Eat, Drink, and Be Hopeful

Entries from November 2009

Christmas Time is on it’s Way!

November 30, 2009 · 2 Comments

For the entire month of December we play Holiday Music at the store. It really gets me in the spirit, and puts me in a good mood at work. We decorate the store from head to toe too which is really fun.

So I have to ask-what do I do about my ankle? It’s not swollen or bruised, but every time I bend or walk it feels strained and hurts. Because I’ve been putting a lot of my weight on my right leg, my right leg feels tight and sore. It’s just a bad situation all around. But I feel like the doctor won’t be able to do anything because it is not sprained or broken. Should I just rest it for a while? This is so very frustrating. Running is a main source of my exercise so I’m really going to have to work on finding other ways to sweat and work out with out using my legs or feet. Luckily I don’t have any races planned so I don’t need to worry about that. But I also tend to get very lazy with cardio and strength that doesn’t involve running. I never quite push myself like I do when I run. I’m really going to have to figure something out.

This morning I didn’t push myself to get out of bed because I was just so tired. I did however give myself enough time to get in a good morning routine and make my breakfast and lunch for the day. My routine consisted of:

  • 2 sets 70 reps leg lifts each leg
  • 3 sets 20 reps kneeling push ups
  • 2 sets 50 reps bicycle crunches

Those bicycle crunches hurt like hell once you get to like 50! Holy COW! Breakfast this morning was quick and easy. I made a little yogurt, fruit, granola bowl. I finished off my pumpkin flax granola and had it on top of a sliced banana and a small vanilla Stonyfield Oikos.


I also had some coffee on the side with 2 Tbs Silk Vanilla Creamer. I love that this creamer because you don’t need to add any sweetener to the coffee because it already has a touch of sweetness.

Breakfast was all right, but nothing out of this world. Now that I can’t run I have to REALLY watch what I eat. I have to go back to being a little more strict because if I don’t then I tend to lose control and eat more than I am burning. So this is the only way I can really control that. I will also try as hard as possible to get in other forms of exercise.

I plan on doing some arm strength and core strengthening while I’m watching my favorite shows tonight! (Favorite Shows are House and Lie to Me). It’s a ritual every Monday night to watch those shows.

Today’s lunch was also pretty simple. Amy’s Organic Lentil Soup. Very filling and comforting on this dreary cold day.



My stomach hurt like crazy after this soup. It tasted way better than it looked, but I felt so sick. I’m not quite sure if it was me or the soup. I ate some crackers to sort of settle my stomach, but those just led me to have a MAJOR snack attack. Despite what I said earlier about watching what I eat carefully I just did not follow my instructions.

I had a heated up pumpkin muffin as one of my many snacks this afternoon.

I also had no will power what so ever when it came to eating this afternoon. I felt hungry and irritable and that led me to make some really bad decisions. Better decisions than I would have a few years ago, but bad decisions if you are trying to eat healthy. Hopefully I can turn that around at dinner, get some exercises in tonight while watching TV and go to bed feeling better than I do now. I’m just so frustrated about my ankle it making me go crazy!

I can’t believe Christmas is less than a month away. This year has flown by! I have said this before, but Christmas is my favorite time of year, and I love to fill the month with holiday activities. I mean you saw that I already decorated the apartment for the holidays. We always go see some sort of holiday light display, and last year we went to Mount Vernon to see the Christmas decorations. So far on the agenda this year we have planned to see a Holiday Boat Parade this weekend including carolers and other holiday festivities, visit the Mormon Temple, which is decorated in lights and decorations, has a live Nativity, and concerts, and last but not least spend a weekend in NYC (my all time favorite place to be around Christmas) with my family. I’m hoping to have a Christmas Party in there some where, but we will have to see if there is enough time. I’m a busy little Christmas Bee! ;-)

Have a great Monday!

Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: , , , ,

Thanksgiving Weekend-Part 2

November 30, 2009 · 3 Comments

The rest of my Thanksgiving weekend was filled with more food and more family. On Friday Chris and I drove to my parents house and we all went to see Disney’s A Christmas Carol in 3D. This movie was fantastic, and I highly recommend it. After the movie we headed back to the house for a glass of wine, and to meet up with my dad’s side of the family. I was finally able to wear my white pea coat! After inspired by all the white coats in the Macy’s Day Parade I had to finally wear mine.


