Intention and Expectation

Body:

WOW- I did 7.75 miles total!

I ran 6.5 of that at a steady pace of 8:34 for the first 3.25 then at a steady 7:47 for the last 3.25! It felt like I was floating the whole time! I read a magazine during my 1 mile warm up walk and then just... RAN! Visualize lady on the bus stop bench from Forrest Gump " so You just Raaaaaaan !?"

Mind:
I read this article in that magazine while warming up about how positive thinking really influences your behavior and why "saying so" means that it will become a reality. It goes on about "Intention and Expectation". 

This reminds me of how I type on here my "plan" for the day, or my list of what I intended for my body.mind.soul.  That is my "intention" and that intention helps give me the determination to act. After I have the determination to actually do "it", there is a level of "expectation" left by imaginary readers, real readers and myself to accomplish that intention.

I wrote the other day how writing out these plans seem to make me really accomplish most of what I intended, it was pretty darn cool to read an article affirming just that!

It also mentioned how you can use positive thinking to influence all areas of your life, such as "I will eat healthy today" to improve dietary habits, or "we will get along for this project" with co workers or " I will get that promotion" to help you get ahead at work. I think it could just work for relationships too...

"Jeff and I will get married, Jeff and I will get married, Jeff and I will get married..."

- well it's not instantaneous, but you get the idea!

Soul:
Off to shower with my new stash of Victoria's Secret Body Wash and lotions! Thanks Momma Mo and Melissa!

Then its off to return another shirt I got Jeff, and see if I can find a replacement. Who ever thought guys were picky about clothes?


Lunch:
Steamed Veggie Salad: romaine, carrots, snap peas, bean sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, red pepper, squash, cauliflower

you can really see the steam i guess!

The salad base before I put on all the steamed veggies- I forgot i had reduced fat

feta too

 
Leftover chicken breast- made intentionally for lunch last night- does that still mean its "leftover" if it had the intention for another meal?
Whole wheat wrap

Scrub a dub dub

Christmas Weekend

How does time fly so quickly!!?!? I need to catch up! We left my parents the day after the day after christmas (Saturday the 27th, my dad's birthday!) and drove to Jeff's Nana's house for the remainder of the weekend.

Body:
Woke up early and jogged/walked 2.5 miles around the neighborhood twice with my mom.
Mind:
Played a hilarious game, Apples to Apples, after dinner at the Lake.
Soul:
Had lunch and opened some cards in the morning, Walked/Talked with my mom, had a wonderful drive with Jeff to Nana's, Opened more presents at Nana's!
Jeff's sister made us these incredible charcoal drawings that go perfectly with our living room! She also got me my first tackle box! I am excited to have my own so that I can stock up on lures to fish with when Jeff and I go fishing.

Breakfast at my mom's was truly INCREDIBLE!

her new snowman mug (we bought together) filled with coffee, and then to eats she warmed fruit in a big pot- peaches, cherries, prunes (?), pineapple.... yummm - O. I also had egg whites , bacon and hashbrowns.

On the drive, I thought I would show you one of my favorite christmas presents- it sat in my lap the entire drive.

Red Leather Coach Tote!

I picked it out, but only because purses are so personal- I had tried so hard to decide between this and a purple leather bag. The purple I had knew I wanted initially but after trying on purse after purse- I saw this beauty sitting up on the shelf. I figured I would try it and knew immediately it was the one.

So we arrived at the lake, and I was so hungry and had so many things in my hands I forgot when I had scarfed down Nana's fantastic soup that I had left my camera in my lovely new Red Leather Coach Tote!

I had a turkey sandwich on a crossiant,ended up giving half to Jeff since I was full after the bowl of turkey soup.

Sherry while opening presents. I learned this is "not a proper Sherry". I was supposed to fill it up all the way to the top but there was only a little left in the sherry holder. I then found the two unopened bottles in the bottom of the bar.

Dinner:
Baked Potato, Steak, Onions and Wine


We officially invented a drink for the Lake in october and we use ginger ale ( or tonic) , gin, cherry juice, lime juice. It is called "Lake Water". How appropriate !?
Here is my first glass, I believe I had about 2.5


I slept in soooo late! I even went to bed early! I wasn't hungover at all I was just exhausted!
For breakfast I just has a banana and half of a grapefruit ( 10:30 am) and then we worked on the boat ( the plugs got messed up and need to be in for winter).

Lunch: Lasagna

It actually does look bigger than it was- but it was delicious. Lasagna used to be one of my favorite foods.

