Stress Test

Posted on January 27, 2010 | 5 comments

So yesterday was not a better day. It was likely one of my most stressful days in recent history. It started off well with a nice breakfast cookie, which fell apart a bit, but was still very tasty.

But my day slowly transitioned into stress mode once I got to work. The project from the day before continued to linger and heighten in stress. I had my usual granola bar mid-morning snack and then popped out to get a salad for lunch. It was filled with romaine lettuce, cheese, walnuts, dried cranberries, chickpeas, carrots and topped with balsamic vinaigrette.

I then went back into work mode, trying to make a 4 p.m. deadline. Well…we missed the 4 p.m. deadline, but figured out a way to still make everything work out if we hit an 8 p.m. deadline. Back to the drawing board. Work, work, work, stress, stress, stress… oops I’m hungry and totally forgot about my afternoon snacks. Finally around 4:30 p.m. I had my Chobani yogurt filled with a Kashi Go Lean/Granola mix.

I gobbled that down and then it was back to work, work, work and stress, stress, stress. We finally wrapped everything up and dropped off our package at 7 p.m. Phew – made the cut.

However, now it was 7 p.m., I was exhausted and slowly coming down from my peak of stress and knew that a stop at the gym was probably not in my future. Then I started to get angry with myself and tried to rationalize that if I made it to the gym by 7:30 and ran 3 miles I’d be done by 8:00 p.m. and could head home and have dinner by 9:00 p.m. But after eating so little throughout the day (seriously, I usually snack way more than that – especially when prepping for the gym), I knew my run would be lackluster, distracted, and I’d probably be starving. Dinner at 9:00 p.m. sounded too far away. I coudn’t make it.  

So I headed home and had the easiest dinner ever: Amy’s Black Bean and Vegetable Soup with a side of Kombucha.

For some reason, I really liked the Kombucha much better the second time around. I still have a little bit left, which I’ll probably finish up tonight.

I have to admit that while waiting for the soup to heat up, I did snack on a few Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips that Hubby had in the house (sorry Hubby!). I couldn’t help it! They are my FAVORITE chips and I blame my weakness on stress. So yes, I partook in a little emotional eating last night.

Have you ever found yourself eating more or eating something you normally wouldn’t because of stress or any other emotion?

As I was eating dinner, I was watching The Biggest Loser and then followed up dinner with half a grapefruit with a  Truvia packet sprinkled on top for dessert.

The grapefruit really hit the spot – it was so juicy. I can’t wait to finish the other half.

Now as far as BL goes – I am torn. Part of me wants to believe that the red team woman isn’t that conniving and manipulative as to throw the weigh-in, but then the other part of me finds her really annoying and pompous a lot of the time and agrees with Jillian that if she was really working out that hard and not doing anything else (like scarfing down extra food), then she would have lost more weight.

Anyway – I finished up BL and then raced to bed. My plan of attack for today (Wednesday) was to hit the gym in the morning in case any work snafus should arise, forcing me to stay late. I was sad that I couldn’t read my book before bed, but there just wasn’t any time. So, did I get up and make it to the gym… SURE DID! More to come on my great workout and hopefully making this a new routine in tomorrow’s post.

And lastly, some health news that caught my eye:

Exercise: In Women, Training for a Sharper Mind – I swear I’m going to work in some strength training during my workout tomorrow.

Big Benefits Are Seen From Eating Less Salt – DAD: You should read this article!

Huge variation in salt content of processed food – Umm… so I think salt is the big focus for 2010. NYC is coordinating a nationwide effort to prevent heart attacks and strokes by reducing the amount of salt in packaged and restaurant foods. I am all for it! Reduce the salt or take it out, and then if people really want it, they can add it to their food on their own. What do you think of the less/low salt movement?

Have a happy Hump Day everyone!

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Monday = A Bad Balance = Glass of Wine

Posted on January 26, 2010 | 4 comments

Good morning – day two of the work week. Let me start by saying that day one was a rough one. I knew coming into work that I had a lot to do, but it got way more out of control than I expected.

