Dog Tired

Work has been crazy busy these last couple months. This lead me to make poor food choices and sit on my butt all day long (aka, no exercise). I really need to learn how to avoid stress eating!

I'm determined to turn things around so I've started packing my lunches the night before my work day.

Lunch

Today's lunch bag consisted of banana, sandwich thin and Barney Butter.

What else would you do with these ingredients but make a banana peanut butter dog:)

Dinner

Patrick and I stopped at Ceres for a cocktail before heading home. I had a raspberry vodka with a sugar free red bull:

About mid-way through my cocktail my stomach started to grumble and I was instantly in a bad mood. I'm one of those girls that gets really pissy when I don't have food in my stomach.

First up, cup of the best tasting chicken tortilla soup:

The soup was so good that after my husband had a bite he ordered a bowl for himself. YUM!

A salad was featured on the daily specials menu and it had my name written all over it.

Ingredients:

• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Pea pod
• Cucumber
• Celery
• Cauliflower
• Red pepper
• Mixed greens
• Blue cheese
• Raspberry vinaigrette

I loved that all the veggies were cut up into bite size pieces. It's just like I make my salads at home but better because I didn't have to do any chopping:)

All mixed up:

Delicious and just what I needed!

Exercise

When I got home I put on my running shoes and went for a training run. I'm training for a 5K taking place in October. The run went really well which I attribute to the salad and cool fall weather.

Now, I'm off to use my foam roller to work out some soreness and take a cue from my pup and hit the hay!

Question:

What type of weather do you prefer to exercise in?

Fall is the perfect weather for me!

Active Saturday = Lazy Sunday

This weekend was great. My sister was in town and it was really nice being able to spend time with her. I haven't seen her in over 6 months and that is far to long for sisters to not see each other!

Before she arrived I asked her what she would like to do when she was in town. Her exact response was "just hang out ... be healthy". This response provided me with some challenges right off the bat. See when my sister comes in town we usually eat out at Chicago's best restaurants and then drink to much. So the "just hang out ... be healthy" response made my brain work, in a good way!

I think I came through with a pretty fun and active weekend. Friday night we walked to the movie theatre to see Robin Hood. The movie was just okay but I was very happy to be watching an okay movie because my sister was sitting next to me. Can you tell I missed my sister!!!

Once at the theatre we each ordered a diet coke, water, cocktail and some bacon popcorn.

After the movie we walked home and went to bed because I had an active day planned for us on Saturday.

At 10:30 Saturday morning we walked to Butler Field in Grant Park to participate in the 2010 Self Workout in the Park. The event started at 11:00am:

The main stage offered a bunch of different exercise sessions. Everything from Sexy Stretch, Ab Attack, Rock Bottom and my personal favorite Masala Bhangra. The instructor was so full of energy and you could tell she was having a really good time doing her high energy Indian style dance moves. She mentioned she just came out with a new video and I'm really hoping to purchase it soon!

The Chicago skyline was a great background for all the park workouts:

In between workouts my sister and I got facials from Garnier:

We were also lucky enough to participate in one of the Resistance Rebounding classes:

I really didn't think rebounding would give me much of a workout but I'm here to say that it is a fabulous workout. I can't even tell you how sore I was on Sunday.

Oh, I almost forgot! I was able to have a really good conversation with Mandy Ingber. You know who she is, she works out clients like Jennifer Aniston. Mrs. Ingber was so down to earth, nice and helpful! I ended up purchasing her yoga DVD and can't wait to try it out!

Due to all the exercise and Saturday night "hanging out" my Sunday was spent in a lazy way:)

All and all this was a really good weekend!

And She's Back...

It's been over a month since my last post and I think it is about time to start blogging away. My big project at work is complete, woohoo!!! I'm still working away at some personal issues but to be honest I will be working on personal issues my entire life and I think this blog is a good way to work out some of the issues that will pop up over the years.

I do want to thank everyone for your kind words and well wishes. The blog community really does have a bunch of great people in it!

