salad challenge end

Rise and shine!  It’s coffee time. 

 

I wasn’t as sore today as I thought I’d be…in fact, aside from my hammies and glutes I was feeling pretty great.  I still decided to milk it (why not), so I scheduled a post-race massage for this evening. 

I broke the fast with a peach chobz, an apple, and dried pineapple rings while watching last night’s Brothers & Sisters and reading blogs.

 

I loved reading all your supportive comments regarding my race (and my struggle to push through the pain).  It meant a lot to me – and just knowing that I had such a support system (virtual or otherwise) was actually one of the major reasons I was able to motivate myself enough to get to the finish line!!  How weird is it that a community of people I don’t even really know have such a huge effect on me?

Whether it is finishing a half marathon, eating (mostly) wholesome balanced meals, or just rambling about my daily shenanigans, I love sharing with you all not only because it keeps me accountable, but because this blogger community is so caring and supportive.  It floors me on a daily basis. 

Ok, too much sappy crap.  Back to the eats.

 

How’s THAT for sammie!  Spinach, smart deli “turkey” and hummus on Alvarado Street bread.

Still, it didn’t really fill me up, so I had a veggie burger with hummus piled high on top.

That did the trick. 

Next up on the days to-do list: gym.  Hmm.  I figured I should give my legs a day off after yesterday’s half marathon, so since cardio was a no-go, I opted for some abs and arms and LOTS of stretching. 

Somehow I ended up on the elliptical?  I don’t know how, but it felt good to move my heavy legs, so I went with it (at a reallllllly low setting).

Back home I showered and made myself a snack before going to my massage.

Chunky sabra hummus and an apple.  I basically licked the container clean :)

By the time I got home from my rub down, my tummy was growling, so I made a repeat salad from Leng’s challenge.  Even though the challenge ended this weekend, I have enjoyed eating 1+ salads/day, and I have no desire to stop!   Brainstorming new and interesting ways to eat different vegetables?  F.U.N.  Does that make me a freak?  Maybe.  But it’s healthy, so why deny myself the pleasure.  I have always been a vegetable lover, so I never felt like my diet was deficient in the greens department, but it’s the diversity that is the best part.  My body loved it too!  So many different vitamins and minerals…I think I’m going to make a chart for a later post.

This salad is SO big, you can’t even see the mountain of spinach AND romaine underneath all the ingreds, including chopped Boca soy nuggets, shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, brocc slaw, sprouts, and a POUND of avocado. 

DAYAM.

 

It took me a nice long half hour to chomp this baby down.  I love meals that take forever to eat!

After dinner the weather was so nice we decided to go for a little stroll…

On our walk, we passed lots of trailers for this movie.  So if you wanna see Jennifer Aniston (yawn) or Jason Bateman (love) come to Broadway and the 80s.

We had to make a pit stop…how cute is Kyle (mid-bite) with his Tasti-D or The Lite Choice or whatever the hell the fake yogurt crap place is called nowadays. 

I waited ‘til we got back home to put together a nice bowl of goodies for myself.

This mix of carob raisins and salty peanuts is rapidly climbing the ranks in fave desserts!

But I still needed some fruit craved sugar, so I had my third apple for the day!

 

Crunch.

and the oscar goes to…

Today was a repeat of yesterday.  Kyle dragged me out of bed by 9, but it wasn’t until I smelled the coffee brewing, that I actually began to perk up.  Like yesterday, I mixed the choc/raspberry blend with the regular starbucks blend.  Unlike yesterday, today’s coffee came out way more raspberry flavored.  I guess since it’s a blend, there’s no telling which flavor will come through stronger, but I think I preferred yesterday’s. 

I added a LOT of silk to it (way more than I usually do) to try to downplay the raspberry.  I also toasted the end piece (fave!!) of bread and lathered on some I.M. Healthy soynut butter.

And the last of my figs…

Crossword time!  My sugar cookie sleigh ride tea is going out with a bang :) 

Lunch: GN veggie burger on an english muffin (with greek yogurt and half an avocado)

And my daily manzana :)

Here’s where the day gets a little orange…

Dried papayas gave me the sugar loading necessary to get me to the gym (I was NOT in the mood).  I managed to get a crappy 30 minutes in on the elliptical before I had to vacate the machine for the next person in line…the gym scene on the weekends when its 30 degrees is ridic!!!  Whatever.  I was happy to ditch.  Snuggling on the couch is way better for my relationship anyways.

Pre-dinner I snacked on carrots and my first love, Sabra.

I also had some BN squash (which also made its way into the hummus).  Then I popped some of these in the oven…

I wasn’t joking about the orange…

Naturally, hummus was caked on ALL of this!

I felt like I was a little carb deficient, though…

Not to worry, I cut up a few pieces of Alvarado street bread to dip in the rest of the hummus.

You better believe it – I finished the entire container!

Then I had another apple (just cause).  My hunger would NOT subside.  I never understand why some day this happens, but why fight it?

Dates AND carob covered raisins.  Great on their own, but SO much better together!

Somehow this slipped in, too.  I was watching the Oscars, so I wasn’t completely paying attention…

I’m not gonna lie, Giuliana Rancic is WAY annoying.  Talk about an overzealous, cracked out celeb whore!  (sorry for the language)  I did enjoy the red carpet pre-show crap, but I think she and Ryan are far better left on mute.  If you watched the Oscars, who do you think looked the best?  I though Amy Adams was gorgeous!  And even though Jennifer Aniston has always seemed kinda blah in the personality department, she looked great – eat your heart out Mr. Pitt. 