We headed home and stopped at a furniture store to look at chairs and ottomans but didn't have any luck. It was straight to Jeff's parents to pick up Jack and we stayed for dinner as well.



A glass of merlot, this Bogle was reallly tasty! sweet but not a "sweet wine".
Dinner:
Caesar Salad, Grilled Chicken, Brocolli Rice Casserole, Roll

Dessert: Christmas Cookies!!!!!!

So delicious, I had peanut brittle ( a couple smaller pieces than this too) and a brownie.

Jeff: The "Super-Boyfriend"...

Sunday Brunch:
French Toast with Fry Pan Bananas ( literally slice a banana into a frying pan, flip after a few seconds...heaven) and cottage cheese cloud


Pre-Run Snack / Lunch:



Body:
I really wanted to go for a run since the weather is so mild lately- this week is supposed to be 60's too! I was scarred to head out to this one trail because I didn't know if there would be enough people in December to make it feel safe. Well... Jeff said he would go with me!!!!!

Woohoooo!!! He has had such a difficult work schedule this year and its made it hard for him to exercise as much as he wants to. When we first met we would workout together all the time- runs, hiking trails, the gym, etc.! It was SO great to be outside with him and Jack and get fresh air & exercise again!

We walked most of the loop (2.82 miles) but jogged the last half mile, then I took off and ran the set of hills, turned around and ran back through the hills again and met back up with Jeff.

I ran a total 5.75 miles , 2 miles of that is all hills ( elevation was 6%, 4%, 3%, 2%), and I walked 2.5 miles with Jeff and Jack! It felt fantastic! My knee and toes are definitely still twisted/weird- I have no idea yet what the connection is but I'm not spending the money to see that crappy orthopaedic again

So now we get back home, Jeff the super-boyfriend decides that he wants to cook dinner for me AND do the dishes

Isn't he the best?!?! It was oh so yummy too..

Sweet Potato & Apple "Fries"
- chopped potato and apples baked with a sprinkling of sugar

"Fried" Okra

I was actually going to make this because I usually do it all healthy style. But Jeff really wanted to so I showed him how I do it : Here's how I do it

-heat a pan with smart balance light made with olive oil ( or just a T smart balance olive oil), thawed frozen okra then dipped em in a batter of egg whites & 1% milk, then in mix of equal parts cornmeal/whole grain organic flour (s& p), into the pan and done.

Teriakyi Chicken Breast ( cage free w/o hormones)

- he even cut it all up for me! single tear * ( i always cut mine up but we were eating on the couch and its too hard to do while on there )

Off to make a surprise treat!

Christmas Party 08

Appetizer Hour:
My Glass #1 of Sonoma Merlot, Jeff's Glass of Bass

Oh My gosh... quite possible this was the best cheese I have ever had

Brie with Cranberries ( they were fresh softened deliciously cherry like), and Goat Cheese with Pesto

Here is mine: It was soooooooo satisfyingly delicious

I should have taken a picture of everyone at our table! I warned them when we sat down that I take pictures because I write a blog about food and nutrition. I was completely surprised that everyone was genuinely interested in knowing why and what it was like and they all want to get the link to the site- so whenever they stop by- Hi Michelle, Justin, Melissa,Woody, Christ, and Gretchen!

Glass #2 and Bread

I am not a huge bread person but I like to try things. I ripped off a hunk but it was too chewy

Salad: This was a very interesting way to do a Caesar Salad. A rib of romaine, anchovy slices on top, thin strips of parm cheese, that little wafer tasted like cardboard.

Entree:

Chicken on top of creamy mushroom risotto, zuchinni, steak. Last year they had a similar dish only with chicken and salmon. I mentioned everyone at our table being interested in my blog, well we had quite the discussion about this entree! My steak was medium-well. There was no pink at all. However, Melissa's was bright vibrant red, Justin's was a rose/blush, Jeff's was a mix of Melissa's and Justin's- It was incredibly odd how the same dish came to 8 people at the table but the steaks were cooked all different. Mine was so well-cooked that I could not even chew it. My chicken was very tasty, however, Michelle's chicken was very dry-

Congratulations Michelle ( she is having a baby girl!).


Dessert:

I ate the whip cream, the nuts, and that chocolate stick coming out towards you! I had a few bites ( again I like to try things) but I am not a huge fan of pudding AND I was full!

Overall Recap and Review:
I think the cheese was phenomenal and made my night! Everything was "tasty" otherwise so I hate to bring up the negative because it was "over-the-top"! It is definitely a fancy place and I love being able to attend. On top of that, to hang out with Jeff's co-workers because they are all about our age and really funny was fantastic! Last year, Jeff and a few others formed a secret band that played a great set of cover songs. They were outstanding, however, this year shortly after they began practice the drummer caught pneumonia. He had to be hospitalized and has some permanent damage but is overall fine now. Unfortunately, they couldn't do it without him. So we missed out on that but I got to spend more time with Jeff since he wasn't playing.

