3, 2, 1

Before I jump into my brief post, an update on my knee:

I went to the doctor today and he confirmed what I suspected – I have IT Band Syndrome. I went for a 4-mile run yesterday and actually had to stop and walk the last half mile because the pain was so unbearable. It was radiating up to my hip. The doctor gave me a cortisone shot and told me I could still run my race in 2 weeks, but that it still might be uncomfortable.

I had no choice but to skip my run today. The shot makes your knee feel worse before it feels better. I’m freaking out a bit, feeling like I’m going to lose so much of the aerobic capacity and endurance I’ve built up. Not to mention the fact that, thanks to running, my abs look better than they ever have. I don’t want to lose those!

Have you ever experienced an injury during race training? How did you adjust your training?

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3 – The number of songs Sheryl Crow sang at the intimate radio event I attended today! I was so lucky to be invited to go to this event. I got to shake her hand and have my picture taken with her. So cool!

2 – There are 2 words that sum up why I could never be a vegan: Greek yogurt!

I made the most amazing bowl of overnight spelt flakes with vanilla Chobani, topped with honey almond butter. Awww yeah! I can live without chicken and fish, but I MUST have my Greek yogurt!

1 – There can only be one giveaway winner….JORDAN P! Congrats! Send me your mailing address and I’ll have your goodies sent out ASAP.

So Much to Do, So Little Time!

Is tomorrow really already Wednesday?! I am in the midst of an extremely busy week, and it is flying by! Unfortunately, in all the craziness, I’ve been neglecting my little blog here. 😦

I went to Virginia overnight for work over the weekend. Because I flew out so early on Saturday, I had to shift my half marathon training schedule. I pushed out my long run to Sunday. I ran a very painful 10 miles in 1:33:18 – a good pace, but it truly was an ugly run. I was gritting my teeth the whole way. My right knee started screaming at me around mile 2!

I wanted to get back to my regular training schedule this week, but that would have meant running on Monday, the day after my long run. I woke up at 4:30 am and my knee was sending me a very clear message – no running. I ended up waiting until the evening to any exercise. I replaced my scheduled 4-mile run with a 45 minute ride on my Spinning bike. I had a great ride, and my knee felt good since cycling is so low-impact on your joints.

Flash forward to today… I attended day one of a two-day social media marketing workshop in Boston. I wasn’t sure what the food situation was going to be at the conference center, so I made sure to eat a hearty breakfast before I left.

• 1/2 cup of oatmeal
• 1 mashed banana
• raisins
• vanilla
• cinnamon
• 1 Tbs ground flaxseed
• 2 Tbs vanilla rice protein powder
• 1 Tbs TJ’s PB, which was later mixed into the oats

This held me over until lunchtime, when I had a delicious grilled veggie pita at the conference center.

Dinner tonight involved a new to me product – Trader Joe’s Meatless Meatballs.

These are vegan and have great nutritional stats – 140 calories, 8 g carbs, 16 g protein. I was a little nervous to try these because my only other experience with meatless meatballs was not good. I don’t remember what brand those were though…

I simmered these “meatballs” in TJ’s marinara for about 10 minutes and served mine up over a bed of fresh spinach with a sprinkle of parmesan (to de-veganize the meal!).

My thoughts: Delicious! These were soooo yummy. Not too many spices. The flavor was just right and the texture was great too. Even my little girl ate them! I will definitely be buying these again.

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One more chance to enter my giveaway! I’ll announce the winner in my next post!

Giveaway Extended!

Hey all! I’m extending my Yoplait Splitz giveaway sponsored by My Blogspark since I was out of town for the weekend. (Unfortunately I forgot my camera on the way out, so no pics of the wine fest :-()

Stayed tuned for more product reviews and half marathon training updates…

Injury Update & Product Review

It’s Wednesday – half to the weekend! Woohoo! We are headed to DC on Saturday for the Virginia Wine Festival. Can’t wait! It’s going to be a whirlwind. We’re only going for one night. But it will be fun.

Have you entered my giveaway yet?! You have until Friday!

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I’ve been getting pretty much the same advice from everyone on my knee injury – rest is the best medicine. Now, if I could only follow that advice… I’ve been doing plenty of icing and I bought a compression sleeve, but I can’t say I’ve cut back on my running. I am shuffling things around a bit this week though, partly for time constraints, but mostly to avoid running 2 days in a row.

