Monday, July 22, 2013

A Sober Saturday makes for a Productive Sunday - July 21

Happy Monday, Friends! I hope everyone had an exceptional weekend. Here's a recap of the most productive day that I've had in quite a while.

Morning Grocery Shopping

So I worked on Saturday and had Sunday off (thank-be-to-jes*s). Courtney had people over cause her parents are in Florida. I got home from work around 7 and instantly passed out until 9. When I woke, I decided to grab some Starbucks and pop down with my coffee, rather than drinking alcohol. (fist pump - ew!  It was actually such a good socialising atmosphere and hadn't I planned on heading to hot yoga with Allan the next day/the Tely 10 being 1 week away (eeek!),  I probably would have stayed and drank.

Anywho, I was home in bed with my book in hand (Wheat Belly by William Davis) by 12:30am. 'Twas grand.

I had planned on doing a run on Sunday morning but when my alarm went off at 7:30, I wasn't game. I pressed snooze every 5 minutes until 8:45 (terrible, I know) and then I finally dragged my a*s out of bed to get a start on my lovely day off.

Stop 1? Starbucks, silly. Obviously no day isn't a good day without a venti black iced Americano (umm hmm). This bad boy always gives me the morning spurt of energy that I fiend during the week while in Long Harbour..drinking disgusting Colombian and/or Executive coffee that tastes like someone doused cigarettes in my cup. Ew / I'm aware that I'm being dramatic.
 

Seeing how I had time to kill before the 12:00 yoga class, I decided to get my weekly grocery shopping out of the way. 

I stocked up on fresh vegetables and majorly stocked up on almond breeze for my smoothies (my Magic Bullet has made my life). I've also read some recipes that use coconut water so I went for a litre of that also.

Grocery List
  • 2 cartons of eggs
  • chick peas (to make hummus)
  • garbanzo beans (to make hummus)
  • red, yellow, orange and green pepper
  • ginger root
  • minced ginger root (baking)
  • red onion
  • green onion
  • celery
  • brussels sprouts
  • kale (to make kale chips)
  • celery
  • vanilla, chocolate and coconut Almond Breeze
  • Earth's Organic almond
  • coconut water
  • spaghetti squash
  • stevia
I walked out with a total purchase of $68.98. I had some fruit left from last week and some steaks in the freezer so I'm gonna try to rid that before buying more (budgeting people, budgeting)!



Moksha Yoga
After grocery shopping, I headed home to straighten up the house and get my things together for yoga. Yup, it was my first time trying hot yoga! I was actually sooo excited  and I was pleased that A agreed to come with the night before as he's done it a few times in the past few weeks. He praised it so that made the experience more exciting!

1st time :)

The gorgeous art work (would totally hang those pieces in my house
...if I had a house)

Most relaxing washrooms + silence room
A, after a super sweaty yoga session.
He however, is showered. Myself? Ahh .. noo

I mentally prepared myself for the hottest temperature possible. Allan said it was the hottest class he has ever been at! We were both DRENCHED when we left. I mean, dripping. Soaked. Sweating. So-much-sweat-in-your-eyes-that-you-feel-impaired! And I say that with 100% honestly. It was wild!

And guess what? I think hot yoga could be a new thing for me :) Moksha was absolutely awesome! Felt incredible. I bought a $40 unlimited month so I tend on using it to my full advantage once the running subsides next weekend.

After yoga, Allan and I decided to visit Shaneen. We were gonna have a Sunday afternoon tan but the wind picked up. Upon driving to Torbay, my hunger hit me like a ton of bricks (not being dramatic). I thought I was going to have to haul the car over and throw up. I figured it was dehydration from the yoga practise but it definitely was not. I headed to Need's and got my new favourite pick-me-up snack. I ate the oatmeal raisin walnut bar and my upset stomach disappeared instantly. I wish I had the will power to leave snacks in my car for emergency's like these .. I don't because I'd eat it all in one sitting. Le sighh


I had these big plans of running 3 laps around Quidi Vidi. Ya.. about that.. I did 1 measly lap (3.8-km(2.36-mil)  in  23:20 and it killed me. My body felt physically ready, but mentally, I just wasn't there. I couldn't get into it at all. I left the lake feeling rather discouraged.