The day started off really well, with my very first oats in a jar!! I used up all my Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter (sadness), so I made some oatmeal with banana and dumped it right into the nearly empty jar.

My first oats in a jar was a success!! How bout you – have you ever made oats in a jar? I feel that I’ve been officially indoctrinated into the food blog world.

My morning flew by and soon it was lunch time. I had some reduced fat Triscuits with some garlic and herb light laughing cow cheese. I also had a side of carrots.

I loved the garlic and herb flavor!! New fave – so good it might show up again later in this post! Next up was my afternoon snacks of Chobani pomegranate yogurt with a mix of granola and Kashi Go Lean. Then a bit later I had some green grapes.

After those snacks I buckled down to finish up some work and then around 4:45 p.m. found out that I needed to do some major work on a big project and it needed to be done and ready for early the next morning. Thoughts of hitting the gym for an easy 3-mile run quickly left my head as the clock ticked away and finally I closed up shop at 8:00 p.m.

I really strive for a healthy work/life balance, but I realize that there are times when emergencies are going to arise and I may have to stay late to get things done. However, I couldn’t get rid of the nagging guilty feeling I had when I left the office because I couldn’t fit my workout in. I know that one day is not a big issue – especially since it was the day after a big race and I could probably use the rest anyway. So I tried to brush the guilt aside and rework my training plan so that I can still build up the appropriate mileage for the week. I’m definitely more lax about working out when I’m not marathon training. But once training starts, I get a little crazy and compulsive.

How do you balance work and life? Do you ever find work encroaching on your personal time? How do you keep things in check and do you feel guilty if the balance is ever a little off?

While I was at work, thankfully I had a few reserve snacks in my arsenal. I grabbed a KIND bar and finished up an apple (that had been in there since last week, so it was probably good that I ate it) to tide me over.

I finished up my work and left the office around 8:00 p.m. and arrived home at 8:45. Thankfully, I had plenty of leftovers from Saturday night’s pre-race dinner, so I heated it up and added some more Garlic and Herb Laughing Cow Cheese (appearance number two). The added cheese really enhanced the flavor of the dish and I was sad that I hadn’t thought to add it on Saturday night – Hubby and Lauren would have enjoyed their meal that much more! Next time I guess.

It’s hard to see in the first photo, but next to my meal is a nice big glass of Cabernet Sauvignon – I needed it. On my commute home, I went back and forth between having more Kombucha or a glass of wine (I didn’t think both would mix well) and obviously the wine won out. I figured after such a long day, I fully deserved it.

I sipped my wine and ate my leftovers while watching the second half of The Bachelor and I have decided that I think Jake is boring – I think he has no personality and he’s kind of a dud. I also constantly feel awkward and uncomfortable when I watch him with the women. I just don’t think there’s much going on behind the scenes, no matter how hard they try to make him seem “thoughtful” and different.

And I finally figured out the girl’s name that I never knew: Jessie. She got some face time this episode…and then got kicked off. At least now I know.

Hopefully my Tuesday is more balanced – I hope you have a nice, balanced Tuesday as well!

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Ma! The Meatloaf!!

Posted on January 25, 2010 | 13 comments

Good morning – it’s Monday. Did your weekend feel like it flew by? Mine sure did. And I can’t believe we are in the last full week of January. 

I woke up this morning kind of sore from yesterday’s half marathon race. I think I may even be more sore than I was the day after the marathon. Lauren and I ran pretty hard yesterday – and we really didn’t even intend to. 

After the race yesterday, we had planned to meet up with my friend Katie for a hearty brunch. Not considering our condition after the finish, I planned for us to meet Katie on Madison Avenue directly after the race. But, by the time Lauren and I got there we were shivering and chilled to the bone. All we really wanted was to shower and be warm before we did anything else. Thankfully, Katie was such a good sport and came to my apartment to wait while we showered and became human again. 

