Can you guess what I did this morning?? 

I ran! After 2 months of not being able to run (due to torn ligament fibers in my knee), I can finally run. Allow me to start from the beginning: 

Jason and I have been hiking an awful lot these past few weekends, me-without any knee trouble. So this weekend after we completed a 7 mile hike on Crowders Mtn (4 of the miles were strenuous), I was convinced that I should try to run again. And I was right! Last night I set out my running skirt, my Nike top and a pair of socks. It felt very ‘first day of school-ish  

The sleep was here and there, but I was more anxious than anything. Fifteen minutes before my alarm was set to go off, I was out of bed and leaving a note on the dry erase board for Jason. Then it was off to the greenway! 

I started out faster than usual (out of pure excitement!) and ended up running 3 miles (and walking .5 miles back to the car) without any knee pain! I can’t even put in words how wonderful it felt to be running again. I felt elated and on top of the world.  

I’ve got to remind myself that I should start slow…no planning a 10 mile, hilly run for the weekend just yet   I think my plan is to run two 3-mile, flat runs for the first couple of weeks, and then go from there…but, YAY! I CAN RUN AGAIN Ok, enough beaming…on to the rest of my day! 

Once home, I dove into a huge cup of coffee (thanks to the boyfriend for making it!) and searched the cabinets and fridge for breakfast items. 

(I heart my Tree Hugger mug ‘Twas a $3 find at T.J. Maxx) 

And for breakfast, I decided to make my own “Egg McMuffin”, except without the “Mc” part! 

A whole wheat english muffin, with a fried egg and a Morningstar spicy sausage pattie. Nom nom nom. Good. Chewy. Delicious. All together now: 

An hour later, it was off to Chemistry (boo!). I don’t mind the lecture part of it, but on Mondays, I also have a 2 hour lab that goes with it..ughhhhhh. 

In between lecture and lab, we get a whopping 10 minutes to eat a lunch…whoopee! Scarfing down my food in a cold room that is full of vending machines that are tempting me with their sweets is not my ideal lunch time…I’d much rather sit outside under a tree or something. But it’s only on Mondays, so I can be a big girl and suck it up  

Today’s 10 minute special consisted of a PB&J (with creamy pb and cherry jam <–a surprising find at my local grocery store! Love it!) on an Arnold Thin wheat bread, a sliced peach and peppercorn Sunchips (<–another downfall of mine. Can’t seem to keep my hand out of the bag..) 

There is one cool thing about eating in the student lounge: The student bulletin board! I read some very interesting articles while sitting all by my lonesome  

Hmmm, a marijuana posting? Nice. I love reading about narcotics when I’m on my lunch break Not. Most of the posts were about Health issues, which leads me to believe that other Diet Tech students have been in the lounge lounging Here is my favorite posting: 

This was a really interesting article on the importance of being able to do a push-up. The key points: 

• Push-ups not only work your chest and arms, they also work your hips, butt and abs.
• Push-ups may be hard to do, but they are the ultimate strength workout.
• Every person should be able to do at least one push-up.
• If you can’t do an all-out push-up, start with your knees on the floor and then work up to doing them the normal way.

It even listed how many you should be able to do at your age! Cool! 

How many push-ups can you do? Are you able to do as many as you should (according to the above table)? 

When I first started doing push-ups, I could only do about 10. These days, I am able to do 30. The first 20 are easy, the last 10 are hard  

Oops! I spent so much time looking at the bulletin board that I was late for lab Oh well. It went by slowly and painfully. All of these measurements and conversions, yadda yadda yadda. My brain was about to blow a fuse in there! 

I finally made it home around 3:30, and after walking Trixie around the block, I made myself a mocktail  

I also heart POM juice..especially the blueberry, pomegranate blend. Along with Sprite Zero…. 

…and in go a couple of cherries! Ok, so I also had 2 dark chocolate squares with this…it’s dessert from lunch of course  

There is Chem homework to be done, laundry to be folded, carpet to be vacuumed…but I don’t feel like doing ANY of it. Perhaps it’s the Monday blues? Or maybe I put all of my energy into my run this morning?  

I can already tell ya what’s for dinner though! Manicotti fo’ sho. 

This was last night’s dinner and there are a ton of leftovers, which I knew we would be having tonight, so I took pics! 

(Before going into the oven! No after pics because we were too hasty about eating it!) This recipe is super-easy to make..except for stuffing the manicotti. That’s the worst part. It feels like it takes forever, or maybe it’s because I use a spoon like a weirdo or something. I dunno. What do you guys use to stuff manicotti with? Oh, and you can find the recipe here. 

Phew. I could so use a nap. Or a beer. Something along those lines I have a ton of cool recipes to post later on in the week, and also make sure you check out my Books I Heart page! I’m looking for a new book to read, suggestions are welcome. 

Now, I’m outta here..but first, if you’ve never done a push-up, I challenge you to go try one out now! Okkayyyyy….Ready-Setttttt-PUSH-UP!