So I headed to Sportscheck to pick up some running gear (New Nike live strong shorts). These bad boys are fuc*ing awesome! They have an inner liner to avoid chub-rub, chaffing your legs rubbing uncomfortably while jogging ;)


After my purchase, I headed off to Pouch Cove. I absolutely die for my runs in Pouch Cove. It's obviously bias cause I'm from there but I think the view is abslutely stunning. So I ran 9.1-km (5.65-mil) in 1:22. Obviously this is not any kind of time to write home about but if you've ever been to Pouch Cove, you know about the hills. The pinch is beyond steep and hell to run. Even the town store to the post office is pretty steep. This time also includes taking pictures/tie my left lace on multiple occasions (ya, ya ya .. make your excuses, Victoria)


Bring her home to mom, wa? Soaked to death!

Literally panting and puffing in and out air

After my run, I was absolutely famished (or so it felt that way). Everything at my dads house took preparation so I opted for a Kashi bar. Con: sugars. Pro: La-la-la-love trail mix


Meal Prep

My classic Sunday meal prep went as follows:

Baked two steaks in the oven so I could have stir-fry and meals throughout the week


Cut up lots of colourful vegetables to use for salads and stir-fry (don't all the colours make you WANT to eat healthy? or is that just me? haha)

 
Made a big ol' batch of hummus with the good ol' Magic Bullet


Sliced vegetables to use with my hummus (1/2 a green pepper, red pepper, yellow pepper and Orange pepper)


Obviously I cut celery to have with my Sunbutter for the week


Sauteed one third of my diced vegetables and threw them in with some steak for two meals


Cooked my first spaghetti squash (I was absolutely fascinated when I scooped out the noodle shaped squash! Like a kid in a candy shop). It was so easy quick and the strand I tasted was delicious!



Did all of the dishes that had been piling up in our sink all weekend (mostly my coffee, smoothie cups and bottles)


And then I headed to Tim Horton's for my nightly chamomile tea (helps me sleep) and headed home to lay in bed and read by book until 11. It was marvellous.


What do you do to ensure you're productive at the start of the week?

Did you do anything productive THIS Sunday?

Does anyone have any running tips for when you're preparing for a long run?

Cheers, friends



Friday, July 19, 2013

Day 1 of 'Back on Track'

So this is totally gonna be a quick and uninteresting post. I was too busy/tired last night to write so I figured I'd wait until my break at work today (2-15mins and 1-30min).

I wanted to give a small update of my Thursday night with regards to fitness and why today (Friday) is gonna be a great day!

Let me see.. let me see..

Guess who ran 6-miles 5.95-miles last night after work? ME

Guess who did a lazy 15-minute cool down on the cross-trainer, post-run? ME

Varying from 5-8mph
Saturated with my big, huge, massive, manly, sexy muscles
 
Guess who sweat so much post-run that she had to stop doing a plank cause the guy on the side was watching the water fall off her body? ME

Guess who felt sick to her stomach but forced down a 1/2 a scoop of 100% Pure Protein with water? ME

Guess who left the gym at 10pm and went home and did laundy, dishes, showered and cleaned her room at ? ME

Guess who is very content with her Thursday evening doings? ME ME ME ME ME

 

So why is today gonna be a good day?

I took my vitamins

Green-Iron, Little White-Vitamin D, Big White-Calcium Magnesium
Pink-Multi-vitamin, 2-fish oil, 1-Amoxicillin

I brought my magic bullet to work and started the morning with a delicious protein smoothie
 
3/4-cup of Mixed berries, 1/2-scoop vanilla cream 100% pure protein
 whey, 1-tbsp of ground flax, 1 cup of chocolate almond breeze,
1/2 cup of water -  235-calories

I made banana protein pancakes for my lunch


 I packed lots of vegetables for my snacks (no dressing of course)


I brought a Clif bar as a delicious treat/snack/250-calories .. oops

 


Guess who was in a mad rush last night and this morning when taking pictures and has an iPhone that takes garbage photos? ME (Looking into a new camera actually)

So ya, I had a great Wednesday evening and am having a fabulous Thursday! I plan on running tonight and taking tomorrow off. I also have a feeling that the ambition I have at this very moment will fall short when I leave this evening and I will be super tired. I need to run tonight though so I can justify having a break tomorrow. I'm debating wine tomorrow night..? Maybe not... maybe though.

