Answers!

Evening and happy weekend!  Even though it was technically a short week, it feels like last Friday was ages ago.  Today was a pretty good day: busy–>productive–> relaxing.  Couldn’t really ask for more!

This morning was take number two of 7 miles on the treadmill.  And… I did it!  I was a little groggy when I woke up at 5:30, but I got myself up and dressed.  On the way out the door, I grabbed a chocolate Clif Shot Rock (sent from the company) to get me through my workout.

It was pretty good! Initially it had a little of that “protein-y” taste, but after a couple chews it started to taste more like a brownie bite or a Milk Dud.  I like that they’re not sticky; they’d be great for stuffing into the tiny pocket of my shorts for a quick energy boost during a long run.  Click here for more info.

The run itself went much better than I’d thought, and I owe that all to my choice of entertainment!  The Upwelling has been listening to Graphic Audio on the road (basically a graphic novel with sound effects), and Ari gave me chapter 1 (about 70 minutes) of Batman.  Although I read comic books and graphic novels, I expected to find this version of it kind of hokey.  I actually got really into it! My heart rate monitor wasn’t working the whole time, but my splits looked like this:

Mile 1 (warm-up): 5.8 mph@ 1% incline

Miles 2-6: 1600@6.9 mph, 800@ 6.2 mph (repeated) @ 1% incline

Mile 6-6.5: 5.8 mph@ 1% incline

Mile 6.5-7.0: 5.2-3.5 mp @ 1% incline

Total time: about 65 minutes

I made sure to get a good stretch in, and even now I don’t feel sore at all and my knees haven’t given me any trouble.  Big success!

When I got back I was pretty thirsty, so I combined a mixture of Clif Shot Electrolyte & Ester-C.

As I’ve mentioned before, I have suffered from pretty low energy for the past 6 years or so, and one of the ways that helps me manage it is to take iron supplements.  Ester-C helps absorb the iron.  It does come in a capsule form, but I bought the powder by mistake… and it tastes awful.  I usually  mix it with orange or POM juice, which are both sweet enough to mask the taste.  (I have about 1/3 of a serving every morning).  Unfortunately I must not have used enough Shot powder this morning, because it still tasted awful.  Better luck next time!

After I showered and got ready for work, I climbed back in bed with a big bowl of oatmeal and relaxed for a few minutes.

In the mix:

• 1/2 cup oats cooked in 1/2 cup water
• 1 banana
• pumpkin
• 1 dried peach half
• 1 dried prune
• 1 scoop Maranatha creamy almond butter
• cinnamon
• stevia

It held me over pretty well for a while, but I started to really feel the effects of those 7 miles at work!  I had an apple and a mini Chocolate Chip Clif bar.

For lunch, I had a big salad with leftover buffalo salmon, tomatoes, and goddess dressing.  It was actually too big for me to finish!  (A rare sentence from LVP.)  I did eat the vanilla yogurt, but I waited until I got back to my desk.

And last but not least… an orange.  The people who work next to me must think I do nothing but snack, but no one’s said anything yet!

I was really looking forward to laying low tonight, which is just what I did.

I watched The Hurt Locker and Milk while eating dinner and sipping wine… I found a fabulous batch of pasta in the fridge that my parents had made earlier this week:  pesto with potatoes, green beens, and sundried tomatoes.

Aren’t their new dishes pretty?

I added grated Manchego and a can of Trader Joe’s crab meat.  Definitely didn’t need to take my Omega-3 supplement today! (I usually take two capsules, or one if I know I’ll be eating fish or seafood.)

For dessert, I had Vanilla Swiss Almond ice cream with hot fudge and coconut.  There was a second container in the freezer, so I went back for a little more, too!

Before I get into bed, I thought I would answer some of your Ask Me Anything (or “As,” as I miss-typed) questions!  I’m going to keep the form open indefinitely and will answer questions as time permits. So feel free to ask away!

have you always been slender? i’m just wondering because i used to tip the scale at 150lbs but lost 40lbs and have been maintaining for 9 years (i’m 23 now).

Luckily I was graced with a pretty fast metabolism while I was growing up, and got away with eating whatever I wanted without really doing much exercise.  It’s slowed down significantly in the past few years, so to maintain my weight and keep eating the foods I like, I do have to put some effort into it.

hi! I’ve been reading your blog a long time:) I am a huge fan of your foodie and blog I have random question..I am living in NY too. and I don’t know where to get haircut??? (i know its totally random…sorryyy) but I always thought your hair looks so good! could you give me suggestion? that salon that you are going??

Not a silly question at all!  I went to Hoshi Coupe for years; it’s a Japanese salon that’s relatively inexpensive, and you can get a pretty stylish cut for a good price.  My favorite stylist moved back to Tokyo a few years ago so I was floundering around for a while, then got a life-changing cut in May at 526, a salon that houses Bumble and Bumble.  I get it cut there every time I go back to Minnesota!  A friend recommended Bumble and Bumble in New York, and since I was so pleased with the experience in St. Paul that I tried it out here and loved it.  It’s affordable, the stylist listened to what I wanted… and you get free lattes while you get groomed!   If you’re interested, send me an e-mail and I’ll give you more details.

do you estimate/count calories in your head at all? do you know about how many you eat everyday?

No, I really don’t.  There was about a month in high school when I joined SELF magazine’s online diet club (in a moment of adolescent insecurity) and tried to track my daily intake, but it was too time consuming and I didn’t feel like making the effort for something that was just causing me more anxiety.  I’ve gotten to the point where I understand what my body needs, and although sometimes I have a hard time differentiating between boredom noshing and genuine hunger, I don’t worry about it too much.  I do know that it takes a lot of food to keep me full, which is why I like to eat some foods according to their volume (big salads) and staying power (oatmeal).

favorite show?

This is a tough one! I rarely have time to watch things in real-time, so I often stream shows online or order them from Netflix.  My favorite shows growing up were My So-Called Life and 7th Heaven; now I love Californication, Dexter, Gossip Girl, Grey’s Anatomy, Glee, Heroes, Friday Night Lights, Big Love, Mad Men… the list goes on, but I’m not caught up with any of them!

do you know how many oz are in a cup of yogurt?

It depends on the container, but 6 oz is pretty standard.

More to come! In the mean time, Averie is giving away coconut peanut butter! Does that sound good or does that sound good?

Do you count calories? Have you ever? Why or why not?