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By Liz, February 10, 2010 12:17 pm

Hello hello dear bloggies!

I got a great idea for a post while reading my new issue of Runner’s World magazine on Sunday. This lovely lady was on the cover.

(source)

That’s Kara Goucher by the way. Her cover story was incredibly inspiring. In a nutshell, the article was about Kara’s mental side of running. One of her main problems in training is having confidence in herself. I guess even elites have to overcome the mental side of running, too.

I really liked the article, mostly because it focused on the mental aspect of running instead of the physical. Sure, we all need to do tempos runs, some track work and log in the long miles to prepare for a race or just stay in peak shape. However, working out our minds is something that needs to be done, too. And this aspect is sometimes overlooked.

For me, as with Kara, my confidence in my abilities and myself as a runner has been a huge drawback to my performances. I will sometimes give up before I reach the starting line. I’ve worked my way up from being a back-of-the-packer to a middle-of-the-packer and now to a upper/middle-packer. I’m not sure I will ever be up in front (unless I’m in a small local 5k), but know I have really improved over the years I’ve been running (age 15-22). However, sometimes my mind gets the best of me and I forget that I have achieved so much and gotten so much faster. I will still think of myself as the chubby girl who would usually place last. It’s a similar anomaly that occurs with people who have lost a lot of weight. They will still think of themselves as fat sometimes, even though they are at their healthy, goal weight. Bottom line: our minds like to play tricks on us. Learning how to overcome them is the hard part.

Two of the ideas the article proposed for overcoming the confidence barrier were:

1) Look to your training to give yourself confidence. If you’ve put in the work, there is no reason to doubt yourself.

2) Remember how pleasurable the feeling of running is. Lock into that zone, where your body feels in sync and the feeling of movement uplifts you.

These two tips really resonated with me. The first tip is just common sense. If you’ve done training at your race pace, done the volume of miles you needed, etc. then there is no reason to not have confidence that you can complete your race or set a PR, or whatever your goal may be. The second tip though is one I forget sometimes. To me, running is fun, and feeling the body in motion, the breathing, one foot in front of the other, torso twisting, arms pumping, heart beating is one of the best feelings in the world. The article said, that if you focus in on this feeling then your body will loosen up and let our physical abilities shine through.

I used the second tip consciously during a hard track workout on Monday.

Warmup: 2 miles and a 400m at workout pace plus 2×200m strides

Workout: 4×1200m with a lap rest in between. My times: 5:02, 5:02, 5:01, 4:58

Cooldown: 2 miles                       Total workout: 8miles

This workout was tough. Once my coach told us the workout, I shut my mind off. I wasn’t into it. I didn’t feel ready to hit the paces he set for me, I just didn’t feel like working that hard. However, during the warm-up, I told myself that I am doing the workout, so I better get in the mindset or else it won’t be any fun at all.

So I did. After the first 1200m repeat, I hit a time faster than the one set for me. Sweet! Once the workout progressed, it was harder to keep that pace, but I focused in on the feeling of running around the track, one foot in front of the other, going around the turns, striding out that last 100. It felt good, it felt right and I began to feel confident. It was a pretty darn great workout.

Running is just as much, or more, mental as it is physical. Our minds are really like the gateways to our bodies. For me, lack of confidence was that closed gate and by opening it up, I have made great achievements in my running. Sure, I still have off days and off races, we all do and will. However, trying to tap into our mental focus when it really matters is one of the keys to running success. Good luck out there! And have:

Comments (4)

By Liz, December 28, 2009 6:29 pm

The holidays are a time of year when sometimes the most healthful people tend to slip into habits not as healthful as usual. I personally am very proud of the food and exercise decisions I’ve made these this holiday and can say I don’t feel any heavier or unhealthy. That’s actually a first. But what if you have eaten too much, had cookies for breakfast and fatty foods for lunch and dinner without much green foods passing your lips, unless they’re green m&ms of course?! This is the reality of a lot of folks, maybe some of you bloggers and for sure most of America right now. In lieu of this overeating season, a lot of companies pull out all the stops to advertise diets to lose that holiday weight gain. I’ve been noticing more ads for the Special K diet, Weight Watchers and Subway, all advertising to “start the new year off right.”

