Comments (5)

By Liz, November 18, 2009 9:32 pm

Howdy.

So lately I have gotten obsessed with the show Glee (on Fox Wed at 9). I just happen to be watching it right now. It’s so  funny and the song and dance numbers are great. Love love love it!

Anywho, let’s get back to the food shall we?

Breakfast was pretty darn spectacular, but when are oats ever not spectacular?

Made my oats the same as this time. I also threw some oat squares in there, too…once I ate some oats off the top…hehe. That jar was practically overflowing!

I didn’t really get hungry for lunch until 1:30 and that was waaay too late to eat lunch before practice at 2:30. So, I snacked on my after practice snack turned lunch…

I call this “Larabar decontructed.” Just some dates, peanuts and dried cranberries.

It was my last hard workout of the season and of the year today. It was pretty darn easy…just some more short and fast speedwork. 2×200m (39 sec each), 400m (1:21 min) and a 200m (39 sec). Super fast and pretty fun. I warmed up and cooled down total of 2.5 miles…so I ran almost 3.5 miles today.

After practice snack today was what I was supposed to have for lunch…leftover beef stew that Jacob made yesterday…and I totally forgot the whole picture thing. Oops!

After snacking on stew, I was soo tired. So, I decided to rest my eyes “for just a minute.” Well, that minute turned into 3 hours! It was around 8 when I woke up and dinner had to be quick and easy.

Omelets to the rescue! I did a 2 egg omelet with cheddar and spinach and I thawed out and toasted a leftover waffle from Sunday’s breakfast plus 1/2 and orange on the side for vitamin C action.

And you can’t forget the chocolate…

Someone*cough* Jacob *cough* finished my Hazelnut & Currant chocolate bar…so it was time to crack open the 85% dark chocolate. This is truly my favorite chocolate ever…ever.

I’m feeling pretty darn out of it right now. I hate it when I wake up from a nap and just feel all groggy and worthless. Eh, I have a test to study for, too. After Glee though.

Have a good Wednesday night. Next time you hear from me I’ll be heading to State meet! Can’t wait!

Comments (4)

By Liz, November 16, 2009 8:58 pm

Good evening guys. As the title implies, today was actually a pretty good day.

I got lotsa good sleep and woke up super refreshed.

Ate a yummilicious breakfast.

It was a bit chilly for a Chunky Strawberry, but it was just what I was craving.

Work was chill.

Lunch was bomb!

Oh leftovers, I love thee.

I remembered why I don’t eat oranges very often.

They’re tasty, but a pain in the arse to peel!

Cross country practice was kick butt: 400m fast untimed to loosen up, 2×200 (41 sec each), 600 (2:15), 400 (1:28), 200 (41 sec).  We’ve been doing a lot of quick tune-up work to prepare for STATE!!

Snackage was a granola bar (unpictured) and carrots and almond butter.

Always a good combo!

I tried one of my fun New Frontier’s buys…

This coconut water was pretty good. I’ve never had coconut water before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I”ve heard good things, and the fact that it is like a natural sports drink really appeals to me. It had a subtle coconut flavor and a slight thickness to it. It almost tasted like plain water! It was kind of expensive and only tasted okay, so I probably won’t be buying this on a regular basis. I always love trying new things though, so I did enjoy sipping on it with my almond butter and carrots.

Dinner was fab-u-lous. My roommate Justin cooked up burritos for all the roomies and his girlfriend and brother came over, too. So it was kind of a festive night. There were a few shots of tequila had, but I refrained. Tequila is just really not my thing. Here’s the version of burrito night I had…

A salad the size of my head: spring mix, broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, radish, steak, refried beans, cheddar cheese, 1/4 avocado, salsa and blue corn chips. I will admit, I was a tad bit too full after cleaning my plate…but it was oh so delicious!

Instead of a margarita with my dinner, I had a beer.

Probably not the best flavor combo, but it tasted fine.

I wasn’t too full for dessert…but when am I ever

Just some Green and Black’s Hazelnut and Currant chocolate. Heaven in bar form my friends!

So yes, Monday has been a good day and will be a good evening…as there is no imminent homework to do.

I will leave y’all with a Vibram update: I ran a 2 mile warm-up and 2 mile cool-down in them today. I think I may have overdone it a bit. These shoes do require a serious break-in period! Here’s the blister I got (probably was the Vibrams but could have been something else).

Ya, kinda gnarly. Also, my other foot was extremely sore. Tomorrow I am going to take a complete break from wearing them and go a bit easier on the miles that I run into them for now. Looking forward to when my feet are completely used to them though. And, yes, they are still very comfortable and I still love them…I just need to work up to spending more time in them.

Okay, time to veg out! Night!

Comments (4)

By Liz, November 15, 2009 9:31 pm

I absolutely loved having the day off today. I feel (mostly) recharged and (sorta) ready for the weeks ahead.

I slept into almost 10 o’clock this morning! Ack, it felt good, but I usually like to be up by 8 at the latest. I sure felt rested though!

