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!

Branching Out

Hey friends! Sorry I’ve been away so long again.

So, one of the greatest things about my new mostly-vegetarian lifestyle is that it has really forced me to branch out and try new recipes. You can’t just eat sauteed veggies every night, right?!

Tonight I tried this great recipe for Southwestern Quinoa with Black Beans. I used red quinoa and a mix of orange and red peppers. For a protein boost, I had some Trader Joe’s chickenless pulled “chicken” with it.

These two went quite well together! The quinoa was delightfully spicy, but not too hot; and substantial, but not too heavy. What a nice change from veggie burgers and sweet potatoes (not that I don’t love that combo!). I will be making this again, for sure.

Do you like quinoa? What’s your favoite way to eat it?

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I have to admit, I’ve been a little – make that A LOT – bored with my Spinning bike lately. I’d much prefer to do a circuit training DVD than ride my bike for 45 minutes. I do need to give my muscles a break from strength training sometimes though. So I forced myself onto my bike tonight. Surprisingly, I really go into it! I think the key was the music. I put on some great music and focused on it – and sang! It was great! 45 minutes was over before I knew it.

How do you keep your workouts fresh?

Back on Track

Hey all! I hope you had a great Valentine’s weekend. Mine was quite indulgent!

Hubby and I went out to a lovely Mexican restaurant where I consumed obscene amounts of freshly made tortilla chips and guacamole, chicken-chick pea-black bean salad with poblano pepper vinaigrette, followed by some food-gasmic chocolate cake with fresh whipped cream and raspberry drizzle. (Shame on me for leaving my camera in the car… :-() Oh – and did I mention that I washed it all down with a Chupacabra (tequila, liquor 43, and pomegranate puree)?

My belly was so full, I practically had to be rolled out of the restaurant at the end of the night! 🙂

I followed up my indulgent night with a brunch of french toast casserole. So good…but not the healthiest thing ever.

So it goes without saying that it was time to get back on track today. For me, getting back on track means starting the day with a nutritious breakfast.

• 1/3 cup of oat bran
• 1 HUGE banana
• vanilla
• cinnamon
• raisins
• 1 tbs of PB drizzled on top
• egg whites on the side

Carbs? Oats, banana..check! Protein? Oats, eggs, nut butter…check! Healthy fat? Peanut butter…check! Yep, this breakfast had it all!

I kept my healthy day rolling by sneaking in a brisk 15-minute walk at lunchtime and a 50-minute ride on my Spinning bike this evening.

How do you get back on track after indulging?

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Be sure to stay tuned this week for an exciting OpenSky promo!

Take Time to Stretch

Lately I’ve been really stiff and achy…which definitely takes a toll on my motivation to exercise. Yesterday in particular, my hips were killing me! It was supposed to be my night to ride my Spinning bike, but I just couldn’t do it. It’s my own fault – I hardly ever take time to stretch after I work out. 😦 

Rather than taking the night off from exercise though, I decided to try some yoga. I went to my new go-to exercise video source – ExerciseTV. I pulled up the Yoga Fitness Fusion video, turned off the lights (using only the light of my computer screen to see what the heck I was doing), and got down to business. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this video was both challenging (hello quads!) and relaxing. I was able to get some great toning exercises in, and more importantly, stretch out all my tight muscles – namely, my hip flexors. 

I felt amazing after my 45 minutes of yoga! What a great reminder of the importance of stretching after a workout. I plan to incorporate more stretching into my exercise routine – and do a yoga video at least once a week. 

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I’m still working on my exciting blog addition… Hopefully I’ll have that up in the next few days. 

In the meantime, here are some of my eats from today. Warning: I totally failed at taking pictures today. I mean, I took pictures, but they are crazy blurry. I need to slow down a bit and steady my hand before I shoot! 

Breakfast: 

pumpkin oat bran with raisins and walnuts, with 1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg

 

Lunch & Snacks: 

apple, banana, Chobani, protein shake, turkey wrap

 

Dinner: 

ground turkey seasoned with garlic salt and pepper, zucchini, onion, and Trader Joe's marinara

 

I used frozen, crinkle cut zucchini for this dish. So quick and easy! You can get just about anything frozen. Super convenient and super cheap! 

Exercise: 

45 minutes on the Spinning bike 

Question of the day: Do you use frozen fruits/vegetables? Why or Why not?

