Show me that smile again...

Hi lovely ladies! I hope you’ve all had a relaxing weekend! I can’t believe it’s over already…at least we’re that much closer to spring break! (By the way, are there any bloggies near Santa Barbara, CA who would like to do a meet-up? I’ll be there for a few days during my spring break in March!)

Last night after posting I went over to Jillian’s apartment. We watched old episodes of Growing Pains (hence the title) with her roomies…anyone remember that show? I’d forgotten my hubs Leo was in it once upon a time. He was 16 and looks like a baby! We also made some pancakes, which I topped with PB…yummy! It was a nice, relaxed way to spend the evening. Even though it wasn’t too cold, I hate venturing out in dressy clothes when it’s chilly!

This morning’s breakfast was a bowl of Simply Fiber, Kashi GoLean and Arrowhead Mills spelt flakes with raspberries and almond milk in my new Progresso mug. I love this bowl already!

A little later, I went to the gym for some weights. As I start running longer distance, I’m trying to balance out the cardio with more strength- I want to give my knees plenty of rest between runs! I followed Gina’s Winter Shape Up plan again:

-10 minute walking warmup on the treadmill at 4 mph

-10 dumbbell frontal raises (7.5 lb weights)

-15 plie squats (10 lb weights)

-25 medicine ball twists on each side (14 lb ball)

-10 hammer curls on each arm (10 lb weights)

-15 good mornings (14 lb ball)

-25 bent knee leg raises

-50 bicycle crunches

-50 crunches on each side

-1 minute plank

            Repeated x3

I left the gym sweaty and tired...strength training takes it out of you, but in a completely different way from running! For one thing, it leaves me far hungrier. Enter: apple oats for lunch.

 

¼ c steel cut oats, 1 c almond milk, half a Fuji apple, Maranatha almond butter, Ezekiel Golden Flax cereal, cake spice and cinnamon. I remembered to add some chia seeds after the pic! Plus a side salad of arugula and a HUGE sliced cucumber with a drizzle of balsamic and EVOO, and the remainder of my apple

I just love oats for lunch after a workout. They’re so filling and feel rewarding! After lunch, I wasted time for awhile before finally heading out to do some errands. It was gorgeous today! It felt like spring was coming as I walked around the city. I made a quick trip to the health food store to restock my produce, and picked up this little guy for my afternoon snackie:

 

I’ve never tried goat’s cheese yogurt despite loving the cheese, and it didn’t disappoint, but in all honesty, it made me realize how little I miss dairy since cutting back my intake! I can’t claim to be a vegan, since I still eat animal products when I’m eating out, but I’ve made an effort to cut back my dairy consumption lately for a combination of reasons. Personal preference, treatment of farm animals and health-related arguments all play a role in this decision. I realize that it’s hypocritical of me to list animal treatment as a reason if I continue to consume animal products on occasion, but I think that every little bit counts! Furthermore, I’m not against animal products per se; rather, I think that they should be treated humanely in food production, which they sadly are often not. Therefore, while I’ll continue to eat purely pescatarian at restaurants or in others’ homes, I’m happy with my largely vegan diet at home.

Other afternoon snacks included this olade drink I bought on a whim at the health food store, and a banana with AB:

 

I’d never seen this lemonade before, but it was actually delicious! The perfect combination of lemon and strawberry, without being too sweet.

A few hours later I threw together a quick and easy din:

 

Arugula, tomato and two Dr. Praeger’s Texmex burgers on an Ezekiel tortilla with humnut sauce; salsa for dipping the tortilla remnants

Delicious. Not only do I love Dr. Praeger’s, but these days I could devour just about anything topped with humnut! For dessert, I had an unpictured apple with AB for dipping…I think y’all know the drill on that one J

I’m currently snacking on some organic raisins and will probably break into the cereal stash soon. I’ve got a lot of reading to do tonight, and snacks always help! Have a great night chicas!

What’s your favorite 90’s show or sitcom? Boy Meets World is definitely my #1, but Growing Pains is a close second!

What’s your favorite post-workout meal? As I said, I love oats!

PS- Giveaway alerts! Kristi and Amazing Grass, Averie and Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil, Julie and a Domino’s gift certificate, Kristen and Maranatha nut butters, Michal and her veganversary treats, and Gelareh’s Tempt Hemp!

Puppy love!

Happy Saturday, lovies! I hope you’ve all had a fun and relaxing weekend so far. This morning I woke up energized and ready to RUN! I decided to tackle my 8 miler today rather than tomorrow, so I made some breaky for fuel:

Simply Fiber, spelt flakes and Kashi GoLean with raspberries and almond milk

I let it digest for awhile before heading to the gym. I completed 8 miles in a hair under 1:14. A little slower than my usual pace, but it’s been a long time since I’ve run that far, so I’m happy! I did twenty minutes of stretching before coming home and fixing myself some lunch:

Amy’s Indian Samosa wrap, sweet tater cheetas, Granny Smith and almond butter (you better believe there was some ketchup action going on as well!)

Nom nom nom. This was an amazing post-run refuel! The Amy’s wrap was delicious, and perfectly complemented by the sweet potato. It was full of potatoes, peas and tofu. Yummy! I tried some AB on a few of the sweet potatoes and fell in love, too.

Afternoon snackage included a banana with almond butter and a mini cherry pie Larabar (forgot I had these!):

 

Dindin was easy but delicious:

 

Dr. Praeger’s California burger on grilled Ezekiel with hummus; mixed steamed veggies with nooch; gala apple

I love the veggie burger + hummus combo! The key is to kind of mash the burger up so it forms a layer across the bread, instead of just a patty. Yum!

