This morning I got up at 5 and dragged my spandex-clad self over to the gym with my reading.  I propped my work on the cross-ramp and sweat it out for 30 minutes, never mind the dark sky outside.  The work had to be done, so why not wake my body up while doing it?  I did a few ab exercises, then went home to work some more, get ready for the day and have breakfast.

This bowl of oatmeal was almost a little too belly-busting… I finished it, hoping it would hold me over for a longer period throughout the morning, but I didn’t feel so great afterward.

In the mix:

• 1/2 cup oats cooked in 1/2 cup water
• 1 banana
• pumpkin
• 1 tsp ground flax
• 1 HUGE scoop almond butter
• stevia
• cinnamon

It did hold me over for about 3.5 hours, after which I snacked on an apple (but left the orange).

For lunch, I had leftover chickpeas…

… and a HoneyNana Chobani Champion from Ada.  Read my review here!

Lunch held me over really well… must have been all of the fiber in those garbanzos! Beans are champions when it comes to  staying-power and fullness. Around 4, I snacked on some baby carrots.

After work, I ran some errands then headed home to make dinner: Quinoa Risotto with Mushrooms and Thyme. I doubled the mushrooms for a certain mushroom-loving guy…

We had it with a little broccoli.  To be honest, this wasn’t my favorite recipe… it just didn’t have a whole lot of flavor.  Thank goodness for parmesan and salt!  Maybe it’ll taste better in a few days, once it’s hd time to stew a little in the fridge.

We had small glasses of chilled Réserve de Villecours Cabernet Sauvignon that my friend Howard gave us.

For dessert, I had a bowl of Mint Galactica Coconut Bliss Ice Cream with cardamom chocolate sauce and hazelnut butter.  Then I went back for more.  And I did not feel bad about it.

Sometimes, without realizing I’m doing it, I put a lot of pressure on myself to juggle many things at once and just deal with it.  I don’t always acknowledge how stressed out I’m feeling, and before I know it: BOOM! It goes to the bad place.  Sometimes I just need to remind myself that I don’t have to do everything, and I shouldn’t waste my energy feeling guilty when I give myself a break.  So tonight, in honor of Operation Ten P.M., I will not feel guilty.

I will not feel guilty about returning a Netflix movie unopened.

I will not feel guilty about leaving work at work and giving myself time to sleep.

I will not feel guilty about being moody from time to time.

I will not feel guilty that I’m not returning every owed phone call all in one night.

I will not feel guilty about ignoring my Blackberry and e-mails.

I will not feel guilty about leaving my closet in a bit of disorder until tomorrow night.  (Okay, maybe just a little…)

I will not feel guilty about that extra ice cream.

What won’t you feel guilty about today?

Yesterday I woke up and stumbled to the kitchen to make breakfast, only to discover that I’d completely decimated my supply of rolled oats! Good gracious, what’s a girl to do?  Make a big batch of steel-cut oatmeal instead!

I used four cups of water, 1 cup of steel cut oats, 1 sliced banana and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. While the oats cooked, I drank some coffee and mailed my Netflix to distract my grumbling tum.  When the oats were ready, I portioned out a serving for myself and put the remaining three servings in the fridge.  Three breakfasts I won’t have to worry about later!

In college, usually on a Sunday, I’d make big batches of things like oatmeal and rice to enjoy later in the week. Sure, it takes a little longer than microwaving your breakfast one morning, but saves time in the long run and tastes a lot better.

For my bowl, I diced up a not-quite-ripe pear and microwaved it for 90 seconds.  This softened the pear right up, and released some of its natural fruit syrups.  Sometimes fruit is enough of a sweetener on its own, but yesterday I needed a bit more.  I added a little brown sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts to make my breakfast a little more interesting.

The rest of the morning was spent applying for jobs.  Unfortunately the entire city seems desperate for an “assistant” position, but I must press on! I think I need a really tall, straight-back chair.  It’s so easy to just hunch over the desk, and sometimes I catch myself and notice my posture and I am literally almost lying on the table. Terrible! Erin helped me with this about six months ago, but I really need to be better about it.

Finally I broke for lunch to bring the feeling back to my legs and back.  I’d read Diana’s (then) most recent post, which looked fabulous, and decided to give Gena’s Maple Cinnamon Vinaigrette a try.