Jeff and I at the Tree

Initiation of the New Employees: Teams had to dress up one person like Frosty The snowman. We cheered for this guy because they were right next to our table- and one of the new employees sat with us. (They won, so they had to sing Frosty The Snowman)

I had so much fun chatting with Emily, Christy, Jennifer, Amy, Stacy, Michelle, and Melissa! Hi, Ladies if you stop in!!

Earlier Friday...
Lunch:
I know it is not as "spectacular" as the food above- Leftover pasta and chicken from the other night.

Mid-Afternoon Red-White-Green Snack( actually at about 4 because I did NOT want to go to the xmas party starving)
Red and Green Peppers, Mushrooms and a little blue cheese dressing (full fat deliciousness)
Chobani Strawberry with Pistachios

Body:
Cardio: A fantastic run. A wonderful run.

I "sprinted" 4 miles. I stretched for a few seconds at each mile but jogged in between all the sprinting so no walking for this lady!

My general treadmill pace: 6.5 mph (recovery/slow jog) 7.5-7.7 mph (usual, comfortable pace) 9.3-9.8 mph (sprint)

9.8 felt super sonic- I felt like I was going to fall off the treadmill, which made it even more exciting hahaha. I didn't keep track of much else aside from running for at least 2 minutes of each mile above 9 mph... So it was mostly at a 7.5 speed, I would sprint when a good song came on during each mile at 9.3 bump it up to 9.8 then recover at a 6.5 for no more than 2 minutes... back up to a 7 + then back up to a spring etc.

My goal was to run the entire time, sprint during each mile and I met my goal.

Mind:
I turned in my paper, I only studied a little. I felt a little burnt out from the three papers due total this week. I have this weekend to study so I wanted to pace myself.

Soul:

Fantastic evening. After the holiday party we went downtown to a bar - one of our friends' birthdays- so we danced with them and had a phenomenal evening!

One of my Favorites

Dinner: One of my favorites! Boneless, skinless chicken breasts with whole wheat pasta, hunt's garlic and onion tomato sauce

Salad: TJ Champs Elyse, Red bell pepper, mushroom, snap peas and Goddess Dressing

I saute the chicken in the pan with some pepper, salt and a dash of parm cheese... While that cooked on low, I boiled the pasta, drained it, then tossed in the sauce into the now-empty pan.

Dessert:

No Pudge , using the single mix method- Genius!
Added in banana, peanut butter, pumpkin butter and extra nonfat greek yogurt!

Body:
4 mile run, 10 minute elliptical cool down

"ahhhh" this is me sighing because it felt fantastic!

Mind:
Paper #2 done, worked on Paper #3 due friday, lots of studying this weekend while my sister will be enjoying herself in paradise..

Soul:
Done with classes for the semester!!!
Woohoo!

Oh I wish I could be going to my sister's 30th birthday party in paradise this weekend! I could not afford the $700. Had I worked this semester as planned, I would have been just fine. Unfortunately, I could not and I know she will only turn 30 once but I can't go bankrupt for it as much as I want to!
Plus, I have finals on monday and wednesday and that would just not be easy to relax on the beach with a Pina Colada when I need to memorize metabolic pathways and research methods!

In the past seven days I have done yoga twice and run on 3 of the days. I feel FANTASTIC. Incredibly balanced. I love it!

I rented movies specifically for Jeff- "Stepbrothers" which we just finished watching after dinner & during dessert. We totally turned the lights out like a movie theater, and now its time for Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer from 1964!

Goodbye Thursday Hello Weekend

Breakfast:

Pumpkin Pie for 1!
Oat crust, filling as usual, and organic oikos vanilla on top and a half of a banana on the side.. with flaxseed butter

Here is the explanation:

"Crust":
1/2 Cup total of Irish oats ( I mixed flaxseed cereal with it too)
Put into an Oven AND Microwave safe dish (I used this corningware dish) with
1/2 cup water ( so that the oats are soaked but not floating in water)
Microwaved for 2 minutes
Spread out oat crust to the sides of the dish so that its a flat crust like shape
Put oven-safe dish into (toaster) oven at 375 for about 5 minutes