I woke this morning extra, super early because I had an interview at the YMCA for my internship starting next week. I walked into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee.

Ooooh, coffee! That’s easy..I drink it black…Easy Vegan Decision #1. My mind starts to think, hey…this is gonna be pretty easy.

*Opens cabinet and stares blankly at an array of cereal, grit and oatmeal boxes* Aha! Oatmeal

When made with almond milk (which is the only kind of “milk” I drink) it can be vegan! This discovery leads to Easy Vegan Decision #2.

So I put my pot on the stove–because making oats on the stove is the only right way, if you ask me –and Jason says “Can you make me a bowl too?” Sure thing hon. I pour more oats into the boiling water/almond milk mixture. By now, I’m feeling completely confident and satisfied with myself and my Easy Vegan Decisions. I probably even have a little half-smirk on my confident little face.

That boiling mixture is later turned into this:

Oats+Pb+Salt+Peach Jam+Peaches+Honey Graham cracker crushed on top=Yummy, satiating breakfast

Then it was off to my interview!

It went really well. I think that I am going to love working together with YMCA and bring nutrition education to their clients We even talked about me giving a few cooking classes!

After leaving the Y, I took some books back to the library and headed home to get the grocery list and my reusable bags.

*Tummy grumbles* Arg. There’s nothing at the house I could eat for lunch, my stomach will just have to make it through this shopping trip. Just a quick dip in and back out.

I glance at the list as I stroll down the aisles…Hmmm how about a salad for dinner? With chickpeas, tomatoes, cheese…Wait. You can’t eat cheese today, you’re trying to be vegan for a day! Ok. Nevermind the cheese. I can still have a salad.  Oooh..how about getting some chewy, just-baked bread from the bakery to go along beside? Yes! That sounds wonderful.

I stroll over to the bakery and pick up a loaf of heavenly smelling pull-apart bread. My stomach is beside itself with excitement about this heavenly bread. I turn over to the label and read the ingredients and down at the bottom, I read: This product contains milk and egg ingredients.

Crap. I put the bread down and pick up another type of bread…same thing at the bottom.

I continue until I’ve picked up every kind of bread there is on display in the store. The bakery women are looking at me with concern: Who is that girl? And why is she slamming our bread down and cursing to herself?

Well, Jason will still want bread. So I grab a loaf of a Pane Italiano and then continue on my way.

All is well until I get to the ice cream aisle. It’s marked down to $2.23!!! I let out a squeal of excitement and browse the different flavors..but then I stop. What are you doing?! You are going vegan for a day, Stacey. Ice cream=animal product!

Then it hits me: I’d have to give up ice cream?! Lovely, wonderful, cold, delicious ice cream?!!! I’m not sure my willpower is that strong.

Well, maybe I’ll get some for Jason. Yes, for Jason…he likes it. It’s totally NOT for me. So, what kind do I…er…I mean, does Jason, like?

I pick out my his favorite kind and keep going.

By now, I’m feeling a bit doubtless of this whole ‘Vegan’ thing. I can sacrifice cheese, but ice cream?? I just can’t.

My confident smile from the morning has turned into a semi-worried, forehead-creased sort of look. Now I start to wonder: What else isn’t vegan? Is my Diet Cherry Pepsi vegan? How about this salad dressing? What about those dark chocolate covered caramels I have at home?

My drive home was filled with thoughts of all of the un-vegan things in my cabinets. What would I eat for lunch?

I made a quick Morningstar Chicken pattie on an Arnolds thin bun along with pickle, mustard and ketchup (is ketchup vegan??) And a banana for a side.

It’s 2 o’clock by now, and I’m still pretty hungry. I mindlessly walk into the kitchen and grab the first thing I see that will quiet my growling tummy…a handful of Cheezits. It’s only after I’ve stuffed a handful in my mouth that I realize what I’ve done.

I just failed my Vegan For A Day challenge. Epic fail. I’m so used to going in the kitchen and sticking my hand in any open chip or cracker box that I didn’t even think about it today!

I let myself frown a little, and decide that it’s only one mistake. I’ve been doing good all day, no need to quit now.

Grabbing the blue corn tortilla chip bag out of the cabinet as my substitute, I go into the bedroom,crawl in bed and read my book for a while…

…It’s 5:05 when I wake up.  Jason is coming in the door. I sit up in bed and wipe the smudged eyeshadow off of the side of my face. Though I’m not very hungry, I decide to go ahead and make our salad dinner anyway because he has plans to go out with friends tonight, and I don’t want him to go hungry.

I slice the bread and prepare the salad. All of the ingredients are sitting out on the counter and I’m combining them in a large bowl. Sometimes my hand grazes across the grape tomatoes and I eat a few…a few mandarin oranges here, a couple of chickpeas there…a few pieces of feta cheese.