I quartered the recipe to make just enough for my lunch.  I didn’t have any maple syrup, so I substituted raw agave nectar instead.  I added a little fresh lemon juice as well.

Each recipe of Gena‘s that I’ve tried has been mighty fine, and this was no different.  It was really good, and turned what would have been an ordinary salad into something unique and special.  The salad itself was almost worthy of Raw Wednesday… while tempeh was traditionally prepared raw, I’m not sure that’s still the case in all commercially prepared varieties.

In the mix:

• collard greens (local)
• red chard (local)
• 1/3 block TJ’s 3 Grain Tempeh
• 1/2 avocado
• 1 kiwi— a reader asked if I eat the skin of kiwis.  I do! I didn’t used to, but tried on a whim this summer.  The skin is thin, and really doesn’t change the taste of the fruit.  However, when possible I buy organic kiwis. I try to go organic whenever I’m going to eat the outside of a fruit or vegetable.  Obviously, this isn’t always possible for financial reasons.
• 2 carrots
• Agave Cinnamon Dressing

I decided to make my carrots a little less “rebellious”, and peeled them with the asparagus (or spargel) peeler I received free in Berlin at the Spargelfest.  Spargelfest!

This salad was perfect.  Good ingredients and quality dressing really do make all the difference.

I had a glass of red with lunch.

Juuuuust kidding… although I wouldn’t be opposed! No, this was POM‘s new Pomegranate Kiwi juice, that the company sent me a few weeks ago to try out.

This was a lot sweeter than the straight pomegranate variety.  It tastes a bit like fruit cocktail, but I really liked it! This is also 100% juice, which I like.  Don’t you hate when you buy “juice” only to get home and see that there’s actually very little fruit in there at all?

After finishing up my job search for the day, I laced up my sneaks and headed to the gym.  These are the new shoes I got… they’re the same model as my old pair (Asics Gel Kayanos), but I asked for pink instead of read this time. I’m not really a “pink” girl, but I don’t even remember the last time I wore pink sneakers!  Probably my pair of butterfly light-up L.A. Gears. Remember those?

I biked for 30 minutes at the gym while reading my book.  The stationary bike is not the most exciting thing, but I just need to get myself through 30 minutes.  I didn’t like the treadmill, either! There’s nothing wrong with making the most of things, from time to time.

After showering, I headed over to Curly’s Vegetarian to meet Lauryn for an early dinner.   I can’t believe I’d never been here before! It’s right near where I used to work, and has so many options.  Lauryn and I sat and stared at the menu for a good long while before finally deciding on what we wanted… everything looked delicious, from their Mexican fare to their “Public School Lunch” (mac & cheese with panko).  We both ordered the Dragon Bowl Q, a special salad with mixed greens, quinoa, fake chicken, black beans, mango, tomatoes, avocado, jalepeño, corn chips, vegan parmesan… with each dive of our forks, we discovered a new ingredient.  I asked for the carrot ginger and mango poppy dressings on the side, but it was such a loaded salad that I really didn’t need any extra.

It was massive.  I didn’t really eat the corn chips because I got so full!   While we ate, we made art.  Lauryn’s clearly the more talented one (on the left)… see how coy her chick looks?

All of their drinks and desserts sounded amazing (Mexican hot chocolate, peanut butter bomb), but we decided to save our money and have a treat at home.  We did, however, go to Trader Joe’s to get some essentials.  I left the store having spent the lowest amount I’ve ever spent there ($19.79!), and won’t be needing any yogurt or pumpkin anytime soon!  I need to go shopping with this girl all the time.

When I got home, I caught up on Gossip Girl while munching on a slice of banana-pumpkin-date tea loaf with almond butter and dark chocolate.

Well, back to the grind.  I’ve got to send a few more applications out, then clean up a little because Ari is coming home tonight!

See ya later, alligators.

Yesterday, in honor of said Midwesterner, I had a PB2/VitaTop parfait, using a Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip VitaMuffin.

I made chocolate honey peanut butter mousse with TJ’s Organic Nonfat Honey Greek yogurt,  then fancied it up with layers of peach and crumbled muffin.