I’ve been pondering these messages flashed on the television, and today during a 5-mile run, I thought about how stressful it can be to try to, and stay healthy. And those advertisements don’t help! Now this is where you look perplexed and say…”Being healthy stressful?? I thought being healthy was supposed to calm stress.” It does seem that exercise and eating right are supposed to help stress. There are numerous articles on the internet, magazines and newspapers all discussing some study that proved that exercise may reduce stress, etc. These studies are probably right, especially in concern to exercise. I’ve found that getting in a good run, or banging out a serious weights sesh always make me feel better than I did before. However, there is a darker side to living healthy that I don’t feel gets discussed enough and needs to be.

Being healthy can be stressful, especially for people just embarking on their journey. I’ve learned this from personal experience. I’m not going to discuss the diets I’ve been on or the obsessive food restricting or overeating that I dealt with before I had the “epiphany.” I feel that the stress accompanied by diets was more induced by my own unrealistic expectations, the strictness of tradtional diets and the bad feelings of negative self talk usually accompanied by diets and obsessive exercise. No, the stress I’m refering to is the stress of living in a world (or more likely just a country) where fat is in and being healthy, sadly is not. I’ve been stressed going to a family’s house for dinner and worrying about them commenting on my food choices, or stressing about having to bring my food everywhere, or not having enough time to workout, or squeezing that workout in and then rushing around to make up for lost time. What about stressing out over missing that workout, or eating that piece of cake that you planned you would not have but ate anyways then felt kinda guilty about it? I’ve felt these stresses before, on numerous occasions.

So, what have I learned about this stress? Well, for one, I realized how obsessive I was being. For example, to get all worked up due to a missed workout will not do any good. Also, I’ve learned to go with the flow. Sometimes, I’m not going to have control over what is served to me, and I’m just going to have to eat it with a smile and make sure the next meal I eat (hopefully prepared by me) is more of my liking. Finally, trying to not be as structured eases my stress. If I leave the day kinda open about my workout or not make a super rigid meal plan for the day then there is no missed workout to stress about or food I should have eaten to stress about. To sum it all up into a nice, neat sentence: Distancing myself mentally from the whole “healthy living” thing sometimes is less stressful. And believe me, being healthy is just as much mental as it is physical!

Living healthy is a lifestyle, one that takes time and can be constantly improved and changed. Day to day I learn new things about health and exercise, I eat many different types of food and I do a variety of exercises. Adapting to the constant changes of a healthy lifestyle is important, because the more rigid it gets, the more of a “diet” it becomes.

So, to any folks out there regreting their food decisions this holiday, don’t worry about it! Go make yourself a green monster and take it from there.

**Disclaimer: The above post reflects my own personal opinions. I mean no offense to people recovering from an eating disorder, or to anyone who may find this post offensive. I am simply discussing an aspect of my life that I have dealt with, learned from and am sharing to maybe offer helpful advice to someone else, too.**

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By Liz, December 18, 2009 12:28 pm

Finals week is over! I took my last final yesterday at noon, and now I do not have any homework, or tests, or reading, or studying or paper writing. It feels pretty amazing, I have to admit.

So, on the food front…I’ve been trying to make new recipes and use new foods to expand my eats. I get stuck in food ruts a lot, and make the same few dishes all the time. So, after my positive venture into making a curry, I made  a few new dishes this week.

I did make curry again last Sunday. It’s just so gosh darn fast, easy and delicious to make. I used chick peas this time, which worked great with the sauce. I also had edamame and a Kona brew.

Monday night I decided to try out one of Matt’s recent recipes…Sweet Potato Gnocchi. I began my new cooking excursion with a glass of my favorite wine ever….Bianchi Pinot Grigio. Quick sidenote: I’d been saving the bottle for a special occasion for about a month, and I figured cooking a fun new recipe with a glass of wine was special enough.

So, I have never made homemade pasta before, so this recipe seemed pretty daunting. But, it actually wasn’t that bad. The gnocchi didn’t turn out super pretty or professional looking, but they tasted great and that’s what matters.

