Fitness

I’m doing this for ME.

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Last night, I set my morning alarm for 6am to give myself ample time to get an interval training session in.  This morning, after hitting the snooze several times, I rolled out of bed at 6:40.  All the while, I was mentally debating with myself.  I’m too tired to run…  I’ll do the elliptical after work…  I’ve got sooo much work to do, I should just head into work early..  on and on.

I walked into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror.  Why was I trying to prevent myself from exercising?  I stood in the bathroom for a good 5 minutes, and finally said (out loud) I am doing this for ME.  Not for my job, not as my duty, not for any of you lovely readers out there or any of my friends and family.  I am doing this for ME.  That was the swift kick in the butt I needed.  Out the door I went!

Stats on the 3 x 3 interval:

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As you can see, I wasn’t able to do the last interval of running.  I was feeling some stiffness/tension in my knee so I decided to walk it.  Honestly, I’d be happy with myself even if I walked for the whole 30 minute straight.  At least I got my toosh out the door!

Breakfast #1

During last night’s cooking bonanza, I cooked up 3 servings of scrambled eggs & roasted broccoli for B#1 Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

This batch consisted of 9 egg whites, 3 whole eggs, a splash of water, S&P, Red Pepper Flakes, and Frank’s Red Hot.

I divided the scrambled eggs and broccoli evenly into three containers, one of which I enjoyed at my desk this morning:

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Stats on B#1:  163 Calories, 12g carbs, 5g fat, 19g protein, 2g fiber

Breakfast #2

At the Healthy Living Summit this past weekend, the conversation inevitably turned to overnight oats.  Many of the ladies I talked to said they prefer to use whole oats over quick oats.  When I told them I preferred quick oats because of the awesome creamy consistency, Andrea @ Can you stay for dinner asked if it was like Muesli.  Whelp, I’ve never had muesli before so last night I picked some up at the grocery store!

The back of the package has a recipe for “Swiss Oats” which consisted of 1/4 cup muesli + 1/2 cup liquid (milk, water, etc).  So I went with:

  • 1/4 cup Muesli
  • 1/2 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • Sprinkling of cinnamon

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This morning, I added 3 large strawberries + 1/3 cup blueberries to the mix:

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This was pretty tasty!  I do prefer my quick oats though.. but I definitely want to give the Muesli a shot warm instead of cold.  Mmmm I can picture myself eating warm museli on a cold morning… speaking of which, who’s ready for Fall?  I am!

Stats on B#2:  189 Calories, 37g carbs, 5g fat, 5g protein, 7g fiber

Lunch

Also during the Tuesday-Night-Cookfest, I cooked up a burger for lunch today.  The burger consisted of:

  • 1/2 lb 95% lean ground beef
  • 1/4 cup chopped red onion (I usually use white onion, but didn’t have any on hand)
  • 1/4 tsp garlic salt
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper

I put the burger on a pepperdige farm 7 grain deli flat, then topped it with ketchup, mustard, tomato, onion, banana pepper rings, and a big handful of alfafa sprouts.  On the side, I had some cucumber salad (half a sliced cucumber + dried dill + white vinegar + water):

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I don’t think I’ve ever put sprouts on a burger before… But you can’t deny that this looks AWESOME:

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Stats on Lunch:  340 Calories, 35g carbs, 6g fat, 33g protein, 8g fiber

Snack Time!

Today, I tried out the Chai Spice Kardea all natural cholestorol management bar:

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For some reason, chai always reminds me of pumpkins!  I LOVE pumpkins, and I loved this bar.  I just wish the flavors were a little STRONGER.

Speaking of things I’m doing for ME, I bought my ticket to FitBloggin today 🙂

QUESTION:  Do you guys ever “mentally” debate with yourself over whether or not to work out?  How do you get past it?

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Fitness, Restaurants

5 steps forward, 5 steps back

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Over the past 4 months I’ve had on-again off-again knee problems.  🙁

I’ve played soccer since I was in elementary school, and never had any issues.  This past spring, I decided to take up running.  I was AMAZED by how much I enjoyed it!  About a month into my newly found passion, I had a sharp pain in my right knee during my morning run.  I didn’t twist the knee, or land funny, or make any other type of movement to cause the pain.  It just sort of happened.  I attributed the pain to weakness (i.e., “push yourself harder, Mary“) and ran about 1 more mile to my house.  That genius move resulted in me limping around for about a week or so.  I tried several times to pick up where I had left off, with no success.  I even went to see an orthopedic doctor who told me “some knees just aren’t made for running.”

Unacceptable.

Then a couple months ago I developed a plan of attack in the form of my interval training plan.  Basically, the plan was to start off with walking/running intervals and slowly increase the running time over a period of weeks until I was running the entire time.

Things were going super smooth, and I was up to 7 minutes running and 3 minutes walking…. that is until I hurt my knee again on vacation a couple weeks ago.  I think this time it was due to overuse–we did a TON of walking and I was still doing my regular intervals on top of it.