My entire dads side of the family, plus some, met up at the house, and we headed over to P.F. Changs for a fun 20 person family meal. We of course started with drinks and appetizers. I decided to go with a dirty martini…I mean it is the holidays! ;-)




The waiter also let me have a taste of red wine since I couldn’t decide between wine and a martini. How nice is that!

Chris and I split an order of egg rolls to start. I also tried a crab wonton, which was so good!

For dinner I ordered the orange chicken with brown rice, Chris ordered beef and broccoli and we shared everything. We also shared some sides with other family members including spicy green beans, asparagus, and chicken fried rice. My plate had a little bit of everything on it. I always have to try everything.

A delicious dinner followed by a delicious dessert. We all headed back to the house for dessert and tons of pictures. I didn’t really have any dessert, but I did have a bite of a brownie and some coffee with Bailey’s. A very fun night with my family!

Saturday I just spent the day with my mom and dad running errands and doing family stuff. I was able to enjoy my moms Thanksgiving leftovers, which was awesome! I ate a Turkey Sandwich with sauerkraut and cranberry sauce. It was so delicious! No picture because Chris had my camera all day, and he was working. I didn’t get a workout in this day because I was so tired from the night before, and my ankle was bothering me so much. I just decided to take another day off.

On Saturday night we went to Chris’ families house for Thanksgiving dinner number 3. I didn’t have my camera so I took pictures with Chris’ moms camera, and I’m just waiting for her to send them to me. Trust me-the meal was blog worthy! What an amazing weekend with my family. So much to be thankful for, and so many fun times to remember. Now it is time to get ready for Christmas! Chris and I decorated the apartment tonight, and put up the Christmas tree! This is my FAVORITE time of year! Hope you had a beautiful Sunday! I will leave you with a few pics of the apt all decorated. It’s simple, but its mainly hand me downs from my mom.







Ankle Update-It still hurts pretty bad to bend my ankle so I don’t think running is in store for me tomorrow. I need to rest it as much as possible so it gets better. I am getting worried about it since it doesn’t seem to be getting better. I will have to focus on arm and core strength for the next few days. This is the first time I have actually been frustrated that I couldn’t run. Today was an extremely warm day for November, and it was just gorgeous outside. The fact that I couldn’t run made me so upset. I just hope it gets better soon.

GOOD NIGHT!

Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: , , , , , , ,

HAPPY THANKSGIVING and Race Recap

November 28, 2009 · 2 Comments

I hope everyone had an absolutely wonderful and safe Thanksgiving this year. I know I did. I have a lot to be thankful for, and I realize this more and more everyday. My Thanksgiving morning started very early at 6am for the Turkey Chase 10K. My wonderful boyfriend came once again to support me on this VERY COLD, drizzly, foggy morning. The race site was packed an hour before the race, and more and more people just kept on coming. I couldn’t get over all the people that were signed up for this race on Thanksgiving morning. It was such a great feeling even though part of me wanted to go home and crawl back in bed. Here I am when we just arrived- please excuse the crazy hair and bags under my eyes. It was early.

Something felt off that morning. I had tossed and turned the night before the race, and my nerves were out of control. I just didn’t feel like my heart was completely there, and my ankle was bothering me a LOT. Finally the race was about to begin, and I squeezed my way through the crazy amount of people to get to my mile pace time to start. There was a wave start since there was just under 5,000 runners. It reminded me of the Baltimore 1/2 Marathon, but actually worse. I couldn’t move at the start line.


I didn’t take many pictures this morning because it was just too cold and too wet. I just wanted to get started and be done! Here I am at the start line-can you find me?

Look deep in the middle. I’m in a purple shirt and smiling.

Finally we were off. My toes were completely numb, and I couldn’t feel them until Mile 2. The roads were tiny, and everyone was crowding together to get through. I was moving at snails pace and just wanted to get through the mobs of people to get my pace going. But I never was able to get through. There were way too many people on these tiny little streets that I just had to go with the flow and enjoy the run. I ran my best considering my ankle was hurting the entire time. Finally I had one mile to go, and people started to spread out a bit. At least with the Baltimore 1/2 I had many more miles to make up my time, but I only had 6 to do so here. So I ran that last mile with all my heart and soul and gave it all I got. I didn’t do as well as I know I could have, but I was just happy it was over. Here are my stats:

Garmin:

  • Time: 50:11
  • Distance: 6.29 miles
  • Average Pace: 7:59 mile

Actual Race Results According to Chip:

  • Time: 50:11
  • Distance: 6.2 miles
  • Average Pace: 8:05/ mile
  • Place: 823/4326
  • Place in Division: 37/378

We immediately got in the car and headed home to get cleaned up and warmed up by the fire. My Thanksgiving had a slightly rough start, but turned into a wonderful day. Chris and I had breakfast while watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade, and then made quite a spread for lunch. Now remember it was only the 2 of us today, but we did it up big.