This morning I woke up VERY sleepy eyed at 4:30 am and contemplated skipping my run. For a brief second, I convinced myself that I should stay in bed “to rest my knee.” But then I popped out of bed, threw on my gear, and headed out the door – but not before grabbing a small scoop of PB and some raisins, my go-to pre-run snack.

Do you eat before running?

I ran 6.2 miles in 58:08, ~9:21/mile. I felt great for the first 4 miles – no knee pain. And then BAM. Just like that, the pain set in. At one point I was literally gritting my teeth. There’s no stopping and walking in the dark at 5:30 am when you’re 2 miles from home, though!

When I got home, I took a quick shower then simultaneously iced my knee, put on my makeup, and ate this glorious bowl of overnight oats.

This horrendous photo doesn't do this bowl justice!

• 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup of almond milk
• ~3/4 cup of plain Chobani
• 1 small mashed banana
• cinnamon
• vanilla
• raisins
• walnuts

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Ok folks – time for a brief product review!

Back in early July, I received a sample of the new Clif Crunch bars in the mail. It was the Chocolate Chip flavor, and I split the 2-bar serving with my hubby during our 4th of July road trip to PA. Upon first bite, I believe I said something along the lines of, “Oh my God – I have to find these and buy some!” It was crunchy (hence the name), sweet without being too sweet, and very satisfying. The 2-bar serving makes you feel like you’re eating more than a typical bar. And a serving is just 180 calories – perfect snack amount.

I hadn’t been into Whole Foods in quite some time, but I had a bunch of coupons so I went in there a couple weeks ago. (Side note: since that trip, I have been into WF every week. It has sucked me back in! Damn you, Whole Paycheck, er, Whole Foods!) To my delight, I discovered that Clif Crunch bars were on sale for $3.00 a box, a special that was STILL going on even last weekend. So I stocked up.

I’ve tried 3 of the 4 flavors and I’ve enjoyed each one. I definitely favor the Chocolate Chip though! Have you tried these yet?!

Run Recap & a Giveaway!

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend! Summer seems to have abruptly ended here in New England. It certainly feels like fall!

When I stepped out the door at 5 am on Saturday morning for my 12-mile run, it was a crisp 55 degrees. I had mapped out my route the night before. The route took me into a part of town I’m not very familiar with and I ended up accidentally taking a right to loop back much sooner than I should have. The run ended up being short of 12 miles. (More on that in a minute.)

I was a little tentative when I first started out, given that my 3-mile run on Thursday morning was so excruciating. I spent all day Friday icing my right knee in preparation for Saturday. I could tell right off the bat I was pacing much slower than the previous weekend’s 10-mile run, and much slower than my typical pace.

Around mile 6, the pain in my right knee set in. There was shooting pain. Oh no! I kept pushing through, and a couple miles later the sharp pains stopped and it was just sore.

As I mentioned earlier, my run didn’t end up being 12 miles. It was 11.36 miles, at an average pace of 9:51/mile. Still not too shabby, but that’s much slower than the 9:18/mile pace of my 10-miler.

I bought a compression sleeve for my knee today. I’m hoping that will help minimize the swelling and soreness…

Question for all you runners: I am going out of town this weekend. My flight leaves at 8:30 am on Saturday and I’ll be back Sunday afternoon. I won’t have time for my full long run on Saturday. I plan to add additional miles to all my other runs for the week but… What’s more important – getting in a long run or total miles per week?

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And know, for the fun part…

The Giveaway!!!

The folks over at Yoplait & My Blog Spark sent me a package containing a picnic bag, a roll-up picnic blanket, and a coupon for FREE Yoplait Splitz.

From the Yoplat site:

Yoplait® Splitz delivers the dessert flavor kids crave in a wholesome and nutritious yogurt that Mom can feel good about. It has all the goodness of 100% real Yoplait® yogurt with 90 calories, no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial flavors or sweeteners and it’s a good source of Calcium and Vitamin D.