Now head over to Every Gym’s Nightmare to win some sweet exercise gear! 

First day of snow!

I woke up to flurries, and the weather only picked up from there. It was nice to sip hot coffee inside, wrapped in blankets, while the snow fell outside. I only like snow when I don’t have to leave the house though, so I think I’ll be over it pretty quickly since I have work tomorrow.

With my AM coffee, I had a handful of dates, they were SUPER soft and chewy – the way I like them best.

Look at the snow! It's hard to tell how much it was actually snowing from the pics, since I'm not a whiz with the camera. In fact it's Kyle's camera, so I was just glad I managed to figure out how to turn the flash off.

Maybe I'll have my first white christmas this year?

Brrr...

Lunch. Veggie "chicken" spread.

I mixed it with some ff chobani...

Then I sliced up an apple to dip in the greek yog/"chicken" spread mixture.

It was good, in fact great, but it didn't fill me up, so I had some more spread layered on a piece of A street bread. I looooove this spread.

Still hungry, so I made up another slice (this time finishing off the spread). Mmmm...

After lunch I was full and ready to brave the storm. As I walked to the gym, I practically turned into an icicle!! IT. WAS. FREEZING. Looks like my days of outdoor running are over!

At the gym, I was kinda in a lazy mood. I really wasn't too motivated, so I turned on the t.v. and zoned out for a not-so-intense elliptical workout. Good thing ellen was on so the time flew by...I did do an above average (for me) arm work out, followed by a sub-par ab work out, and a lot of stretching. Ah well. No gym tomorrow, so at least I can rest and my muscles can get a break for a few days.

I was starving after the gym, so I heated up a bowl of creamy butternut squash soup, which I then spilled.

Since I was a klutz, I was left with only half the bowl (post spill), so I also snacked on some soy nuts. Man do I love salt.

For dinner I had "Health is Wealth" vegan nuggets. L-A-Z-Y!!

Here's my full spread. Yes, that's regular bbq sauce, HFCS and all. I'm pretty sure the carrots make up for it, though, right?

I didn't wait long for dessert. This choc sorbet was an obvious choice. I had a third of the container and then got mad at myself for eating without designating a set portion (a BIG no-no).

So then I scooped the rest of my dessert into a glass. In total, I think I had half the carton? While I'm annoyed that I didn't eat dessert very mindfully, I'm glad that I realized it and corrected the situation before it got out of hand (a problem I'm definitely not a stranger to).

Hello sugar high.

tropical storm Kyle

Rain. Boo. Good thing I was stocked up with these little silk soy milks :)

So I had 2 cups of coffee (basically a latte with the massive amount of vanilla creamer and soy milk I used) to which I added stevia for some sweetening. I also had a soy milk by itself while I watched yesterday's (2 hour season premiere) episode of Grey's Anatomy that I had tivo-ed. Here's my review: HORRIBLE! I couldn't even finish the episode, it was that bad. Seriously, I can't even believe how ridiculously awful the show has become. So sad.

After a few errands, it was lunch time, so I decided to try out Wednesday's new purchase, lemon pepper smart tenders. I figured I'd like them since they are by Lightlife (I mean, I can't live without their other products, especially the smart deli "turkey").

My review: They were very pepper-y and since I'm not a big fan of pepper I think next time I will get the "savory chick'n" flavor. They were definitely good though, and since it is hard to find a non-meat substitute for chicken that actually tastes like chicken, I was pleasantly surprised at how close this came. I will definitely buy it again. I think for future meals, it would be even better sauteed...maybe cut into chunks and added into a risotto or pasta dish with other veggies so the pepper flavor can be diffused by other food. I think I have some good ideas, so stay tuned.

I went to the gym after lunch and had a great workout! New music purchases on iTunes always lends itself to a high intensity gym sesh! I did ab work on the mats after and then stretched forever...I was kinda delaying leaving the gym because it was raining outside again.

I picked up a treat on the way home :) soy latte #3 (but only my first starbucks one for the day)

Pre-dinner snack was half the bag of edamame (post dinner snack was the other half)

Talk about a protein loaded day! All I wanted for dinner was even more "chicken" so I heated up some Health is Wealth vegan chicken-free nuggets. I love these, and the smell of them cooking always makes Kyle want to steal them away from me.

BBQ sauce and honey mustard on the side. Mmmm...

After dinner (and the presidential debate) I went out to meet up with Kyle and his boy posse (he had dinner at Rosa Mexicana with some of his work friends). I was the only girl for the night, but I didn't really care. We went to The Rusty Knot and I had a pretty gross glass of white wine. To say the menu was minimalist would be an understatement, there were 3 types of beer (one of which nobody had ever heard of) and one red and one white wine (which I later discovered were from a box)! One of the boys ordered their special (a word I use reluctantly to describe the concoction), called a "dark and stormy" which was dark rum, ginger soda, and some kind of beer (?)...nasty. The drink was passed around all night but still didn't get finished. I'm not sure I will be going back there. Still, the night was fun and I got to see people that I don't work with, so it was still a good Friday night.