Moving on ... here is what I shall be telling myself at 7pm tonight, friends


Anyhow, back to work I go! Happy Thursday, lovers <3

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Getting Back on Track - 2 weeks until the Tely 10

So before I begin, I'd like to give a huge apology for being such a slack-ass blogger lately. I was off work for a week with strep throat, a lymph node infection and I had an allergic reaction (affecting my face) to a medication. So honestly, there hasn't been much on the healthy scene for me to blog about. And, I felt like shit for a week. Just sayin'

Day 5 of healing. I look phenomenal in comparison to what I did look like.

For nearly a week, I
  • lay in bed energy less
  • drank almost only smoothies
  • felt like I had slept the days away but when I think about it, I was constantly tossing and turning or in the shower from cold sweats (TMI, I know)
  • did not run
  • did not lift a weight
  • did not take a vitamin
  • did not eat a vegetable
  • burned my stomach out from only having frozen fruit in my smoothies
My eating for the past 2-weeks has been limited and boring.
My exercise for the past 2-weeks has been at a minimum and very un-intense.
The Tely 10 is < 2 weeks and I've been in a pretty big panic about it. I'm trying to stay positive and not be a big ol' drama mama but I'd be lying if I said that I felt prepared. I've yet to do a 'long run' and I've yet to even hit my average minute mile that I want to finish in. I was at the gym the other night and was walking down the stairs and had this quick thought of what I'd do if I fell. If I broke a bone. If I broke my leg. Wanna know the saddest part? My first thought was relief! Isn't that .. hmm .. like sick!? Ahh yiahhh, it's sick in the head. I just wanted an excuse to not run the race. A reason because I've felt so out of the loop lately. I'm not gonna say I'm lazy, just undetermined. Undetermined because taking more than 3 days off of exercise makes me feel like I'm starting from scratch. I know that's such a poor attitude but It's just how I think. Wanna know what I did after my sick thoughts? I ran 2-miles. (I had just finished 2-miles but had to stop to p-double-e) so I jumped back on the treadmill and did a much faster 2-miles.

So now I'll stop being a debbie-downer and a negative-ned and move forward with better thoughts and positive energy =) Cause at the end of the day, that's how I roll, friends! (or so I tell myself)

So what's my plan for the next week and a half you ask? What am I going to do to stay positive and motivated and to prepare (semi) for the 10-miler?
  • run a minimum of 4-miles a day (aside from the days I need rest - in which I will do yoga)
  • start back up taking my iron, vitamin D, fish oil, Ca-Mg and multi-vitamin pills
  • stretch every morning for 10-minutes because when I do this, I start my morning with great ambition
  • sit in the sauna for a minimum of 5-minutes after every treadmill run as I find is loosens my muscles and makes me feel great
  • eat as much green leafy vegetables and poultry as possible
  • eat some form of protein after the gym to avoid waking up in the middle of the night
  • drink a ton of water every day and limit my caffeine intake
  • blog about my food consumption
  • record my workouts every day so I can post a fitness calender at the months end
  • sleep at least 5-5.5-hrs every night (8 on my days off of work)
  • fu*k off being hard on the energy drinks
  • stop drinking until the night of the race (then I have a hot date with 18 Budlight - and I'm excited)
  • limit my smoking to 4 cigarettes a day [stop judging me .. like NOW :) ]
  • start focusing more on 'what' I'm eating, and not as much on 'how much' I'm eating. (I want to make sure I stay fuelled so I don't harm myself - believe me, this won't be a problem haha) I heart food
  • kick up the running outdoors (as the Tely 10 is not taking place in the frigging Goodlife gym)
  • exercise earlier in the morning on my days off and complete errands afterwards. I wake up pretty early anyway but I usually do all of my running around then. If I wake early and exercise, I'm hoping to jump-start my metabolism and then perhaps exercise again in the evening time
  • avoid lifting weights so that I'm not sore and work solely on my cardio (I'm sure people will have different opinions on this point)
  • stretch after every run (I'm starting to slack on this)
  • moisturize my toesies so it's easier running
  • update my music so I'm not sick of my Tely list come July 28th
  • look up random running/motivational quotes each morning when I arrive to work so I can start my day off with a positive and determined mind-set .. starting with ..
 
ha, seemed fitting seeing how what stresses me the most about running is my pace.
 