I’m always leery of kids’ yogurt due to the sugar content. I absolutely refuse to eat anything or feed my daughter anything that contains high fructose corn syrup, too. So it was a big plus that these don’t contain any HFCS. They contain about 12 grams of sugar, which isn’t awful considering much of that likely comes just from the lactose in the yogurt.

These certainly pass the kid taste test – and they pass the mommy nutrition test too. Good buy!

Want to win your own Yoplait Splitz picnic pack?! Here’s how to enter:

1. Visit the Yoplait site and leave me a comment telling me one thing you learned about Splitz.
2. Tweet about this giveaway (I want to win the @YoplaitYogurt giveaway from @healthyfitmama) and leave a comment letting me know you tweeted.
3. If you have a blog, link back to this post and let me know you did so.

You have until Friday at 8:00 pm ET! Good luck!

8-Mile

Hey there! Hope you’re all enjoying the weekend. I started my day bright and early. My half marathon training schedule called for 8 miles today, so I got up at 5 a.m. to head out for my run. Saturdays are always filled with grocery shopping and other errands, so it’s most time-efficient if I just get my run out of the way first thing in the morning.

Prior to today, the longest run I had ever done was 6.2 miles. Today, I ran 8.2. It was a perfect temperature for running – about 50 degrees. I started out a little bit slow so I didn’t wear myself out. I started to pick it up a bit more around the 2.5-mile mark.

When I reached about 5.5 miles, my right hip and knee started to bother me a bit. But I kept going. I completed my 8.2 miles in 1:17:40 – roughly a 9:30/mi pace. Not too shabby. It may not seem too impressive to all of the hardcore runners out there, but it is certainly an accomplishment for me – something I never thought I could do!

What’s one thing you have done that you didn’t think you could do?

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Have you entered my giveaway yet?? This is your last chance! I will be randomly picking a winner in the morning. Your chances of winning right now are pretty darn good.

I still ow you some product reviews – 3 to be exact. Unfortunately I only have 2 here! One more item to try, and I’ll review it when I post the winner.

Health Valley® Granola Bars:

No beating around the bush here. Sorry Health Valley – as soon as I saw the nutritionals on these, I knew they weren’t for me. The ingredient list is a mile long! I took one bite… WHOA! Holy sugar! These were soooo sweet. My daughter likes them, of course, but I won’t let her have more than 1/2 of one at a time. And I certainly wouldn’t buy them. Sorry to be harsh on a product that’s included in my giveaway! The rest of the products make up for it though. 😉

Garden of Eatin’® Multigrain Blues:

These are a new product for Garden of Eatin’. They actually weren’t even included in the initial giveaway picture and description I was sent.

I ripped open this bag tonight specifically so I could review these chips in my post!

I’m not really a big chip eater, but I was pleasantly surprised by these. They had a great taste to them (almost nutty) and just the right amount of salt. These would be great for dipping in salsa or guacamole. I bet they’d make some mean nachos, too! I would definitely buy these for a party.

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Well, off to veg for the rest of the night. I already feel the soreness setting in to my legs. No big plans tomorrow – just more errands. What about you?

My First Maranatha…and Time-Saving Tips

It’s Thursday! You know what that means? Tomorrow’s Friday! 😀

Today was not a good day for me at all, so I’m just going to focus on a product review and a time-saving tip or two.

Have you entered my giveaway yet???? You have until Saturday at 11:59 p.m. ET. And if you win, you’ll get (among other things) a jar of this:

I have read rave reviews on many a food blog about Maranatha No Stir Creamy Peanut Butter, so I was pretty pumped to try this.

I typically eat regular, all natural peanut butter made with nothing but peanuts and salt. This peanut butter has added palm oil and cane juice. After an intial stir and some time in the fridge, the consistency is much like that of shelf-stabel peanut butters, like Skippy and Jif.

Being the classy lady that I am, I taste-tested this with my right index finger. My reaction? Eh, it’s ok. Don’t get me wrong – I’ll eat it all, eventually. But after eating peanut butter with nothing added other than salt for so long, this didn’t even really taste like peanuts to me. If you grew up on Skippy and still miss the taste of it, then you will love this. I wouldn’t buy it for myself, personally, though.

I’ll review the final few products in the giveaway tomorrow and Saturday. Check back in!