Then we decided to head back to my favorite crêpe place right around the corner: Yorkville Creperie. Whenever I eat there, I typically get one sweet crêpe. However, this time I was ravenous and decided to get one savory crêpe and one sweet crêpe. 

I started with the Greco Crêpe, which was filled with spinach, feta and tomatoes. It was delicious. 

 

My second course was a sweet crêpe called The Country Crêpe and it had banana, strawberry and nutella. 

 

It was sooo yummy, but I was openly jealous of Lauren’s Sweet Crêpe which had baked apples, graham crackers, vanilla ice cream, cornflakes and white chocolate. It was divine and might be what I have to order there from now on. 

After brunch we lounged for a bit, Lauren headed home and I started on the laundry. Walking up and down the 5-flights of stairs after the race was extremely tough. But I managed to get two loads done. A third was needed, but I just couldn’t do it. 

Before dinner, I decided to try some Kombucha I had picked up a little while back and had completely forgotten about. I had no idea what to expect, but I didn’t want it to go to waste and I had heard wonderful things about it through the blog world. 

 

I have to say it was not what I expected at all: fizzy, a little vinegary, but also sweetish at the same time. It was strange and it took me a little while to finish my small glass. I may try the rest of it again tonight, but I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it yet. 

What about you – have you tried Kombucha? Or better yet, have you ever made it?  

I was Googling it and found so many sites where people were making their own. 

Here is the definition of Kombucha from, GT, the manufacturer’s website: 

Kombucha is alternately known as a Chinese tea, a plant, or a mushroom. But it’s not really any of these. It’s a living culture of beneficial microorganisms, and in Kombucha’s case, the whole is infinitely greater than the sum of its parts! Our Kombucha is delicately cultured – some liken it to fermentation – for 30 days. During this period, essential nutrients form like active enzymes, viable probiotics, amino acids, antioxidants and polyphenols. All of these combine to create an elixir that immediately works with the body to restore balance and vitality. Kombucha has been used for hundreds of years throughout the world as a daily health tonic. The culture resembles a light brown, tough, gelatinous disk—and because it’s a living, growing entity, it can regenerate and create new cultures with every batch.

Kombucha is not a supplement, drug, or medicine… it is simply a super healthy food that helps the body to find (or regain) its natural balance in the body, which promotes overall well-being. Just like regular exercise, Kombucha is something that supports a healthy lifestyle. When the body is healthier, its natural defenses are stronger. 

Anyway – the jury is still out on that. I’ll let you know how round two goes. After trying some Kombucha, it was time for dinner. Hubby and I finished the rest of the meatloaf… 

 

And shared a plate of tater tots. 

 

I don’t normally eat tater tots often, but I felt entitled after running a great race. However, I did end up making way too many though and Hubby had to finish them off and then sit with a very full stomach. :-/ 

After dinner I read, watched some football and headed to bed early because I was exhausted. I’m about 290 pages into my new book (The Historian) and am still loving it! I can’t wait to finish it and share a recap with you all. 

Have a great Monday everyone! 

 

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Good Weekend, Great Race!

Posted on January 24, 2010 | 15 comments

Good afternoon – sorry for the lack of posting this weekend. It’s been a busy weekend and I’ve just now had time to take a break. Well, actually I’m currently doing laundry as well as blogging. I definitely want to share a recap of our great NYRR Half Marathon today (YAY), but let me do a quick run-through of Friday and Saturday’s eats – I’ll just give the highlights.

On Friday morning I made Tina’s 3- minute breakfast cookie for the first time and it came out great! I substituted raisins with dried cranberries and used Truvia instead of brown sugar.

It was a really yummy breakfast and something new to break up the monotony.

Lunch was my usual salad (not going to list all the stuff), follow-up by a Chobani yogurt with granola. I’m not posting pics in the essence of time and so as not bore you. But I did enjoy my afternoon snack, which was a KIND bar in a new flavor.

Mango and Macadamia Nut was amazing!