"Filling"
Mix following ingredients into a separate bowl
1/4 cup organic pumpkin (puree not filling)
1/3 cup egg beaters- or I've used carton egg whites only or 4 egg whites
pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon Brown sugar
1 teaspoon of Maple Syrup (or more brown sugar)
1/2 teaspoon of Baking Powder
Microwave for 2 minutes or until slightly firm all over

Put-It All-Together:
Take out crust dish w/ oven mitt!
Spoon this slightly firm mix into the crust dish
Put back into oven for another 5-7 minutes + at 375
Topped with a spoonful of "cream" aka nonfat greek yogurt, sprinkled with cinnamon

On the side I had a half of banana with pb


Lunch: Whole Foods Salad


If you often read my blog, you can tell that I NEVER treat myself to lunch out. Mostly because I enjoy preparing my own food, secondly because I HATE to spend the money when it is so much healthier and CHEAPER to plan a tiny bit and have foods for lunch. However, being sick and being on campus until 1 pm ( and having class at 3:45) I knew it would be the best option to either stay or head to Whole Foods less than 1/4 mile from campus! So, I thought it would be a nice treat to myself to get a yummy made-my -own salad!
Broccoli

Roasted and non, Red Bell Pepper

Quinoa

Chicken

Mixed greens

Feta

Purple Cabbage

Cucumber
Corn and Black Beans
Two quarters of roasted potatoes ( top right)

And, an artichoke

Pineapple and Strawberries

Dinner:


leftover Whole Wheat Pasta and Sauce, Half of a whole grain bun for a mini-tofu sammy, extra veggies (peppers, cauliflower), parm cheese, some chicken in there too...

Body:

I certainly DID NOT feel well enough to get in a workout after class ...ARGH! I barely had a voice and felt really tired after the interview and lunch. But I needed to stay for class. Calling the doctor in the morning for meds!

Mind:
Met April on campus at 9:30 to get equipment, then we met our freshmen interviewee for our project on College Freshmen Food Choices. The interview we conducted took about 30 minutes, then we went to the library and transcribed the interview. Apparently this takes a looonnngg time, ( it took about 1.5 hrs)

Class: we talked more about TG, but mostly cholesterol and phospholipids and went over our exam from last week. I did alright ( I got a B)... but so many people in the class did worse than the last exam and we all studied so hard. I think it was because there were SO many places to mess up, SO many enzymes for each pathway - so he gave us an extra credit opportunity to work in groups and re-do the first problem. We did great!

Soul:

It was so nice to treat myself to Whole Foods, $8 for lunch is outrageous but I never do it! I sat outside too, the sun was really warm but the air was cool.

It was also SO nice to be out of the house all day! Even though I still felt ill and was exhausted, i have been "couped up" in the house all week being a total bum on the couch! ( i needed to be but..)

After lunch i searched for articles to support my metabolism research paper and found a bunch!

Another lake trip to Nana's is in store for this weekend since she is having "thanksgiving" early, but I am un-sure if I will go mostly because I have been so sick that I haven't been able to get alot of my research done. I also would hate to bring my cold with me and get nana or any of jeff's sisters/neice/nephew sick!

It's Thursday!!! Grey's and Ugly Betty soon and I am catching up on Private Practice right now...

Marathon Here I come

Body:
RAN 12.5 MILES!!!! WWWWWAAAAAHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO@@@

My fake race went superb! I stopped at mile 6 on campus and bought a bag of candy corn ( i had more than this- about 20 pieces total)( no jelly beans)- and boy, did I feel an energy boost! Phew! I feel so much more confident for the marathon next weekend! sigh...

p.s i decided to do a calorie count today only because I ran SO much and know I have a huge deficit to make up- I'm not big on calorie counting in general because I really try to listen to my body and feed it whatever it wants - when it wants it- but for today, I feel like I need to keep track. Plus, it will be helpful for next weekend for the race to kinda gage what I need

interesting notes:
-it was approx. 47 degrees when I started running

-it was approx. 53 degrees when I stopped

-I ran for 1 hour and 48 minutes, 12 miles ( .5 mile jog/walk)

-I felt super slow even though well under the time I thought I would get

- Took off my gloves on mile three

-candy corn was super energy boost!

- came home and immediately made a delicious smoothie (despite not being hungry???)

- when i got home, I was SUPER cold ... I still am really cold after showering and eating and now ready for class

Smoothie ( I drank while getting in the shower because I was so cold but knew I needed to get fuel and to get warm)
1/2 cup milk

3/4 banana

1 Tb pb
1 scoop chocolate protein powder

1/2 cup frozen mango

Delicious - best one I have ever made ! !!
approx. 210 calories

Post shower I had:
Tava "Meditteranean Fiesta"
Flat Out Light Wrap

Rotissere chicken w/o skin

approx. 140 calories

I know this is not enough calories- I am at 700 for the day (w candy corn) but honestly, my stomach does not want anything inside it right now. I know that I burned over 1,000 and "need" the fuel- but I just can't handle anymore right now.