I've done a lot of things during my month long hiatus so I thought I would just touch on some of the more interesting items. If you follow me on twitter (TraceyVeggies) you probably already know about most of these things but I can give you more detail about it on this post:)

Running - I'm happy to say that I'm doing a good job with my running plan. I've worked my way from sitting on my bum all day to running 25 minutes straight. This is really impressive for me since I haven't run more than 5 minutes at a time during my entire 33 years on this earth. So, yeah, Go Me!!! Plus, running is a bit easier when you have these views to look at while doing it:

My first 5K is going to be May 1 - this Saturday. I'm doing the Run to Remember which is a race that benefits the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation. The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing assistance to the families of our fallen heroes. This is such a great cause and I'm excited that it will be my first 5K experience!

Fleet Feet - A couple weeks ago I started getting really bad knee pain while I was running. I was bummed and frustrated because I thought this meant I wouldn't be able to continue my training for the 5K. I'm happy to say that I didn't just give up but instead headed to Fleet Feet to see what they could recommend to help reduce the pain.

I had the BEST experience at Fleet Feet Chicago. I ended up waiting about 30 minutes to sit down with, what I will call, a shoe specialist. I told my SS (shoe specialist) what type of exercise I was doing and the pain I was feeling in my knees. He put me on a treadmill and video taped my feet while I ran for about a minute. He slowed down the tape and shared with me the issues that could be causing the knee pain.

He picked out about 6 pairs of shoes that he thought would be good for me. I tried them out by running on the in-store track strip. I decided on a wonderful pair of Brooks sneakers, inserts and knee sleeves!

Old Town Oil - I found this amazing store which sells specialty olive oils and aged balsamic vinegars. If you are like me and love having balsamic vinegar on your salads or dipping a piece of french bread in a delicious tasting olive oil, you will love this place.

I love that this store does on premises bottling. The oils and vinegar are in spouted containers that allow you to taste before you buy. Once you pick the items you want an employee actually bottles and seals right in front of you, so you know you are purchasing the same product you just sampled! How great is that!

I wanted to take the entire store home with me but I knew that just wasn't possible so I made a touch decision and chose 1 vinegar and 1 oil.

The Jalapeno Balsamic vinegar has such an interesting taste and I love to add it to my salads!

The Garlic Olive Oil is so good I can't even put it into words. I've added it to salads, tossed veggies in it and roasted them in the oven, all kind of yummy creations can be done with this EVOO.

Freds - I was a bit leary of posting about Freds for fear that everyone would find out about this little gem located in the new Barney's building on Oak street. I really liked that I was able to get a seat on the patio without having to wait a couple hours. Freds is a restaurant with a little outdoor patio which is perfect to have a couple cocktails and dessert plate on a nice spring day. The food was okay, drinks were good, dessert was great and the view was spectacular!

The dessert plate was huge and plenty for the table to share:

I hope everyone has been doing great and I look forward to diving back into the blogging world!

Blog at ya later!

Bad Mood = Great Workout!

Tuesday was a crazy day. I woke up in a really bad mood which doesn't make for a pleasant day. I will tell you one thing, being angry really does make me have a fantastic workout! I ran like I've never run before and it felt great.

Let's take a look at Tuesdays eats!

Breakfast

The ever filling, 2 scrambled eggs with a ton of hot sauce:

Lunch

I wasn't all that hungry for lunch but I knew I needed to eat something before I did my lunch time workout.

Strawberry, banana Chobani yogurt. I will say I was not a fan of this flavor. It tasted a bit off to me so I'm going to stick with the peach from now on.

With a couple cinnamon teddy grahams:)

Granny Smith apple.

Dinner

Patrick and I stopped at Ceres so we could talk and grab a bite to eat.

I had a side salad with the house dressing. I love this dressing it is so good and has a ton of flavor!

Cup of buffalo chicken soup.

Ceres always does a great job of decorating. Check out just a few of the St. Patrick's day decorations:

The last part of dinner was some fettuccine noodles with broccoli.

Lot's of broccoli!

Exercise

I'm still working on the Couch to 5K running program. I'm doing better than I thought I would and have hopes of actually being able to run the entire 5K May 1.

Hope everyone had a wonderful day! I'm happy to say my bad mood lifted and I went to bed in a much better state of mind:)

Question

Do you tend to have better workouts when you are in a not so good mood?

I totally do. Bring on the angry girl music and I'm working my little heart out!