By the time I’d finished catching up on my morning things- what is your routine like in the morning between when you wake up, breakfast and lunch? -  I didn’t have enough time to go to the gym as originally planned.  I’d wanted to run on the treadmill so I could build some mileage, but decided to try it outside instead.  You may recall a certain killer run I went on with Ari’s brother (a four-time marathoner) a couple weeks ago… well, that was the run I set out on.  I laced up my shoes, bought some new headphones at the dollar store (my Clean & Clear ones were long dead), pressed play, and took off.

Since I was planning on a longer run than I’ve been doing,  I kept my pace slow, concentrating on breathing easily, listening to the music, and watching the scenery.  I made the trip to the park- which, in itself, is almost the 2-mile distance I’m used to running in our neighborhood- ran the length of the park, and ran home.  I didn’t rush, but I got a rush (hehe ) because of how pleasant the run was.  Before I knew it, I was back home.  The funny thing is that for this distance- about 4 miles- the length of Ari’s CD is perfect! I started running during “American Girls”, and stretched during “New Streets”.  I have to remember to keep my playlists fresh; having music really makes such a difference to me in terms of the length and quality of my workout.  Luckily, I have these ladies to keep me on my toes!  I really want to start running longer distances.  The 5K is on September 13, and we’ll see where it goes from there.  It’s really important for me not to get too cocky about training, however, because I don’t want to end up with another injury. I’m going to try to keep going to yoga in between long runs, and make sure to cross-train and strength train throughout the week.  But, I have to say, I’m excited! I never thought I really had it in me to be a runner.

Total distance: 4(ish) miles

Total time: 44:40 minutes

Maximum heart rate: 192 (96%)

Average heart rate: 178 (89%)

Calories burned: 540

The distance is only an approximation… I really need a Garmin.

After a quick shower, I downed some carrot juice, my new recovery drink of choice.  For those of you who asked: I do not make this myself.  I wish I had a juicer, but I do not wish I was cleaning it every day!  I got a 32-oz jug of Organic Carrot Juice at Trader Joe’s for $3.99 (non-Organic is $2.99).

Then I hustled into the city to meet my long-lost love and blogger, Miss Sarah, at the Candle Cafe.

There were so many things that I wanted to try, so I gently forced the waitress to choose for me.  At restaurants, I usually try to stray from having things I can (and would) make at home, but going against my rule, I ended up ordering one of the daily specials, soba salad.

It was very good! The dressing reminded me a lot of Woodstock Dressing, which I haven’t had in a while.

Sarah ordered the Aztec salad: bi-colored quinoa, black beans, red onion and corn topped with spicy pumpkin seeds and barbeque grilled tempeh. Served over mixed field greens with a toasted cumin vinaigrette.

I think she won that round… but it’s okay! I’ll just have to go back   I will also have to go finish this girl in Russia… she’s leaving for Moscow in five days! What a life.

We needed to end things on a sweet note, so we split the chocolate mousse pie.  Pure, chocolatey heaven at 2 PM.  Again, what a life

After Sarah and I figured out how to get her to the airport, we parted ways and I went home to run some errands (stencil-shopping at Home Depot!) with Ari.  On the way back, we stopped at Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spiced Latte.  Jenna really talked this up this year!

The last time I remembered ordering one was when I was college visiting, at Wellesley. I’d been out late at a Beastie Boys concert the night before, and thought the caffeine/pumpkin mix was just so very collegiate.  Yeah, big dork, I know.

I spent part of the evening doing work, then broke to make dinner.

I used the George Foreman (which I should really be utilizing more, it’s fabulous) to grill us up two swordfish steaks.  I tossed each steak in a quick salmoriglio sauce that I whipped up; there are many variations of this, but the basic mixture is equal parts lemon juice (I used lime) and olive oil.  Then add herbs of your choosing (oregano), salt and pepper. It goes on just about anything, and can help quell that strong “fishy” flavor that’s prevalent in a lot of seafood.

On the side, I braised some spinach and dried mushrooms (Ari’s choice) in vegetable stock, reduced the broth down, and drizzled the mixture with a little sesame oil.

We also split a sweet potato with butter and agave.

