So much easier to make meals just out of vegetables. Vegetables, herbs, sauces, garlic + onions. I never feel too full like I do with eating meat.
Don't get me wrong. I LOVE MEAT. But my problem is that I eat too much of it. That's bad.
When I eat too many vegetables, I don't feel full, I feel satisfied!
Broccoli, zucchini + rice, 1 whole avocado, and Naked green juice. Talk about your greens! This wasn't even intentional.
I am not even sure if this is a post-run meal, but I was famished after my impromptu 3 mile sprint/run. I just hope I don't start growing sprouts out of my ears...
Have you gotten a chance to see the Justin Timberlake's new SNL sketch
with his "Ville" series? Used to be Omeletteville, Homelessville, this
time... he's introduced
VEGANVILLE.
After watching this, I realized how much I have changed my eating habits since moving here to my new neighborhood. I live in a spot close to D.C. that has a little "village" of its own, complete with a "restaurant row", theaters, library and supermarket. There are many words I could use to describe it...
So, since I have moved here, I have somehow adapted to the lifestyle of the villagers here. They walk their dogs all the time. There's never a day I don't run into a dog either in the elevator or outside of the building trying to do their dirty business (or clean business... it depends I suppose). The canine types also do a great job in promoting fitness, as proven by the large biking/running community here. If everyone here can take their dogs outside and endure the gusty winds and snow and humidity to run it out, why can't I?
In ADDITION to the large active community here (parks everywhere), most of the restaurants/cafes here are not complete without their gluten-free/vegetarian/vegan options. People talk about Whole Foods and Trader Joe's--in Oak Harbor, I had never stepped foot in one of these stores. Cooking for one all the time leads to TONS of leftovers. I can basically eat the same dish for five whole workdays. When I make a dish with brocolli rabe, tofu and squash, pasta and random vegetables... I'm set for a while. Saves time on cooking and leaves more for fitness during the week, usually after a sedentary workday (hello cubicle tour).
ALSO...
Transportation -- they promote such an active lifestyle, and a greener planet (more than I've ever felt even in Seattle) by providing access to a metrobus/metrorail. My car drives 7 miles total each work day. On weekends or weeknights, I take the bus located ONE block from my apartment.
How can you not get sucked in?
So when the weather started to get better (post our so-called "Snowquestration" holiday), every runner came out of the woodworks. The sun (however still windy) called my name and I took an opportunity to do my last "long run" before the big race. Enjoy the pictures.
A women's crew team practicing along the Potomac River
Living here is better for my health and mental well-being. I'm relatively stressed out, and there is plenty to learn out here... I'm glad I made the choice to move to such an area so rich in diversity, history, and culture. Plus, it seems like everyone I've ever met has found their way to this city as well...
I've gotten really terrible at this flog (food log) thing. But I might as well catch up.
I have just returned from a short vacation to visit the boy. We spent the majority of our trip in Park City, Utah for snowboarding, followed by some visiting in Whidbey Island, WA.
Logging exercise has been pretty spotty during my leave, however, I tried. Snowboarding in high altitude (and actually sunny weather) had me sweating and the quads/hammies burning. Walking the streets of downtown also made me work with its inclined sidewalks. Back in Oak Harbor, I ran 6 miles a calorie burner before I had dinner with the old gang at Adrift in Anacortes. That was the first time I had ever ran more than 3 miles on that island. I've lived there for 4 years.
As far as the food, I've had everything from a "dinner" consisting of merely alcoholic drinks to a "dinner" consisting of only bar food appetizers (think nachos, jalapeno poppers, mozzarella cheese sticks)... and everything in between.
The downtown
The Bridge... Town Lift (2 minute walk from our condo rental!)
Friday, February 1, 2013
After a short hiatus - I'm back.
The last few days have been fueled by an almost debilitating realization that not only am I not losing weight, I am gaining it. Fast. Now, I know what the initial reaction always is to this assertion - and truthfully, I don't disagree with it: Muscle weighs more than fat and any workout regimen will begin with the building of new/more muscle tissue. Okay. Science. I get it.
So to combat the crushing sense of helplessness, I've decided to hide the scale from myself (which is nearly impossible to do while living alone and will probably involve high levels of alcohol to complete successfully) but yes, HIDE the scale from myself and stay off it for the foreseeable future. The other thing I have made up my mind to do is not quit - either running or lifting/working out at the gym. So. Keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully things will change. Sure.
Other things to report: my feet, specifically my toes, look like hamburger after our last 7 mile run. I'm rolling to the outside of my shoes both when I run and when I do plyometrics at the gym (is that pronation? Over-pronating? I've never really known...) so the search for my appropriate shoes has begun. The secondary search will be for higher quality socks, which I'm told by a reliable source, has everything to do with my skin actually staying on my feet.