Baby Food Making 101

Hey bloggies! I’ve been thinking a little more about my blog since I revived it this past weekend and I think for 2010 I’m going to be a little more focused in my posts. Part of the reason I let my blogging fall by the wayside is that it got too tedious – too much detail about my every move and every meal.

Going forward, I’m going to try to have a specific topic in mind for each post, and then highlight some of my latest and greatest eats, as well as my exercise at the end.

Hope you enjoy the new concept!

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Ever since my daughter started eating solid foods, I’ve been making her baby food myself (with the exception of meats – I can’t get into pureeing chicken breasts!). I want to raise her to favor whole, natural foods over processed, “fake” foods.

I was not raised on the most nutritious foods (sorry mom!), so I always chose Pepsi over water, Snickers over fruit, and Pop Tarts over oatmeal. It was a struggle for me to change my eating habits. I want to make healthy eating natural for my little girl.

When I first started making baby food, I used all fresh produce. Now that I’m on a tighter budget, though, I’ve discovered that I can make baby food that is just as nutritious using frozen fruits and vegetables. The only thing I buy fresh now is apples.

Which brings me to my baby food making how-to!

Making applesauce for babies is no different than making regular applesauce. I simply peel, core, and slice 1 bag (about 3 lbs) of apples, toss them in a saucepan with about 1/4 cup of water, and cook over medium heat until soft.

When my daughter was a little younger, I used to puree her apples in my Magic Bullet. Now that she’s almost a year old, I just mash them.

Once mashed, I fill up ice cube trays with the applesauce and freeze it. It’s easy to store and easy to use! I simply pop a few cubes in the microwave for a minute and voila!

I do the same with frozen veggies, like peas, carrots, corn, squash, and broccoli.

butternut squash

My freezer is full of bags like this:

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FOOD

I haven’t been great at photographing my food lately, but here are some of the highlights of my eats for the last couple of days:

banana and almond butter on a whole wheat sandwich thin with 1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg, scrambled

 

1/2 cup of oatmeal, 1 medium banana, vanilla, cinnamon, 1 tbs ground flaxseed, raisins, and 1 tbs of drizzly PB

Work Lunch - protein shake, turkey and light mayo on a whole wheat sandwich thin, apple, Z Bar, Greek yogurt

FITNESS

Monday – I was due for a day off so I took it on Monday. It felt great to relax my sore muscles!

Tuesday – 45 minutes on my Spinning bike

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As I mentioned above, I wasn’t exactly raised on healthy food. Our house was always stocked with Pepsi, Chips Ahoy cookies, chocolate ice cream, and more. What about you? What kind of foods were you raised on?

A Day in the Life…

Hey everyone! Long time, no post! Life seems to have gotten in the way of my blogging hobby… Needless to say, I’m way overdue for a post!

I thought, since I’m so busy these days, I’d give you a glimpse into my day-to-day activities – a day in the life of Healthy Fit Mama!

When I accepted this new job, I worried about how I would fit everything into my day. I certainly didn’t want to give up my exercise, and I definitely didn’t want to fall into the convenience food trap. But I’ve since discovered that it is possible to fit everything in (well, except blogging, I guess :-(). It just take a bit of planning.

Here’s what a typical day looks like:

5:00am – Alarm goes off.

5:30am – I finally get out of bed, grab a cup of coffee (thank you coffee pot timer!) and start putting myself together – hair, makeup, etc.

6:00am – Make breakfast. I rotate through a few different breakfasts, but there is almost always eggs, a banana, and some nuts or nut butter involved.

1/2 cup of oatmeal, 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, raisins, and walnuts

1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg

6:15 or 6:30am – Baby wakes up. I change her, make her breakfast, and feed her.

7:45am – I leave for work. Luckily, I only live 4 miles from the office!

8:00am – Arrive at work and get down to business!

10:00am – Enjoy a morning snack. I always pack my snacks and lunch the night before. This keeps me from making unhealthy choices. It also keeps my wallet nice and healthy! 😀 Snack is usually a protein shake, a Z Bar, or a Larabar.

12:00pm – Eat my lunch. I always have an apple and a sandwich or a wrap of some sort, either turkey or almond butter and jelly.

3:00pm – Afternoon snack time! I usually pack some Greek yogurt – mixed with cocoa powder and stevia of course! Mmmm, chocolate mousse! I recently started making my own Greek yogurt too. So easy, and definitely a cost savings!

5:00pm – Pack up and head home.

5:15pm – Come home and greet my gorgeous baby girl and get to work on dinner. I’m a big fan of things that take very little prep time and can be thrown in the oven.

