FitFeat

where daily feats & eats can be adventures in themselves

Posts Tagged running

Meat Mallet Muscles

Mar 6

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 11 Comments

Happy Saturday fit friends!  I started a post Thursday night to put out here on Friday and then when Friday actually arrived the day took off like Seabiscuit and flew by so fast that I never had a chance to get back out here.

Have you been picking a few of the 10 Commandments of FitFeat to try on for size?  (not the religious ones.. see Thursday’s post!)

Commandment #2 is an easy one for me… this girl loves her greens and this smoothie was PERFECT.  Red grapes, 1/2 banana, 2 clementines, spinach, cucumber, celery, sprouts, hemp protein powder and flaxseed oil.  I could feel this silly cold dissipating as I sipped on my smoothie!

A BEET salad for lunch:

A raw and natural afternoon snack – a banana-phone!  :)

We made an old favorite for dinner this week that we “spiffed up” a bit, CINDY style.  Whole wheat and sweet potato gnocchi, that was lightly pan fried in coconut oil before serving to give it a slight crunch.  Oh Cindy, MSP and I BOTH loved this…!  The pan frying made an AMAZING difference!  Thanks for the great idea!  We also added some of our homegrown basil to the saute pan.  I served mine over sauteed mushrooms and spiralized zucchini topped with Muir Glen organic marinara and nutritional yeast.  It was delicious!

Since I’m getting back to my basics in the food area, I figured why not do the same with some of my training.  So yesterday’s workout was a more traditional weight-lifting session, as opposed to doing something like Tabata or Physique 57.   All I can say is OUCH.  But this is the “good ouch” — I really love to feel a little muscle soreness after a good strength workout.

Friday Chest, Back, Shoulder Workout

  • Upper Body warmup with arm circles, light stretching, moving light weights around
  • DB Bench Press 2 warm-up sets + 4 working sets of 12
  • DB Incline Chest Flyes 1 warm-up set + 4 working sets of 12
  • Wide-Grip Lat Pulldowns 1 warm-up set + 4 working sets of 12
  • One-Arm DB Rows 4 working sets of 12
  • Seated Overhead DB Press 1 warm-up set + 4 working sets of 12
  • Side Lateral Raises 4 working sets of 12

Today, my chest muscles feel like someone took a meat mallet to them – I’m talking Tender with a capital T.  :)   The change back to my usual style of training felt good.  I wonder how long it will take me to get bored and switch it up again!

Then this morning I did a 10-mile jog, which I’ll be recapping in the next Marathon Monday post.  No hints as to how it went!  :)

Anyone have big plans for the weekend? I’d LOVE to go see the new Alice in Wonderland, in 3-D!  However, the sun is shining and it’s around 60 degrees, so I don’t want to waste any of it holed away in a movie theater so I’ll either save it for a late show or wait for the next rainy day.

I hope you are having a FIT and HAPPY weekend!

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , ,

The 10 Commandments of FitFeat

Mar 4

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 7 Comments

Hi Fit Peeps!  It’s Friday-EVE!

The sun is shining and supposedly it’s going to hit 60 degrees today.  I can’t even describe how happy that makes me!  Spring is just around the corner! You all know I run on solar power, right?  ;)

I took the day off from working out yesterday.  I want to get past this mini-bug as quickly as possible, so I’m saving my body’s energy for immunity rather than for recovering from exercise.  I’ll have to take a trip to Whole Foods today and pick up some Kombucha tea and maybe some of the other cool supplement ideas you all suggested for me this week!  (Thank you for all the great ideas!)

As I mentioned in the last post, since I started training for the marathon a little over 6 weeks ago, my appetite has been a bear and I’ve also allowed more sugary items to creep back in.  Part of that is thanks to the season of Cadbury Caramel Cream Eggs which I love, love, love!  Part of it is the increased expenditure of energy from the long runs, yes, but not nearly as much as you may think.  (The rest of my week has LESS exercise in it than it used to because I spend a day or two ‘recovering’ from the long runs and then minimize leg work as I gear up for the next run.)  So my weekly calorie expenditure isn’t that much more than it was when I wasn’t training for this event.