After work I skipped my 3-mile training run for two reason: 1) I knew I’d be running more than 9 miles this weekend (which was the required long run) so I would be making up the mileage, and 2) I wanted to go pick up our race packets. When I got home, Hubby was busy making some venison meatloaf. Yup, venison – in case you missed it – check out this post which talks about my Hubby’s hunting hobby and why I support it. The dinner was amazing.

After dinner, we watched Casino, but I fell asleep about half-way through (it’s a lonng movie).

Saturday was a busy day, with cleaning in preparation for Lauren’s visit and cooking. I started the day off with another breakfast cookie.

I made it larger than before and kept me well-filled throughout the day. For lunch, I had a Chobani yogurt with Kashi cereal, a few pickles (I know – gross combo) and some Triscuits. I didn’t document my lunch.

Lauren arrived around 7:45 and we searched for parking until about 8:15. Then we came home and had some pre-race dinner.

For dinner, I tried making this recipe, (Chicken and Broccoli Mac-N-Cheese) from a site my friend Jess emailed me. I changed a few things up and didn’t buy the pre-packaged broccoli with cheese, but made my own instead. It came out okay, maybe a little more bland then I would have liked.

I may try making another recipe from the site another night though. They had some good ideas. After dinner we just hung out, drank lots of water, watched the SAGs and went to bed early. And now for the NYRR Manhattan Half Marathon Recap:

NYRR Manhattan Half Marathon

I had a kind of restless night of sleep and was not feeling so optimistic about the half marathon the next morning. But, we left the house around 7:15, met up with Katherine, and took a cab to the start. After hitting the porta-potties, we found our corrals and lined up. It was about 38-40 degrees outside, but it still felt chilly.

Finally, the race began and it took us a solid 3 minutes to reach the start. The course was essentially two full loops – starting around West 63rd street and finished at the 72nd Traverse. Exciting and interesting the course was not. But at least you knew exactly how much you had left.

Overall, Lauren and I did very well. We stayed together the whole time and definitely had some ups and downs. Both of us experienced a rough patch around mile 10, but we powered through. The hills in Central Park felt especially large and never-ending today, and even the slighter “rolling hills” were excruciating. But I am extremely proud of our times, here are our stats:

Mile 1 – 8:08
Mile 2 – 8:13
Mile 3 – 7:52
Mile 4 – 8:16
Mile 5 – 8:26
Mile 6 – 8:00
Mile 7 – 8:20
Mile 8 – 8:16
Mile 9 – 8:09
Mile 10 – 8:23
Mile 11 – 8:38
Mile 12 – 8:02
Mile 13 – 8:05
.1 (which was actually .31) – 2:19
Total of 13.31 miles in 1:49:14

As you can see, we ended up running way more than 13.1 – the reason was because it was nearly impossible to keep to the inside of the course, so we were constantly passing and running around the outer edge, so we were running more than we needed to. My Garmin would beep a solid few seconds before we would hit each mile marker.

But overall, despite the extra mileage and cold, we had a great race. Now I’m off to finish laundry, relax, eat more (I’ve already eaten a ton of good stuff …more to come on that tomorrow), and read my book.

Have a great Sunday everyone – and Lauren thanks for a G-REAT race! 🙂

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Friday Never Felt So Good

Posted on January 22, 2010 | 6 comments

TGIF and it feels wonderful. I want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and comments yesterday. It was a tough day and all your support really helped a lot. I was sort of wary about posting what was going on, but I’m very glad I did. The support I received from my husband, colleagues, friends and blog friends was wonderful – so thank you all.

I have good news to report on my Dad. He had two stents put in yesterday and will likely be able to leave the hospital today. I talked to him yesterday after the procedure and he said he was feeling okay – just tired and very hungry. My mom tells me he is an unwilling guest at the hospital and has been ready to go home almost since he got there. I’m sure he is counting down the hours till his release today.

It was definitely hard being so far from my family and many of you said you could relate. I’m only 2 1/2 hours away from my family, so if need be, I could certainly hop on a train and be there somewhat quickly. But I can’t imagine living on the other side of the country or even just a few states away.

