WIAW round 2 as a day in the life of me

Hello, Ruminators.


(Did that sound profound or what?)


You know that saying... It's better late than never? Well that's my philosophy on writing a WIAW post on Thursday! (Just go along with it)

I started out my morning... not so bright and early. Though I planned to wake at 6am and get out on the road for my run before 7am, that's not exactly what happened. It was more like this:

• 6am - alarm goes off. Open eyes. Grope around. Find iPhone and turn off alarm. Go back to sleep.
• 7am - Wake up. Roll over. Go back to sleep.
• 8am - Wake up. Jerk myself out of bed before I'm fully awake. Stagger out of room. Bathroom. Dress. Breakfast.

Inhale two bowls of PB puffins with almond milk.

• 9am - Drive up to the park/ hills near our house and run in the hot sun. Suffer tremendously.   
• 10:15am - Drive home, drenched. Cue breakfast numero dos.

Ginormous sliced banana, topped with almond butter and melted in the microwave. Mmmmmm.

Strawbs on the side.

•  11am - jet off to the train. 
• 11:25am - Buy ticket.
• 11:28am - Breathe.
• 11:29am - Get blown away by the train.
• 12pm - Arrive at my old treatment center where I still have nutrition and therapy meetings. Eat lunch in the park.

Déjeuner à l'air.

Salad: spinach, broccoli, 1/2 tomato, celery, 1/4 cold Kabocha squash roasted with cinnamon and nutmeg, Sabra artichoke and spinach hummus. 

 Oh my god guys, this was the most amazing lunch I've eaten ever. So, so, so good. The kabocha squash and hummus just elevated this bland salad to something out of this world. I'm swooning just thinking about it. Dare I say it... cold kabocha is even more delicious than hot. And combined with hummus... Oh my gosh. It's ineffable. So smooth and creamy and delicious. Mouthgasm.

Dessert was an unpictured banana walnut muffin made out of this stuff:

Oats, flour, cinnamon, vanilla extract, baking powder & soda, stevia, bananas.

•  12:30pm - Meet with my therapist. It was actually a little more fruitful than past meetings with her. We talked about my fears about going back to school and making friends, guilt, etc.
• 1:30pm - Meet with my nutritionist. Apparently I'm undereating given the amount of activity I'm doing. Also not eating enough carbs or protein. She recommended I get back on track with my meal plan, etc, which is freaky but I'm going to try. She also recommended I eat a little extra starch the two days before my race (Sunday) to rebuild by glycogen stores. Yes ma'am!
• 2:15 - Stock up on essentials at Safeway! Aka: spinach, Greek yogurt (Yay!), and bananas. What more could you want in life? Other than peanut butter, of course ;)
• 2:45 - Catch the train and carb up with an unpictured Kid Zbar in chocolate chip flavor.
• 3:45 - Get home and snack!

The usual: greek yogurt, pb, pumpkin butter, jam, cinnamon. Beautiful

• 4:20pm - Drive to Santa Cruz to go sailing with my uncle and aunt plus other people. Meet up with them and race in front of the Beach Boardwalk! 'We' came second - apparently the first time in 7 weeks they haven't won. It was kind of crazy and intense, with everyone yelling things, running all over the boat to tighten this rope and pull out the spinnaker - but fun to be out on the water and admire the sights.
• 9pm - Get home. Take funny photos of my windswept hair and Outfit of The Day.

Green and white striped tank top: J. Crew, Shorts: Target.

• 9:15pm - Make dinner - so late! I baked a quick Organics spinach cheese pizza with a salad with extra edamame on the side, and dark chocolate for dessert.
• 11pm - Fall asleep reading this book:

Light and fluffy - just what I need :)

How was your Wednesday?

Weekends... Yoga, running, redecorating, and watching the Fifa World Cup!

Heya bloggies!

Hope you're having an awesome weekend!

Yesterday I went to an amazing yoga class with my fave instructor. It's sad that I would be able to come to this studio and see her anymore when I go back to school, but at least I get six weeks off at Christmas so I'll be spending lots of time there :)

We worked a lot on bound angle pose and just opening the hamstrings and groin area in general.