I got the swordfish steaks in the frozen section of Trader Joe’s; they were perfectly portioned out! One baby steak and one man steak I added more salmoriglio sauce to the fish once it was plated, and drizzled a little on the spinach and mushrooms as well.  I wish I’d made more, because it’s such a versatile sauce.  Thanks for teaching me, Mom and Dad!

I had some vino and a nectarine for dessert, and we settled back for a mini staycation with For Your Consideration (genius!) and In Treatment.  It was a lovely night.

Well, off to pack my lunch, get my yoga on and go to work.

Before I go: if you’d like to sponsor me in the race 5K Race For the Cure, you can do so here. I appreciate the support!

Also, the lovely Lauryn, formerly of Making Moves, has started a new blog, Mastering Manhattan, about her tradition to NYC living. Woohoo! That’s right, she’ll now be a New Yorker, so expect some awesome collaborations

Have a great day!

Sweet lordy, I don’t know how I’ve gone without doing this for so long! I zapped it for about 20 seconds and it was super gooey. It tasted JUST like a fresh, oven-baked cookie… it might be even better than my beloved Hot’n Healthy bar! No wonder I slept for so long.

When I woke up, I was feeling a little nostalgic for New York so I made an eggy scramble with one whole egg and some liquid egg whites (sorry to say, but Egg Beaters don’t taste anything like my diner’s), a Roma tomato, scallion and parsley.

I also had a TJ’s mini whole wheat bagel with low fat cream cheese. Yes, these are good, but I’m a total bagel snob and these are nothing like the real thing.

Coffee didn’t end up happening this morning, so I enjoyed a nice warm pot with my lunch.

I had a small bowl of grapes for dessert. I always forget how much I like grapes… I didn’t used to at all!

Between my last “real” class (19th Century American Poetry… blegh) and Step my tummy was rumbling, so I had my emergency bar: a sample size of a Cascadian Farms chocolate chip granola bar.

I wasn’t really a fan of this. It was very sweet, and tasted very coconut-y although I didn’t see “coconut” in the ingredient list. It was also covered in a kind of gelatinous paste. Yuck.

The big news is coming soon, but first, I LOVE STEP AEROBICS! Class today was so much fun. During the hour, we did some basic moves (I have yet to get the hang of it, but I have faith), stretches, and toning work. I wore my HRM but had it on a weird setting so I only got the time and my averages.

45:40 minutes

Maximum heart rate: 195 (98%)

Average heart rate: 148 (74%)

This would have been a great workout in and of itself, but since we were already all sweaty and had our blood pumping, Sarah and I decided to go to the gym for some more quick cardio. Since I’d felt just fine during step, and it’s a high-impact sport, I decided it was as good a time as any to try running again. My three months off are just about up (technically Thursday), so I hopped on the treadmill and did a slow and easy mile. And… no pain! (Excepting a little lung ache, but that’s normal.) I am so excited!!! I’m going to be very conservative with it, and only run a few times a week at first. I don’t know if I’m going to do more than a mile at a time for now; I’ll see how my leg feels. I was very, very nervous that not only would it hurt, but I wouldn’t LIKE it. I’ve never been a “real runner,” and deciding to run the marathon last year was kind of a whim. I’m just going to accept things as they come… I don’t need to win races, I just want my body to feel healthy.

19:00 minutes (including stretching, walking, cooldown, stretching again)

1.3 miles (including cooldown)

150-170? calories burned (I still haven’t figured out how to save that information)

Maximum heart rate: 191 (96%)

Average heart rate: 161 (81%)

I ate my first meal in the cafeteria today so I could sit with my friends. The picken’s were slim, but it was alright. On top we have blackbean, corn and quinoa “stew” (there was no liquid in there…) topped with coconut and chili sauce; salad with spinach, carrots, beets, artichokes, cabbage, banana peppers and sunflower seeds; I dressed it with an oil/vinegar/mustard vinaigrette.

With a cup of milk and a grapefruit (which I didn’t end up eating until an hour later):

And I was still hungry, so I had a veggie burger with ketchup and mustard.

I just took a study break and a Deep Chocolate Vitamuffin and a square of the FOR MEN chocolate, because one chocolatey treat is clearly not enough.

I’m going to try to be in bed by 12 so I can stay on my good schedule. Sleep well, bunnikens!

Edited to add: I FINALLY typed up the mushroom lasagne recipe; it’s under Savory Treats.