Workout Agenda for Wed, July 17 - Sat, July 20

Wednesday, July 17th  - 4.0-mile run
Thursday, July 18th - 3.0-mile run & weights
Friday, July 19th - 4.0-mile run
Saturday, July 20th - Rest?
[I'll be sure to do a long run that is no less than 12km (approx. 7.45-miles) ]

Listing the above will give me that extra push because I know I'll have to do a post with a little summary on what I actually completed after the fact.

Anyhow, moving on from a rant, here is a classic what i ate Wednesday..


WIAW


 I went to bed Tuesday night at 7pm. I did 4 miles of jogging (treadmill) the night before and was just absolutely exhausted at work all day on Tuesday. Going to bed so early meant I didn't have supper, so when I woke up, I ran for the magic bullet and mixed up this berry smoothie (4:45am, 220-calories)


Obviously I have to start off every day with my black coffee! I sip on this as I cruise off to Long Harbour with the wind blowing in my messy hair and the music beating through the ceiling. Le sigh .. that doesn't actually happen (but..I actually get excited for this as soon as I wake up in the morning. It's sad)


1 1/4-cup of Natura Simply Egg Whites done on a frying pan for a 7:30 breakfast #2 (150-calories)

 
My appetite was out of control all Wednesday morning. I think it was because my metabolism had a kick start where I ate the smoothie before 5am. Anyhow, ended up having 2 snacks at 10am. I ended up measuring 1-tbsp of Sunbutter (100-calories), 6 celery sticks (45-calories) and 1 medium Gala apple (85-calories) *Times this meal by 2. I had the same thing for lunch because I was super busy at work today and was on the run all afternoon*


I had this concox at around 4pm. I was absolutely famished! I haven't really been doing dairy for a few months now as I had previously read some good articles regarding the pros and cons of dairy products. I had some Greek yogurt covered raisins on Canada Day weekend and they really upset my stomach. I read an article on how dairy is the one food group that if you quit, it tortures your stomach to get back into. Well today I had a major craving for cheese! I mean bad! I had my egg whites in the fridge with my 1/2 a medium avocado but there was something that didn't seem appetising to me ... so I tested the ol' belly with a few cubes of cheese. Holy yum! (approx. 400-cal?) (This meal was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s! It actually had no affect on the stomach (minus the waistline increase), but ya, happy supper to me! (I'm still gonna keep avoiding dairy because I find it surprisingly easy to live without).


I hate that I have to be 100% honest with my WIAW posts.. yes, I ate this brownie. I kinda just grabbed it and ran while I was on the go today. Then I had a lot of anxiety. And then I was kicking myself for caring so much. But ya, I ate a brownie. It was not low-fat. It was not weight watchers. It was not a diet brownie. It WAS a big-fat-chocolatey-thunder-thigh-brownie! (And it was fucking delicious!) Moving on..


I fell asleep on the drive home from work (obv wasn't driving haha) and when I woke up I was starving. I was meeting Val and Shawna at Quidi Vidi for a speed walk so I had to run into Esso for a quick fix. Dried fruit and red bull took the cake! (280-cal)


When I got home from the gym I wasn't all that hungry. I generally don't enjoy eating post-workout as my stomach is a little uneasy, but tonight I had a half of a scoop of 100% Pure Protein Whey and water (70-cal). It was not one bit tasty but I drank it to avoid waking up at 2am starving (common occurrence)

Summary



According to MFP I went over 500+ calories (oops!) I also don't incorporate my workouts into MFP as I don't know how accurate the calorie burn is. But anyway, that's all ya can do.

Wednesday Workout

After work I met Val and Shawna at Quidi Vidi for a walk-and-talk. They had rowing at 8 so we had to do it pretty swiftly. Graveyard mass was otg so parking was a nightmare and I ended up parking on the opposite side of the pond from the girls. This meant I had to do a little jog to meet them. After we met and did a lap (2.36-miles, 3.8-km), I went on my merry way and made it back to my car. I'm guessing I definitely did 2.75-miles in total.


