Food - August 12

Definitely not the best day eating wise.  I've noticed that when I start my day with caffeine, it sets me on a really bad cycle.  I'm much better if I get my Red Bull sometime between 10 and 2.  (Much later than 2 and it keeps me up at night.)  My caffeine jonesing aside, I really need to hit the grocery store.  I'm out of fruit and veggies, other than the two really scary kiwis rolling around in my crisper.  I didn't have any of my healthy and filling snacks in the house either, so I had to grab one of Jason's puddings because I was starving.  Yes, it's made from real ingredients (milk, sugar, chocolate and hazelnuts) but it's still junk food.  I'd much rather have some carrots with hummus or some nuts and fruit.  Go figure.  For lunch, I didn't have anything to pair with my soup and Kaelin ate about half of it.  Way too small to be a meal!  I was ravenous by 2.  By the time Jason made it home at 5, I could have eaten a horse (had the horse been made of soy.)  I had him stop by the drug store and pick me up some chocolate.  A thousand calories of chocolate.  Yikes!  My bad planning set me up for a bad dinner too -- fast food pizza.  I ate way too much and went to bed way too full.  Granted, my calories were reasonable (I need about 2500 to maintain weight) but it really wasn't a good way to spend 2300 calories. 

Breakfast (190)

Sugar-free Red Bull x 2 (20)

Kashi Go Lean Cereal, 1 cup (140)

Almond Milk, 1/2 cup (30)

Snack (110)

Hazelnut Chocolate Pudding (110)

Lunch (~200)

Black Bean Vegetable Soup, 1 1/2 cups (~200)

Snack (1030)

Russell Stover Assorted Chocolates, 4 pieces (280)

Lindt White Chocolate, 3.5 oz (750)

Dinner (720)

Little Caeser's Cheese Pizza, 3 slices (720)

Total ~ 2250

Food - August 11

You've probably noticed I haven't done in a "real" blog post in over a month.  Honestly, I haven't had much to blog about (plus, I was on vacation for two weeks of that without high speed internet).  I'm still running, but you can see that through my mydailymile widget.  I want to start P90X again (at least a couple of the discs), but Harper's crawling and required constant supervision.  By the time Jason gets home at night, I'm too tired.  Thank goodness he's off for the next 4 days then switches to swings (working 1:00 PM to 1:00 AM) so I'll be able to get some exercise in during the mornings.

Anyways, since I don't have much else to talk about and because I'm doing a 6 week challenge with the girls at Blog to Lose, I'm going to start photojournaling my food.  Usually, I'm all or nothing when it comes to tracking.  I'll either measure everything to the gram and have meticulous spreedsheets detailing calories, fat, calcium, etc. or I throw in the towel if I don't know the exact nutritional content of something.  I figure using photos might help me stay on track since I don't NEED exact details.  I can see it in the picture.  Please feel free to leave me some feedback or yell at me when I have a less than stellar day!

Breakfast (235)

1 c. Kashi Go Lean cereal (140)

1/2 c. Almond Milk (30)

Clementine (35)

1 c. Red Raspberry Leaf tea with 2 tsp sugar (30)

Morning Snack (140)

Greek Yogurt with Strawberry (130)

Sugar-free Red Bull (10)

Lunch (360)

Grilled Spinach and Brie on Whole Wheat with Onions (300)

Peach (60)

Afternoon Snack (270)

Cottage Cheese with Strawberry (140)

2 tbsp Sunflower Kernels (130)

Dinner (~500)

Cheese Tortillini with Homemade Cannellini Bean Sauce (~500)

Bedtime Snack (230)

Mounds (230)

Yes, I eat way too much at my desk.  I also justify eating a Mounds because coconut is a fruit and it has 3 grams of fiber.  Really, a Mounds bar is MUCH MUCH better than most other candy bars and it's dark chocolate too.  Dark chocolate is a health food!  And no HFCS!  Woo!  (See how I did that?)  I was a little light on the veggies yesterday with around 2 servings (spinach at lunch and peppers in the sauce at dinner.) 

Total of around 1735 calories, give or take.

Crispy Eggplant with Spicy Marinara and Feta

Ingredients
1 eggplant, about 1 lb, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp dry basil
2 cups marinara
1 cup feta cheese

Directions
1.  Mix milk and eggs in a small bowl.  Mix wheat germ, parmesan cheese, basil, and pepper in a second bowl.
2.  Dip eggplant slices in egg mixture, then coat both sides in the wheat germ mixture. 
3.  Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Eggplant should be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
4.  Add red pepper to the marinara and warm over low medium heat.
5.  Top eggplant with marinara and feta cheese.

Makes 4 servings.

Mine actually looks like the picture in the book!

Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Vegetarian Cooking for Today (1993).

A Little Too Much Weekend Fun

I stepped on the scale this morning for my weekly weigh-in -- up 3 lbs.

Uh-oh.

"Whatever," I thought to myself.  There's no possible way that I gained 3 lbs over the week.  Sure, I did enjoy a few too many slices of flag cake and I had a couple of beers with dinner.  After the BBQ last night, I'm probably just retaining water. 

Then, I checked my food journal.  Oops.  My last entry was July 1st at lunch.  Why hadn't I been writing down what I was eating?  I started to rack my brain trying to remember my meals.  Let's see... there was the McDonalds on the way to the commissary.  And the huge hot fudge brownie ice cream sundae on Friday.  Saturday, Jason and I worked our way through a pint of Americone Dream while watching movies.  Oh, I forgot about the candy bar I had on the way home from the commissary.  And there were the several granola bars I had while researching an article for work. 

Maybe that 3 lbs isn't just water weight.