I’ve decided not to head up there this weekend, because as my mom said, there really isn’t anything I can do at the moment. My Dad just needs to rest and recover from this. And eventually start exercising and changing his diet. I’ll be heading up there next weekend for a wedding, so I’ll be able to spend some time with him then.

So for now, I’m just thankful that he is okay and am waiting to hear that he’s gone home from the hospital. Despite my anxiety yesterday, I tried to eat normally and not let stress affect my foods. Here are my eats:

Breakfast was oatmeal with dried cranberries, walnuts and agave.

Then lunch was leftover couscous with carrots and grape tomatoes added and balsamic vinegar drizzled over top.  

My snacks for the rest of the day included Chobani yogurt with a mixture of granola and Kashi Go Lean cereal added in.

A small bag of grapes…

A KIND Fruit and Nut Delight Bar and an apple.

It sounds like more snacks than usual for me and there was a reason. I had signed up for a camera class a while back and it happened to be last night. I definitely did not feel like going, but as Hubby said, it would help take my mind off everything for a little bit.

So I headed to my “Getting to Know Your EOS Rebel” class at Adorama on West 18th street.

The class was helpful in some respects, but not entirely what I was expecting. I need tips on shutter speed, apertures, ISO, etc., and this class focused more on some of the camera features and settings you might not normally explore. Toward the end of the class, myself and a few others started asking questions about shutter speed, ISO, etc. and the lady who runs the workshops, as well as the instructor, suggested we sign up for the March session they are offering. I really wish I had known more about what last night’s class was and was not going to focus on, because I would have skipped it and just gone to the March workshop instead.

Anyway, I guess I did get some basic info, but now I’m likely going to sign up for the March class as well.

After my class I talked to my mom again for a little bit and she gave more details about my Dad, his diagnosis and next steps. Then I headed home – I was exhausted.

I got home from the camera class at about 9:00 p.m. and was starving. I’d had a lot of fruit throughout the day, but I was craving more veggies, so I made myself a big salad with lettuce, carrots, grape tomatoes, raisins and goat cheese. I sprinkled some Newman’s Light balsamic vinaigrette on top and mixed it up.

After dinner, I watched Grey’s Anatomy, read my book for a bit and pretty much passed out. This has been a short week, but it’s also been exhausting. On top of the stuff going on with my Dad, I felt like I was trying to cram a lot of stuff into just a few days.

Do you ever feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done?

Lately, I’ve been shocked by how fast the days are over and how little I feel like I’ve accomplished. I was having this discussion with a few of my friends who are feeling the same way. Maybe it’s the lack of daylight or maybe we just try to cram too many things into our already busy schedules.

Anyway – Friday truly hasn’t felt this good in a long time. I’m looking forward to a low-key night tonight, my friend Lauren coming down tomorrow, and I am even kind of looking forward to the NYRR Half Marathon on Sunday (maybe it will help release some tension), but I am also kind of dreading it as well. 😉

Again – thanks for all the support yesterday. The blog world is truly an amazing community of caring people. And much love to my husband (for dealing with my grouchiness and tears) and my friends for the emails, texts and calls. Love you all and love you Dad and Mom!

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Scary News

Posted on January 21, 2010 | 10 comments

Good morning. To be honest with you, I wasn’t going to write a post at all today. But then I figured that I may eventually have to explain my absence, since I tend to post every day, and I figured I would just share this news now rather than try to hide it and my feelings. Plus, maybe talking/writing about it will help me feel a little better as well.

Last night I received some scary news from my Mother: my Father had a minor heart attack.

He’s okay – he is in the hospital now and they have to perform a test on him to determine what caused the heart attack and figure out next steps. It may even be something that can be remedied through medication, but they need to first find the cause.