Ughhhhh. I did it again. I mindlessly ate something cheesy! Darn it. Darn it all to heck <–you like my potty mouth language? At this point, I say “Screw it”.

Vegan lifestyle isn’t for me. It’s too hard and I already eat a healthy, vegetarian diet. The only thing that I will have no problem cutting out is eggs. I hate buying them, they make me feel extremely guilty.

Finally coming to the realization that I just can’t be a vegan (or that I do wayy to much mindless eating of cheesy things) I put my salad together, grab a couple of pieces of the toasted, buttery bread..and sit down with my honey to enjoy my dinner…

And I ate it guilt-free

Hey friends!

It has been a busy week for me, as always…but as always it was filled with some fun moments too!

For instance…going out for ice cream after Girls on the Run practice….

…and having a nice, relaxing, river-side dinner with the boyfriend on Thursday night   Caution: Beer, salad and beautiful views may have been involved! (No pic of the salad though! It’s my usual Mediterranean salad that I order from H&M Deli in Cramerton.)

I’ve been sort of “taking it easy” on my body this week because Jas and I had an 11 mile run planned out for Saturday morning. The only exercise I’ve done all week is my usual strength training routine and walking alot. So when Saturday morning came I was ready to satisfy my runner’s itch that had been bugging me all week!

I started my morning out with a whole wheat bagel, Dark Chocolate Dreams, strawberry jam, a naner and some coffee.

Like my smiley??

I also decided, since the weather has been kick-ass lately, that I would try out the shorts and socks that New Balance so graciously supplied us FitBloggers with!

After loading up the car and Jason’s pockets with snacks, drinks, car keys and lip balm, we were out the door! Our running route was the same as this run (ah hem, can you tell I really, reeeaalllly miss Cramerton?!)

The run started out great, but I have to say that I was not mentally prepared for the humidity. It was the type of hot where there is no breeze, it’s just muggy un-moving air Around mile 6, I broke into my raisins and guzzled water from the Camelbak.

Not gonna lie, the last few miles of the run were extremely hard! The sun was just beating down on me and I could feel my skin burning. Jas and I had drank all of the water out of the Camelbak and all I wanted to do was get back to the car where I had another drink waiting for me. Plus, the last few miles have 4 hills that are back-to-back and my brain and legs were screaming at me. But…. I made it

Jason and I did some stretching for about 10 minutes..

After that, I felt as strong as ever! Yay!

And as for the shorts: The biggest deal was that I never felt the inseam in them! My other running shorts have an inseam that rides up *if you know what I mean, wink wink* and sometimes they even give me a bad chaffing But with these shorts, I felt like I was wearing just regular shorts! The pocket is a little small, so I couldn’t hold my car key in there, but it may be perfect for an MP3 player or something

As for the socks: Their probably the best quality socks that my little tootsies have ever had the pleasure of wearing. They are thick and don’t rub against me everytime my feet hit the pavement. What’s even better is that I came out of the run with no blisters on me feet! A+ from me, New Balance!

We finished our run around 1:30 and went back to H&M Deli (second time in one week!) for some lunch. This time I got my other usual Pesto focaccia sandwich with chips that I shared with the boyfriend!

What a cheeseball

After our tummies were satisfied and after I was about to pop a button, errr seam we drove around town looking at homes that were for sale, then we made a shopping trip to Target (yay ) and to the grocery store for ingredients for dinner.

Dinner was based off of a recipe I found on the internet, but once I skimmed over it…I just kinda took it in my own direction to see what I would come up with…and it was totally worth it!

Gnocchi with Sweet Potatos, Mushrooms and Spinach

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 package of Gnocchi <–can find in pasta aisle at grocery store
• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• salt and pepper
• 2 cups raw spinach
• 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup sliced baby bella mushrooms
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspooon dried thyme
• grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup low-fat Ricotta cheese (OPTIONAL)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel potatoes and chop them into cubes. Add nutmeg, brown sugar, salt and 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil to bowl. Mix until all potatoes are covered. Place potatoes on baking sheet that has been lined with cooking spray. Bake in oven for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and onions to oil until tender. Add mushrooms and saute until softened and fragrant. Add broth, butter, spinach, salt and pepper into the skillet. Cook until spinach is wilted and the broth has cooked down. (It may take a few minutes for the broth to evaporate, but just be patient!)

Cook gnocchi according to package directions. Add potatoes and gnocchi to skillet mixture. Let cool for about 5 minutes. Serve in a bowl with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

I added 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese to the mixture. But I would recommend tasting the veggie mixture by itself first and then if you want to add the cheese, you can. It tasted good nonetheless, so it’s a winner in my book! It was very filling too, I only had a bowl when usually I go back for seconds on dinner. Or maybe I was just saving room for dessert??

Yep. I guess you could say Mr.Sun taught me a lesson that day. NOT TO FORGET TO EAT DESSERT. Haha, jk I think the lesson may have been to not only apply sunscreen to my face but all over when I’m heading out for a run…especially now that it’s spring and over 80 degrees outside. Duh Stacey. But the popsicle was good!! It has big chunks of fruit in it and only 80 calories a pop <—”a pop” HAHA. Get it??

