I’ve never eaten such low amounts of food… but I’m not going to force food down. I’m sure tomorrow I’ll make up for it! ;)

RANDOM

I have so many questions now that I’m trying to run outside. Should I get a garmin? What model?  I hear they don’t fit well on girls’ wrists. I see them a lot on the blogs… are you suffering through a moving garmin or is this an uncommon problem? I feel like a garmin would really help improve my speed if I can monitor it and push myself accordingly. Anything else I should purchase for runs outside?

Barney Butter is having a sample campaign for newbies.  This is your chance to try my crack of choice for free (!) if you haven’t already :) You like me even more now, huh? ;)

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I’m going to become a runner

March 29th, 2009 · 18 Comments · 20 minute meals, 30 Day Shred, Boston, Eating out, Ellie Krieger, breakfast, chicken, dessert, pork, salad, sandwich, snacks, yogurt

Another weekend has come to an end.  I seriously need to start scheduling relaxation time because otherwise I get no downtime on the weekends… and then the next week begins! I wanted to share with you my new “obsession.” I’ve decided that I want to become a real runner! I’ve been running on the treadmill a few times a week for a few years now, and I think I’ve built up a good endurance level there, but I’m still scared to death of running outside.  That’s not good! Anyways, in my new year’s resolution post I mentioned that I wanted to stop being scared of running outside and even wanted to run a 10K sometime during 2009.  So yeah, nothing new here.  However, after watching Spirit of the Marathon a few days ago, I decided that I really want to run a marathon.  Now I’m not crazy, so I’m not planning on running one next week, next month, or most likely even this year, but I have decided to make running not just a part of my cardio routine, but rather a more central part of my life.  I really want to be a real runner and training for an eventual marathon will surely make me one ;)

I’ve been totally obsessed with the thought of this since watching the movie on Thursday (on the train to NY).  I’m very excited and scared at the same time.  My friend Katie is running a 10K race in 5 weeks, so I think I’m going to join her! This is a bit rushed. The plan was to start running outside when the weather gets better, then schedule a 5K and eventually do a 10K.  But I know that I can finish a 10K (I’ve run up to 9 miles on the treadmill) so I think I should just dive right in and go for it. I even set up a little training schedule for myself, and will be running about 5 times a week (instead of the 2-3 I’ve been doing). You can check it out here if you’d like :) I also want to join some running groups. That will come when the weather gets a little nicer :D

Oh, but I’m still not sure how to incorporate strength training into the routine.  My training in the past has been more boot camp like (so lots of cardio spurts in between lifting).  I don’t know if that will put too much pressure on my running legs.  Should I switch to pure lifting?  I feel like this is a whole new world I’m not familiar with.  Do you runners do hardcore bootcamp classes on top of your running? I’m totally confused :D For the last 2 days, I’ve just done the Shred dvd. I’ll figure it out as I go I guess. Any comments on the subject are MUCH appreciated!

I followed my schedule for the last 2 days. On Saturday, I did Shred level 2 and then 55 minutes of cross trainings (25 minute run, 15 min stationary bike, 15 min elliptical).  Workout stats:

  • Duration: 1:20 (+stretching)
  • Calories burnt: 746 (40% fat)
  • Ave HR: 153 (79%); Max HR: 169 (87%)

And today, I started with a 0.15 mile walk on the treadmill to warm up, then ran for 5 miles at 6.2-7.0 mph, and walked at 4.3 mph until 55 minutes were up (I was watching Sopranos and wanted to finish the episode). Then I came back home and did level 2 of Shred. I took it easy on the cardio intervals as my legs were feeling quite weak after the run.  Workout stats:

  • Duration: 1:20 (+stretching)
  • Calories burnt: 688 (50% fat) – interesting that the run burnt less than cross training…
  • Ave HR: 146 (75%); Max HR:166 (86%)

FOOD

Saturday…

I didn’t count calories but I tried to make healthy choices.  I feel like I did pretty well despite having many meals out!

TJ's european style nonfat yogurt, 1/2 a banana, 2 dried figs, organic granola, TJ's nutty american trek mix

It was beautiful in Boston so we went to Harvard Square to walk around.  My husband wanted pizza from Oggi (their pizza is fantastic!) but I went with a poached pear salad – poached pear stuffed with goat cheese, baby spinach, candied walnuts & cabernet savignon vinaigrette.  I added grilled chicken to it for some extra protein. The chicken was nice and the pear with goat cheese was great, but I didn’t much care for the dressing so I left most of the spinach undressed (and I find that spinach needs a strong dressing since otherwise it just tastes like grass) and the candied walnuts were basically nonexistent.  I think I found 2 walnut crumbs in there. Yeah, I’m not going to lie… I was definitely jealous of Adam’s delicious looking pizza (ok I had 2 bites :) )