It has been very hard for me to hear this news in general, but also because I’m so far from my family. Two and a half hours seems like light years away right now. I want to be at the hospital, I want to be there to find out what’s happening right away, I want to be with my family. I feel like I’m not able to help my Father or my Mother at all.

So, that’s that. I’ll be waiting for a call from my Mom today to hear an update on the test. I’m relieved to know that my Dad is feeling much better and he even told my Mother to leave the hospital and go back to work yesterday (they own their own business), so I know he’s going to be alright.

Now all I can do is be thankful that it wasn’t a major heart attack, wait for more details, stay calm, and send love and good thoughts my Dad and Mom’s way. I apologize for the melancholy post – hopefully all will go smoothly and I’ll have some good news to report soon. Thanks for understanding and listening.

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All Natural* With An Asterisk

Posted on January 20, 2010 | 16 comments

Good morning – Happy Hump Day already! I really do love short weeks. Except sometimes you have to pack a lot of work into those four days. Anyway – still nice.

I’m pretty tired today because I spent another late night with my book, The Historian. I’m only about 15o pages in (600+) pages, but it’s one of those books that I think about when I’m doing other activities and look forward to picking it up again. And then when I do, it feels like an old friend. I’m such a nerd, I know.

Anyhow, my day went by very quickly yesterday. Breakfast was oatmeal with apples, cinnamon and a bit of agave with a side of light cranberry juice mixed with orange juice.

The day was busy and before I knew it, it was time for lunch. I hadn’t packed anything and was craving veggies, so I grabbed a salad with romaine lettuce, raisins, dried cranberries, cheddar cheese, carrots and chickpeas.

Afternoon snacks were a clementine (two shown, but I only ate one) and Chobani yogurt with granola.

I literally flew to the gym after work because my marathon training plan called for a 5-mile run and I wanted to get there before it got packed. I tried to run as fast as possible because I really hate being one of those people that ties up a machine, but I ended up running 5 miles in 42 minutes. Not awful, but there definitely was one guy waiting for a treadmill for about 3 minutes when I was on and the guilt was building.

Do you adhere to the 30-minute rule at your gym (if you have one)? Will you break it if no one is waiting?

If no one is waiting, I feel slightly better about bending the rule a bit. Anyway, I jumped off and did some quick ab work and got the heck out of there. I’m not sure if I was thinking maybe the guy would tell on me and then the gym managers would come yell at me or what, but I wanted to leave fast.

I came home and was ravenous after banging out a quick five miles, so I set to work on making dinner. Hubby had purchased more chicken, so I decided to give in and use some of it. I looked at the label and was rather confused:

Where was my confusion you ask? Well, what are all the asterisks about? And when you have an asterisk, aren’t you supposed to look for the footnote? There were no footnotes here, but there sure were asterisks all over the place. *No artificial ingredients, minimally processed; No Hormones Added** (that one got a double)!

I took the label out and checked the back, but found nothing. And I went on the store’s website today, but couldn’t find any info about their “All Natural* fresh young chicken.” I’m going to keep looking. That label really angers me.

Anyway, I moved on despite the ambiguous label and made a stir-fry dinner with brown rice, All Natural* chicken (ha), carrots, onion, green pepper, broccoli and a little corn. I topped it with organic soy sauce.

After dinner, Hubby and I watched The Biggest Loser. It’s sad to say, but I didn’t once flip over to American Idol. Spoiler Alert: So, what do you think – was the Red Team Wife throwing the weigh in? I can’t decide,  but I’m kind of leaning toward maybe.

After BL and before I read my book into all hours of the night, we had a little Murphy photo shoot. Here are some of Murph’s best shots:

Apparently, Murphy does not like feet. Doesn’t he look huge in the last shot – he looks so long!

I hope you have great* (asterisk with no footnote, so you’ll have to just guess what I mean) Wednesday everyone!

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Easing Back Into Healthy Habits

Posted on January 19, 2010 | 14 comments

Good morning all. Happy Tuesday – back to work for many of us who enjoyed an extra day off yesterday. I don’t know about you, but I definitely enjoyed it and needed it.