Okay. Jason is over on the couch sighing and tapping his foot impatiently! I better get going, see ya next time bloggies Have a happy Easter and a safe weekend!

OH…Can you believe my half-marathon is next weekend?! As Hank Hill would say………

“Baaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

It was so much fun

I think I am officially in lurve with the city of Baltimore and all of the bloggies that I met too. All of the girls were great, all of the sponsors were beyond great and the experience was just amazing. Let’s start with Friday night:

After a successful (<—successful meaning I didn’t manage to puke) airplane ride, Whit and I got our baggage and boarded the shuttle that would take us to the hotel. Guess who was on there?! Ali :D (Just so ya know, Whit let out a loud, girlie scream when she saw Ali that scared the bee-Jesus out of me) We all decided to get checked and in and get some food before we starved to death.

There was a swanky little Mexican eatery around the corner from our hotel called Talara’s. Ali and I ordered Negro Modelo’s to start out with:

Yum. Cold beer makes Stacey a happy girl They ended up splitting the $5 tapas that were on special, I ended up ordering a vegetarian panini with fries It was either that or some sort of rice and bean mixture, so the veggies won!

I ate all of the sandwich and half of the fries…it was pretty yummy, kind of oily though.

After lunch we went back to the hotel to get ready for the night! POM was hosting a cocktail party for everyone upstairs so this was our chance to get all dressed up! Here is the dress:

(Sorry for the bluriness!) Ok. You guys, I am totally not used to wearing a dress. You can find me in workout clothes probably 5 out of the 7 days that are in a week. High heels? Not my thing. Skin tight hooker dresses? Not my thing. Despite the dress being adorable (because it is!), I was so uncomfortable all night!! It only took me an hour and I was back in jeans Oh well, I guess they aren’t meant for everyone.

Upstairs was jam packed with ladies lining up for cocktails, so the girls and I decided to go down into the bar on the first floor for some drink action. I casually ordered a screwdriver:

‘Twas gone in about 3 minutes flat. I spent some time mingling at the party and joined Whit and a few others for a bar crawl. We didn’t really end up staying in one place long enough to have a drink, everywhere was so crowded! I decided to head back to the hotel, get into my jammies and call it a night.

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Saturday mornin’ we were up-and-at-it for the FitBloggin 5k! The folks from New Balance were beyond generous in giving us a free pair of shoes to review! 

I figured, why not run in them?? Just to test them out? So I threw on some running clothes, my new shoes and headed out the door with my roomies:

The weather was gorgeous, even at 6:30 AM!! I’m pretty sure I talked Whit and Katy’s heads off about how pretty the scenery was. The run was right by the water and it was fabulous. And guess what?! I even beat a PR time on this 5k!!!!! We finished in 28:20 A little over a minute faster than old PR time! I think it helps to run with friends

As for the shoes, they were very comfy but they didn’t have the high-arch support like the ones that I usually run in. I’m not really sure I would run in these again, but I am definitely going to use them for walking/hiking shoes (ahem, wearing them right now).

Everyone congratulated everyone else on doing an awesome run, then it was shower—>breakfast—>seminar time.

Breakfast was provided by Quaker oats

The only thing that was missing was the peanut butter!

There were several great seminars throughout the day:

….including: Junk Science: How to Critically Evaluate Research….

…From Blog to Book: How to get Published…

…and Using Social Media to Reach Goals. Then it was lunchtime!

Another vegetarian panini (!) with a delicious cup of mushroom soup with pumpernickel croutons…the soup was to die for. So good. Dessert consisted of a fruit plate with a small Jell-O shot, minus the liquor

A bunch of us decided to head out for an after-lunch walk to soak up the atmosphere of Baltimore (and some vitamin D as well )

Picture courtesy of Anne!

We walked for about 30 minutes then it was time to head back for the last 2 seminars and a closing session from David Grotto. I skipped the post conference reception and the book signing. Instead, I went back to the room took my shoes off, lay on the bed and called my mom and boyfriend . A girl starts to miss familiar voices after a while, know what I mean??

After chillaxing for an hour or so, I realized how bad I wanted to be outside!! <—Seriously in love with Baltimore. I decided to venture out to find some take-out for dinner. I came upon a Lebonese place two blocks from our hotel, it held the promise of vegetarian food! I ordered the Vegetarian Mezza, and since I can’t pronounce anything that was in it, I took a pic for you guys  

I sat by the river while I waited for my food:

How beautiful is that sunset?! Very beautiful, I would say As weird as it sounds, sunsets are kind of a spiritual experience for me..especially when I see a sunset over water.

Once I was back at the hotel I eagerly opened up my dinner!