Pumpkin Dip with Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips

Spread of Cheeses and crackers with sweet pickles

Puff Pastries with feta and caramelized onions


And of course we had spiked Apple Cider and some Wine. Following our lunch we watched Home Alone-a classic Christmas Movie

Our Thanksgiving Dinner Prep started around 5:30 since we were so stuffed from our lunch spread. We both helped in the kitchen to make a Semi-Homemade Thanksgiving. I have to tell you, it was one of the easiest, most fun, delicious Thanksgivings I’ve ever had, and it was semi-homemade. Here was the menu:

  • Top Sirloin in a beer and brown sugar sauce
  • Garlic Mashed Potatoes
  • Roasted and Glazed Sweet Potatoes
  • Haricot vert with Olive Oil and seasoning
  • Cranberry and Sage Stuffing
  • Cranberry Sauce

I am not a fan of turkey so Chris and I decided to do steak instead, and it was the best decision I have ever made. All of the flavors went so well together. It was a fantastic dinner! The Steak, sweet potatoes, and green beans were home made, and everything else was made my Trader Joe’s. I loved the sweetness in the steak with the sweet potatoes and the stuffing. It was absolutely delicious!




We enjoyed our dinner with a glass of my September Wine of the Month. X Winery Red X Blend. It is big and plush and juicy, but has a soft finish with medium tannins. Perfect for sipping while cooking dinner, and the perfect pair with dinner.



We ended the night with my very favorite Christmas Movie: Miracle on 34th Street, and pumpkin pie. I made pumpkin pie ice cream by taking vanilla ice cream and adding pumpkin puree, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice and mixing it all up. I topped my warm pumpkin pie with the ice cream and had some of my favorite Harry & David Pumpkin Spice Coffee on the side.



A Perfect ending to a PERFECT Thanksgiving.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

The Night Before Thanksgiving

November 26, 2009 · 1 Comment

I can’t believe it’s almost here. Thanksgiving AND my Turkey Chase 10K. I’ve been nervous all day, and I have no idea why. This will be my fifth race so I think I should know what I’m doing by now. But nerves are going crazy. With that being said, work was insane to say the least. I didn’t get to sit down all day so the boss ordered us Thai food for lunch. I tried to pick something pretty healthy so I ordered the steamed tofu with veggies in a black bean sauce with brown rice and an order of summer rolls. I made a plate of about 3/4 C brown rice and some of the tofu and veggies. The veggies included broccoli, green onion, mushrooms, and red peppers.

The summer rolls were carrots, fennel, and spinach wrapped in rice paper and topped with chopped peanuts. It came with a sweet sauce on the side, but I only had a little of that. These were different than any other summer roll I’ve had because of the fennel. It had such a strong anise flavor to them. Quite interesting. And if you couldn’t tell, these are not fried, they are raw.


I only had this plate plus a tiny bit more, and then it was back to work.

For snacks I had one of my pumpkin cranberry power bars.

Picture courtesy of yesterday since I had no time for pictures today. I also had a few crostini’s and 3 or 4 small chunks of cheese. I needed something to keep me going. My energy got so slow around 5pm and I felt like I was dragging my feet.

Once I got home I knew exactly what I was going to have for dinner. I present to you leftover Thai with some kale. I needed to get my greens in somewhere today. I had the remaining 1/4 C of brown rice, the rest of the tofu (I had eaten all of the veggies at lunch) with sauce on top of a ton of steamed kale. Not the BEST tasting dinner, but it was pretty good.


Now I’m just mentally preparing for my race and icing my foot. I’m excited for it to be over and for me to enjoy the rest of my day. I love Thanksgiving a lot, but my favorite thing to do on Thanksgiving is drink hot cocoa while watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade with a fire. It reminds me of my childhood, and it’s a tradition now. I’m very excited to continue my tradition after my race tomorrow.

In other news: Look at this gorgeous wreath I got from work.