After Quidi Vidi I headed to the gym for a small run. I don't know if it was the heat or what it was but I was so exhausted. I grabbed a treadmill by Heather and did a light 2-miles. I did the first mile on 5mph and the second on 5.5mph .. then I had to pee (I actually hate when this happens. The time always looks so much better when your workouts aren't broken up).
Upon my return, I did a faster 2-miles. I ran the first mile and a half on 6.0mph, the next quarter mile on 7.0mph and the last quarter mile on 7.5mph. I generally jog at a quicker pace than 5.0mph but I'm trying to work on distance before I go all out with speed. I'm planning a long run for Sunday and I wanna make sure I'm really ready.


Emily did some stair master while I did my jog so afterwards, we met up in the studio and she did some core. I was only there to stretch but we sat, moved around, caught up and talked classic gym talk. The above is Em getting her ab workouts on :)

 
 Happy with my workout!! :)
 

As stated above, I'm trying to make an effort to hit up the sauna to loosen my muscles post-running. Soooo... that's what I did! For exactly 5-minutes (look at that sweat - ewww .. ps. not sure what that face is all about?! Am I trying to do a wide-eye sexy look? If so - FAIL. I should have glanced at the picture so I could of taken another)

All in all, Wednesday was a great evening with regards to exercise. I'm pleased with what I did and hopefully Thursday will be 'as' good or better!

July Exercise to Date


Smoothie Fun
 
Ok, so is anyone wondering about that delicious colourful smoothie? I think it's my new love <3 !
I've been experimenting with smoothies lately because I bought a Magic Bullet when I started to get sick. I couldn't swallow so this was kind of my only option. After trying many different combinations, my new favourite is:

Ingredients
1. 1/2-cup of protein powder. I used Vanilla Cream Whey Protein Powder
2. 1-cup of frozen berries. I used Nature's Touch Mixed Berries (grapes, blackberries, blueberries). I bought a bag from Costco for 8.99
3. 1/2-cup of fresh blueberries
4. 1-cup of Almond Breeze. I used the Almond Coconut. I bought a carton at Dominion for 2.49
5. 1/3-cup of water

Directions
Put all ingredients into Magic Bullet and blend. I stopped mine halfway through and gave it a little shake to even out the liquid inside.

Not even kidding, this is a delicious mixture! I drank it first thing in the morning and it was incredibly refreshing :) It know it's completely mental but when I start my morning eats out right, I'm definitely more inclined to eat clean throughout the day. And I definitely feel g-g-g-reat! Heart!


---------
 
That is everything, friends! Hope everyone had a greatWednesday and continue to have a fantastic week! :)

Have you ever trained for a race and had pre-anxiety?
Know any tips on building endurance in a short time-frame?
Is anyone else running the Tely 10 this year?

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Let the Summer Begin


June was a fantastic month. Here is my photo summary..
 
 
 Ninja Workouts
Sweaty mama worked out like a ninja
 
Ahh..things to work on
 
In Progress
 
 
Father's Day
<3
 
 
Social Life
Heather & I having some pre-drinks before Don Cherry's/Downtown

DD & I
 
*Friggin' iPhones and the red-eye .. not cool
 

 Because I Can - Pedicure
 
 
My feet are battered and bruised here lately. Not the prettiest for wearing sandals (and c'mon kats, we're heading into some pretty nice sandal wearing weather).  Anyways, I figured it'd be nice to take an evening and get a pedicure done.
 
We got them done at Sue's. It's located off Elizabeth Avenue and they special in dermatology, manicures and pedicures. They use all vegan products and have 95 colors to choose from. Little spa treatments make you feel all girly and shi*, doesn't it? Le sighh.. *heart*
 
 
Adam Wall turns 25



Vicious Snail..

Anything but a bottle gathering at Ed's House

Whatever it was .. it was delish!
 


Two Fav Things!
<3
 
 
 Seafood Suppers with Co-Workers
First time trying scallops

Host Himself
 
Canada Day Weekend in Plate Cove
Delicious Treats

Tiffany is homeeee
 
Friends :)

Night-Time Eating

Getting iced twice in 7-minutes (If that..)
Night Time Drinking
Washers


Can Chicken(s)
 
Festive Suppers

Amazingness
Happy in Red

Lovely Company
 
 
 Celebrating Canada Day Downtown
<3 friendly faces on George Street
(Jacinta, Mick, Mason & Ellen)

 
 

June was fantastic! Full of so many fun nights and lots of eats and drunks! Hopefully July will compare (no doubt though)!

Happy July, Friends! :)