(Source)

What I love about my instructor is how enthusiastic and alive she is. She is just a very positive person and gladly welcomes fun into her life. She also pushes me (literally!) to do my best and take each pose as far as my body can handle. She will sit on me, push her back against mine to straighten me out, put a block between my knees to keep them from bowing in, and is comfortable using unique methods to correct my stance - but it just makes it all the more interesting!

This morning I went for my last long run before the Wharf to Wharf race next Sunday! My dad and I decided to go to a track near our house to run six miles, as it would be flat, easier on my ankle and hip which have been acting up lately, and good for measuring our distance.

It actually ended up being a sand track - and not at all as beautiful as this!

(Source)

Well, I've learned that I officially do not like tracks. They're so boring! Around and around and around... No variety... Bleck. And I was not feeling the six miles much at all. Maybe it's because it's that time of month, or because I was feeling tired, or the icky track, but I was lacking the energy and verve I usually carry with me during my runs. I ended up walking halfway around the track and running the other half, for each 1/4 mile. And I was totally okay with that. My goal today was to finish six miles, not to run super fast.

I ended up running six miles in 1 hour and 15 minutes. I know on race day I will be running more and walking much less, so I can definitely cut down on my time. In any case, this race signifies athletic competition at a healthy place, and having fun. A lot of my family will be running too, and the Wharf to Wharf is known for its 40 live bands and festive atmosphere. So if I finish in 1.5 hours or 1 hour, it's okay.

Whoo - tangent much? Anyway, I'm also working on redecorating my room this weekend - I've been painting some of my old furniture silver to match the new furniture I got from Pier 1, and it looks great! I'm super excited for it all to be done.

Jewelry armoire from Pier 1. I love it - it's so perfect for organizing!

I'm also going to OSH with my dad this afternoon (I know, what an exciting life I lead, right?) to buy some more handles for my furniture and copper tape to protect my veggie garden from the evil snails and slugs that have been devouring it. Hopefully I'll have time to bake some banana walnut bread or muffins this afternoon with all of my dying nanners. However, I have yet to come to a conclusion on this weighty matter.


Currently I'm watching the FIFA World Cup (Go USA!) and in general vegging out. I love watching professional athletes compete... Their bodies are so beautiful and muscular. Is that ED of me? I don't know - but I love how toned and strong they look. I would love my body to be pure muscle and able to do all the amazing things they can do. Hey, a girl can dream, right?


Questions:

Which do you prefer: banana walnut bread or muffins?

Favorite baked good?

What does your weekend look like?

Did you watch the World Cup?

What I ate Wednesday and shopping! :)

Ello ello!

How are you today? I've had a mighty fine day. This morning I went for a run/ walk with my dad up in the hills for 4.5 miles. It was amazing! I absolutely loved it. It was hot, but I felt so strong and exalted throughout. I've realize that I can go as long as I want, I just need to take walking breaks. By the end of the run I was pretty beat though.

When I got home, it was 10:20, and I had 40 minutes to get ready to catch the train for my therapist and nutrition meeting! Cue major rushing around.

I showered, dressed, prepped my lunch, and was outta there. I had a good sesh with my Therapist and nutritionist, but more on that tomorrow. I came back on the train, and my mom and I did a little shopping in a used bookstore (<- love those!) and I got two books:

"The Complete Book of Running for Women" but Claire Kowalchick 

and "Married to the Job" by Ilene Philipson.

I'm so excited to read the running book! I browsed through it in the book store and it looked awesome. Lot's of good tips :)

Married to the Job is a little deeper. It was written by a psychologist who believes that Americans are such workaholics not because they want to earn money for their families, buy nice cars, or send their kids to college. They work till midnight then wake up at 6am because work is their life. Their jobs are responsible for their sense of accomplishment, they live for their bosses' recognition, and life outside work is... vacuous.

This is something I have dealt with as a self-admitted workaholic. I actually talked to my therapist about this today. Many people (my mom, dad, therapists) have been encouraging me to take three classes next semester rather than four, so that I could take care of myself. I've been very hesitant to take that course of action as I want to take full advantage of my college education and take as many courses as possible. AKA, don't take it 'easy.' My therapist told me: Recovery, a happy life, is so worthwhile. So much more valuable than not taking a class or two. Well it's still a thought in process.

And check out these amazing prices!

Gotta love second hand stuff.

Speaking of shopping - these are the tops I got yesterday:

I love the detailing on these tops. 