I still don't think I ate 10,000 extra calories over the last few days, but since I wasn't journaling, I'm really not sure.  I'm going to officially weigh-in tomorrow to give myself a chance to recover from last night's dinner.  I'll still probably be up, but it's nothing I can't deal with.  I'm going to be a little more vigilant and make sure that I'm recording what I eat.  I'm going to drink my water.  I'm going to follow my new running schedule.  I'm not going to think about how ecstatic I was last week when I was a mere 2 lbs from my pre-baby weight.

One bad weekend isn't going to derail my months of work.

P90X and Insanity... Now That's Insane!

I'm done with my first week of Insanity! 

I have to say that I'm impressed.  Insanity is definitely the best cardio workout I've had.  Of course, it's only cardio.  I was very disappointed with Cardio Power & Recovery.  It's supposed to be resistance training with your body weight, but other than push-ups and some tricep dips there really isn't anything that builds strength.  I threw in some P90X the other night just to get some upper body work in.

I was going to follow the Insanity program to the letter for the full 9 weeks just so I could see the results, but now that I've done all of the Month 1 workouts, I'm 100% sure that I'll lose strength.  I think I'm going to mix it up a little and add P90X and BBL into the schedule.  Of course, there are several hybrid programs out there, but I'm going to custom design one for myself, to fit my needs and my running schedule.  I'll post it when I get it done (or figure out how to add a calendar.)  I also have a group of friends starting their first round of P90X soon -- can't wait to see their results!

In other news... less than 2 weeks until my vacation!  I'm very happy to go back to Virginia if for no other reason than the awesome running trails.  My parents live less than a mile away from a Civil War battleground that's been revamped with running trails.  Some of them are dirt and through the forest.  Others are gravel across fields.  There's even two MASSIVE hills.  Hopefully, I'll get plenty of running time (you know, when I'm not submerged in their pool.)

Sadly, Hershey Park is on the schedule.  I'm not an amusement park sort of gal and I really don't want to gain back what little I've lost because of some stupid chocolate.  Don't forget the chocolate bar waiting for us that's bigger than Harper!

Okay, almost as big as Harper.

I Need New Tunes

I have a superfantastic running playlist.  It's been so superfantastic that I haven't updated my iPod in about a year and a half.  The thing is, my music interests and my running music interests don't really overlap.  I'm about a 75% rock/grunge/metal sort of gal while my running playlist is mostly pop and rap -- things that have a strong beat.  Since I don't listen to pop or rap on any sort of regular basis, I don't know what new and awesome songs have come out that should be on my playlist.

Jen's Running Mix
Let's Go -- Trick Daddy
Lose Yourself -- Eminem
Pump It -- Black Eyed Peas
Tainted Love -- Soft Cell
Nookie -- Limp Bizkit
Rollin' (Urban Assualt Vehicle) -- Limp Bizkit
Gimme More -- Britney Spears
One Step Closer -- Linkin Park
Somewhere I Belong -- Linkin Park
Bleed It Out -- Linkin Park
Click Click Boom -- Saliva
Ready to Go -- Republica
Stronger -- Kanye West
Jesus Walks -- Kanye West
Pain -- Jimmy Eat World
Over My Head -- Sum 41
Hip Hip Hooray -- Naughty by Nature
Awake -- Godsmack
I Stand Alone -- Godsmack
Sweet Home Alabama -- Lynard Skynard
4 Minutes -- Madonna (ft. Justin Timberlake)
SexyBack -- Justin Timberlake
Magic Carpet Ride -- The Crystal Method
Party Up -- DMX
Temperature -- Sean Paul
Beverly Hills -- Weezer
California Love -- Tupac (ft. Dr. Dre)
Fighter -- Christina Aguilera

So I need your help.  Give my music, um, interests... what should I add?  (I realize I'm severely lacking in Gaga, but like I said, I haven't updated in a year.)  I like motivating songs.  I like songs that make me want to dance.  I like songs that will take me from mile 20 to mile 26. 

Suggestions?

Goodbye, Charlotte

I'm sad.  I had originally planned to do a blog post about all the neat new fitness gear I want for Christmas, but I got some disturbing news and would like to share it.

I sat down at my computer this morning with my mocha cappucino and started my day with my 100% favorite blog -- The Great Fitness Experiment.  I only discovered this blog about a year ago.  At the time, I was pregnant and Charlotte was pregnant.  I loved how she continued to be the fitness badass she has always been, especially when it's so common for moms-to-be to plop there legs up and have another bon bon.  I read her entire blog that day like it was coated in crack.  I've mentioned it before on KUrunner, but for those of you who didn't take my advice and immediately rush over, you've missed out.

Charlotte is amazing (and she has awesome hair).  Of course, she doesn't think so, but what does she know?  Maybe it's because she grades the writing portion of the SATs, but her writing style is just wonderful.  She's written comic pieces about having too much soy before an exercise class and she's written tearjerkers about her struggles with addiction and abuse.  She's brutally honest and no topic is off-limits.  (Women, if there's anything you wanted to know about your period and exercise, she'll have the answer.)  Plus, she finds the most hilarious pictures. 

Anyways, I'm in mourning.  I've looked to Charlotte for inspiration this past year and she's never disappointed me.  I completely understand her reasoning for stopping her blog, but it still sucks.  Thankfully, someone is paying her to write The Great Fitness Experiment book, and I'm sure that I'll be the first in line to buy it.  She'll be keeping the webpage up, so if you haven't read GFE yet, I'd recommend going over and starting with post #1 (scroll to the bottom).

And I'll leave you with Charlotte teaching how to do a pull-up (and other naughty things with a training dummy.)