I’ve been working at such a high heart rate in every run that I’ve been burning mostly sugar as fuel and not much fat.  This leads to a cycle of craving carbs, burning carbs, craving carbs, etc.   When our bodies feel wiped, we crave foods that will give us instant bursts of energy.  And unless you are planning to be running sprints in the next couple of hours, you know right where that sugar’s gonna go:  to your trouble spots!

I eat for weight maintenance.  Over the course of a lot of trials and many errors, I found what works best for me to feel healthy and satisfied, with the added bonus of fitting into my skinny jeans! :)   Enter an endurance sport, and my ‘natural rhythm’ gets thrown a bit off balance.

From a speed perspective I have a target weight in mind that I would like to race at on May 16.  For every 5% of weight you lose, you gain about 5% in speed.  If I want to increase my speed by 30 seconds per mile, I’ll need to get a bit lower than what my ’summer maintenance weight’ is.

Here’s what I’m NOT going to do:  be obsessive or restrictive about it.  If I make it, great.  If not, I’ll just be 14 minutes slower over the 26 miles.

Here’s what I AM going to do:  get back to the basics of what I know works for me, both from a nutrition standpoint and an exercise standpoint.

With that said I thought I’d share the basics I follow (and coach my clients on) for losing (or maintaining weight) and healthy living in general:

10 Commandments of FitFeat

1.) Eat when hungry, stop when full. Never walk away from a meal feeling stuffed.

2.) Eat a green smoothie every day.

3.) If hungry between meals, choose natural (and preferrably raw) snacks.

4.) Eat a HUGE salad every day, chock full of veggies and fun things like dulse, nutritional yeast and healthy fats.

5.) Chew every bite until it’s practically liquefied – good digestion starts in the mouth!

6.) Eliminate (or greatly reduce) foods that cause nutritional stress (primarily refined flours, refined sugars, trans-fatty acids, artificial chemical additives).

7.) Plan, plan and plan some more.  If you don’t have the right foods within your reach, it’s much to easy to grab the WRONG ones.

8.) Save and Savor: SAVE the once-in-a-blue-moon foods for special occasions (like birthday cake and wedding cake) and when you do treat yourself to these indulgences, SAVOR it. And maybe have some fun with it.  ;)   For the not-so-special occasions where you need a treat, pick those that have some nutritional value like red wine and dairy-free dark chocolate.

9.) Choose exercise that energizes you and that you enjoy doing.  Let each workout leave you wanting to come back again the next time.

10.) Love yourself and your body.  Appreciate what it does for you and treat it with respect.  When you put that thought first, the choices you make will come naturally.

***

Today’s discussion:  how many of these 10 commandments do you already ‘obey’?  If there are some you don’t, which will you implement first?

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Give That Cold the Boom Boom Pow

Mar 2

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 12 Comments

Hi blog buds!

Thank you all for the wonderful comments to yesterday’s Marathon Monday post.  I loved reading all of your encouraging words!  I hope you know how much more enjoyable (not to mention accountable) this marathon process is, knowing that you are all cheering me on.

I already know what I’ll be doing differently on my next run.  Something that I’ve been figuring to be the issue, but that I have neglected to implement.  (Partly due to pride, I think.)  I’m treating myself as I would a client so I’m going to take my own advice.  So stay tuned for the next Marathon Monday and I’ll share my “tweaks” and let you know how it goes!

I rested the ol’ knees on Sunday by not doing any exercise.  Then on Monday when I woke up my knees were feeling bueno!  So I’m thankful that they are recovering quickly, that’s a good sign!  I treated them to some Iron Yoga in the morning before scooting off to work.

While the knees are back to normal, that weird sneezing fit seems to be a touch of a head cold.  So I’m giving it the BOOM-BOOM-POW of green smoothies, Emergen-C drinks and green tea.  Hopefully I’ll get this thing nipped in the bud!  I feel fine, but my nose deciding to keep on running well past that 14 mile mark!  ;)

Anyone else this messy while making green smoothies?

I have covered the entire island!

***

I was fortunate to start this morning with a delightful run at my favorite hilly trail with one of my clients.  Look at the moon as I pulled into the parking lot!