While laying in bed, I made a game plan for how I wanted to spend my day. Jacob and I had thrown around a couple ideas last night, like maybe hiking. But, this morning we decided on making a relaxing breakfast, hanging out a bit, then going for a long run at Montana de Oro (my favorite place ever!), window shopping in downtown SLO and going to New Frontiers (my 2nd favorite place ever).

First things first…

I made waffles using whole wheat flour, oat bran and ground flax. I reduced the butter in the recipe (from Joy of Cooking) from 2 sticks to 3/4 of a stick. They sure were tasty. For some protein power, I made a 2 egg omelet stuffed with spinach and a thin slice of sharp cheddar cheese. And, of course, there was some maple syrup on the side for dipping the waffles in. Yum!

Jacob and I hung out in our pjs watching some Spongebob Squarepants. I swear I’m still a little kid! I mean…my comforter on my bed is Pooh bear and I have 2 Spongebob pillow cases. Real mature

After digesting breakkie, it was off to Montana de Oro. I ran 7 miles in 64 minutes. I ran in my regular Mizuno trainers, no Vibrams for longs runs yet. I felt amazing…like I was gliding along. The weather was gorgeous, too. A light breeze, just enough warmth, the rustling of leaves…perfect.

After-run refueling was chicken sandwiches I made before we left for the run.

I was afraid all the fillings would fall out if I took a picture of it after I unwrapped it, so a saran wrapped picture it was. I made the sandwiches with 2 slices Ezekiel bread, 1/4 avocado, 1 tbsp. TJs tuscan dressing, shredded carrot, roasted chicken, red pepper slices, radishes and spinach. On the side, I had 1/2 and orange and a homemade peanut butter chocolate chip cookie.

After lunching, we drove into SLO-town and hit up a couple stores downtown. I made some serious hints to Jacob of possible Christmas presents. I also used a gift card that I had from my birthday last January, and bought a pair of running shorts with it. A little Starbucks was had, too.I got my recent addiction of a cafe americano with 2 pumps pumpkin spice with a splash of half and half. Too good!

Of course, our New Frontiers stop was wonderful. This health food store is quite expensive, but aren’t they all? I limited myself to 4 small items, and somehow walked out only spending 12 bucks. I am proud of my smart spending. I made my selections carefully…

Annie’s woodstock dressing (aka my favorite salad dressing), 2 bars of Green and Blacks chocolate (also my favorite dark chocolate in the world) and a package of coconut water. I’ve heard that coconut water is a good natural sports drink, so I’ll test it out one of these days soon.

When we got home, we were both pretty famished! I whipped up some quick dinner.

All pretty:

All messed up:

This dish was inspired from a similar dinner Christina made a while back. I’ve had it in the back of my mind ever since I saw it, and tonight was the night to try it out. I didn’t use the ricotta though, and I’m a bit sad I didn’t. It really would have added something too the dish…next time though. I also added in some green beans for some more veggie action. I loved the green beans in it, too! This dish was fabulous, even without the ricotta and Jacob and I both went back for seconds. Lucky me, there are some leftovers for my lunch tomorrow!

Dinner was accompanied my a beverage…

This was better than the Blue Moon pumpkin ale, more spice to it. However, I was still a bit disappointed in how it almost tasted like regular ol’ beer. Anyone have some recommendations for a really good pumpkin brew?

Dessert was obvious…

This was the first time I tried this variety and I was seriously impressed. I had to hold myself back from eating the whole bar! I will admit I went back for a couple more little squares. Too good, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from G&Bs.

Just enjoying the rest of my night before I have to go back to the daily grind. Nighty night.

Comments (5)

By Liz, November 14, 2009 4:37 pm

Hey guys! Happy weekend to y’all that have it off. As usual, I am working but…I have tomorrow off. That is my first day off from everything in 3 weeks. I’m pretty stoked!

Yesterday, Friday the 13th, was actually neither a lucky or unlucky day; just run of the mill.

I just wasn’t feeling cardio at the gym and had already hit my running mileage for the week, so I started my day with 1 hour and 10 minutes of yoga ala Rodney Yee. My fave video of his is Power Yoga: Total Body, which is the video I did yesterday morning. I broke a good sweat and felt all loose and stretchy afterwards. Totally what I needed!

Breakfast was extremely amazing yesterday.I made pumpkin oats.

Cooked in the pot: 1/2 cup oats, 1/2c. milk, 1/2c. water, 1/2 a banana

Mixed in after cooking: 1/2c. canned pumpkin, 2-3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Toppings: peanut butter, pumpkin butter, chopped walnuts, Barbara’s shredded oats cereal

Apple crisp oats mooove over, there’s a new oat bowl in town. This is now my new oat addiction, for the time being.

Yesterday was actually really low-key at work and in the afternoon. Jacob and I went grocery shopping. I picked up my Project Feed Me items from last week and for this week.I got both crunchy AND creamy peanut butter, and some Betty Crocker Beef Stroganoff boxed meals. My bag full of PFM foods is getting pretty full. I can’t wait to drop off a huge bag(s) of food to the food bank when PFM is over!