I made a quick tomato sauce to go with it: 2 cans tomato sauce, spinach, cannellini beans, broccoli, garlic, basil, thyme, s & p. Topped with some parm of course .

Great recipe Matt! I loved this gnocchi and will for sure be making this again!

I made an apple crisp on Monday also. I was supposed to make it last week for Jacob’s birthday, but that never happened. So tonight was the night, and it turned out utterly delectable. Monday night’s dinner was soooo great and tasted pretty gourmet if I do say so myself.

Random comment…This was the view for a few moments outside my work on Monday. Beeea-utiful That is one of the only nice things about rain…rainbows.

The next new meal on the block was a breakfast creation. I was not craving my usually sweetish carbs in the morning and wanted something more savory. So, I toasted a slice of ezekiel with a smidgen on cheddar cheese, fried an egg in butter and topped all that with 1/4 of a smashed avocado and salsa. This was a light, yet filling and delicious breakfast. I will for sure be adding this to my usual breakfast rotation.Wednesday night I made a tribute to Hanukkah dinner….latkes. For anyone who doesn’t know what latkes are, they are potato pancakes.

Latkes are super easy to make. I didn’t use a recipe and kinda winged it, but here’s what I did.

Holiday Latkes

• 5 small russet potatoes
• 1 large zucchini (or a few baby ones)
• 1/2 a yellow onion
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• salt and pepper
• unsweetened applesauce (for dipping)

Directions: Wash potatoes and zucchini. Grate the potato and zucchini and place in a large bowl. Finely chop onion and add to bowl of potatoes. Stir in eggs, flour and seasoning until well combined. To cook the mixture, heat a pan with about a 1/2 inch of oil in the bottom. Use a medium to medium high heat. I used a 1/4c. measuring cup to portion the pancakes into the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side and serve with applesauce. (Recipe by Liz @ Thereforeieat.com)

We turned dinner into a breakfast-for-dinner of sorts and made scrambled eggs with spinach and sausage. I had the last of my Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale with dinner, too. Latkes aren’t exactly the healthiest meal in the world, but they sure are delicious.

Last night night I tried something else I have never made before…stuffed bell peppers.

These were so good!! And, I just have to share the recipe with you.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

• 1c. cooked quinoa
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 small can sliced olives
• 2 eggs
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• basil
• thyme
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/2 chopped onion
• bread crumbs (I used panko)
• about 1/4c. cheddar cheese
• 2 bell peppers (any color you want)

Directions:

1. Prepare the peppers: Cut the tops off. Chop and reserve the tops for the filling. De-seed and then steam the peppers for about 10 minutes.
2. Pre heat the oven to 375 degrees.
3. In a large pan, saute the onion, reserved pepper tops and kidney beans in a little olive oil over med-high heat.
4. Once onions and pepper are tender, add in the quinoa, tomatoes, eggs, olives, spices and garlic. Stir for about 5 minutes.
5. Combine bread crumbs and cheese.
6. Spoon the filling mixture into the peppers until the peppers are full. Top with the breadcrumb cheese mixture.
7. Place the peppers in a small pan (I used a bread loaf pan) bake the peppers for 25 minutes. Enjoy! (recipe by Liz @ Thereforeieat.com; adapted from The Joy of Cooking)

Jacob and I both loved this dish. With our first bites we both looked at each other and had that “Wow” look on our faces. So, ya, you guys should really try this!

Finally, I tried a recipe I have been dying to make for a while, but just havn’t had all the ingredients to make it.

Averie’s chocolate chip balls! Boy oh boy are these amazing!!! I may have single handily almost finished a whole plate of these. You rock Averie, and I’m for sure going to be making your other balls, too.

There is just one final new food I have tried this week, and it was my breakfast this morning.Those may look like regular pancakes, but they are actually Almond Banana Pancakes made with 4 simple ingredients: banana, almond butter, egg and cinnamon. I found the recipe at Mark’s Daily Apple. I actually think I liked them better than regular pancakes. I put 3 twists on the pancakes. First, the cinnamon was my idea. Next, I used a little agave instead of maple for the topping and finally, I cooked them in the pan with coconut oil instead of butter. YUM!! Try these out, you won’t be disappointed.