It was just getting light out and the moon was SO bright!  I love pretty runs like this!  While my little friend OSCAR told me it was 28 outside, we did freeze our hineys off a bit because it was WINDY!  (I’ve been going to this trail for about 9 years now – you’d think I’d learn that it’s ALWAYS windy there and dress accordingly!)  :D

I wore my VFFs for the 3.7 miles we did.  Ohhh boy do you feel every little rock on a gravel trail in them, especially when your feet are frozen!  But I loved it! They thawed out after about 15 minutes, once the blood started pumping and then it was like skipping along like a kid!  These things are a hoot!

I so wish that my calves were ready to wear these ‘unshoes’ for longer distances because the impact on my knees is almost nil.  I’m getting there!  I’ve added another mile to my longest run in them… progressing slowly but safely.

Today’s discussion:  what’s your “tried and true” remedy when you have a cold? As I mentioned, I like to try to knock it out with high nutrient foods, like what I add to my green smoothies.  This is the first I’ve had in almost a year – I didn’t even catch one when I flew to Michigan in the fall (and I was that person who would catch something every time I stepped on a plane.)  I have attributed this good immunity to all the fruits and veggies I’ve been eating since last April.  But recently I’ve let some refined carbs and sugars creep back into my diet so I know that’s partly to blame.  Time to get back to basics!  :)

Enjoy the rest of your day!

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , , , , ,

15 Weeks Till 26.2

Feb 1

Posted by Shari B. in Marathon Training | 12 Comments

Hey friends!  Hope you had a WONDERFUL weekend!

First thank you to everyone who has already voted for Dyson to help her win $10,000 for Freedom Service Dogs.  I really appreciate the support.  If you missed that post over the weekend, it’s not too late to check it out and cast your vote!

Weekend 2 of marathon training is behind me (maybe a new FitFeature:  Marathon Mondays?)  I was a little nervous about this one because the speed of progression from my 5.48 mi run 2 weeks ago, to 7.6 last weekend to 9.14 this past Saturday had me a little worried that my knees were really going to make me pay.  But I took a lot of care post-run and the day afterward ended up being completely pain free.  Here’s how the day went down:

We were meeting at 7:00 AM and I had a 30 minute drive.  I ate my pre-run food at 5:30 (you know me and my 90 minute rule!)  It was a morning in need of some EXTRA BOLD coffee:

And this time I only did ONE piece of Ezekial toast (last time I did two and it felt to ‘heavy’ in my system even 90 minutes later).  A light schmear of almond butter, a drizzle of raw honey and some coconut flakes:

At 6:30 I was out the door.  Check out the MOON!  (Horribly blurry I know, but my camera does NOT take dark pictures well at all…)

When we started the run at 7:00 it was 19 degrees and breezy.  I was sorry that I hadn’t brought along my scarf to wrap around my face.  And it turned out to be cold enough to freeze the water in the tube from my hydration pack completely SOLID – no water for the entire run!  I started feeling the lack of water around mile 7 -  a little sluggish and really thirsty from breathing the cold air.  That was the only downside.  The run itself was fantastic.  It was a clear morning, the company and conversations were great, and the time flew by, making it seem almost easier than the 7.6 the week before.

Taking Brendan Brazier’s advice, I did want to fuel during the run with coconut oil and dates.  But I didn’t take the time to make his Direct Fuel Bites recipe – instead I cut the pits out of two dates and where the pits had been I stuffed coconut oil.  They worked great during the run – I ate them at the halfway point when we turned around.  Easy to chew and digest.

Directly after the run I was meeting up with a friend at Starbucks so on the way, I drank a glutamine recovery drink and ate two dried PLUMS.

At Starbucks I had an unpictured grande decaf soy latte.

I was limping around pretty good by this point – both of my knees were getting incredibly tight and achy.  So when I did make it home I went straight to the floor for some stretching.  I spent about 20 minutes really focusing on calves, hamstrings, glutes, quads, piriformis and hip flexors.

I took two Ginger Root caps to fight off some inevitable inflammation (many many thanks to Joan for the ginger tip back when my hip was stiff!)  Then I ran a hot bath and steeped myself in some TEA:

All of these little tricks worked because I felt great the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday.  MSP even commented on how well I was moving around compared to last week’s run.

Bring on the TEN next week – I’m ready!