Since creating my Formspring page a few days ago, I’ve gotten some good questions! I decided to post my answers to a few of them here, since I thought they pertained to the blog!

Favorite workout clothing brand?

I don't have one specific brand that I like, but I have certain products that I just buy in multiples for my workouts. I'm obsessed with Nike Tempo shorts, and I buy Champion sports bras at Target because they're cheap, super comfy and come in lots of colors! (I'm kind of lacking in the chest department, though, and I've heard they're not as good if you need more support). For shoes, I alternate between my Brooks GTS and Nike Bowermans (both stability), and on top I usually just wear old tshirts.

what makes you happy

I like this question! I have a few people in my life who make me happier than anything else...mostly my dad, a few of my best friends from high school who have known me for nearly ten years now, and my boyfriend. Other than that, I'm always happier during the summer- I love being outside when it's warm and the sun is shining! I also love to read, run and eat chocolate :)

If anyone else has more questions, I’d be happy to answer them here! Just keep it nice, please J I’ll probably do another post or two on it.

Do you have any pets? Are you a cat or dog person?

PS- Giveaways!! Kristen at Change of Pace and Katie at Healthy Diva Eats! 

That's amore

Bonsoir mes belles! I loved reading all your feedback for the last few posts. Thanks for all the music suggestions, movie input and memories!

I started today off with a bowl of Simply Fiber, Arrowhead Mills Spelt Flakes, Almond Breeze and a sliced banana, topped with cinnamon:

Today was a "rest" day for me, since I'm getting ready for an 8 mile run this weekend! I'm not sure which day it will end up being, but I wanted to make sure to take it easy on my body for awhile. I used my usual gym time to clean and organize my part of my room. With three girls living in just my room, and eight girls in our sweet, it gets messy and yucky fast! I also went to the resource desk to pick up two packages that had just arrived! I've been luck with the mail this week :)

Package #1, from Progresso soup, through a giveaway I won at the Hott, Healthy Housewife:

2 cans of soup, a HUGE mug and a jumprope!

I'm already in love with the huge mug, and though I don't eat meat, I'm going to pass the soups onto my parents, who love Progresso! Thanks, Therese!

Package #2, my secret bloggie Valentine gift from Jasmine at Sweet and Fit:

Green & Black chocolate, Larabars, a picture frame, dish towels, candles and a cute ornament!

Best package ever! The Laras and chocolate definitely make this amazing! And as nerdy as it sounds, I LOVE the dish towels...my apartment ones have been getting gross and I needed some new ones! Thanks so much, Jasmine!

Around 11, my friend Steve, who is visiting the city for job interviews, called and asked me if I'd like to get lunch around 1. I agreed, and had a salad snack to tide me over:

Arugula, tomato, and humnut sauce

For lunch, we went to a place called Burger Creations near Washington Square. I'm not usually one for burger joints, obviously, but this place was cute and fun looking and had a yummy sounding veggie burger on the menu, so I was game! I had a Mediterranean Veggie burger:

Chickpea patty on brioche bun with yogurt-cucumber dressing, with added avocado, pickles, tomatoes and roasted peppers

This burger was great! I don't usually order veggie burgers at restaurants, but this one was outstanding. It had a great tomato flavor and a hint of spice- yum! I also stole some of Steve's fries, of course. (Sorry for the bad pic, by the way...this was a stealth camera phone shot!)

After lunch, we hung out for awhile in the city and I did some errands before we decided to head up to the Bronx to hang out with Mike (they're best friends). On the way, I munched some trail mix:

And while we chatted in Mike's room, I also helped myself to some unpictured Trader Joe's peanut butter filled pretzels. SO GOOD! These babies are addictive :) 

A little while later, we headed to dinner at Dominick's, an amazing Italian restaurant on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. It was by far some of the best Italian food I've ever had! Everything was served family-style, and we went with a seafood theme for our food:

 

BOMBA$$ calamari rings; shrimp linguine in spicy marinara, broiled flounder in lemon butter sauce, garlic asparagus, delicious bread with olive oil for dipping

Everything was absolutely perfect! The restaurant was a pretty no-frills place, but the food was fantastic. I had a huge pile of calamari rings (we cleaned the plate between the three of us!), a large heap of pasta with plenty of shrimpies, a fillet of flounder, about 3/4 of the asparagus (boys aren't big veggie eaters, apparently) and two slices of bread, accompanied by two glasses of Chianti. Yum! I left with an Italian food baby and a very happy tummy!

Afterwards, we headed to Mike's friends' apartment to have some fun. I had two beers before declaring myself flagged for the night in case I take my long run tomorrow. Plus, I've been trying to listen to myself and have another drink only when I really want to. I want to enjoy college, but not feel pressured to get wasted just because everyone else is! I felt fine, and still had a lot of fun. These boys always have the best baked goods, and even though they had a huge bowl of Valentine's candy, I kept it under control for Lent. Plentiful tropical trail mix and Goldfish is definitely just as good though!

Thanks so much to Veg is Sexy for the Sunshine Blogger award! I'm supposed to pass it onto 10 other bloggers who give me sunshine, but I just spent 15 minutes trying to figure out who the ten would be and seriously couldn't narrow it down. I know it kind of defeats the purpose to pass it on to everyone, but I'm not being a total cheeseball when I say that you ALL bring sunshine into my life. If you haven't already been passed it, consider yourself tagged!

By the way, forgive me if I'm a little slow commenting this weekend- my Google reader is currently bursting, and I've learned that it has a funny habit of continuing to grow! I'll catch up before the weekend is over, I promise :) Have a great weekend loves!

What's your favorite kind of ethnic food?