Where to start?! I’ve never had Lebonese food before…but I quickly learned that it is amazing! I ate EVERYTHING off of the plate…and the fried/breaded things were the most delicious of course

Ugh. I was stuffed. Like pop-a-button-on-my-pants stuffed. But not too stuffed for a blondie from the cafe in the hotel lobby

It was the perfect ending to a perfect day

The sun was setting and it was time for me to relax and get myself ready for Day 2 of FitBloggin!

Stay tuned to find out what I did on my favorite day of the whole trip

I am sooo glad to be able to actually sit down at a computer for something other than homework! This past week was the busiest school week I’ve had all year. There were hospital clinicals for school, coaching for Girls on the Run, working out and a field trip to Queens University for the Charlotte Dietetic Association meeting this past Thursday. Phew. It’s exhausts me just typing all of that!

I love, love, love going to the CDA meeting. It’s so interesting (and educational at the same time )!

Some of the topics were the latest trends in bariatric surgery..

….what we need to know about Vitamin D deficiency…

..the other topics included: Battling growth of childhood obesity, RD public policy and Nutrigenomics (the science of the future) <—still trying to wrap my brain around the last one! I feel like I learned so much..or maybe it is just because it lasted from 8 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon??

Friday seemed to fly by and here is Saturday I shall start my day here:

This morning I slid out of bed and started a pot of Breakfast Blend coffee for Jas and I. While that was trickling, I grabbed my recipe book out of the desk to see if any would catch my eye for our pre-run breakfast.

Peanut Butter Pancakes!

I used the recipe for a base and modified most of it to my liking Here is what I used:

• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/4 cup almond milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup Bee’s Knees (PB&Co.) PB

These came out a little different than I expected. Jason declared his love for them right off the bat, but I think it could use a little tweeking. Next time I would probably use chunky peanut butter, and the almond milk definitely made a difference in consistancy and thickness…but that’s not something I think I’d change, just the pb

But anything is good with hot blackberry jam and strawberries on top!!

And coffee of course

Yummmm. ‘Twas good And very filling.

Jason and I waited an hour or so for our food to settle, then we set out to our starting point for a 10-11 mile run! We took a banana, raisins, Cliff bar and fig newtons for fuel. (I like to have choices!)

And look! I got to wear the Camelbak! Not sure why that excites me .

I had a run mapped out that went through Cramerton, into downtown Belmont (a neighboring town), through a park and back up through Cramerton. I wish I could have taken pics to show you guys! The scenery was great. And the weather was just perfect  The pack of raisins came out about mid-run and I’m not sure how long it took us, but we did between 10.5-11 miles!! Yay I was so proud of us that when we got back to the car I did a little jump for joy…

I felt a-mazing after our run. Like the strongest woman in the world or something I think long runs are starting to become my “thing”

We stretched, hobbled to the car and started the drive back to the house. On the way, I stopped for one of these:

Since the rain was holding off, I suggested that we do a picnic lunch in the park with Trixie…and he agreed! As long as I could pack lunch really, really fast because we were hungry

We came home and I threw together some sandwiches, fruit and chips with hummus for us and then we headed off with the dog in tow. My “lunch” (it was already 4 o’clock at this point) consisted of a banana, a sandwich made with hummus, pickle, tomato, mixed greens, colby jack cheese and spicy mustard…nom nom nom.

Please use your imagination and add about 2 tablespoons of pb and a couple handful of wheat thins too I was a hungry gal.

To let our food digest, we took Trixie for a slow, leisurely walk around the park…and then went for ice cream at Bruesters!

They have an item called a “Doggy Sundae”. The put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a bowl with a Milkbone stuck in the middle It’s free if you bring your dog up there! How cute is that?!

She hated it. I pretty much had to force-feed it to her

I got a small scoop of the Oreo:

..mmmmmmmmm….it was creamy and delicious just like an Oreo is.

It’s strange, but my leg muscles felt better after eating the ice cream. I think my body is trying to tell me that I need more ice cream in my life Yep, that’s what it’s doing.

Looks like we finished just in time! It’s pouring outside and I think I even saw a lightening bolt or two, yikes! Jas and I are going to finish up the 5th season of LOST and maybe rock out with some Guitar Hero

There is pizza dough thawing on the counter…I’m thinking a vegetarian bbq pizza?? We shall see! Hope you guys are having a great weekend! See ya later taters

P.S. Next week is FitBloggin! Can I getta ‘woot woot’ if you are going?? Woot woot. 

Well, the weekend is over and it’s back to reality. Jason and I have a great weekend filled with new records, new beers and new dreams How did your’s go??

We started our weekend with a 9 mile run on Saturday morning! The farthest I’ve ever run was 8 miles when I was training for a half-marathon last year, so it felt really great to get out there and go the distance (so to speak )

We headed to the greenway to run it twice.

As you can see, the weather was be-a-u-ti-ful. It stayed in the 60′s all weekend! We were so excited! The first part of the run went really well, nothing new for my legs, but once we got to the second part…and around mile 8 my hips and left knee were getting sore and I could feel myself slowing down.