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Now that I’m training for a half marathon, I have to save time however I can. Training takes up a lot of time! My training schedule called for 5 miles on Wednesday. I had been doing my runs in the evening after my baby girl went to bed, but it’s starting to get dark earlier and earlier. So I decided on Tuesday night that I would get up at 4:45 a.m. and run before work. I’d rather run when it’s dark, but getting lighter instead of when it’s light, but getting darker!

Getting up that early to run took some planning ahead. Here are a few things that helped me save time in the morning (and make sure I had no excuses NOT to run!):

1. Packed my lunch the night before. I typically do this anyway, but I can’t stress enough how much time this saves me in the morning. I hem and haw sor far too long about what I want to pack for lunch. I would spend my whole morning trying to decide!
2. Laid out my workout clothes. This eliminated any fumbling around in the dark. I laid out my gear, including shoes and iPod, right next to the bed. That way they were staring me in the face when my alarm went off at the ungodly time of 4:45! No excuses.
   

   Look what just came in the mail!!!

3. Prepped my breakfast the night before. Until I discovered the world of food blogs, I never would have thought to do this. What a time-saver! I tend to eat a pretty extravagant breakfast, spending about 15-20 minutes making it in the morning. Tuesday night, I made Overnight Protein Oats.

This bowl contained:

• 1/2 cup of old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup of plain, nonfat yogurt
• 1 mashed banana
• cinnamon
• vanilla
• 2 Tbs of Nutribiotic vanilla rice protein powder

In the morning, I popped it in the micro for 1 minute (I have eaten it cold before though). I topped it with a few raisins, some walnuts, and a drizzle of TJ’s maple/agave blend.

This bowl didn’t satisfy as much as a piping hot bowl of protein oats, but it did the trick – and saved me a ton of time in the morning.

What’s your best time-saving tip??

Rainy Days and Mondays

Anyone up on their ’70s music? Did you catch the Carpenters reference in my title?? [I actually despise ’70s music, but I have a soft spot for the Carpenters…] 

Moving on. 

Today was both a rainy day and a Monday. Blah. It definitely called for a pancake! Perfect comfort food. I have finally perfected my protein pancake recipe. These are the 2 stars of the show: 

 

Here’s my recipe: 

• 2 heaping Tbs of Instabake
• 2 heaping Tbs of Nutribiotic vanilla rice protein powder
• cinnamon to taste
• 1/2 cup of egg whites
• 1 Tbs of wheat germ
• 2 Tbs of nonfat plain yogurt
• splash of almond milk (or soy milk)

Here’s the end result, topped with some Smart Balance Light and 1/2 Tbs of Trader Joe’s maple syrup/agave blend: 

 

Deeeeeelish! I like to pour all my batter into one pan, but this makes enough that you could make 2-3 smaller pancakes. I do one pan because I’m too impatient and too busy to wait for several pancakes to cook! No griddle here; just a skillet. 

I forgot to snap a pic of my lunch before I headed out to work today. I brought a La Tortilla Factory whole wheat wrap with Trader Joe’s raw almond butter, sliced banana, and raisins, along with a plain Chobani. Mmmmmm. 

Time-saving tip: I always pack my lunch the night before. Saves me time in the morning and keeps me from buying something instead of packing something! 

Dinner was unspectacular and definitely not photogenic, so I will skip ahead! 

It was hubby’s turn to put baby to bed tonight. (By the way, my little girl is now 17 months. Growing up so fast!) We still alternate putting her to bed, which works out great with my half marathon training plan. I headed out at 7:40 p.m. for a dark and rainy 3.4 mile run. I killed it! I ran a 9:08 min. mile pace. My fastest yet! 😀 

And now, a couple product reviews: 

Earth’s Best Sesame Street® Organic Snackin’ Fruit Hearts 

There they are - front and center.

 

I’m a huge fan of Earth’s Best Organic snacks. I buy them for my daughter all the time and she loves them. So I knew these wouldn’t last long! I was right, too! She gobbled these up in no time flat. She did share a few with me though. They were really yummy – great blueberry flavor. And what I love most is that they are made with whole grains and don’t have much sugar – just 5g in one serving. I would definitely buy these! 

Garden of Eatin’® Popped Tortillas 

Clearly I opened these long before taking a picture!