So, on my final note, I want to share with you the absolutely adorable Christmas tree Jacob bought this week.I couldn’t get the lighting right, but this was the best pic I got. Those are our roommate’s stockings in the background. They also used a few of their ornaments, too. The tree is just sooo cute!

Tonight I’m doing Bikram with Jacob.  I think we’re gonna make a stop into New Frontiers for some green juice afterwards, too. I can’t wait!

Adios!

Comments (6)

By Liz, December 13, 2009 12:34 pm

Happy Sunday! Hope all is well to all my bloggie friends around the USA and other countries, too.

So, I’m not one to usually do inspirational posts and stuff, but sometimes I get a thought that I really want to share. Actually, Matt inadvertently inspired my thought when I read his post yesterday (or was it Friday?). He was mentioning that he didn’t really want to run that day, but he knew he wanted to deep down. He said, sometimes it’s getting out the door that’s the hardest part. Because, once you’re out there running, or any activity really, you usually never regret it. Well, Matt’s comments really struck a cord with me yesterday, because I had planned to do a swim workout yesterday, but it was cold, raining and I would have to do it after work. I really wanted to go straight home, lie in be with some tea and watch the brain sucking machine (aka TV). However, I used all my willpower and after work, I went to the gym and busted out an amazing 3000m pyramid workout in the pool. I felt great afterwards and knew I made the right decision, it was just a matter of getting out the door and doing it.

I know we’ve all been there. Some days you are just more motivated to workout than others. 95% if the time I love to get out there and break a sweat and feel the rush of endorphins. However, there is that 5% where I just want to sit on my butt and be lazy. So, to try and inspire y’all in a similar 5% situation, I have come up with a list of a few tricks I have learned along the way of how to get my (and your) butt out the door:

1. Listen to music. There have been days in the past when I have just dreaded running. I usually never listen to music when I run, but on those 5% days when I just don’t want to go out there and pound the pavement, I will listen to my Ipod. The music distracts me and lifts me up. Also, watching TV at the gym can be a similar motivator.
2. Reward yourself. Last night, I rewarded myself with a nice dip in the hot tub right after my swim. The hot tub gave me something to look forward to the whole time I was swimming and it felt so great to hop in to the warm water after pushing myself. It just wouldn’t have felt nearly as good if I had quit.
3. Call up a friend. Sometimes this isn’t possible, but on days you know you don’t want to work out, try to call up a friend or bug your spouse/bf to workout with you. Jacob is really nice and sometimes he’ll go running with me on days I don’t want to. The company really helps the workout go by faster, and it’s nice to have someone to talk to.
4. In the event of inclement weather hindering your want to workout, think about how BAMF (love this term Karyn!) you’ll feel after being done. I’ve ran in really crazy conditions, like rain, wind, trees being uprooted weather. This was before I had the nice, dry gym to run on the treadmill instead. At first, I really didn’t want to go out there, but I did anyways and I felt soooo badass during and after my run. You can brag and bit and say. “Ya, I totally ran out in that storm” and people will think you’re so crazy and badass. Love it!!
5. Working out is really a small part of your day. This one gets me almost every time. I’m usually awake for 16 hours. If I work out for 1 hour, there are still 15 hours of my day left of doing other things than working out. Putting a workout into perspective like that can really help get your foot out the door.
6. Finally, this is my number 1 motivator for working out when I don’t want to. Think about how crappy you will feel if you don’t work out. Working out makes me feel great. After a run or any exercise, I feel energized, happy, healthy and light. Endorphins make you happy, and boy do I feel happy after working out. If I do skip a workout, I usually feel guilty and sad. Exercise sets a tone for the day, and without it I don’t think I’d be nearly as happy a person as I am.

So there you have it folks. My top 6 reasons to get your butt out the door and workout! I do need to mention that sometimes it’s okay to skip a workout. If it’s due to injury, illness, a scheduled and necessary rest day, etc. it’s okay to say “No, today’s not the day.” This list is for those days that you know that you should be working out and just need a little motivation to do it. I hope this list helps you guys!

