Where's the Beach?

What I Eat Wednesday - No, I don't have any new recipes to share, and I'm not sharing my eats for the day, but I do have a tasty giveaway to share. While I try not to rely on protein bars and shakes for my protein intake and snacks, sometimes convenience has to win out. I'm one of those people who always keeps protein bars stashed in my purse and in my desk drawer at work. You don't want to be around me when I get hungry. And one way to tame hungry horrors is by getting an ideal balance of protein, carbs, and healthy fats.  I try to be as selective as possible about packaged snacks. There are so many that are touted as healthy but are full of unnatural ingredients, mostly sugar and carbs and very little protein. Basically, glorified candy bars. However, one protein bar that I do keep on hand is the thinkThin ® high protein bar. And this is truly a bar that has high protein, not just touting high protein but only 6 or 10 grams. Nope, the high protein bars h...

It sure feels like it's been a LONG time since the last weekend occurred. Our household has had some major ups and downs with the pupsters. Last Saturday, Maddie started throwing up then having major diarrhea and then not wanting to eat. After a call to the vet, and some anti-everything meds, she seems to be back on track. She was feeling good enough to eat the most recent bed I attempted to buy for them. Now Heath Man is under the weather. It started the other day when he didn't want breakfast. But he did eat dinner. Then the next day he refused both. He's not acting super listless, but he's starting to be less peppy and not wanting water either. This means another trip back to the vet. And we're pretty certain it has to do with his Gallbladder Mucocele  disease. He's been on medication since his diagnosis and has responded astoundingly well. The vet was actually surprised by how well his levels (whatever all they measure) were at his last visit. Not sure...

I was recently given the opportunity to review Beats by Dr. Dre headphones for Staples . I didn't even know Staples sold headphones! Guess you learn something new every day right? I've gone through many headphones in search of the perfect pair. The ones that don't jiggle around too much, the buds that actually stay put in your ear, and a pair that sounds good too. I decided to test out " heartbeats ," designed by Lady Gaga. I went with this particular model because of the fact that they come with 7 different ear tips. Talk about being able to find the perfect fit! Now, I don't run with headphones in unless I'm on the treadmill. I honestly believe it's a huge safety risk running outdoors with them. Yes, you can turn the volume down or only wear the one ear bud. I will still call it a safety risk. This was also something reiterated in my RRCA Running Coach Certification course. So it's not just my belief, it's becoming a wide-spread beli...

Leg Day While the time change sure made it hard to get up this morning, it was a gorgeous, sunny day. This means you can really appreciate the time change in the evening. Yesterday it was dark and rainy so you really didn't get the full effect. While I would have loved to have gotten out for a run, I knew I needed to stick to the gym. I ended up working through lunch and just going to the gym at 3 today. I thought the gym would be totally deserted, but oddly enough, it wasn't. I thought I was going to have to throw down with some guys to keep my space and a bar ;-) I went with legs. I figured I'd been putting off my leg workout long enough. I really wasn't super excited about it, but once I got going, it was all good. I did increase weights for 3 exercises as well. After a 20-minute warmup on the elliptical, I went with supersets of 3x8 unless noted. Barbell squats - warmup set of 10 reps SS#1 Barbell squats - increased weights Barbell plie squats - increased...

Re-Thinking My Running Yesterday ended up being one of those days that turned out to be a good one, but totally not planned. It was a sunny, warmish day. I really couldn't stand the thought of the gym to be honest. So this leads to the first unplanned activity - a run with Jason. We started off slow and steady. He had a route that he wanted to go. And his routes are very very different than mine. I wanted a simple out and back. I actually would have chosen to drive to the river trails. He, on the other hand, meanders, starting from the house. So, while I'm just trying to get my running legs back in action, he's meandering around for the run. Sudden left turns, now a quick right turn. It might be planned out in his mind, but he wasn't sharing his plan with me. Let's just say I was a little annoyed at that, but was trying to be a good sport and just enjoy being outside running. It was definitely windier than we had expected. Hello running in place feeling. But,...

Yesterday I came home to these awesome goodies waiting on me. The wonderful people at Food Should Taste Good sent me a few bags of their awesome chips to try out. I love their chips and almost always have a bag of the Sweet Potato flavor on hand. The ingredients list is simple, straight forward, and gluten-free. Not only are they made with ingredients you can recognize and pronounce, they taste amazing. They have several new flavors now like the Lime, Kettle Corn, and even new Kettle Cooked flavors. The flavors are subtle, but very much there. You won't be blown out of the water and feel like you're eating olives out of the jar with the Olive flavor (as an example), but you get the subtleness of a nice kalamata olive. It's perfect. Here's what the company has to say: In case you aren’t familiar with our product our all natural chips are made from real, simple ingredients. All of our chip varieties are free of cholesterol, preservatives and trans fat, and do ...