Jason handed me the box of raisins that I had brought for a mid-run snack, and after popping them into my mouth, I was immediately re-energized and ready to finish the run! [I swear by raisins as fuel for a workout! They have just the right amount of sugar and carbs to keep your body going, and to give you the boost that you need! Plus, they're natural!]

We finished! I was so proud of us I know nine miles isn’t 20 or anything, but it still is a new record for me (and Jason)! And as far as the debate went, I kinda am siding with Jason on this one: you just have to get out there and do it. I knew that my body was capable of it, but I guess it’s not necessary to have a training plan all the time <–is my opinion

After stretching for a good 5-10 minutes, we were on a mission….for food. Good food. Our favorite food.

H&M Deli!

I walked in already knowing what I was going to get, and while waiting for it, we participated in a beer tasting. No pics though Free beer makes me forget that my camera is hanging off my shoulder, haha We did end up buying a case of one of samples! A few Flying Dogs and Raging Bitches left with us <—name of the beer, folks

I had to remind myself to not inhale my food when it came out. If you guys are ever in Cramerton (why would you be?? I dunno) you have to go here! I ordered the Pesto Foccocia sandwich:

Inside that heavenly sandwich is let me try to remember it all : avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, onion, mixed greens and a spinach-artichoke mayo spread…that is to.die.for.

It is a messy, ooey, gooey mess…but that doesn’t matter. I don’t mind getting my fingers sticky and yucky for some good food FYI: I licked the aluminum foil clean once the sandwich was gone

Jas and I also split a bag of chips…

…and a piece of fudge-covered carrot cake!

Yum. YUM.

The rest of the day was spent in our jammies. Don’t you just love days like that?? Jason didn’t have too much homework, so we watched LOST and Paper Heart <—(I have the hugest crush on Micheal Cera!!!!! Gah. I just love him).

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Sunday was spent recovering from Saturday

We took Trixie for a walk and went to Cramerton to “look” at houses that are for sale. Just for fun, ya know??

We decided to go to Panera for lunch since we were already out and about!

I ordered the Fuji Chicken Salad minus the chicken, at the recommendation of a friend that works there

‘Twas yummy! I’m pretty sure he hooked me up on the fixin’s though! Thanks friend-o  (Along with was a Diet Pepsi and half of one of their huge chocolate chip cookies)

We also went to the phone store so I could replace mine (dropped it in milk…don’t ask) and then we went to look at more houses

Aww…I made Meatless Manicotti for dinner but can’t find the pics anywhere It was really good too! I found the recipe here.

If there was anything to be learned from this weekend it was this:

1. I love long runs
2. I love good food.
3. I love planning a future with my guy
4. I am already ready for next weekends 10.5 miler!!

Bring it on! Off to school I go! It’s time for our mid-semester evaluations…ugh. Wish me luck

Make sure you get lots and lots of FoodNetwork. So when you are well, you will have a new recipe idea in mind! [Total cooking-show addict speaking at the moment] Plus, The Neelys may take your mind off your bummy self AND give you a little giggle or two

Of course, if you get tired of watching people cook great-looking food, you can always opt out for some mind-numbing reality show action…such as…..

One episode and I was hooked. I even have Jason wanting to watch it!

Oh, don’t forget to have a box of tissues, a bag of cough drops and your cell phone near at all times.

The reasons for the cough drops and tissues are obvious. Your phone is so you can text your boyfriend/husband/friend/whoever to let them know how bad you feel, that you just sneezed, that there is no way you can cook dinner for anyone tonight….so on and so forth. Keep it to a minimum of 60 messages though, you don’t want to annoy them  

If you are sick, you will also need lots fruit (for the vitamins!)..

..and since you are already in the kitchen snacking on fruit, why not whip up a Green Monster while you are at it??

[Sorry for the brightness, it was taken with my old camera]:D

Allow yourself to take frequent naps with a furry animal..

or stuffed animal if your cat is too busy cleaning himself and the dog is too old to jump on the bed

After your nap, you may want a little sugar to wake you up. If your boyfriend is at work and can’t give you any sugar, you’ll have to settle for the next best thing:

Girl scout cookies with chocolate syrup. ‘Nuff said.

If you get sick of watching TV, you can alwasy provide yourself a mug of hot tea and a few light reading materials:

Dare I say that I like reading my textbooks?!? I guess that is a sign that I am going into the right profession [And the FitnessRx is for the workouts they have! I learn something everytime I get a copy!]

If all else fails, you can always call your mom and complain, stalk your friends on Facebook or watch bad Lifetime movies on the telly Whatever floats your boat.