Dinner last night was suuuuper tasty. I made paninis (aka fancy grilled cheese sammies )

That there is 2 slices of ezekiel bread, buttered, stuffed with brie cheese, apple slices, turkey and dried cranberries, subsequently grilled on the Foreman. Yum!

I got my veggies in with a small side salad of spring mix greens, radishes and broccoli with some Tuscan Style dressing from TJs. A nice glass of wine accompanied dinner, too. (For all you TJs shoppers, check out the new Charles Shaw, aka two buck chuck, called Nouveau. I guess it’s only around during the holidays and for 2 bucks it is one of the best cheap red wines I have ever had!)

After dinner, I hung out with all the roomies. Sometimes we are all just doing our own thing and don’t get a chance to sit down together and hang out, so last night was a real sweet treat to spend some quality time with the peeps I share a home with.

*****************

Welcome to Saturday! How was the trip from Friday? Good, I hope!

Jacob made me breakfast in bed this morning. What a guy! He didn’t make no ho-hum breakfast either. He made me 3 utterly delicious slices of french toast (using ezekiel bread). I had that slice x3. YUM! Sadly, before I knew it, it was time to get ready for work. High ho, high ho it’s off to work I go….

Lunch…A light salad, just some greens, veggies, chicken and Tuscan dressing.

Grapefruit…Yumminess…And yes, I totally licked both the container and the spoon clean. No peanut butter left behind

Well, in t-minus 30 minutes I will be off work, rushing home to prep dinner for my parents. I’m going over to their house tonight, making them pizza and cookies, while they help me fill out my application for hopefully transferring to Humboldt State. Kinda exciting!

Catch you on the flip side (Boondock Saints anyone?)…

Oh, by the way, I apologize for the icky line running through all my pictures. My camera is to blame, and I have no idea why it’s fudging up like this. Hopefully, I will get a full refund or a new camera soon! But in the meantime, just try to imagine that line is not there.

Comments (5)

By Liz, November 11, 2009 9:37 pm

Okay, so I’m a bit ticked right now…my 3 month old 250 buck camera has something wrong with it. Okay, I’m not ticked…I’m pissed!

Anyways….now that I got that off my chest….

I bet you are all biting at the bit (or not ) to know what the “special” purchase I made on Sunday was. Well the wait is over…

Vibram Five-fingers baby! For anyone not aware of these amazing shoes, read about them here. In short, Vibrams are the ultimate “unshoe”. Wearing these is essentially like walking around barefoot. I personally LOVE being barefoot, and I think most people prefer to not wear shoes. I will be using these for walking around, working out, daily activities and running. So what do they feel like you ask? Well, you feel everything under your feet. Every rock, every change in surface. You feel very attune with your surface and surroundings. I warmed up and cooled down with my Vibrams on Monday and I warmed up with them on Tuesday, as well as walking around all day at school with them. They take some getting used to, and there is definitely a break-in period. I am not ready to wear these 100% of the time yet, but I am working up to that. What I can definitely say thus far is that these shoes (or unshoes) are amazing! I have fallen in love with them, and cannot wait to be able to spend more and more time wearing and running in them. Vibrams rock!

So lets see…what the heck have I been up to these past few days?

The most notable parts of Monday include:

Running an awesome workout: 5 miles including 1mile warm-up, 3 min, 4 min, 5 min, 4 min, 3 min all ran hard then a 1 mile cool-down. Loved running in the Vibrams for the warmups and cooldowns!

Hugh jass taco salads, with blue corn chips and salsa.

Aaaannnd…spending all evening and into the wee hours of the night working on a speech that I procrastinated on until the night before it was due. Ahh, good times.

Tuesday was the usual school, school and more school. I think I rocked my speech, even though I didn’t prepare as much as I should have. Also, in English my teacher used my paper that I turned in last week as an example of A+ work. I was really humbled by her praise for my work. Totally put a smile on my face! My mandatory sweat sesh was an easy 4 miles with the xc team.

Wednesday…nothing too special here. Breakfast was exceptional though.

I had some leftover pancake batter in the fridge from Sunday. I also had about 1/4 cup of pumpkin in the fridge, too. My genius brain decided to put the two together and make pumpkin pancakes! Topped with pumpkin butter, almond butter and walnuts…this was a pancake breakfast made in heaven. Oh ya, there was some maple syrup on there, too.

The whole spread:

Lunch was pretty darn good too.

That’s 2 slices of ezekiel bread stuff with mashed pinto beans, 1/4 of an avocado, red pepper slices, spinach, carrot, radish and tuscan dressing. This sandwich pretty much rocked. It was accompanied with blue corn chips and strawberries. Yum!

Workout today was 40 minutes on the elliptical, 15 minutes of swimming and about 5 minutes of ab work. By the way, have you guys checked out Angela’s Whittle Your Middle challenge? I’m totally on board!

Dinner tonight was pretty quick, thrown together and unspecial. Also, my camera has been taking totally crappy pictures as of tonight (there is a line running through the middle of all my pictures)…so I will not be including those pics.

I’m watching Glee right now…totally addicted to that show!

Nighty night guys.