Speaking of long runs, Berni will be running her first half-marathon next weekend, so let’s all put some FAST FitFeat vibes out there for her!  And Carrie starts her training next week for her next half-marathon as well!  And reader Beth will be deciding whether to take the plunge into full marathons or not by week’s end.  She’s been a half-marathon pro recently, traveling around the country to race in a lot of fun events!  Sammi signed up for a half in September!  Cindy wants to run her first 5K this year (which I KNOW she’s already completed on the treadmill, so I think she means in a race format…)  :)

Lots of running goals goin’ on!  I LOVE THAT!! What’s yours?  Share your running or fitness goal here! We love giving out good luck vibes!

Have a MARVELOUS Monday friends!  Make it a great day and a FIT week!

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , ,

There’s a Fire Up in Here

Jan 29

Posted by Shari B. in Marathon Training | 10 Comments

Good morning and HAPPY FRIDAY friends!  Wahoo!  TGITW (Thank goodness it’s the weekend!)

Sorry to disappear on you yesterday.  Tues/Thurs are my BIZ-EEEE days and I had two additional pieces of fun in my Thursday that kept me away from the computer.

One was a visit from one of my all time best buds after she got off of work, where we polished off about 3/4 bottle of our favorite Riesling and jibber-jabbered non-stop for two and a half hours.  It was such a wonderful time.

The other exciting thing on Thursday was my little brother and his wife welcomed their second baby into the world!  Unfortunately I live 1300 miles from them, so I won’t be seeing Baby #2 anytime soon.  Thank goodness for webcams!  :)   I was really hoping the new baby would wait until next Wednesday so that we could share a birthday, but she must have been in a hurry to meet her big sister sooner!

Speaking of birthday, MSP wanted to share with me what my gift would be a little early because it would require some ‘trying on for size’ before he could order the actual gift.  That got me curious!

In addition to reading “Born to Run“ currently, Matt from No Meat Athlete has inspired me to want to give barefoot running a go.

MSP heard that and decided to gift me with some VIbram Five Fingers!  SO EXCITED!!!

Image from Vibram FiveFingers

In anticipation of the arrival of my new fitness ‘gadgets’ I decided to get a head start on Wednesday.  Barefoot running is something you must start SLOWLY because all that running around in my fancy Nike SHOX will have changed my gait and most likely weakened some of the supportive structure of my lower legs and feet.

I did intervals of a different sort on the treadmill this time:  shoes on, shoes off, socks on, socks off, shoes and socks back on, shoes off, etc.

I did 3 miles, about two of which were ’shoeless’.

OK, first:  holy calves of fire, Batman!  Not so much DURING as much as the days following.  I have some DOMS going on in my calves the way I figure I would if I did 1000 sets of heavy calf raises.  You should see me trying to walk DOWN a set of stairs.  Comical.

Second, it was so FUN!  You feel so much ‘lighter’ on your feet, almost springy because it truly forces you into a completely different gait.  Apparently I’m a heavy ‘heel-slapper’ in shoes and that just won’t work barefoot.  You need to be more onto the balls of your feet, while still letting your heels come down lightly.

Afterward, I did about 15 minutes of deep yoga stretching because I knew my legs were going to need it.

Then yesterday I did another 30 minutes of yoga, including a LOT of downward dogs to hit those calves a bit.

I won’t be using my new “unshoes” during the marathon, because I don’t think there’s enough time to safely transition to that distance.  But I definitely plan to use them as much as my calves will allow during my shorter training runs.  Maybe the marathon after this one… ;)

And I have to give props to our good friend Bo, because he had FiveFingers YEARS ago before they were trendy.  And I think I remember teasing him about his crazy looking shoes. :)   Bo, I’m eating my words now and you can tease me all you want to get me back!  ;)

Today’s question:  Any barefoot running ‘aficionados’ out there? Read “Born to Run”?

Friends, have a FANTASTIC Friday!  I’ll be back tomorrow sometime after my 9 MILE training run.  I really hope my calves stop crying before I head out or it will be a L-O-N-G 9 miles…

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

In with the Good, Out with the Bad

Jan 27

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 8 Comments

Good morning blog buds!