Supersets & Drop Sets Today I ended up going to our company's gym. Thankfully it was actually open. I don't use that gym often as it's really small and usually crowded. There isn't tons of equipment, but it's definitely something nice to have for employees. Sunday was pretty dead so I was able to get on the elliptical for a bit as a warmup. It's the same type of elliptical that I used yesterday. It's not quite like the traditional elliptical machine and I really don't know how to describe it exactly. But I like it so much better actually. After a short stint on the elliptical while watching Food Network (a huge perk being able to actually watch what I wanted), I went to the weight room. Again, it's really small and I can't imagine working out with more than 2 others in that space, but they have a full rack of dumbbells, an EZ Bar, a regular bar, and several benches. They do have a Smith machine that I might have to figure out how to use ...

And the Winner Is... I wanted to thank everyone for entering the Blooming Platter of Vegan Recipes Cookbook giveaway. I really wish I could be like Oprah or Ellen and tell you all to look under your chairs where you would gasp and clap after finding a copy of the cookbook. But, I'm just me, and have no powers (or money) to make that happen. So, as promised, I have chosen 1 winner via random number generator. Kristina @ Spabettie - you are the winner! (I will contact you with Betsy's contact information) Again, I appreciate that you all took the time to enter and to check out Betsy's blog . I think it's so important to try to help each other when we can. If you didn't win, hope you think about buying her cookbook or at least sharing her site with others. I know I'd certainly appreciate it if I had a published book ;-) Fun Facts Friday - I'm A Picky Eater Today is my rest day - and much needed after legs yesterday. Wowzers. They are definitely sor...

Long Lost Leg Day Returns I designated today as my leg day. Hopefully I can keep Thursdays as legs with Friday as rest day. I have been terribly remiss in working legs and man did I feel that today. My plan for legs is not to necessarily add a lot of bulk (and yes, I know this is not an easy task, most definitely not one of those "too scared to lift heavy" girls I assure you), but I do want to gain more muscle mass and focus on evening out any imbalances - so more single-leg exercises along with the traditional squats, deadlifts, lunges. I know that some of my piriformis issues are related to weak hamstrings, so that is going to be a new focus for me as well. I also plan on incorporating in a second leg day (perhaps on Sundays after upper weights) that will be more plyo to hit the fast-twitch, explosive muscles. I'm hoping that will help me increase my speed for running. And of course I'm totally making this up on my own, so suggestions are welcome please. Toda...

Skillet Bake Sunday Last night's dinner ended up a semi-refrigerator/freezer special. I had some frozen rice that helped make this dish super simple and fast. Jason mentioned casserole, since I haven't made a casserole in ages. In the past, a casserole meant pasta or rice, cheese, frozen veggies, and a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup. These days, casseroles are comprised of none of those ingredients. So, they can be more complicated. And I think it's safe to say I have a tendency to complicate things anyway. Last night I peered into the cabinet, fridge, freezer. I thought pumpkin = creamy, so that's where that comes into play. The rest I just had on hand and thought it sounded like a good pairing. Tex-Mex Skillet Bake Ingredients: 1/2 yellow onion, diced 1/2 green bell pepper, diced 1/2 package tempeh, crumbled 1-2 tbsp minced garlic 1 small can green chiles 1 can no-salt diced tomatoes, mostly drained 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice 1 can black bean...

Soup Saturday I must say, that while this recent half marathon training plan didn't really have many hill workouts (will add in to the next training), it did have lots of long runs. I know that they sounded crazy to most people - 3 13-milers, but I thought they made sense. I was prepared for the miles (just not the hills). Not only was I prepared for the miles while running, my body was prepared for them in terms of recovery. So, last night, the only major issues were my sciatica. I was a little tighter than most runs, but I also raced rather than just ran yesterday. But the sciatica kicked my ass (literally). We ended up going to Vino's for pizza because there was no way I wanted to cook right after the race. Then I firmly planted my rear end on the couch (with ice) and relaxed with a couple of mimosas. When it came time for dinner, however, I was kind of tired of sitting (not one for being lazy) so I wanted to make something. Of course, I still wanted it to be simple. ...