I’m not a big chip eater, but I love to try new things. These chips were very light and airy. I immediately loved that you can see the whole flaxseeds in the chips. 

 

These were a bit salty for me when I ate them by themselves. But when dipped in hummus – heaven! Not sure I would buy these,  but they are a nice treat. I especially love that there are 20 chips to a serving, for only 110 calories. And one serving delivers 3g of fiber. 

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Stay tuned… I will review the rest of the products as the week goes on. 

Want to try these products for yourself? Don’t forget to enter my giveaway! You have until Saturday night! Be sure to visit www.TakeAHealthyBite.com too and register for the Family Fitness Fun Challenge!

“Since you’ve been gone…”

Hey! So, it’s been about 4 months… This Kelly Clarkson song came to mind when I was trying to think about how to re-introduce myself into the blogosphere after such a long time!

Let me start with an apology. I truly had no intention of being away from my blog for months. Life got busy – days turned to weeks, weeks to months. And let me tell you, a lot has happened in those 4 months!

Here are some of the highlights that I negelected to blog about during the last 4 months:

1. I went to 3 concerts. I saw Pearl Jam twice in May and Jack Johnson in July. All great shows!
2. I fell in love with running! I have always wanted to be a runner, but I was never “good at it.” I thought it was boring; I thought of it as a chore. despite the fact that I could ride a Spin bike for hours on end, I just could never get my legs to run for more than 15-20 minutes. But one day in May, I decided I’d go out for a run, since I hadn’t attempted one in a long time. I’ve been running (and running and running) ever since.
3. I signed up for my first half marathon!!! Time to stop talking about and just do it! I signed up for the Boston Athletic Association Half Marathon in October. I’m in the midst of a 10-week training program now. I’m getting fast by the day. My most recent run was 6.3 miles at a 9:21 pace. Not too shabby considering I never thought I could be a runner! Not only am I training for the half, I’m raising money for cancer research in the process! I need to raise at least $500 and I’m almost half way there. See my progress here. 
   

   (Source: rundanafarber.org)

4. I got a new job! The job that I was at when I last blogged was a big part of why I was away from my blog for so long. Work got busier and busier with fewer and fewer people… I was putting in 9+ hours in the office, then coming home and working some more. And it wasn’t even work that I really enjoyed. Now I have a job that I absolutely love! I won’t reveal exactly where I work, but I will tell you that it is a healthy food company with a national brand. Sure, I traded in a 12-mile round trip commute for a 100-mile roundtrip commute, but I am soooo much happier! And they were willing to work with me on my schedule so I’m able to leave when I need to so I can get all the way back to pick my daughter up at daycare on time.

Ok, so if you read all that, there should definitely be something in it for you right?! 🙂 Well there is! I present to you the Family Fitness Fun Challenge giveaway pack!

The giveaway pack contains the following:

• Garden of Eatin’® Popped Tortillas
• ALMOND DREAM™ non-dairy beverage
• Earth’s Best Sesame Street® Organic Snackin’ Fruit Hearts/ Rings
• MaraNatha® Organic No Stir Peanut Butter
• Health Valley® Granola Bars
• Free Earth’s Best Frozen Product Coupon
• Sports Authority® gift card ($25 value)

I still have a few products to try, so I’ll be posting reviews all week long!

Here’s how to enter:

1. Visit TakeAHealthyBite.com and leave a comment here telling me which product you’re most interested in trying and what your favorite “outside the gym” fitness activity is. Don’t forget to to register for the Family Fitness Fun Challenge while you’re there! When you register, you’ll receive great coupons!
2. For a second entry, tweet about my giveaway: @healthyfitmama.
3. For a third entry, link back to this post in your blog and leave a comment telling me you did so!

The giveaway will end on Saturday, 8/27 at 11:59 p.m. So have at it!

Oh – and welcome back to my little blog. 😉

We have a winner!

The winner of the Celestial Seasonings Wellness Kit giveaway is…..

pixie13 who said:

The Blueberry Cool Brew Iced Tea sounds yummy.

Congrats! Send me your address as soon as possible at healthyfitmama@yahoo.com and I’ll make sure you get your prize!

Thanks to all who entered!