6:00pm – Eat dinner with the hubby and baby.

baked chicken and acorn squash

6:45pm – Start the evening wind-down/bedtime routine with baby. My husband and I altnerate nights putting her to bed, so sometimes I get to start my exercise around this time.

7:30pm – Put baby down for the night (she sleep allllll night long now!! :-D). Change into my workout gear and get my butt movin’! I alternate between doing a workout video in the kitchen (it’s the largest room in our new apartment!) and riding my Spinning bike, which is stashed in a tiny extra bedroom.

8:15pm – Watch a little TV and catch up with the hubby.

9:00pm – Make my lunch and set the coffee for the next day.

9:30pm – Shower.

10:00pm – Bed – finally!

In addition to my more structured exercise in the evening, I try to make sure I move as much as possible while I’m at work – using the restroom that upstairs instead of the one right outside my door, taking walks at lunchtime, walking across the building to talk to co-workers rather than e-mailing them (provided I have time, of course).

And there you have it!

To be perfectly honest, I had a couple breakdowns my first week of work, feeling so stressed about how to keep up with my marriage, motherhood, my job, my exercise… But I’ve quickly gotten into the groove and proved to myself that I can make it all work! It’s also been great for me though, because it’s made me realize that I am only human and if I honestly can’t fit in an organized sweat session one day, it’s ok. I’ll be back at it the next day. 🙂

On the Road

Just when I thought baby was adjusted to the time change, she goes and wakes up at 5:30 this morning! I can’t really complain though – she gave me a good long stretch of sleep last night so despite the early wake up call, I feel rested.

Breakfast was a big bowl of oat bran and some eggs. This oat bran just sank in stomach and sat there like a rock. I’ve noticed lately that my oat bran is a little too filling. I may have to cut back my portion size.

1/2 cup of oat bran, 1 small banana, vanilla, cinnamon, 1 tbs of ground flaxseed, raisins, and walnuts

1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg

Around 8:15, hubby and I loaded baby in the car and made the 2-hour trek to our new apartment in Mass. We had a few things to take care of there – security deposit, measuring rooms, etc.

While we were there, I got a little hungry so I ate the apple cinnamon Z Bar I had packed in the diaper bag.

After we wrapped things up there, we hit the mall for some lunch. We opted for a sit-down restaurant so that I could more easily feed baby her lunch too. We ended up at California Pizza Kitchen where I had the grilled vegetable salad with grilled chicken – dressing on the side. It was good, but waaaay too big! I wish I had ordered the half size. I didn’t eat it all.

We got home around 2:30. Long day on the road! By then, I had fully digested my salad and was ready for a snack – Greek yogurt. I didn’t take the time to locate my camera before diving into my snack. 😦

Dinner was ground turkey taco salads again. I had taken some ground turkey out of the freezer a couple days ago, so it needed to be cooked up. Not exactly what I was craving, but it did the trick.

After I settled baby into bed, I had to drop my car off at the local garage. It needs front and rear brakes. Ouch. That’s going to hurt my check book.

When I got home, I changed into my workout gear and hopped on my Spinning bike for a 40-minute ride. I didn’t even start riding until 7:45. That’s late for me!

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I aplogize for my lack of commenting lately on all your lovely blogs! With all that’s going on, I just haven’t been spending much of my day in front of the computer. I haven’t forgotten about you all though! 🙂

Auntie!!

I’m so excited! I just became an auntie tonight! My older sister had a baby boy. What a year for me – first child and first nephew! Yay!

Ok, let me back up….

Breakfast was eaten pretty darn early today. Poor baby has no idea we changed the clocks back. Or maybe it’s poor mommy…?

oatmeal w/ banana, vanilla, cinnamon, raisins, and the last of the bag of walnuts

1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg

We spent much of the morning going through some boxes. Our new apartment is much smaller than where we lived in Colorado, so we’re going to have to leave a few things behind. Who needs 25 pint glasses anyway?!

Morning snack: plain Greek yogurt mixed with Stevia & cocoa powder, topped with a dollop of almond butter

Lunch: roast chicken with light mayo and lettuce on a La Tortilla Factory whole wheat tortilla

A high school friend of ours came over in the afternoon to see the baby. We all played with her and just talked and caught up for a couple hours.