Every year we get a free wreath for our door at work, but we can never hang it up because the door won’t close. Since no one else wants it I always take it home. This years wreath is way better than lasts, and I think it is gorgeous! On Sunday evening Chris and I are going to decorate our apt for the holidays like we do every year. I really get into decorating for the holidays if you couldn’t tell already.

That’s all for now-I’m just sipping on some diet hot cocoa and just had a sliver (I’m talking sliver) of pumpkin pie. It was just staring at me calling my name! I hope everyone has a very safe and happy Thanksgiving! See you all on Black Friday for Race Recap, Thanksgiving Recap, and a wine Review coming soon!

Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

November 25, 2009 · 1 Comment

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow. How fast has the year gone? It seems like it has flown by for me. Moving on…

My afternoon snack was a Stonyfield Lowfat Yogurt and one of my Pumpkin Cranberry Power bars. I made this a while ago and individually wrapped each one and stuck them in the freezer. This way I can have one whenever I need a pumpkin power fix, and I just take one out and pop it in the microwave.


Last night I met my BFF Kelly for some dinner and good wine at our favorite go to restaurant, Levante’s. We love this place b/c the food is always good and we always split the Cold Mezze Plate. I just can’t get enough of this plate. We made it there in time for a little Happy Hour drink (or 2). I mean $3.50 for a glass of wine…you can’t beat that. So I chose a glass of Merlot, and we decided to split the Cold Mezze Plate and the Falafel appetizer. Sooo Much food, but it was so great to just sit and talk and eat and talk and eat. You get the drift. Kelly and I have been best friends since my freshman year in high school and I just love hanging out with her. We always think its so funny because we are so different yet we have so much in common and have been best friends through all these years. I was stuffed by the time we went home, but the food was awesome. You can see better pictures in this post, or this post.



This was my first time trying the Falafel at this restaurant,and it was so tasty. I loved it with the hummus and different salads in the mezze plate.

This morning I woke up bright and early on my own. I’m always surprised when this happens. It was of course raining so it gave me another excuse to not run and take one more day off before my race tomorrow. My ankle is feeling a lot better, but I want to stay off of it as much as possible before the race. However, I’m worried I haven’t worked on my speed enough, but right now I can’t take any chances. I’m gonna hope for the best, do my best, and that is all I can ask for. So instead I did a 23 min hot yoga session on Exercise TV, and my morning routine with extra core exercises. I chose Yoga buns and thighs this morning, which was an awesome quick workout. The demonstrator was really fast so it was hard to keep up, but I finally got into the groove.

I am so surprised at all the different work outs they have on Exercise TV. It blows my mind, and I always forget they are on there. I need to start doing some of them. My morning and strength routine consisted of:

  • 2 sets 70 reps leg lifts each leg
  • 3 sets 20 reps kneeling push-ups
  • 2 sets 50 reps bicycle crunches
  • 25 hip raises, hold for 30 sec, 25 hips raises, hold for 40 sec
  • 30 reverse crunches

Breakfast was a delightful bowl of Stonyfield Oikos Blueberry Yogurt, fresh blueberries, and 3/4 C Kashi Heart to Heart Cereal. This was refreshing, filling, and delicious for breakfast.



I also had a little coffee on the side with Vanilla Silk Creamer.

Now I’m writing this post and icing my ankle.

As of right now the weather is calling for rain the afternoon tomorrow, but not in the morning. Let’s hope this doesn’t change, because I hate racing in the rain. I still need to figure out what to wear since this will be my first race in the cold. I’ll have to think about that tonight.

Have a great Wednesday! Safe travels to those who are traveling today!!

Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: , , , , ,

This can not be happening right now

November 24, 2009 · 5 Comments

As you all know my leg was bothering me yesterday. Well what I didn’t tell you was that my left ankle was bothering me even more. I’m not sure if it was because of the left ankle that was causing more pressure on my right leg or what, but my leg feels fine and my ankle does not. I was massaging it last night, and there are parts that are so tender it hurts to touch. So I immediately got out an ice pack and started icing it down.

When I woke up this morning it was hard to walk properly on it. I don’t know what is wrong with it, but I REALLY hope it goes away soon. It hurts to pretty much put any pressure on it at all so I am taking today off from working out. I plan on doing my morning routine later tonight since I just wasn’t in the mood to do anything this morning.

