Eat your breakfast

Breakfast, the most important meal of the day! But what if it looks like this? Yeah, I think it looks delicious too.

Recently, I was sitting with two other women when we were all asked what each of us had for breakfast. Of the three of us, I was the thinnest in the group. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bragging. However, our answers to the question of what we had for breakfast was a telling indicator of what our body shapes were. First you have to know why breakfast is the most important meal of the day...Not only does eating breakfast make us happy (rather, eating helps improve our mood), it also jump starts our metabolism for the day and 'breaks the fast' so we don't hold onto and store our calories needlessly!

OK, so me first. My answer was: non-fat Greek yogurt, 1 cup of strawberries, and a chocolate chip cookie (with a giggle inserted for effect, of course)

The second woman, had a bagel with peanut butter. The third (and largest) had skipped breakfast that day. Ok, not scientific, but still telling. Moral of the story? Don't skip breakfast. Don't have a taco waffle either. Set a healthy tone for your day and eat a healthy breakfast.

 8/16/13

peaches and yogurt

buffalo chicken pizza

 8/17/13

mozzarella sticks

 yummy salad

 filet and veggies

mmm, chocolate sundae!

 8/18/13

power egg bowl with steak and avocado from Panera

 5 bean casserole, corn, and cauliflower

tilapia, broccoli, and avocado/tomato salad

 8/19/13

Greek yogurt, raspberries, and chocolate chip cookie

 pasta fagioli, corn, mixed veggies, and strawberries

pepperoni pizza and salad

 8/20/13

I love it when they put my name on the cup!

Greek yogurt and strawberries 

 chicken lemon orzo soup, strawberry poppyseed salad and bread

steak strips, salad, and raspberries

 8/21/13

hot cereal, mango, and chocolate chip cookie

 savory chicken, corn, and mixed veggies

picnic spread for concert watching in the park

 8/22/13

Greek yogurt, strawberries, and chocolate chip cookie

CHEESEBOY!!!

chipotle chicken

 8/23/13

hot cereal and chocolate chip cookie

 celery

 pasta fagioli, corn, and peas

 chocolate cake with chocolate frosting

Mmm, burger with bacon, cheese, onion rings, BBQ sauce and fries

Well, I never said to eat what I eat, just to eat breakfast.

Quack! Quack!

I'm still totally high from running 6+ miles...and my PT person was excited for me!! Turns out, she was nervous about telling me that I could run at all. Boy, did we both get lucky! And, she was the first person to notice just how bruised I am. She even found the bruises that I got from rolling over rocks. I didn't even know they were there. My shin is one big bruise where I fell on a rock and my thighs are covered with little bruises from rolling in the mud pit.

I've given my feet a rest for a couple of days now and went out with friends instead of to the gym. I couldn't really wear shoes the day after the run anyway. It wasn't pretty, still isn't. BUT, tomorrow it's back to the gym. Tonight, however, was a celebration. A friend took me out to dinner at Hammersley's Bistro in the South End. We sat on the patio and enjoyed the food, the weather, the conversation, and the company. I had the duck...you'll see...and I have a Duck Clause. When duck is an option, I eat it.

 8/15/13

peaches and hot cereal

 savory chicken, corn, and mixed veggies

 Mmm, avocado, grape tomatoes, bacon, feta, red bibb lettuce, and goddess dressing

 DUCK!! Quack quack!

with green olives, grapefruit and feta

vanilla cake with honey and berries and sweet corn ice cream (surprisingly delicious)

Hope is reborn

I had a wonderful personal victory last night!! I went to the gym with the intent of running 10 minutes on the treadmill and 60 on the elliptical...like a good little PT-abiding girl. Instead, I ran the full 70 minutes on the treadmill!! 6.33 miles. The victory? No hip pain!! I ran *almost* a quarter marathon!! I ran 6 miles for the first time in YEARS!! I ran 6 miles with minimal mental pain!! It was a good, solid, slow 6 miles.

Yeah, I said minimal mental pain. You see, I don't really like running. Funny that, isn't it? I don't like it, but my body and the PT people tell me I can't and it's the only thing I want to do. Come to think of it, I have a little history doing whatever is forbidden to me. It is, after all, how I became a cheerleader so many moons ago. Stubborn? Willful? Sure is.