So I will bring a smores z bar & apple with me and know for sure I can get something as soon as I get hungry again before class!

All Strung Out

• Okay not really - I am referring to the angel hair noodles I had for dinner and how my first post of the day was "blah"... the second was "ergh"... it could only be followed by something along those lines!
  
  Whole Wheat Angel Hair, Rottissere (sp?) Chicken , Easiest Tomato Sauce ever ( I put in one big can of diced Fresh Market tomatoes with italian herbs, and one big jar of TJ Marinara). Yum!
  
  I am doing an "accomplishments" post because I need a boost and that usually tends to do it:

Accomplishments

• Emailed Paper in to professor
• Laundry- Mine
• Laundry-blankets and sheets
• Laundry- put away Jeff's cuz it was in MY way! hee hee
• Swept all the floors
• CPR Training/Work ( although turned out to be pointless I should still get paid)
• Found Cliff Z-Bars in oh so festive Spooky Smores ( totally had it at the library-Yum!)
• Finished Chapter 6 ( my portion of our group presentation)
• Took detailed notes to transcribe to Powerpoint for Chp 6
• Read all the Oct. and half of the Nov. Women's Health Mag.
• Deposited Mom's check at the bank ( Thanks Mom!!!Cant wait to see you!)
• Stopped at Andrea's and got her mail, took it up to her kitchen
• Cooked dinner
• Blogged! I love blog writing, its just such a great activity
• Hooray For Toliet Paper !!!!!!!!!!
  

Dinner for One

I love whole wheat angel hair! In my bowl of angle hair is: chicken, chickpeas, sweet peas, snow peas ( wow I guess I can't get enough of peas today) , goat cheese and parmesean cheese. Salad on the side with goddess dressing = dinner for one ( Jeff had practice for his xmas rock band)

Body:
Cardio: Biked 11 miles, 25 minutes and Elliptical 20 minutes.

Strength: Back, Biceps, Quads

Mind:
I went to campus early enough to really get in some good research and reading- I read through and took notes on 7 research articles in 2 hours! I found "the" article for my presentation and now have to find all kinds of cool interesting "obesity trend" and "food supply" research to back it up/add to it...

Soul:
My returns are made!! I had bought extra ties for Jeff and extra jewelery for this past weekend and it feels really nice to have money back in my account!

Off to read blogs and more research!

Curl Up and ...goodbye thursday

So after the vet and before dinner all I felt like doing was curling up and reading. I hardly ever have felt like that but I think it may have been the cloudy day or all the running around I did today! As soon as I started reading, I felt like baking ( another cloudy day fav). So I decided to read another 10 pages then cook!

Dinner:
Baked Chicken Breast

Baked Sweet Potato

"fried" Zuchinni

Delicious!

Since I had to bake the chicken and the potato, I decided to bake banana bread tonight too (utilize the energy on the oven heating up etc).

I used Veganomicon's recipe but changed it because I didn't have applesauce or molasses. I also hate washing dishes, so I try to just make it all in the loaf dish I use.

One Dish Veganomicon’s “ Low Fat Banana Bread”
Makes 1 loaf
3 very ripe bananas ( I can never wait until they are ripe enough)
1/4 cup organic no-sugar-added applesauce or today I used ¼ egg beaters b/c I had no applesauce
1/8 cup Smart Balance Oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 cups flour (I used white whole wheat and AP combo)
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1. Preheat the oven to 350. In loaf pan, pour 1/8 cup Oil and coat the pan by swirling. Peel bananas into dish and smash bananas til smooth ( I like it chunky) with a fork. Add the sugar, applesauce (or egg or yogurt), and syrup and stir well.
2. Sift in the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Mix until just combined (don’t overmix this).
3. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown

The "one dish" way hasn't failed me yet but if you feel like doing it "right" i.e with the extra dishes, you can do wet ingredients in one bowl, dry in the other then mix em all together in a bowl, then put it in the dish.


Body:
35 minutes elliptical

Mind: Read more of Slow Food Nation (SFN).. its all about the slow food movement, increasing sustainability, knowing where you food comes from, how it arrives to you, "good, clean, fair" ...

Soul: I finally got to the Farmer's Market, and finally took Jack to the Vet, and finally got to reading some of SFN AND baked banana bread and made a delicious dinner.