Okay, so onto some FOOOOD!I made this oldie but goodie last night. I wasn’t really in to mood to cook some amazing masterpiece, so I threw together one of my fave quick and easy meals: Supernatural Platter (inspired from the Natural Cafe). Just some homemade whole wheat cornbread, topped with steamed veggies, pinto beans and cheddar cheese. YUM!

I tried a new beer last night, too.Sorry, but I couldn’t figure out how to turn this right side up. However, if you tilt your head to the right, you will see that this beer is Fire Rock Pale Ale by Kona Brewing Co. This was pretty good. It’s not as good as my favorite (Great White by Lost Coast Brew) but it was up there. This beer was smooth, with a slightly bitter finish. The taste changed as you drank it, too. It was pretty yummy, and I will definitely buy it again.

Last night I watched the Notebook on TV. I haven’t seen it in years, and I completely forgot what a freakin sob-fest it is!!! I cried like 5 million times and Jacob just sat there and laughed at me for being so sensitive. However, he said at the end he was holding back tears. I mean, they die together for goodness sakes!! *insert awwww here*

Anywho, this morning I woke up, slipped on my Vibrams and was out the door. I changed into shorts and a t-shirt also, just to be clear . Today was one of those 95% days where I was super happy to be out there running. I ran 6 miles in 52 minutes. The weather was really nice. We had a little break in the torrential rain this morning, so the skies were mostly clear, the air was moist an clean and the roads were mostly car free. It was really peaceful.

Breakfast this morning was an exact repeat from last Sunday.Well, not exactly. I smeared some almond butter on my waffles, so that was different. These waffles are actually from the same batter as last Sunday, too. Whenever I make pancakes or waffles or muffins, I wrap the leftovers in plastic wrap and freeze them, so I can have a weekend breakfast any day of the week. Oh wait today is a weekend day, but I had to rush off to work, so these frozen waffles came in handy .

Only 2.5 more hours till I’m off work. Yippee. I told Jacob to think of something fun for us to do when I get off work. We need some fun couple togetherness time badly. So hopefully, he is brainstorming as I type.

Have a great afternoon and be careful out there braving the Christmas shopping crowds!

Comments (8)

By Liz, November 30, 2009 11:36 am

Whew! Where has the weekend gone guys?! I can’t believe it’s Monday already. With all the baking and stuff of Wednesday, Thanksgiving on Thursday and working all weekend…this holiday weekend has flown by! I’m looking forward to a week of getting back into the swing of things…plus a little homework. Heelllo research paper and a speech. Should be fun, huh…;)

So, Thanksgiving must be discussed. I went running in the morning and completed a 9 mile run in 1 hr and 19 minutes…which is quite faster than my usual long run pace and I hadn’t ran since last Saturday, so it was definitely a great run. Also, running made me nice and hungry for my dinners. I went to two dinners…can you say food coma?

This Thanksgiving dinner was at Jacob’s sister’s house. The good: my squash-couscous dish, turkey…the bad: Pillsbury crescent rolls (really bad, like trans fat bad), canned cranberry sauce (or should I say high fructose corn syrup sauce), mash potatoes and sweet potatoes with marshmallow (not that bad) and green bean casserole (no that bad either). Gosh darn, I love those crescent rolls, although I know they were completely unhealthy and contain ingredients I avoid…but c’est la vie. I also had two slices of my pumpkin cheesecake.

I really liked how this cheesecake turned out. I used the recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I followed it almost to a T but I used less sugar and used some reduced fat cream cheese…oh and more pumpkin, cause pumpkin rocks!

The above dinner was at my parent’s house. However, their friend from Colorado, Donna, visited and she cooked the meal. The good: all of it… Donna can cook! This dinner included steamed green beans with almonds sauteed in butter, free-range roasted turkey, wild rice with oysters, roasted onion and gravy. Some Bianchi Zin was savored with dinner. Loved it!

And… I had a slice of my kabocha pie with fresh whipped cream!

Accompanied by the Bianchi Late Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon. Yum!

