Wednesday, May 30, 2012

It's All Greek To Me

This morning I tried to wake up early, but when the alarm went off I felt like I had been hit by a truck.  So I slept a bit more, and felt a little better when I finally got up.  Breakfast was another smoothie (banana, coconut milk, and spinach) and 2 pieces of bacon.  I lined a cookie sheet with tin foil, put a cookie rack on top of it, and cooked the bacon in the oven for about 15 minutes (next time, I will cook it for less time - the bacon ended up pretty crispy).  Much easier to clean the bacon fat drippings this way!

My lunch ended up being a slap-together of leftovers:  reheated bacon (eh), a cob of corn (why won't it heat evenly in the microwave?) and spaghetti with Ragu sauce.

After work I headed over to Valley Forge Park for some hills.  The circular loop around the inside of the park is almost exactly 5 miles, and tons of hills.  It is still so hot!  I think it's mostly the sun at this point - it was much cooler earlier when the sun was behind the clouds.  I tried to make my own "sports drink":  2c water with 2TBSP honey and a pinch of salt.  It was all right, I guess.  I'm wondering if it's just going to make my water bottle sticky and difficult to clean out.

The real highlight of the day was dinner.  St. Sophia's Greek Orthodox Church has a semi-annual Greek Festival, which my family always goes to for the awesome food.  (Go there!  It's on Trooper Road in Audubon, and the festival goes until Sunday June 3.  You can even tour the new church sanctuary they built with the funds they've raised from previous Greek Festivals, and it's gorgeous.)  I always get the same dinner - Psari (fish with crabmeat) with rice.  It comes with a salad and a roll.  I tried something new this year - a Greek soda that tastes like Ouzo.  I don't usually like licorice flavoring, but this was surprisingly refreshing!  It was sweet but not too sweet, and the licorice flavor was definitely present but didn't overpower or bother me like that flavor usually does.
surprisingly refreshing!
Dessert was a butter cookie with powdered sugar (plus I got a honey custard wrap to eat tomorrow).  And, of course, since this was a fair, there were Fried Oreos involved  :)   (But I only ate one!  No, really!)

I really did only have one!
Soon, it's off to the gym for a swim:  WU 200, 4x200, CD 100



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

I Love Bacon


Woke up this morning……after having woken up about 20 times during the night.  I think I psyched myself out because I knew I was going to start getting up earlier to work out.
After a quick strength workout and a shower, I toasted a slice of bread.  In the fall, I bought a loaf of bread from Wegman’s called “marathon bread” (I was training for a marathon at the time).  It had whole grains and pumpkin seeds and dried fruits and stuff in it, so I froze it in slices to use whenever.  I spread some strawberry jelly (from Bar Harbor, Maine – the Jordan Pond recipe!) on the toasted bread (I prefer whole grain bread crispy, so the crispiness of the nuts and whole grains doesn’t bother me so much).  I also blended a smoothie – a frozen banana, coconut milk, 1/2tsp of cocoa powder, and a handful of spinach.  You can’t even taste the spinach, and you get a serving of vegetables!  
I had made some whole wheat spaghetti last night to reheat for lunch at work.  The only spaghetti sauce I really like is Ragu Traditional.  There is a recipe from Runners World for spaghetti sauce that I’d like to try sometime.  I also had some leftover beets, and a slice of watermelon (don’t you hate when seedless watermelon still has some seeds in it??).  One of the teachers brought in donut holes, and I couldn’t resist a sweet snack.
On the way to a voice lesson in the afternoon, I was starving, so I ate a Red Delicious apple.  By the time I was able to get home for dinner, starving had grown to ravenous.  I reheated an ear of corn on the cob, sauteed some mushrooms, and…guiltily….had a few bits of shredded cheese, right from the package!  But the main part of dinner was BACON brushed with a mixture of honey, soy sauce, and Chinese five-spice powder.  I made it in the oven on a rack so some of the fat and sauce would drip off. It tasted like candy!
BACON!!!!
A late-evening swim was in order:  WU 200, 10×50, 4×25 (all with 10 seconds rest), CD 100
My stomach is usually touchy after a swim, so I made sure to eat 2 graham crackers and some skim milk once I got home.  
Not bad for a day where we almost had a tornado, and my power went out while I was cooking dinner!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Happy Memorial Day!


I probably shouldn't have started a healthy eating blog on a holiday (one that tends to be known for picnicking). Oh well!
I started the day (the hot, hot day!) with a track workout up at the high school:
800m warmup
3x1200 with 200 recovery (1st lap of the 1200 at 5K pace, 2nd and 3rd lap at 10K pace....then the 2nd set had the 5K pace on the middle lap....then the 3rd set had the 5K pace on the last lap).  The first 2 sets I was able to do the 5K pace under 9:00 and the 10K pace around 10:00, but by the last set I was done!  I think my 5K pace was around 9:15 for that one.
After a quick shower, I ate a Pink Lady apple. I was saving some calories for lunch - my sister Cyndi and I went to Spice Kitchen, a fantastic local Indian restaurant that has a buffet for lunch.  I had a few triangles of naan (warm and doughy with some crispy spots), and a lot of rice with goat curry sauce and tikka masala sauce spooned on top.  It's odd - I don't really like rice, but the rice at this Indian buffet is amazing!  (I think it's basmati rice)  I could eat it all day.  The best part of lunch, though, was the masala chai.  I LOVE chai tea.  (yes, I know "chai" means "tea", so "chai tea" is technically redundant)  And this is the best chai tea I've ever tasted.  It's definitely spicy, but still has some sweetness.
I spent the afternoon reading and cleaning (in air conditioning!), then headed over to the parents' house for dinner.  We grilled some pineapple (straight on the charcoal grill), burgers (I ate mine with ketchup and mustard on only half a roll), corn on the cob, and roasted beets with a bit of goat cheese.  We toasted US veterans (my dad served in the Army Reserves) with Yuengling (proud of myself - I only had 1/3 of a bottle!).  Dessert was s'mores and a tiny piece of homemade chocolate-strawberry pie.
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mmmm carcinogens!
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So yeah, not the best day on the healthy eating front.  But there was a lot of healthy food in my meals today.  I'm choosing to concentrate on the positive!
What did you do for Memorial Day?

Sunday, May 27, 2012

First Post!

Hello world!

So I'll be honest.  This blog is supposed to keep me accountable for my health and fitness.  If I have to post that I ate 3 doughnuts for breakfast and didn't work out, that should motivate me to choose the healthy path, right?

What you'll find on my blog:  Hopefully healthy meals and workouts.  And pictures.  And possibly other goings-on in my life.  Maybe you'll even find a little motivation (then, if you'd be so kind, send it back my way - I can always use more!).

Enjoy!