I mean, just look at the thought that went into them:

Love this detailing in particular. The lace, the stitching, cross hatching? Gorgeous

 

Anywho.

In true food blogger fashion, I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and do What I ... Wednesday.




Worked:
Run/walking - 4.5 miles
Gentle Yoga for 1 hour with a former yoga instructor/nutritionist at my treatment place. She's super nice and upbeat. She offers a body-image yoga class, which I try to attend regularly.

Ate:



Pre-run snack:

Peanut Butter Puffins with almond milk. 

Plus another handful afterward.

After reading on Emma's blog that she ate a meal without fats before exercise because it made it easier to digest, I decided to do it. It worked beautifully. No GI problems whatsoever. I was so pleased! :)

Mid-morning breakfast/snack eaten on the train:

Lunch in the park (eaten down in less than 30 minutes to go to my 12:30 appointment):

Salad: spinach, 1/2 apple, broccoli, edamame, 

vidalia onion salad dressing (<- best dressing EVER!!)

With two pieces of TJ's Pound Plus dark chocolate after.

And my view:

Afternoon Snack:

Soy hot chocolate. 

Free with a coupon.

Second half of my afternoon snack after yoga:

Chocolate vitamuffin top. 

Preceded by some carrot sticks and a few slurps of my mom's mango smoothie.

Dinner: (unpictured) flax tempeh, sautéed carrots and ginger bits, mashed potatoes and parsnips, hummus. Dessert was one of Amanda's no-bake chocolate cheesecake bites. 

Evening snack:

Greek Yogurt, pumpkin butter, dried figs, peanut butter. Mmmmmm. So good.

Ok, now it's off to bed with me! Night night :)

Magical 4th of July Monday

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone (State-side) is having a wonderful day with their friends and family.
I tried to dress the part in my navy and white striped romper and red ribbon tied around my wrist.


Personally, my parents and I are having a quiet day with a barbecue at home. Obviously as a vegetarian, I won't be eating the ribs, BUT I will be having the BBQ-ed corn, and I'm thinking of grilling some tofu before they cook their meat.

Yes, I may have gone a little camera-happy.

Otherwise today has started out well - I went for a 2 mile run/walk with my dad, showered, and had breaky at a local restaurant that serves classic American breakfast food - aka: eggs, bacon, french toast, pancakes... They had all kinds of pancakes! Banana, blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, chocolate chip...

I went with two blueberry pancakes, even though the chocolate chip pancakes sounded tempting. They were delish! I was also planning on having a soy hot chocolate, but they didn't have non-dairy milk! They really need to get on the new-age/vegan bandwagon... Haha.

Afterward we stopped by Rite Aid to pick up my Vitamin D prescription, and... I couldn't resist, so we popped into Trader Joe's next door. After reading Nicky's blog and her love of Barbara's Puffins cereal, I've been wanting to get my hands on them. So imagine my glee when I found (and of course snatched) these beauties:

Peanut Butter and Cinnamon.

And of course, no trip to TJ's is complete without this baby:

I love TJ's Pound Plus dark chocolate.
It's seriously the tastiest, richest, and most cost-efficient dark chocolate out there.

Though I usually don't have a morning snack, I was really feeling one today around 11:30. Almost time for lunch! But I was a hangry beast so I decided to dig into this:

The Peanut Butter flavor. Mmm. It was gooooot.

-------

And now... today is goal-setting Monday!

This week's goals?

1) Train for the Wharf To Wharf race (July 24th! Eeek!)

• Monday: 2.5 mile walk/run (I only ran two miles, because I tried a new route and didn't know how far I'd gone. But I'm okay with that!)
• Tuesday: rest day
• Wednesday: 3 mile walk/run
• Thursday: Rest day
• Friday: 4 mile walk/run
• Sunday: 5 mile walk/run

I'm used to run/walking 2.5 miles. Does anyone out there with a little more experience think it's too much of a jump to go from 2.5 miles to 5 miles in the same week? I would love some feedback!

2) Wake up earlier!

...Which implies, of course, sleeping earlier. I want to start waking up round 6am or 7am, and sleeping round... 9 or 10? We'll see how that works out!

3) Read!

I feel like I always have this goal. Nevertheless, I want to read at least one novel, preferably two, by the end of the week


And that's all, folks!
Have a wonderful 4th of July!

Xanthan Gum = love

I discovered the most amazing food ever.