It’s been 2 weeks since vacation, and I’ve tried several times to get my run on.  This was not going well at all — I could only do 1/2 of my regular intervals before feeling the pain start.  At least I have learned my lesson and now stop running at the first sign of knee pain!

So this morning I decided to start the interval all over again… yup… all the way back at 4 minutes walking, 2 minutes running.  Slowly but surely, I am determined to get to running a 5K with no knee issues!

Breakfast #1

Leftovers from yesterday’s eggins–with one new addition:

Heinz reduced sugar ketchup.  After my ketchup post last week, I started thinking about how much ketchup I actually consume in any given week.  As much as I love ketchup, it’s really just a bunch of empty calories.  So I decided to give this reduced sugar version a shot:

The ketchup was pretty good — though it oddly tasted sweeter than regular Heinz ketchup.  I’m going to try and use the reduced sugar ketchup in place of the regular stuff as much as possible.

Stats on B#1:  161 calories, 9g carbs, 5g fat, 21g protein, 2g fiber

Breakfast #2

Overnight oats 🙂

Last night, I put the following into a bowl:

  • 1/2 cup uncooked quick oats
  • 1/2 cup almond breeze unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • sprinkling of cinnamon

I mixed everything up and left them in the fridge overnight.  This morning I added about 6 sliced strawberries (thank you to my mom for hooking me up with these DELICIOUS strawberries) and a 1/3 cup fresh blueberries:

All mixed up:

These overnight oats never get old 🙂

Stats on B#2:  236 calories, 45g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 7g fiber

Lunch

My all-time favorite hummus comes from Nate’s Deli in Cleveland.  A close second would be Trader Joe’s hummus.  Unfortunately, neither of my long distance relationships with Nate nor Trader Joe are able to satisfy my frequent  hummus cravings, so I’ve been on the hunt for a tasty hummus that I can find locally.

I picked this up at the grocery store last night:

I especially liked the simple list of ingredients (chick peas, tahini, fresh spinach, lemon juice, garlic, and salt) and it is only 33 calories for a 2tbsp serving!  The flavor was a little on the bland side, however.

For lunch, I made up a sandwich with a 3.5 ounce grilled chicken breast, 1 tbsp Amir Hummus, 1/2 a roma tomato, sliced red onion, and 1 cup spinach sandwiched between a Pepperidge Farm 7 grain Deli flat:

Notice that I used my tupperware lid as a plate instead of using a paper plate.  “Kelsy” would be proud 😉

Now that’s what I’m talkin bout:

I could eat this every day:

I also had some cucumber salad on the side.  This cucumber was straight from the BF’s mom’s garden!

Stats on lunch:  323 calories, 37g carbs, 3g fat, 40g protein, 10g fiber

 

Question:  Have you ever had an injury that prevented you from doing an activity you really enjoy?

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Fitness, What I ate

Getcho run on!

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What is it about running first thing in the morning that makes me feel like I can tackle anything the day brings me?  This morning I completed Day #3, Week #2 of my interval training plan.  Woo hoo!  That means Friday I’ll be up to 2 minutes walking, 4 minutes running… and still no knee pain in sight 🙂

  

Breakfast #1

In honor of the fabulous PB2 GIVEAWAY, I decided to make a grilled fruit and nut butter wrap using Chocolate PB2. 

I took 2 tbsp of powdered chocolate PB2:

Then added 1 tbsp water:

Then smeared it on a  Mama Lupe’s low carb tortilla and topped with 1/4 cup each of strawberries and blueberries

I wrapped everything up, and put it on the george foreman for 5 minutes.  Then wrapped in foil and stuck in my purse:

And enjoyed at my desk at work:

Mmmmmmm…. love love love the grilled fruit and nut butter wraps!!!

Stats on the wrap:  145 calories, 21g carbs, 4g fat, 9g protein, 7g fiber

 

Make sure you post a comment on the PB2 giveaway by midnight Sunday July 4th!

 

Breakfast #2

Bowl of overnight oats consisting of:

  • 1/2 cup quick oats
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze almond milk
  • 1 packet Truvia (stevia)
  • Cinnamon
  • Fresh Strawberries & Blueberries (added this morning)

I <3 overnight oats.

 Stats on the oats:  203 calories, 39g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 7g fiber

 

Lunch

Last night when I was packing my lunch I was really craving a sandwich.  (The carb tooth strikes again!) 

Sunday night I grilled up a big batch of chicken breasts seasoned with McCormick’s Montreal Chicken Seasoning.  So I packed one of the breasts (about a 2.5 ouncer), 1 cup spinach, tomato, onion, a Pepperidge Farm 7 grain deli flat, and 1 tbsp Trader Joe’s Spicy hummus.

Can you say YUM?  Yum. 😀

Stats on the sammy:  230 calories, 29g carbs, 5g fat, 22g protein, 9g fiber

 

Women Power

Tonight I’m headed up to Cleveland for the Athena Women’s award dinner.  This opportunity came up through my involvement with the Knowledgeable Network of Women through the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce.

And I’m taking my camera.  First time for me to let my inner food blogger out at a business function… should be interesting 🙂

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