Oggi poached pear salad with grilled chicken

And the best part of Harvard Square is BerryLine – the best frozen yogurt place EVER! :lol: You know me guys, if there isn’t chocolate in it, I’m not typically impressed, but I swear they put crack in it.  It tastes SO creamy and fattening but has no fat! I went with the coconut flavor today. And their toppings are super fresh.  I always get the mango + pecan combo.  Next time I’ll branch out ;) Oh and I got a pint to go so you’ll be seeing it a few more times this week :)

BerryLine small coconut frozen yogurt with fresh mango and pecans

snack: bosc pear

buffalo chicken/laughing cow sandwich on ezekiel sprouted grain bread

Me met up with our friends Kyle and Tiffany for some Saturday night drinks at Boston Beer Works in Kenmore Square.  They brew the beers right on premises and the place is very cool.  The blueberry beer (with real blueberries!) is awesome.  My other favorite is the watermelon beer (comes with a huge fresh watermelon wedge) but they only brew it in the summer.  I started with the blueberry beer…

Boston Beer Works blueberry beer - with real blueberries!

And then got a sampler of the Bambino, blueberry, Patriots pilsner and Belgian amber (4oz each).

Boston Beer Works sampler

I hated the Patriot pilsner (actually most of us at the table thought it was strange tasting), the Bambino was nice and light so I enjoyed it and the Belgian amber was sold to me as being kind of close to a wheat beer which it wasn’t – definitely very much like an amber beer (it was nice but I wasn’t it the mood for it, so I probably only had 1/2).  The blueberry was my favorite of the bunch :D

Oh and do you see those cheese fries in the background?  Tiffany ordered them but we all ended up kind of picking at them throughout the night.  They were SO good!  I tried to behave but my hand reached for the plate a few times.  Oh well :)

We had so much fun! I love Saturday nights :D

Sunday…

I started the morning with an unconventional breakfast for me – a smoothie. I saw Ellie Krieger make this peach pie smoothie on a show a little while ago and thought I’d give it a try one day.  I had all the ingredients on hand, we were kind of in a rush (perfect – smoothies are super portable!) so I gave this baby a go.

EK peach pie smoothie

Half way through, I knew this wasn’t going to fill me up, so I made a toast with Barney Butter.  I can’t live without the stuff.  Seriously, I’m addicted.  I actually went to Whole Foods today and wrote a note to them asking them to start carrying it.  I’m not joking! :)

ezekiel sprouted grain bread + 1 Barney Butter packet

Oh and the smoothie was quite nice, but it didn’t fill me up.  I was hungry after this breakfast earlier than usual and that’s even with the BB toast!

[Breakfast calories: 426]

What do we do every single Sunday? Go to open houses.  Another bust today :( I did grab this cookie at one of them.  It was from a bakery and I had a feeling it was going to be amazing… and it was! Thank god I had it after we left that condo, because I would have totally grabbed another one if I knew just how amazing these would be.

cookie from an open house

salad with spinach, grape tomatoes, cauliflower, carrots, buffalo grilled chicken + light ranch dressing

salad closeup - so colorful!

The salad was awesome but I knew I had to finish lunch on a sweet note.  The So Delicious coconut mini sandwich was killer (in a good way ;) )! I think I’m becoming coconut obsessed! This was creamy and super satisfying… and for only 100 calories!

So Delicious mini coconut ice cream sandwich - Yum!

[lunch calories, including dessert: 354]

3 dried apricots + 1/2 oz honey roasted mixed nuts

[110 calories]

The rest of the frozen peaches came alive in this pork chops with bourbon-peach sauce recipe from Cooking Light. I used pork tenderloin instead of pork chops for a leaner entree.  Pork tenderloin is one of our favorites meats!  It’s just so tender and lean.  And for those of you who don’t like pork (I typically don’t!) – it does not taste porky at all! Give it a try, if you haven’t already. Oh and this recipe is great.  Pork + fruit is a match made in heaven.  I’ve made it before and loved it, and this time it didn’t disappoint :) I had a tiny bit of whole wheat couscous on the side…

pork tenderloin with borboun peach sauce + ww couscous

More BerryLine! I had 4 oz with blackberries and pecans.  I just couldn’t stay away…

BerryLine 4oz coconut frozen yogurt + blackberries and pecans

[~470 calories, including dessert]

I also had 3 Girl Scout peanut butter patties (unpictured – 225 calories) and sample a chicken dish at Trader Joe’s.

And that should do it! I sure had a lot of food this weekend!

Let me know your thoughts on running + strength training please! :)

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