But, let me warn you…since you are too weak to be standing around and cooking in the kitchen, you may have to survive off of your boyfriends specialty grilled cheese with canned soup for a few nights. Beware! Just remember, those grilled cheese sandwiches and bowls of canned soup are made with 100% love.

x*sneeze*oxo

Stacey

Finally! A chance to blog! My week has been crazy busy. Hopefully ya’lls (<–is an actual word in my southern brain) wasn’t as hectic!

I am so thankful for a chance to sit down and blog..cos I’ve gotta a lot of thoughts churnin’ up in the ol’ noodle I’ll start with my workouts for this week:

There was Level 3 of the 30 Day Shred…

Anyone else out there that felt like crying during this?? Anyone? Anyone? Jillian Micheals is a beast. I had to stop a few times just to keep my muscles from bursting into flames. And though I knew it was going to hurt before I started, I had no idea she would reduce me to mushy, jello-y pulp. I made it through though with a few encouraging words from the boyfriend. “You can do it. Come on babe!” Easy for him to say! He’s relaxing in a comfy chair at the desk!!! 

Wednesday is always my busiest day. There is school, workout, Girls on the Run coaching, studying, cooking and then usually blogging or homework. I probably don’t need to say that the blogging was put on the back burner this Wednesday!

Though I didn’t have time to blog, I would like to talk about my nonexsistant eats.

I usually pride myself in planning my meals and eating food from home during the week. But this Wednesday was the worst food “planning” ever. Here is a recap:

My day started on the right foot with Kashi Go Lean, a naner and coffee.

Then, it was out the door to get to class. We were meeting at the hospital to do clinicals and I wrongly assumed we would be eating at the cafeteria afterwards. The only thing I packed for a snack was a pb&j sandwich with raisin bread!

When 12 o’clock rolled around…I was in the “I’m-so-hungry-I’m-gonna-eat-my-arm” mode. My teacher informed us that we were heading back to the college to finish class, and I was lucky enough to find a grocery store that would supply me with a pear and an Honest Tea (<—love them!!).

The sandwich was gone in a millisecond and the stupid pear wasn’t ripe!

Arg. You can tell from the pic that there aren’t even any juices coming out of it. It was hard as a brick. I threw it back in a plastic baggy and stuffed it into my purse

Our classroom wasn’t open, so I couldn’t get in to get some ice for my tea, so I had to drink it warm. Ugh. It was still tasty though And I love the little messages on the inside of the cap!

So, my only food consumption thus far had been a bowl of cereal with nana and a pb& j sandwich. I’m pretty sure I had burned off the breakfast walking around the hospital. By now, my body is going “What the hell Stacey?! Come on!”

From school, I drive directly to coach for the girls. No snack,  nothing. The only thing that was available to me was that hard, watery-tasting pear in my purse. At 4 o’clock I had to eat it. I had to eat something or I was going to end up stealing from the school cafeteria….and I’m pretty sure there is a law against that

Dinner was quick and easy because I needed it to be! I made tempeh sloppy joes, broccoli and baked red potatoes…

…which I sliced using my new mandolin slicer!! Yes. My name is Stacey and I get excited about new kitchen gadgets

The sloppy joe recipe still needs a bit of tweaking, so I am not going to post it yet. I’ve been combining different techniques  and ingredients to get it just right..but it’s not quite there yet. It was still tasty though! Just needs a little spice.

Wednesday was an “off” day for me..I doubt that I took in enough calories to even fuel a workout. Thursday, Jas and I went to the gym. We did abs (balance ball), sit ups, bicycle crunches, incline push ups (3×15), bench dips (3×15) and then I ran 4 miles on the dreadtreadmill, finishing in 39 minutes.

Tonight? Yoga night!!! Yay

Please excuse my cats enormous head

…ending with a kiss from Trixie

Now for some sporadic thoughts/decisions from moi (<– have no idea how to spell it!)

• I am 90% certain that I am going to go on to become an R.D. after I graduate. It wouldn’t take me that long since most of the classes I have now will transfer…and I figure, why not?…From there, it’s on to exercise science! It’s exciting to think about where the future will lead me
• Eggs are no longer something I will be eating..at least not if I can control it. I have also decided to switch to soy milk. I am not going completely vegan. But, my decisions are based on:  A. I can’t find an egg supplier at my local grocery stores that provide cage-free, free range, n0 -hormones-added eggs. (I used to buy Eggland’s Best, but if you go on their website, you will see that the chickens are “free-range” but kept inside a building..just not in cages. I’m planning on switching to an egg substitute. B. Soy milk makes my skin look better Simple as that. And there is no way I could ever give up cheese!

Oh! And some interesting things I’ve learned in school:

• Caffeine lowers the amount of Iron absorbed in the body. (As does tea). (I’m still gonna drink it though!) No need to worry if you get plenty of Iron..or take a multi-vitamin every day.
• Eating five or six small meals everyday is not linked to weight loss. It’s the food that is actually eaten that has affect on weight loss, not how many times a day a person eats.
• Americans consume six times the amount of sodium intake that is required (!!). 500 mg. per day is roughly the daily requirement. Most Americans are consuming 3 to 8 grams daily. Yikes!!