I started the day yesterday with a breakfast of Kashi Autumn Wheat with almond milk and light cranberry juice. Please forgive my atrocious bowl.

For lunch I snacked on some Garlic Herb Triscuits (these can be a bit much if you get a really seasoned cracker). When Hubby went to the store a little while ago, they only had flavored Triscuits – so I gave these a shot. They weren’t too bad. I also had an apple with peanut butter, a big glass of water and some raisins.  

After lunch I finished up two loads of laundry and then decided it was time for a quick run. My marathon training plan only called for a 3-mile run, but I ended up doing almost 4 miles. Here are my stats:

Mile 1 – 8:10
Mile 2 – 8:30
Mile 3 – 8:51
Mile 4 – 8:13
Total of 3.97 miles in 33:46

After my run, Hubby came home from his trip upstate and I helped him unload the car. Chobani yogurt was on sale for 99 cents in Albany (whoohoo), so I had him stock up! Dinner was lazy – I ate more triscuits (not pictured) and had a few pickles and a yogurt with granola.

After dinner, I reluctantly turned on The Bachelor. I swore to my friend this weekend that I was done watching it and that I had only watched last week’s episode to see what the “big drama” was. But alas, Hubby and I wound up sitting through another two hours of the show. I thought Elizabeth was the prettiest on the show (Hubby called her “Megan Fox-esque,” but I agree that she was playing games with him. Bet she regrets that now.

Anyone else out there still watching The Bachelor?

There were definitely two girls I didn’t know at all – one of them was eliminated (the long dark hair), but who the heck is that short girl with dark hair (I think she was wearing a sparkly dress)? She keeps making it through and I never see her at all. She’ll probably win. I am glad that crazy Michelle is gone though. And wow – I can’t believe I’m still talking about this show.

Moving on…

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I had a ton of fun and am soo looking forward to Kelly and Jerry’s wedding in less than 2 weeks! I did eat and drink a bit too much, so it’s back to my training schedule and healthy eating for me this week and hopefully from here on out. Plus, I’m running the NYRR Manhattan Half Marathon on Sunday! I’m excited and nervous. One of my best friends is coming down to run it with me, so that should be fun!

How do you get back on track after a weekend of less-than-healthy living?

I’m kind of easing back into it – Monday wasn’t the healthiest of days as far as eating goes, but I did get in a run and I drank a good amount of water. Today will hopefully be much healthier though.

And lastly, here are a few interesting health stories:

Exercise protects and improves the aging brain

Mediterranean diet protects against stomach cancer

Hope you all have a healthy and happy Tuesday! Yay for short weeks.

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I Love an Extra Day Off

Posted on January 18, 2010 | 7 comments

Good morning. I hope everyone is having a good Monday and that those of you who have it off are taking full advantage of the extra rest day. I love having a day off and then a 4-day week – it’s great. Plus, when it’s a busy and fun-filled weekend (like this weekend has been) it really helps to have one more to catch up.

When I last posted, I just finished a 9-mile run with Katherine and was heading out to a bachelorette party at Foxwoods Casino. Before I left I ate a second breakfast after our good run. I had a granola bar, a clementine (two pictured, but I only ate one), a big glass of water and a coffee.

And let me warn you now – I was a bad blogger from here on out with taking photos of our food. I was more interested in taking pictures of all my friends and the fun we were having. Food photos kind of were forgotten.

I drove with Rachael from NYC to Foxwoods and was amazed at how HUGE it is!! It’s like its own little world. This was my first time attending a bachelorette at a casino and it was fun! We got there and got changed and headed to the bride’s room for some pre-dinner fun. Here are some of the goodies and games we had going on.

I definitely snacked on some tostitos with salsa and had two drinks before we left. We also had a bachelorette celebratory shot – and it hurt. I don’t do shots.

We headed to a Mexican restaurant in the casino and started off with appetizers – nachos were a must!