  • 2 sets 70 leg lifts each leg
  • 3 sets 20 kneeling push ups
  • 2 sets 50 bicycle crunches
  • a few other laying down arm strength moves

I also had to take a break from my Green Monster Challenge. I think 2 weeks is a long time, and I really just wanted some oats! So I made a bowl of oats and topped with blueberries, coconut, and cinnamon.

  • 3/4 C Quaker Oats
  • 3/4 C Non Fat Cows Milk
  • 1 Tbs Peanut Butter & Co. Cinnamon and Raisin swirl
  • 1/8 C unsweetened coconut
  • 1/2 C fresh blueberries



Holy YUM! I have missed you oats! Of course I had some coffee on the side.

The Turkey Chase on Thursday looks like it is going to be a pretty big race. Part of me wants to have a lazy Thanksgiving morning, but the other part of me is so excited to get some exercise and participate in such a big race on Thanksgiving morning. Plus it is so early that by the time I get home from the race will be about the same time I would be waking up if I decided to not race. They have 8,000 people registered for all 3 races. I’m participating in the 10K, and now that my ankle is acting up I am really nervous. I take racing pretty seriously, and I hate to do bad. I used to quit at a lot at things earlier in my life, and I don’t want running to be another thing I quit. But I know my health comes first so even if I have to run this race slow I want to finish it strong. Please keep your fingers crossed.

Lunch was what I call GOURMET! HA! I had some Healthy Choice Chicken and rice soup with an Arnold Whole Grain Sandwich Thin on the side. I actually really liked this soup. It was just what I needed for this awfully cold rainy day.



I also had some kale on the side. Gotta get those greens! Unfortunately work got so busy, and I wasn’t able to finish all of these.


Back to the insane day at work!

Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: , , , , , , ,

My five course meal

November 24, 2009 · 2 Comments

After a really long day at work, and my legs killing me from my run, I was ready to head home and R-E-L-A-X! I am not really sure why my legs have been hurting me today, but I hope it passes.

I know I sound like a broken record with this, but it is raining…AGAIN in DC. I mean-won’t it just ever stop? Not only is it raining, but it is actually very cold. The rest of the week looks gloomy too. I hope this doesn’t affect my run tomorrow night or my race on Thursday!

My snacks this afternoon were the 2 carrots I showed you earlier, and my seasonal staple. Stonyfield Pumpkin Pie flavored yogurt and my home made pumpkin flax granola.

I am getting to the bottom of this granola so I think I need to make some more soon. It was so easy to make that I will be making my granola from now on.

Dinner was really random. It was also eaten in many parts. Chris had dinner at this parents so I only needed to cook dinner for myself, and when I do that I tend to eat really random things. Here is my 5 course meal.

I started with a glass of Begali Valpolicella Ripasso 2007. I love this wine for its dark fruit and hint of baking spice. So darn good.

I proceeded to have another glass with dinner. The second course was 2 handfuls of unslated peanuts while I was cooking.

The third course was an egg sandwich. I took 1 egg and 1 egg white, scrambled them with some non fat milk, and popped in the microwave. I had my egg on an Arnold Whole Grain Sandwich Thin with a little Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce.


I have completely forgotten about egg sandwiches and they are sooo good!

The fourth course was 2 turnips roasted with a side of Trader Joe’s All Natural BBQ sauce.

I love this Trader Joe’s All Natural BBQ sauce. It is sweet and spicy. Love it with the spicy turnips.

My fifth course was kale chips. I still felt a little hungry so I decided to roast some kale in the oven. This was my first time making kale chips and I got the idea after reading some blogs, but also after roasting brussels sprouts and loving the little crispy leaves that fell off. This is an ingenious idea. I put a little seasoning on them to spruce it up.

As if that wasn’t enough I had a small piece of chocolate to satisfy my chocolate craving. Sorry the camera ate the picture. ;-) I guess this 5 course meal + dessert was fairly healthy since it was all low fat and included lots of veggies. I did use some olive oil for the kale and turnips, but not much.

Now I’m ready for a great night of sleep. I hope my leg feels better tomorrow!

Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Just Another Manic Monday

November 23, 2009 · 3 Comments

Ouu it was a chilly morning in DC today. It was a whopping 46 degrees outside when I started my run this morning. Not cool for running…not cool! I really had to make sure to layer the clothes today. I woke up pretty quickly this morning, and I was very happy because I am scheduled to go into work an hour later than I normally do today. That gives me an extra hour in the morning to get my stuff done..woohoo!