Packed Bags and Running Plans

I was a very good girl last night. Why? Because I packed my food bag with both breakfast and lunch items before I went to bed! I've already dug into my breakfast and it was pretty tasty but most likely will not keep me full until lunch.

Breakfast

This weeks repeat offender, water with Crystal Light mix:

Tazo Awake Tea:

1 jazz apple:

This is the first time I've had a jazz apple and it was good. I like my apples with a little bit more tart. I think I will stick with Pink Lady's, so good, and how can you go wrong with a food named after characters in Greece!


Lunch

I was so excited to dig into my lunch today. I brought Amy's Organic Soups Fat Free - Alphabet! I LOVE this soup!

I was looking forward to eating this soup all day. I think there is something to be said for bringing your lunch to work. I like knowing exactly what I'm going to eat and being able to look forward to it all morning.

Salad with peppers, beans, mushrooms, cucumbers, eggs and tuna with a balsamic dressing.

And for dessert, a Chocolate Truffle from Molly's in Chicago!

This was heaven in the mouth. BEST truffle I've EVER had!!!

Happy Hour

Yet again the husband and I went to Ceres and I had a Captain Diet Coke.

Running Plans

My husband and I decided, this morning, that we are going to do a 5K run this year. We decided to do the "Run to Remember" on Saturday, May 1! I'm both nervous and excited about this joint endeavor. I've never been a runner but have always admired those people who found enjoyment and "going for a run" was a fun and relaxing thing to do. I want that! I really need to find ways to help with my stress levels and I think running might just be it.

I'm starting my "training" this coming Monday and plan to follow the Couch-to-5K running plan. After all, the title of the plan does describe what I'm trying to accomplish;) If anyone has any words of advice they would be greatly appreciated!

Wish me luck!

Dreary Morning

I'm so glad I was able to get out and enjoy the weather yesterday because today is very dreary.

Once I woke up and walked the dog I had a cup of coffee with peppermint creamer. I'm using Coffee Mate creamer which I know is not healthy for me but I just love this flavor. It only comes out around this time of year and puts me in the holiday spirit with every sip :)

For breakfast I cut up a very large apple and sprinkled some cinnamon on half of the slices. I believe this was a Macintosh apple and it was delicious!

After filling up on coffee and apple slices I jumped on the Wii Fit and started having some fun. I haven't used the Wii Fit in a long time and forgot how addicting the games are. So much fun and the perfect activity for a day like today!

Incorporate exercise into my life

I know how important exercise is to a person's well being. The benefits of exercise are the best, not only the physical but the mental benefits are amazing. I know this from what I've read as well as how I've felt, in the past, when I exercised. Exercise endorphins are amazing!

I really have no excuse to not be exercising. I have a gym in my office and an elliptical in my living room. Getting 30 minutes of exercise a day should be a piece of cake for me. I just need to get off my behind and do it.

Starting tomorrow I plan on doing sit-ups and some arm and leg floor exercises. I will continue doing this and will not give up (no matter how board I get!).

I can so do this. I will do this!

My Relationships with Food and Exercise

I love food. All kinds of food. Steak, pasta, french fries, vegetables, cake, soup, cocktails (okay not a food but I love a good cocktail!) and many more!

Over my lifetime I have had some issues with food. Some of these issues include overeating, not eating, binge eating and compulsive exercising. Although I have had these many relationships with food the one thing that stayed consistent is my love for it! Food is a constant in life and I need to learn to live with it in a healthy manner. I don't want this blog to be about loosing weight, instead I want it to be about how to live life in a healthy manner while still being able to indulge once in awhile.

Growing up I was always involved in competitive sports. From the time I was in 8th grade up until Senior year in high school, I trained for 40 hours a week. I loved the sport I was in so the training didn't feel like a chore it was something I looked forward to doing. Since retiring from my sport I have struggled to find a form of exercise that doesn't feel like a chore.

When I do exercise I get very frustrated at my physical condition. It is hard to struggle doing 50 sit-ups when I used to do a 1,000 a day. I need to get over the fact that I'm older and since I haven't been exercising consistently I am going to have to gradually work toward a healthy body. And you know what, I most likely will never have the body I had when I was working out 40 hours a week and I have to learn to accept that and appreciate the things I can do. After all, it's been about 16 years since I was in the ideal physical condition.

It's time to get healthy and stay that way!