The amazingly delish slice:

I love Thanksgiving not only for all the delicious food, but also for the family. I truly enjoyed spending time with all my loved ones and that is what made Thanksgiving such a wonderful day. I was also quite full, with two dinners and what not, so comfy sweats were very much appreciated by the end of the night. I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

Friday was “How Many Meals Can You Eat of Turkey” day.Although breakfast was a slice of ezekiel with peanut butter, which did not include turkey, for lunch I had a turkey filled salad with lettuce and carrot…and woodtock dressing of course!Plus some perfectly thawed strawberries. This was seriously the perfect light lunch after such a food filled day on Thanksgiving.

Friday afternoon was very fun! Jacob and I went to an afternoon Bikram yoga class. It felt amazing to stretch and focus and sweat! It also made my body feel a lot more rejuvenated and light after food overdose…I felt pretty much back to normal.

After Bikram, we stopped in my favorite health food store, New Frontiers and I tried my first fresh veggie/fruit juice! It was called the Perfect Blend and had beets, carrot, apple, celery, ginger, and lemon in it. Soooo amazing!! It made me want to get a juicer even more. Also, I can now understand why Alison is big on the juice! I had a little something solid on the way home. too…which was a banana with almond butter. However, driving and picture taking are not conducive with each other, so no picture.

Dinner was turkey meal number two…

This meal included a wing, steamed veggies, my homemade cranberry sauce, leftover couscous, and some chocolate for good measure. Very satisfying.

Saturday was a whirlwind of work and the night was a whirlwind of tiredness…I think the past few days festivities really caught up with me and I called it a night quite early. However, the dinner I made was delish…and incorporated turkey!

I made a grilled cheese stuffed with turkey and steamed veggies on the side. However, I have a secret to amazing grilled cheese with more flavor…Worcestershire sauce! Actually, this is a trick my parents would use whenever they made grilled cheese. It adds so much more flavor and a little kick to an otherwise blah grilled sammie.

Oh, and I might have baked a batch of perfectly fudgy walnut brownies.I totally demolished two of those bad boys. Heaven!

Okay, we’re almost all caught up...Sunday was not too special. I worked and met up with a group of people in my English class in the evening to work on a presentation due next week. The highlight of the evening was getting drinks with a friend afterwards. It made studying much more worthwhile

Oh, on a side note, yesterday I was taking pics of my lunch (which was a turkey leg and couscous). However, I realized that there was just no way to make my drumstick look appetizing, actually it looked pretty gross. This side note really had no point, I just thought it was funny how the leg looked icky.

Anywho, we are here at Monday now…oh glorious Monday! Is everyone getting back in the swing of things alright?

I started my day off with, what may be, the best biscuits I ever made.These fluffy whole wheat biscuits look straight out of a restaurant. I think the whole tablespoon of baking powder may have been responsible for that! They tasted amazing, too.I topped mine with butter, pumpkin butter and cranberry apple butter. Two perfectly seasoned (salt and pepper) eggs accompanied my biscuits. What a way to start a Monday folks!

Well, I believe a run is in order today. I’ll be doing that right after work. And, mucho homework awaits me, too.

Some random ramblings: Now that the cross country season is over my training is going to be a bit more sporadic. I was thinking of either making a serious plan for myself, or just having fun with it. Well, fun took over and I have decided to just do workouts that sound fun to me in the moment. If that means yoga, then yoga it is. Or maybe I really want to pump some iron. Or maybe a good ol’ 5 miler is what the doctor ordered. I just going to play it by ear for the next few weeks until I have to get serious with my training again. However, my rest week is over (even though I only took 4 full days of rest, but eh) and I will be working out regularly, as in 6 days a week, like normal. On another note, I have to admit, my eating habits have been going a bit off the healthy path. I’ve been eating a few too many sweets, drinking a few to many drinks, eating whole plates of pizza and not getting enough veggies. I don’t think I’ve gained weight, but I don’t feel that great inside or out. Pretty much what I’m saying is that I am human, and I’m going through patch here where I’m not practicing what I preach. I’m not going to all of a sudden restrict myself, or diet or anything. I’m going to let this run it’s course but make sure I have healthy options available.  *end ramble*

Have a great Monday y’all!