Seemingly unimportant, a complicated 'extra' in the ingredients list, this baby has SUPERNATURAL powers. I know I'm kind of late on the bandwagon - I'm sure everyone's already seen this on blogs such as Freya's - but when I tried it this morning, I fell in LOVE.

I went to the store yesterday with a family friend to pick up some chocolate chips to make Katie's drool-worthy chocolate chip cookie dough dip. Of course, I couldn't wait to use them in that before I broke into them for my evening snack yesterday of a banana topped with almond butter, decorated with chocolate chips, and melted into a gooey, yummy mess in the micro.



Anywho, back to mah gum. I chopped up a banana last night and popped the slices into the magic bullet. Into the freezer it went, so the next morning I would have frozen banana and no extra Tupperware to wash! WIN!

When I got up, I downed a nanner with some sunflower seed butter (divine!) and then went on a run with my pooch.



No, sadly that cutie is not me. However, this is.



Complete with laptop in hand, ready to catch up on blogs while eating my pre-run fuel.

This was my first run in about 3 weeks or so. I had been experiencing pain in my right ankle, and my doctor told me not to run for a while, and let it heal. Hah! I kept running on it, kept feeling the pain, and went back to see my doctor. She diagnosed me with tendinitis, and told me that each time I went running, I was re-injuring myself. Not the most pleasant of images. This visit coincided with my trip to New Jersey to see family, so I decided to leave my running shoes at home and lay off it for a while.

While I was on the East Coast, my aunt took me to this Acupuncture/ Acupressure place in New York City. Interesting experience. This was my first time getting either treatment, and I got acupressure on my upper back and neck for stress (felt great, and I think really helped), and acupuncture on my belly, the front of my legs, and the back of my right ankle where I had injured it. I couldn't tell you if it was the acupuncture or the rest, but I experienced no ankle pain on my run. Wonderful!

I decided to do the walk/run method since I was just coming back from three weeks without running, and it was good! I did about 2.2 miles without timing myself, and had a chance to think about my June goals (inspired by Emma!) which I'll talk about in just a minute.

When I got home, it was rush rush rush to shower and get ready since my friend was supposed to bring me to the pharmacy and the library (I don't have my Driver's License yet!), but in the end she couldn't so I got to have my wonderful breakfast sooner!

I pulled out my frozen nanner in the magic bullet, and added some almond milk, shook it around a bit, but the banana was frozen in place! So I decided to pop it in the fridge to thaw a bit whilst I prepared the other ingredients - bad idea! The almond milk froze to the banana. Ack! so I had to nuke it for about 20 seconds for it to melt a little.

Then I blended the nanner and milk together a while, added in three strawbs, a boatload o' spinach, and some more almond milk. Then it was time for the Xanthan Gum. I added a tsp, and it was like magic. My smoothie crazy thick. It was divine.

Here's what it looked like after I added this:



Source




Oops! Can't see it! Here's a close up of the beauty:



Mmm. So GOOD. And thick... and creamy.


Okay... now onto June Goals!

1) Improve my running performance before the Wharf to Wharf!!
I want to firstly improve my endurance, and if that means run/walk method, I'm totally cool with that. I'm at about 2 miles now, coming back from my injury, so I want to be able to do 4 miles by the end of the month.

2) Implement a new workout schedule
Over the course of the week:
-4 days: running
-1 day (or more): yoga
-1 day: cross train (e.g. weights, workout dvd, pilates, walking, hiking, biking...)
-1 day (at least): rest

3) Read!
I really want to take advantage of the summer to do a lot of reading, whether it be the classics (some Shakespeare and Austen) or more modern stuff like Jodi Picoult, Nicholas Sparks, whatever. It's all about balance.

4) Be regular about blogging!
Ah, this is a hard one. Blogging is sooo much work. Just this post has taking me over an hour to write and export and insert photos. That's not including the time to take photos, upload them to the computer, think about blog ideas... but this is definitely something I want to invest time into.

5) Finish my room
I've been redecorating my room - I painted the walls blue and turquoise stripes, bought some new furniture... but I really need to finish it. That means painting my closet, installing and buying some more furniture, neatening up...

Okay, that's pretty ambitious, and definitely enough for now!

Questions:

How do you use Xanthan Gum? When and how do you add it to your recipes?

Do you have any goals for June?