And finally what I ate yesterday. I'm not proud of the sequencing or the inevitable end result, but I blame it on a weird day schedule-wise. Morning: coffee. Lunch: 4 pieces sushi on the run. Evening: Vegetable fajitas (sans tortillas - I just eat what's in the skillet), guacamole, and a margarita at the local Mexican restaurant. By the end of dinner, I felt that I had overdone it, but, of course, I was so hungry by dinner time that I was going to overeat no matter what you put in front of me - at least there wasn't anything fried?
Today has gone better, I've gotten through my morning coffee and I'm about to head upstairs for a salad.
Four miles today. Likely on the treadmill after dark.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
I have received a e-newsletter addressing one of the questions that may enter our mind after weeks of starting a brand new workout regimen. Why am I not losing weight?
One of the things I had forgotten since the P90X days was the "plateau". Once our body finds a groove and is no longer "confused", it burns as if we executed the same amount of aerobic activity every day. A and I have been running 3 days a week, mainly on the same pace. What we haven't integrated into our regimen yet is sprinting. There's nothing like a quick shred of fat than short bursts of high intensity training. That isn't to say that we haven't been doing any of that during the week. With the introduction of "tabata", (normal protocol is performing this hour long mega-cycle 3 times a week) we can be sure that the metabolism will pick up and results will be visible in a few more weeks.
Nutri-dense veggies and colors all the way! Except for the occasional chocolate cake, of course...
Eat 3-4 meals a day, and watch portion control!
And that's all I have today, folks. Remember...
EXERCISE MAKES YOUR BRAIN FUNCTION BETTER AND HELPS YOUR EMOTIONAL STATE.
If you think you are going to try and eat a pasta lunch and THEN attempt eating an 1/8 of a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream without working out afterwards? Think again.
I turned 28 Thursday. And to celebrate, I ate chocolate cake and did two things I wouldn't normally do at the gym.
- spin class
- a long run on the treadmill
And... I've [re]learned a few things. One, I still don't like spinning classes. I respect the class, but it is just not fun enough for me. Two, its probably not a good idea to do back-to-back lower body exercises (i.e. spin followed by running). And three, sushi is always delicious.
I'm sure you all were wondering how my rest day was going. I actually feel sore from my first experience at pole fitness, a pole-dancing based fitness class that incorporates parts of dance and gymnastics into routines. I think it's a great way to become stronger and toned, all while becoming comfortable and confident with your own self (i.e. learning through "sexy" moves how to find power within your body using a pole--same as using weights or bands or anything else). Plus it's a fun and refreshing way to sweat.
I think a lot of the images we've seen in the movies give us a little exposure to how to make your body look sexy. But just like an entertainment show, you have to balance the technical skill with showmanship. The "Wow" factor from the spins and the climbs--and eventually inverts--has to mix well with the hair flips, the exaggerated high stepping with heels on, and slow back bends. Otherwise, you might get confused with the Indian men's sport of Mallakhamb.
A video I saw a year ago... hope these are splinter free:
The first five minutes of the warm-up, I already had wet spots under my arms. Gross, I know. But to show the exertion in this form of exercise, I want to share with you that it is not an easy class. Luckily, I feel like I have a headstart than most because I can already carry my own body weight because I've practiced pull-ups. Like anything, if you practice doing pull-ups, you will eventually be able to do one, then two, then five, etc. Same with the splits. Same with spinning around on a pole while looking graceful. It takes repetition and a strange awareness of your body.
Sidenote: When you run, you're technically supposed to be aware of your body. Before, most of the time I become a mindless moving body, not paying attention to my alignment. Thinking of my feet and thinking of my arm sway takes me to more of an active role whilst running, which helps me focus on my breath more, increasing my endurance.
So here is a video giving you an idea of how a typical pole fitness class is run. I was in a small studio in someone's home with five poles (I am thinking of investing in one myself, but waiting until I find $100 on the street one day). This morning, I woke up feeling sore in my calves from all of the toe pointing we were doing (imitating heels). I also felt the great change in the area near your armpits--the area where we usually find that side fat poking out of the bra. It was like I had done a million arm circles. Or machine cable pulls.
I was not wearing a pink sports bra, although I think that would be such a cute thing :)
Oh, almost forgot to list off my food. Yesterday, after the pole class, I drank 2 cocktails and a beer after a beautiful sesame salmon + veggies dinner at a gay bar. Lunch was a bit of turkey embotido (ground turkey with bits of hard boiled egg, raisins, carrots, and peppers) and salad. We can all assume now that breakfast will always be Shakeology + fruit.