As seems to be the case lately, Tuesdays are complete madness and as such, no exercise was to be had.  So this morning I’m hoping to do some cardio AND some yoga because I’m feeling the need for both.  A little calorie burnin’ plus some Gumby-inducing moves.  :)

***

I tried a new-to me raw (mostly) bar that I wanted to share with you.  (As you can tell it was eaten at work, due to the horrible iPhone shot…)

Coconut Acai flavor ingredients: Organic Almond Butter, Organic Agave Nectar, Organic Date Paste, Organic Dried Coconut, Organic Almonds, Organic Raisins, Organic Puffed Amaranth, Organic Acai Dry Powder, Sea Salt

This was sensational!  I loved it.  I will definitely be trying other flavors of PranaBar.  You all know I LOVE my Larabars so don’t think they’ve been knocked out of my daily food plan.  From a price point perspective Larabars can’t be beat, because I buy them when they are on sale for $1 at my local grocery store.  The Prana bars are more in the $2 range, so it will be an occasional treat.  But if you are in the mood for something different, give PranaBar a try.

***

I pulled up a saved link today to an MSN slide show that I wanted to share with you about food additives to avoid. Some of the items on this list are common sense (like avoiding refined white sugar and excess salt) but learning that potential carcinogens BHA/BHT could be in your breakfast cereal (or your kids’ cereal) may not be so common.  Click this link to view:  12 Food Additives to Avoid

Today’s Discussion Question: Do you have any particular additives or foods that you specifically avoid in addition to this list? Please share with us in the comments section. In addition to the additives and artificial sweeteners listed in the article, I try to avoid ALL artificial sweeteners, and made the move to Stevia instead of Splenda for my coffee back in April.  I also ended my love affair with diet soda (and ALL sodas now for that matter).

Make it a WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY friends!

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , , ,

16 Weeks Till 26.2

Jan 24

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 4 Comments

Hi friends!

Yes, it’s Sunday and I’m blogging!  :) I’ll use a weekday for ‘blog maintenance day’ sometime this week instead.  I think my list of maintenance/admin items is getting so long that I’m avoiding it somewhat.  Still want to design a custom banner, a logo, a BETTER tagline, a new profile picture, add a few more ‘pages’ and I really want to buy the Headway theme so I can drag and drop things to move them around on the blog.  Ah well.  When I get to it, I get to it!

***

Last night for dinner I broke out my HUMONGOUS salad bowl again.  I used to eat out of this every day for lunch over the summer when I was home during ‘business hours’.  I miss my monster salads!  It takes a long time to chew through an 11″ diameter salad so I don’t eat them as often at the moment.

This one had half a box of spinach, some leftover tofu, spiralized carrots, kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes, nutritional yeast, dulse, pepitas and a drizzle of Goddess dressing.  Mmmmm.  Brendan would be proud.

And on the topic of veggies, I found something today that I have been looking for since summer and am SOOO excited to have found it:

Pre-cut organic kale! Now I can make kale chips even faster than before!  Wahooo!  So you know I immediately got busy baking all kinds of veggies.  Eggplant chips, kale chips and a batch of roasted red peppers, mushrooms and zucchini (for use maybe on a pita pizza later!)  My eggplant chips got a little more done than I meant them too, but they were still great and I ate them ALL!


Looks a little weird, but tastes great!  (Much like a green smoothie!)

***

So reader Beth has keen eyes, :) noticing immediately that yesterday’s post was categorized under “Marathon Training” and inquired as to whether I had decided to run another half-marathon.   Yes and no.  :)   A couple of my favorite people to hang out with (and run with) are aiming to run a full marathon in May.  So being the sucker I am for a new challenge here and there, I’ve decided to join them in the training and see where it takes me.

I’ve chosen not to register for the race until after I’ve surpassed about the 15 mile mark in our training.  I’ve done five half-marathons previously so I know I can tackle the 13.1 mile distance.  But I want to see how I feel physically after going beyond that.  If at any time it ceases being somewhat enjoyable  or determine that the rest of my exercise is suffering (or knees aching, etc.), then I’ll know now is not the time.  And since the registration fee isn’t cheap, I don’t want to spend that money and then have to drop out only to have wasted that money.

This will also give me an opportunity to put some of the Thrive Diet principles to good use.  My goal is to do this marathon injury-free and recover as quickly as possible from my long runs so that I can continue with my regular training during the work week.  I love my Physique 57 and Tabata training and yoga enough that I don’t want to miss out on those sessions.