So I started the morning with my morning routine.

  • 2 sets 70 reps leg lifts each leg
  • 3 sets 20 reps kneeling push ups
  • 2 sets 50 reps bicycle crunches

Then I bundled up for my chilly morning run with Target compression pants, a long sleeve running shirt, and a running jacket on top.

It was cold when I first started, but my body quickly got warmed up, and then I realized it was not as cold as I thought and my body was literally hot. I set out to complete 7 miles, but after mile 2 I just didn’t think I was going to make it. My right leg was killing me. It felt tight and was making it so uncomfortable for me to run. I had to stop at least 4 times within the first 4 miles to stretch my leg. It would hurt, I would stretch it, and then it would feel fine, but then it would hurt again. I just couldn’t win!

I also hated these compression pants. They were uncomfortable and hot. Definitely not as good as the Under Armor ones (obviously), and I was so disappointed with them. I really wanted to complete 7 miles and work on my speed since this is the last day I really have to work on speed before my race on THURSDAY! But I was in so much pain with my leg. I kept meditating and praying that the pain would go away. I kept stretching and trucking along and finally by mile 5 I felt normal. I kicked it up a notch and finish 8.11 miles strong! And to think I was going to stop at mile 2. HAH! I can’t believe I have a race on Thursday!!! I’ve been completely slackin’ in the ‘practicing for race’ area. I’ve been continuously running, but I haven’t been working on my speed as much as I should be. I hope this doesn’t end up hurting me in the race. Here are my stats for today’s run:

  • Distance: 8.11 miles
  • Time: 1:10:06
  • Average Pace: 8:39
  • Mile 1: 8:40
  • Mile 2: 8:43
  • Mile 3: 9:05
  • Mile 4: 9:01
  • Mile 5: 8:54
  • Mile 6: 8:24
  • Mile 7: 8:20
  • Mile 8: 8:19
  • Last .11 mile: 0:40

When I got home I made some breakfast. And you guessed it…it was another Green Monster! I was debating doing oats or something warm, but I challenged myself to drink and Green Monster everyday for 2 weeks, and my body needs it right now. So I made a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Green Monster. My smoothie included:

  • 8oz Unsweetened Chocolate Almond Milk
  • 1 medium frozen banana
  • 1 packet Amazing Grass Chocolate Greens Powder
  • 1 Tbs Maca Powder
  • 2 Tbs Almond Butter
  • 3 handfuls fresh kale


I LOVE GREEN MONSTERS!

I think this Green Monster and the Peanut Butter and Jelly Green Monster are my favorites. I guess everything is better with a little Peanut Butter, or should I said Almond Butter, in this case.

I don’t know what it was about the Green Monster combination this morning, but it kept me full for hours! I didn’t eat lunch until 2pm!
Since it is the week of Thanksgiving, work is going to be absolutely insane. So I prepared easy lunches and snacks for today. Lunch was leftovers of this unique and awesome dinner I made last night.

Last night for dinner I diced up an eggplant and tossed it with some olive oil and then laid them out on my grill pan to get all nice and grilled. Then I added some frozen artichokes to grill up as well. While those were grillin’, I made some quinoa on the side. When the quinoa was finished I added the eggplant and artichokes and then some Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce. Mixed it all up and called it dinner! It was pretty darn good. There are so many other ingredients I could have added and will definitely have to try in the future.

So lunch was basically just the leftovers, but for some protein I added some black eyed peas to the mix.


I also had 2 carrots on the side for some more veggies. I was pretty full from the quinoa mix that I saved my carrots to snack on later.

And because it is so cold in the store today, I enjoyed a mug of hot Pumpkin Spice Tea with my meal.

Ok work is calling. I must stretch my leg today because it is actually still feeling really tight. I’m not sure what is going on. Have a GREAT Monday! YAY for the short work/school week!

Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: , , , , , ,

Green Monster Challenge Re-cap

November 23, 2009 · 4 Comments

Hello Hello my bloggie friends! I have been enjoying my weekend immensely, and as a result have not been blogging! UhOH! But here is a recap of the last few days…I feel like I have so much to share with you all!

Mt snack Thursday afternoon was one of my faves. Pumpkin Pie yogurt with pumpkin flax granola and some coffee. I needed a energy boost in the afternoon.

On Thursday night we went to see David Guetta in DC.