These were pretty darn good! There was also so great guacamole going around, as well as pitchers of margaritas. For my main meal, I shared a chicken burrito with my friend Tera and it was the perfect amount of food. Then we took a lovely group picture!

And a few of the girls got a little bit silly in the back there! It was the margaritas.

And here is Stephanie, me, Kelly (the bride-to-be) and Tera enjoying ourselves.

It was a great night. We followed dinner up with some dancing in one of the casino clubs and we were there until they turned the lights on and kicked everyone out. I haven’t danced in a while, so I was fully enjoying myself. That is the latest I have been out in a very long time. Many drinks were had, but I don’t have an exact count – my head was definitely hurting the next day.

Sunday was a lazy day for me. We drove home and I spent the rest of the day on the couch watching t.v. and I also watched Julie and Julia finally!

It was such a cute movie. I loved being able to relate to the blogging aspect of it and trying to cook new foods. I’m just about the last person to see this movie, but still, if you haven’t seen it – I recommend it.

I didn’t take many food pics on Sunday because I wasn’t too hungry and didn’t have the motivation. I went to bed early and am planning on making today a productive day – laundry, cleaning and hopefully a short run.

What do you like to do on days off – relax and lounge or get errands and “to-dos” done?

Whatever you like to do, I hope you enjoy the day off, if you have it off!

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Saturday: Bachelorette and 9-Mile Run

Posted on January 16, 2010 | 4 comments

Good morning – happy Saturday! This going to be a quick post because I’m heading out to a bachelorette party for my friend Kelly at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut soon. I’m very excited!! It’s going to be such a blast.

I just got back from a 9+ run with Katherine in Central Park and despite the balmy 42 degree weather, it felt a little chilly while running. My nose was running so terribly. Here is our breakdown of the run:

Mile 1 – 9:56 (on our way to CP)
Mile 2 – 8:46
Mile 3 – 8:59
Mile 4 – 9:03
Mile 5 – 8:52
Mile 6 – 8:52
Mile 7 – 9:13
Mile 8 – 9:10
Mile 9 – 11:17 (on our way back from CP through the streets)
.21 – 9:57
Total of 9.21 miles in 1:26:18

This is actually more than my Marathon Training Plan called for for today – so that’s good – I’m right on track. Here’s yesterday’s recap:

For breakfast yesterday I had Kashi Autumn Harvest with almond milk and a side of cranberry and orange juice mixed.

Lunch was leftovers of Thursday night’s dinner and it was just as good.

My afternoon snacks were Chobani pineapple yogurt (my fave!) with granola.

And a handful of walnuts and raisins.

After work on Friday night I headed to the gym because my training plan called for a 5-mile “pace” run – meaning run it at the pace you would want to run at the marathon (for me that means to BQ). With my first marathon I usually took the night before a long run as a rest day, a light workout or cross training day. I decided to try and follow this new Higdon plan, but chose to run 4 miles instead of 5.

4 miles in 32:51

That was a pretty fast pace for me, averaging about 8:12 per mile, which is actually faster than what I would need in the marathon to qualify for Boston, but I was feeling good so I went with it. I must admit that running hard the night before a “long” run does not seem to work for me. I think I’m going to need to tweak Hal Higdon’s plan a bit to meet the needs of my body. I need more of a light, short run the night before a long run. I may move the “pace” runs toward the middle of the week.

If you’ve trained for any kind of race using a training plan developed by someone else, have you tweaked or changed it at all – how and why? Did it work out better for you?

After that I did some core work and some arm exercises with a 5-pound weight and headed home.

I decided to use up the remaining spinach gnocchi for dinner, since the package said to use within three days. They did not disappoint the second time around! Yum!

After dinner I also ate a handful of un-pictured chocolate morsels – they’ve been my obsession this week. Then I headed into read for a bit before bedtime (which was super early). I am totally into The Historian at this point and I’m only about 80 pages in, but I’m loving it!

That’s all for now folks – time to pack and get myself into party mode!! Have a great weekend everyone! 🙂

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