So I’ll keep you posted on how it goes!  The countdown is on:  16 weeks till 26.2.  (eeek!)

– Shari B. =)

P.S. if any of you like to read Runner’s World magazine, I noticed on their website that they are offering their subscription for A DOLLAR an issue, which is 80% off the newsstand price (and a great deal), so thought I’d mention it.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Miss Sissy Soles

Jan 23

Posted by Shari B. in Marathon Training | 8 Comments

Happy Saturday everyone!

I hope that you are enjoying your day and that your Friday evening was nice.  I rushed out after publishing yesterday’s post because MSP and I had an impromptu ‘date’ at a local wine bar so that we could share a budget-friendly meal during their happy hour.  I like to eat off of appetizer menus because the portions are (usually) more in line with what a normal size should be and the prices are more reasonable.  Especially during happy hour!  I had a $5 glass of pinot grigio, shared some hummus with MSP and then a delicious Mushroom Gnocchi (from which I STILL had leftovers to bring home.)

Did you get some exercise in on Friday?  I had an efficient upper body workout:

Tabata Upper Body

  • Warmup on TM followed by arm circles
  • Straight-arm Planks (4 min)
  • Tricep Dips on floor (4 min)
  • Side Raises for Shoulders (SLOW, no momentum – 4 min)
  • DB Rows top half of movement only (4 min)
  • Biceps Curls with arms out to side (4 min)
  • Rotator Cuff movements (no weight) and stretching

I woke up yesterday morning worried that I had come down with a cold.  My nose was runny, my throat a bit scratchy and I felt the stirrings of a headache.  I made sure to take a double dose of probiotics and followed that with a BUBBLY (Raw Kombucha Tea).

And a super green smoothie.

I felt good as new in NO time flat – pretty much by 10:00 AM.   YAY!  No cold after all.  Or if I had the beginning of one, I gave it a good ol’ probiotic/nutrient power punch and nipped it in the bud!

Then this morning I met up with one of my running partners for a 7.6 mile run through two of Denver’s scenic parks.  He runs faster than I do which is good because it pushes me to be better.  But man alive was my heart rate high in my attempt to keep up.  I saw 186 quite a few times and my Garmin told me that I averaged 175 through the ENTIRE run.

Back when I was running a LOT I had built up some pretty good (not to mention ugly) calluses on the balls of my feet.  Since I backed way off my distance over the past year, I have prettier feet again but no more tough skin.  About 5 miles into today’s run, I felt like the bottoms of my feet had been rubbed raw with sandpaper and now I’m hobbling around trying to keep my weight into my heels.  I have sissy soles at the moment!  A few more long runs and I’ll be well on my way to having feet that have no business being seen by eyes other than mine.  :)   That’s OK – I know those calluses are hard-won so I see them kind of like a little badge of honor.

How about you if you’re a runner?  Do you get calluses on your feet?  Blisters?  Black toenails? What’s your running ‘battle scar’? Fortunately I’ve been blister-free since having discovered the Wrightsock.  And as of yet, no black toenails.  But this could be the year!

Make it a GREAT night!  See you next time!

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , , , ,

Mimic Your Favorites with Healthy Substitutions

Jan 21

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Handy Kitchen Tools, Keeping Fit | 4 Comments

Well hello there blog buds!  Did ya think I disappeared today? It’s been a busy one.  (What’s new, right?  I say that every day!)  ;)

Yesterday after jury duty, blogging, and some work I squeezed in 12 minutes of cardio boogie-ing and then did 42 minutes of my Physique 57 dvd, taking care to keep my toes out of the equation (or at least try).  I only did 42 minutes because I wasn’t in the mood to do abs, so I did all the upper and lower work.

And NOW I just got back from a wonderful 4 mile run outdoors all by myself (no crazies on leashes) as the sun was setting.  It was perfect running weather, around 45 degrees with the little sunshine that was left.  So now I’m enjoying one of these:

Coconut water is ‘Nature’s Gatorade’ as Brendan Brazier would say.  I’ve now definitely worked up an appetite for dinner.  Which will most likely be leftovers from last night’s dinner because it was AWESOME! Doesn’t it look tasty?