So, the victory part? If I can run 6 miles now, there's actually a chance that I can get up to 13.1 miles by October!! I still don't know if I'll make it, but hope is reborn.

 8/11/13

Mmmm, french fries from Thornton's!

Even better? Firehouse salad!!

 8/12/13

hot cereal and peaches

 Miso soup and a little salad

 Spicy tuna

 veggie tempura

stir fry veggies and shrimp over brown jasmine rice with peanut curry sauce

 8/13/13

fruit and coconut yogurt 

 pasta fagioli, mixed veggies, cauliflower, and mango

leftovers...still delish but not looking so tempting

 8/14/13

peaches and hot cereal

 cheese ravioli, corn, mixed veggies, and mango

chicken, corn, and green beans with garlic

The Pit of Despair

I've thought of many topics to write on over the past week or so. And I can't think of all them now...there's much and nothing going on these days. Most of my time these past several weeks is filled with work; busy days and long hours. Some days, I'm at the end of my wits. My efforts over the years seem to be paying off though! A few days ago, my promotion was announced. It can only get interesting from here!

Although work has dominated my life for the past several weeks, it is not the only thing...I've been working through my hip injury, going to PT once a week. Volunteering at Shakespeare saved me from further injury since it kept me out of the gym! I was given clearance to slowly work up to 1 hour on the elliptical, and now I'm OK to run 10 minutes on the treadmill!! I assume this means that I can slowly work up to more time? Having not run in months, 10 minutes was hard enough! I'll get there though!

Today, against advice and better judgement, I participated in a Spartan Sprint. 3.5 miles of trail running and obstacles. I couldn't finish most of the obstacles. Shit, I couldn't even run most of the trails! Instead, I did what I could and tried to prevent further injury. Today was about finishing, about completing at least one goal that I set for myself. That much I did. There were many times I wanted to give up. Many times I wanted to walk away. One of the final obstacles was a shallow mud pit, full of rocks and gravel, with barbed wire strung above it. I'm calling it the Pit of Despair. We had to crawl and roll through the mud under the barbed wire...not fun. After 50 yards or so of that, there was a wall topped with more barbed wire. In order to go under the wall, you had to go under water. I ended up with a mouthful of dirt and grit. I have NO idea how that happened. I certainly did not open my mouth and invite it in! For the final obstacle, I leaped over a pit of fire!

When I returned home, I wrung the mud out of my clothes and fell asleep on the couch.

 7/31/13

banana and yogurt

 pizza and salad

 edamame

 pork gyoza

 Shabu fixins!

beef for shabu

 8/1/13

fruit, yogurt, and CAFFEINE!!!

 veggies and cheese ravioli

 snack

savory chicken, corn and cauliflower

 8/2/13

fruit and peach muffin

pizza

pasta fagioli, corn, and mixed veggies

 8/3/13

eggs with cheese, potatoes, bacon, English muffin, and fruit

 scallion pancakes

 Peking duck...not mine, but this is important - it's going to be breakfast and it was Oh! So delicious!

 General Gao's Chicken - I don't know who General Gao was, but I ♥ his chicken!

steamed veggies

 8/4/13

lobster dinner with salad and salt potatoes!

Boston cream pie cake and ice cream

 8/5/13

cheese ravioli, veggies and berries

spicy tuna sushi and chocolate cake

 8/6/13

I finally found plain Greek yogurt that I can enjoy!

savory chicken, veggies, and berries


I probably had ice cream for dinner.

8/7/13

Greek yogurt, berries, and chocolate muffin

salad, chicken, stuffed grape leaves, roll, and dessert

 8/8/13

cereal and peaches

 mushroom risotto, veggies, and berries

veggie stew, salt potatoes, and corn

 8/9/13

Greek yogurt and berries

 pasta fagioli, veggies, and peaches

frozen pizza

 8/10/13

Post-Spartan Race vittles...brownie sundae

 Korean steak tacos with garlic jasmine rice

salad with honey mustard


for breakfast, I had berries and yogurt (Shocker!), and leftover pizza for dinner