It was a good show, but we waited so long for him to come out, and by the time he finally did we were all spent. I had one too many vodka sodas so I spent most of Friday hungover tired. ;-) I was so bummed because i didn’t even get to hear my favorite song which is the Akon “Sexy B****” song. Oh well…it’s on my iPod anyways.

We didn’t get home until 2 am, and I was basically useless all Friday. My 8 mile run went right out the window. I did however try this new Amazing Grass Greens Super Food Bar. This is the chocolate flavor. I did NOT like this flavor as much as I did the fruit bar. There was hardly anything chocolate taste about it, and the inside was a bit tasteless. I will stick to the fruit bars from now on.


Seriously the rest of the day was spent doing a little errand running, picking up a new hoodie at Lucy, and laying in bed. Not exactly the most productive day, but hey-it was nice.

Saturday was a little more productive. I started my morning with my new running friend Aurora. We ran 6 miles on the same trail that we run with the Goergetown Running Co. It was so nice to get a run in because the weather could not have been more perfect, and I love meeting people with the same passion as me. After the run I made a new Green Monster. This one was Chocolate Coconut. It was thick, a little gritty, but overall pretty tasty. The ingredients for this green monster were:

  • 8oz Unsweetened Chocolate Almond Milk
  • 1 medium frozen naner
  • 1 packet Amazing Grass Chocolate Greens Powder
  • 1 Tbs Maca Powder
  • 1/4 C unsweetened coconut
  • 3 big handfuls of fresh kale





After that I had an impromptu lunch of Sweet Potato and Yucca Fries with honey mustard and BBQ Sauce. I love these veggies fries. I ate so many of them and didn’t need to eat again for a while! I’ve also noticed that I’ve been roasting a lot of veggies lately, and not only that, but making fries out of almost anything. Carrots, turnips, sweet potatoes, yucca root. I am liking them, but I am realizing I need to get a little more creative here.

After lunch Chris and I went to Trader Joe’s to pick up all our Thanksgiving Goodies! We decided this year to do something a little low key and have Thanksgiving just the 2 of us. Last year we hosted Thanksgiving for both of our families at our apartment and it wore me out a bit. So this year is going to be a little different. We are doing traditional Thanksgiving dinner with a twist. I love putting a twist on things. You will just have to wait to see what we are going to cook! I promise it will be awesome!

We are not going family-less the whole weekend though because the following day we are having dinner with my entire extended family, and the day after that we are having dinner with his side of the family. So I have a feeling there is going to be a lot of good eating going on that weekend. GOBBLE GOBBLE.

Saturday night we got ready to go out and see my BFF Kelly sing in a band. This was only her 2nd or 3rd performance, and my first time seeing her perform. It was at American University, and the band is called Man & Dog. They were really good, and we had a great time!



After a weekend of indulging a little too much I decided I need to start my Sunday with a detox Green Monster. This was something I came up with after reading Angela’s blog, and what she puts into her detox Green Monster. I made mine a little differently than hers, but took into account her great advice! My ingredients included:

  • A few drips of leftover Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk(about 1/8 C)
  • 7oz water
  • 1 medium frozen banana
  • 3/4 C blueberries
  • 1 Tbs Maca Powder
  • 1 Packet Amazing Grass Wheat Grass Powder
  • Lemon Juice
  • Cayenne Pepper (way too much BTW)
  • 3 big handfuls fresh kale
  • 3 ice cubes


Well I have to say this wasn’t my favorite green monster. Now that I think about it, it was downright disgusting. I put way too much lemon juice and cayenne pepper, which made it way too tangy and spicy. But I knew it was good for me, and I drank it anyways.



In case you missed any of my Green Monster Concoctions you can check them out here! I’m enjoying all the different ways you can get your greens! I’m still going strong on my 2 week challenge, but I’m longing for some breakfast oats or cereal. I am not sure I can make it another week. We’ll see!

I also had a few sips of a homemade cappuccino. That’s right…I said homemade.


Chris does promotions for different companies on the weekend, and the one he is doing right now is for Tassimo. So we get to try out the machine for a while. Of course I was excited to have a espresso/cappuccino/hot chocolate/hot tea/coffee maker in our kitchen for a few months. We can’t drink the drinks too often because the samples are for the promotions, but the Tassimo Team encourages the brand ambassadors to try out the machine before using it at the promotions. I’m OK with that!