Every year my mom and grandma make homemade noodles to include with their Christmas care packages.  This year, my sweet mommy made me a package of spinach noodles because she knows I’m a veggie-holic these days.

So I gathered up some of my ingredients:

Spinach noodles, organic Bertolli spaghetti sauce, and two Sunshine veggie burgers.  While the noodles were cooking, I worked on making the extra “pasta” that I’d be adding to my plate.

One zucchini and one spiralizer with the medium ‘noodle’ blade.  Check.  Check.

Once my mom’s noodles were done, they were drained.  I mixed mine with the zucchini ‘noodles’ to keep the veggies high and the flour intake lower.  Topped with the heated spaghetti sauce, crumbled Sunshine burgers and nutritional yeast.  MSP’s (on the right) was noodles, sauce, parmesan and the ‘burger’ crumbles.

This deserves a review of the close-up again!  :)

Such a fast and delicious meal.  And I totally went back for seconds.  Mom, thanks so much for the thoughtful gift!  Your noodles are the BEST!!  Can’t wait to have them again tonight!

Just goes to show that healthy eating does not require much time or even much thought.  Just pull together lots of veggies and try to ‘mimic’ some of your favorites.

1 cup of zucchini = 18 calories, whereas 1 cup of cooked spinach noodles = 185 calories

You don’t have to deny yourself things you enjoy, like my mom’s homemade noodles.  Make the MAJORITY of your meal out of low-cal, high-fiber veggies.  Then SUPPLEMENT with the ‘richer’ items that add up in calories faster.

I’m so excited that “The Office” is back tonight!  Wahoo!

Have a TERRIFIC Thursday night!  See ya next time!

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , , , , ,

Can’t Every Day Be Sunday?

Jan 18

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 4 Comments

Hello blog buds!  Happy Monday to you!

I hope that you all had a marvelous weekend.  Ours was absolutely LOVELY.

Saturday MSP and I met up with a friend for a run at our favorite hilly trail where we did a two-loop route for a total of 5.48 miles, which included almost 1000′ of elevation gain.  It rocked. My pre-run fuel of two pieces of Ezekial toast with a light smear of organic raw almond butter and a sprinkle of coconut completely did the trick.  I felt perfectly energized for the run.

After we got back and did some deep stretching, I made a delicious post-run green smoothie.  Something about putting my smoothie in this container makes it look like some sort of chemistry class experiment!

At lunchtime I was in the mood for some of the baby bellas I’d purchased so I lightly sauteed them and added some spinach.

Then I wrapped them up in a whole wheat tortilla with some tomato, hummus, pepitas and very light sprinkle of shredded raw goat cheddar.  And an umeboshi plum on the side with some extra spinach.  I came back for more mushrooms after I finished the wrap and polished off almost the entire batch!

On Sunday we wanted to get outside again and include the dogs, so we mapped out a route to a Starbucks and set out first thing in the morning.  We we able to access it almost directly using the bike trail, but we thought it would be a much longer route than it was.  We ended up only getting in 3.8 miles roundtrip.  But the dogs LOVED it and the trail has hills (because there is no place near us that DOESN’T have hills it seems) so we felt our calves and glutes as the day went on.

Some of the highlights from Sunday’s eats included some brown rice veggie rolls from Whole Foods:

A new vegan burrito (from the frozen section) that wasn’t too shabby for a good “lazy girl meal”…

To which I added my own salsa and avocado after heating:

And for some snackage during the football game, some homemade microwave popcorn with soy-free Earth Balance vegan spread, sea salt and nutritional yeast:

Our weekend felt like a perfect balance of exercise with healthy food, plus some relaxation and snacks.

***

How about you?  Did you have a FIT-filled weekend?

Those of you who are back at your desks today who may have missed the Saturday post, check out this reminder to Stop, Drop and Roll (Your Shoulders) while you are at your desks.

Thank you for all of your comments over the weekend – I’ll be replying to each of them as soon as I click the publish button on this post so don’t think I forgot about ya!  And coming up this week on FitFeat, I’ve got a few FitFeatures relating to prescription meds as well as tracking your exercise.

Have a magnificent Monday!

– Shari B. =)

Tags: , , , , ,

Get Adobe Flash playerPlugin by wpburn.com wordpress themes