So that’s that. Just thought it was interesting info and wanted to share Hope ya don’t mind! On the agenda for this weekend:

Saturday- write a paper on benefits of “functional foods”-specifically catechins in green tea–write reports for clinicals–do Algebra homework (ick)–bathe Trixie–strength training–and cook!

Sunday- will not do ANY homework whatsoever–see “Shutter Island” with Jason–blog–6 mile run–have dinner out??

Okay. Phew! Time for some hot tea, dark chocolate and a little time on the couch Have a lovely weekend bloggies!

PS. Can anyone recommend a good protein or whey powder mix for an after-workout snack??? There are so many out there!!

Hope everyone’s Monday hasn’t been too manic

Mine was a bit stressful, but since we are heading towards the last 3 weeks of school, I’m guessing everyday is going to get a bit more stressful than the last! But, it will all be over soon All in all, it’s been a pretty productive day!

I woke up earlyyyyy this morning (about 3 am!!) sweating and crying <–had a terrible nightmare I finally was able to go back to sleep an hour later only to be woken up by my 6:30 alarm! Hmmmm, what could make my morning yummy start off on the right track??? Oats of course!

I wanted to try out this little guy I found at Trader Joes yesterday:

Mmmm, cranberry apple butter?! I couldn’t believe my eyes and for only $1.99, it was an immediate treasure/pleasure that went into my buggy

This morning I used it in my oats!

In this bowl:

• 3/4 cup oats
• 1/2 skim mik, 1/2 water
• dash of salt
• 1 tbs pb
• 1/2 mashed naner, the rest sliced on top
• cran apple butter drizzle
• 1/2  Mint Chocolate Chip Cliff Bar

Ugh. This bowl was so filling. But, extremely delicious too! I almost couldn’t eat the whole thing <–please note the word almost! After breakfast it was off to school for me! We are studying Cancer/HIV diets…heavy stuff! We also had an oncology RD as a speaker coming today, so I figured (though I wasn’t hungry) I should go ahead and eat lunch so I could be in total note-taking mode when she arrived Around 11:30 I unpacked my lunch ontop of my books:

Grapes..

A Stonyfield Probiotic yogurt…

And a yummo tofurky, cucumber, tomato, goat cheese, miracle whip and mustard sandwich!

(The whole time I was eating this, I was thinking: Hmmm, cran-apple butter —>tofurky…Thanksgiving sandwich heaven lol) Definitely going to try that combo soon! I topped my lunch off with a Diet Pepsi from the cafeteria and my last dark chocolate square from home.

By the time I left school, I was so ready for a run. Running is a MAJOR stress reliever for me, in case you haven’t noticed Yesterday Whit and I had a lovely 5 mile run in the afternoon. There was a lot of chatting about running, blogging and I told her some of my fears of running back to back days..meaning, I’ve never ran one day and not taken a day before I ran again. I was a little nervous about it, but she assured me that if I’m not in pain after our 5 miler, then I should be fine to run today. (Side note: I was a bit spastic when she whipped out her camera to take a pic of us! It’s the SAME camera I’ve been swooning over in Wal-Mart! I am totally in love with it Seeing all of the features and the great quality of pics that were taken, only concreted my decision to GET ONE.)

So anywho, today after school I drove like a maniac back to the house to change my clothes and head to the park. Before I went, I opened up a Cliff Z Bar (Spooky S’More flavor):

(Fuzzy pictures: another reason I need a new camera!) This was my first time having this flavor and I hafta say that I went into the first bite with a bit of apprehension…but there was no need because this is the best tasting Cliff bar I’ve ever had! It didn’t taste as sugary as the full-fledge Cliff bar and it had the perfect consistancy: chewy yet soft. My taste (<–just typed tush lol) buds were happy

I decided on my way to the park that I would do 3 laps (3 miles) and then walk a little bit. My mind was screaming at me to increase it to 4, but I wasn’t sure if I was mentally  up for 4. By the time my 3rd lap was completed I just kept going! I thought to myself: “It’s only ONE more lap! You will thank yourself afterwards!” Turns out my brain was totally right. That last lap I really, truly pushed myself and ran it my hardest (not sure of times because I didn’t wear my watch or HRM) and it felt great!

Once back home, I stretched, cleaned the kitchen and sat down to write reports. Jas and I took Trixie for a walk after he came home from work, and then I started dinner (Cheesy Manicotti). It’s got about 15 more minutes left in the oven, so I think I might work on some more reports before I can relax!

On the other hand, there seems to be a orange, furry beast sleeping on top of my Micro book! Perhaps I could just sit here and show him some lovin’ for the next 15 minutes instead See ya on the flip side bloggies!

P.S. I’ve been thinking of putting a “Smart Moves” page at the top. I would showcase my favorite fitness moves that are low-costing and easy to do anywhere..whadaya think? Something worth reading??