I’ve tried the hot chocolate and the cappuccino so far. I have to say that overall it is very good, but the portions are a little small. I love that it makes personal cups of whatever beverage you choose, and the clean up is so simple and easy, but there are some things I don’t like about it too. The cappuccino is very very good (made with Gevalia coffee BTW), and beats regular coffee any day, but it only makes a small amount, and it uses 2% milk. I wish the samples came with a non fat milk as well. The hot cocoa is good, but tastes a little fake and just like the cheap kind you find in the packets. I think I make better hot cocoa from the packets to be honest. But in their defense there are many different brands of coffee, hot chocolate, and tea to choose from including Tazo, Starbucks, Gevalia, and Sucahrd so I’m sure you can find something for everyone. (As I’m editing this post I am sipping on the Chai Tea Latte, and it is fantastic. I’m surprised at how good it tastes.)

So that is basically a recap of the weekend minus a few things here and there. :-)

I do have some exciting news however!! Siema Imports, the company I went to Italy with this past summer, has asked me to sort of team up with them and review some of their wines on my blog. I jumped at the chance because I LOVE their wines, and who doesn’t want free wine? So basically I will be reviewing numerous wines every once in a while and posting them on my blog for all of you to see. I was able to try a bunch this weekend and will be posting reviews very soon. To learn more about Siema check out their Facebook page!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

I’m in Tropical Paradise

November 19, 2009 · 3 Comments

Today is going to be a long long day for me. So I woke up early to get in a 30 day Shred and a little yoga. I did level 2 of the 30 Day Shred and used 5 lb weights most of the time.

The yoga was more stretching and relaxing. Just a few minutes (I ran out of time)
I prepared my breakfast, lunch, and dinner since I will be out all day today. I am going to see David Guetta tonight with some friends, and need to change and eat dinner at work so we can leave as soon as I get home. I have become a recent fan of David Guetta, but absolutely love his work so I am really excited to see him live.

This morning I traveled to a Tropical Paradise. Wait..who am I kidding…I was stuck in rainy DC! HAHA But I did make a tropical paradise Green Monster! I had a pineapple and some kiwi that needed to be eaten and since the kiwi was a little mushy I decided to make a smoothie with the fruit. Today’s Green Monster included:

  • 8oz Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
  • 1 medium frozen banana
  • 2 kiwis
  • Pineapple
  • 1 Tbs Maca Powder
  • 1 packet Berry flavored Hemp Protein
  • 3 big handfuls kale

This combination was very good, but I realized I had eaten so much fruit! 2 kiwis, a banana, AND pineapple. Maybe a little much. It made me really full and almost uncomfortable, and then I got really hungry about an hour later. I wonder if the sugar in the fruit made my hunger spike? Not too sure, but I may not make one exactly like this again, but do a variation of this.


See I told you rainy DC!

I need to watch what I’m eating today a little more closely since I know I will consuming 1 or more alcoholic drinks tonight. When I go out I like to drink vodka and soda with lime or lemon. It is usually my drink of choice because it is lower in calories (no calories in club soda), and for me actually tastes good. I hate sugary sweet drinks (besides the margarita since I love frozen margaritas) but when I am going out at night I like to do something simple that I know won’t kill me in calories. I want to make sure I get the proper nutrition today so I don’t over do it tonight or feel sick tomorrow. Let see how I do!

Lunch today was an almond butter and apple sandwich. I took 2 pieces of Arnold Flax & Fiber bread and topped it with creamy Almond Butter and 1/2 of a Honeycrisp apple. I toasted the sandwich in the toaster for a few minutes. I like when the almond butter gets all warm and gooey


I really really enjoyed this sandwich. It wasn’t very filling, but honestly so so good!

I also had 2 large carrots on the side-cut up in smaller pieces making it easier to munch.

I dipped my carrots in a little Catalina Fat Free dressing.

I’m sure you’ve noticed lately, but I’ve been eating a lot of sandwiches for lunch. I need to go towards more meals like this since works gets incredibly busy around the holidays. It’s always a struggle for me to find things that are easy and fast to make, but always healthy. A helpful tip that always helps me is to prepare ahead of time. This way I am able to get the nutrition I need with out wasting a lot of time. I just have to take a little extra time at night or in the morning to cut up veggies and fruit or make a sandwich. That way I can have delicious nutritious food during the day!

Back to work!

Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: , , , , , ,