Afternoon snack: Blueberry Z Bar

For some reason, I couldn’t think of anything that sounded good for dinner tonight. I was hungry early, thanks to the time change; so I just decided to make myself a protein shake for my dinner. It filled me up. but made me realize that I was severely lacking veggies today. Ooops.

almond milk, NutriBiotic rice protein powder, and frozen mango

I got a really good workout in tonight – 45 minutes on my Spinning bike. I was in the zone! I love that! I was absolutely dripping sweat when I was done.

After that, I took a quick shower and settled in for Heroes…with another whole wheat tortilla for a snack! My workout took a lot out of me. My body was craving carbs!

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I’m hoping to get over to the hospital tomorrow to see my sister and my brand new nephew! It’s already a busy week for me with the upcoming move and all, but I’m sure I can find time to go see the baby! 😉

Whole Foods vs. Trader Joe’s

I was up much later than usual last night, betweencarving pumpkins and celebrating my new job. So naturally I was exhausted when I got up this morning…and HUNGRY!

1/2 cup of oat bran, 1 banana, vanilla, cinnamon, 1 tbs of ground flaxseed, raisins, walnuts

(I had 1/2 cup of egg whites + 1 whole egg, too, but my camera batteries died and I was too hungry to hunt down some batteries before eating!)

The hubby was home with me today and we spent most of the morning looking for an apartment online. I was on the laptop, he was on the desktop.

Around 11, I took a break from the computer and made a protein shake.

3/4 cup of almond milk, 1/2 a banana, 2 tbs vanilla rice protein powder, cocoa powder, stevia, ice

After feeding baby her lunch, I made some lunch for myself.

chicken salad made with light mayo, lettuce, and pickles on a whole wheat tortilla

Baby was pretty fussy today, which only added to my exhaustion. It was just one of those days when she needed to be entertained every second.

I needed a little snack late this afternoon to get me through to dinner.

Dinner tonight couldn’t have been any easier! I cooked up some Gardein BBQ Pulled Shreds and put them on a toasted whole wheat sandwich thin, and paired it with steamed green beans.

It was my turn to put baby to bed tonight. (We’re doing every other night now.) She was asleep in her crib by 6:40, so I scurried to the basement and cranked out 40 minutes on my Spinning bike.

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Hubby and I are going to look at an apartment on Friday that sounds just perfect for us! One of the best parts – there’s a Whole Foods 1.1 miles away and a Trader Joe’s 1.3 miles away! I’ve been to Whole Foods (when we live in CO), but I have never been to TJ’s.

Have you been to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s? Which do you like best? 

A Reason to Be Optimistic

Good evening! I hope everyone had a great day. After today, I have a reason to be pretty optimistic about the job situation. More on that in a minute…

I totally forgot to turn the baby monitor back on after baby got up around 3:30 am… Ooops! I woke up at 6:45 and immediately went into baby’s room. She was awake, but just quietly playing in her crib. I have no idea what time she woke up!

I came downstairs to make myself a filling and delicious breakfast around 7:15 – Banana Bread Oatmeal and scrambled egg/egg whites.

Around 9 am, I got a call from the company where I interviewed (twice!) last week. The woman I spoke to let me know she was checking my references. I won’t go into much more detail, but let’s just say that I felt very optimistic about my shot at this job after I got off the phone! 🙂

Lunch today was another greek yogurt mixed with stevia and cocoa powder (sorry tummy)…

…and almond butter and apple butter on a whole wheat sandwich thin. Great combo, by the way!

Early in the afternoon, I took baby out with me to a local farmstand to get pumpkins. So, there I was, with a 14-pound baby strapped to the front of me and 10-pound pumkins in both hands, heading up the counter to pay when an older lady rushes up ahead of me to get to the counter first. Seriously, woman?! She was literally carrying one little bag of pumpkin seeds or something. Not only did she cut in front of me, but she complained about how long it was taking to pay for her stuff. Wow…

Anyway… Back at home, I was ready for a snack after my baby-carrying/pumpkin-lugging mini-workout. Enter protein shake:

• 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 2 tbs of brown rice protein powder
• 1/2 of an extremely overripe banana (perfect for shakes!)
• splash of vanilla
• 2 packets of stevia
• ice

I spent the late afternoon prepping my dinner so I could pop it in the oven shortly before 5. Tonight’s entree: Stuffed Peppers.

I used the biggest yellow peppers EVER! They were sooo filling.

After I put baby to bed, I jumped on my Spinning bike for a 40-minute ride. I was really feelin’ it today; dripping sweat when I was done. Just the way I like it!

So there is a good chance I will hear about this job tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll have good news to report in my next post!