Today I had penne pasta for lunch and dinner with arrabiata sauce (spicy red sauce) and baked cookies. I cheated with two oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
Okay, so I'm breaking into the blogging about four weeks after V and I have started training for a half marathon. Food logging will also be involved. I realize to do this I'm going to have to either A. log on multiple times a day in order to record every morsel that I shove in my mouth (read: highly accurate, with a risk of emotional break down after I feel the need to EXPLAIN why I shoved said food in mouth) or B. record the previous day's intake in a concise manner (read: possibly less accurate but more coherent). Choices.
We're four weeks in. Four weeks. That's a month. I read something on Pinterest today (yes, I Pinterest frequently. It's not the act of pinning that excites me; it's a one stop shop for recipes, work outs, interior design. I'm a "liker". Not a pinner. Enough.) The Pinterest wisdom said (and I'm paraphrasing...) "Are you doing today what will help you get where you want to be tomorrow?" Or something like that. And the answer is: probably not. As the runs get longer (6.5 miles tomorrow, eeeeee!) I was hoping to feel better during them - a la someone who runs. Regularly. Like me. But I don't. Sometimes I feel winded. Mostly I just feel mushy and crampy and... gross. My muscles and joints seem to be cooperating... My iPod cooperates thanks to my new headphones at V's recommendation... It's all there, and I get out of my front door because of V... and bleh.
So at the four week mark, I realize that no, I can't eat crap and expect my body to just magically get up and slug out 6.5 miles at a pop. I also realize that perhaps, maybe, just maybe I should be doing more than just running in order for my body to totally acclimate. Who knows. So in the spirit of that, I got up this morning and did a 60 minute ballet strengthening workout. I know what you're thinking - Ballet, how is that going to help you run? But I've never felt my thighs burn quite so intensely. And while I'm not whipped out right now, my lower abs and inner thighs definitely feel like they've done something today.
I also - in the spirit of "good in, good out" (also, ha, the whole point of this blog) packed my lunch and took it to school - I mean work. It consists of the following:
1.5 cups of a rice, wheatberry, black bean concoction that tastes similar to turkey stuffing (if that's even possible) It's quite delectable. I promise.
1/4 cup chipotle hummus - damn good.
1 cup(ish?) of baby carrots (for said hummus)
An apple and about 2 servings of these brown rice/quinoa cracker/chip thingys. All paired with water.
At this point, it's 9:30 and I've made it through half my crackers and all of my carrots and hummus. While I'm not hungry anymore, I can feel it coming. I kinda wanna break into my rice, but then there'll be nothing left, which leaves the vending machines, which equal death and, I'm almost certain, a crappy 6.5 mile run tomorrow. Perhaps I'll get started on my other goal - drinking an excessive amount of water. Note, empty water bottle to my left, right beside my Engine 2 Diet Cookbook from which I'll choose a recipe for dinner. All the tools are right here. Sigh.
Alright - I'm going to attempt to post this now... only 9 more hours left at work.
Thursday, January 17
B: Chocolate Shakeology+ strawberries and PB
L: Portobello mushroom sandwich / the rest of my cauliflower soup
D: filet of herb-coconut crusted Tilapia / arugula salad / mini caprese salad
Workout: 3 miler on the treadmill (it was "cold" outside... okay, I wimped out)
Friday, January 18
B: Chocolate Shakeology + strawberries
S: Pita chips, crackers, spinach and kale dip, you name it chips
L: El Paso luncheon... one gordita chimichanga (grilled chicken, avocado, lettuce, sour cream) and rice and beans. Ate it all.Ugh.
6 miler outside. Chilly 32 degrees outside but the sun is shining.
The moral of the story is PORTION CONTROL! Today was a ton of carbo loading that I could have avoided. I brought a banana to work and didn't even touch it. I was so entranced by bread that I went off track...
Update: Girls night out! Yelp approved
D: Bailey's and coffee / smorgasboard of apps including oysters, reuben eggrolls, tuna tartare tacos, goat cheese and lamby meats. A wide array of samplers, probably more rich in flavor than large in quantity. 93 dollars later....
Close to finishing up Week 4 of our 12 week Half-Marathon program :)
A and I have been working hard to maintain the running portion very hard on our schedules, being lenient on the individual workouts. Thought, "Hmmm... maybe it would be a good idea to start a food blog/exercise log to keep us honest?"
Maybe... this can go beyond the March 16th deadline.
Maybe... this can be a year long thing. I hear some people call that a resolution? Whatever, I call it a realistic goal.
What's even better... we can totally keep each other honest. As long as we're following a schedule, I think we can do it.
Okay. Here's my input for
Thursday, January 16
B: One chocolate Shakeology from Beachbody + strawberries and tsp of PB
S: Banana
L: Bacon avocado wrap, sea salt and peppercorn chips
D: Homemade sandwich with Portobello mushroom, hummus, arugula, and roasted red peppers on sourdough; arugula salad with carrots
Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit workout
Okay... the weather is getting colder, so its time to start bundling up :)
