Lessons Learned This Week

Sometimes, I'm an awesome cook.
I don't want to brag, but every once in awhile, I can whip up a delicious meal. My specialty, though, is throwing random ingredients together and it miraculously turning into a freaking FANCY FEAST. Earlier this week, I was thinking about what I wanted for dinner (let's be honest, when am I not thinking about food?). I had already made the recipes I had set out to make for the week, so what was remaining in my fridge and cabinets had to work. I didn't measure anything, so below are just the ingredients, and I'll try to remember specifics when I can. But that's part of the fun! Ladies and gents, I give you Turkey-Quinoa burgers:

Ingredients:

I need prettier plates for food porn...

• 1 lb ground turkey (I'm weird about only using some of the meat and then saving the rest for later, so this produced enough to feed 4 people - i.e., I ate this for 4 meals)
• Quinoa - I want to say I used 3/4 cups, but who knows
• 1 egg
• Garlic
• Soy sauce - just a little bit
• Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning
• Goat cheese (again - makes everything better)
• BBQ sauce

Have I mentioned I
love goat cheese?

Cook the Quinoa, and combine everything but the goat cheese and BBQ (although the barbecue sauce would probably be pretty delish in the mix). Add the cooked Quinoa, but don't burn yourself like I did. Maybe letting it cool for a few minutes would be smart. Mix it all together with your hands and then form 4 patties. they're pretty good size patties, so you can make them smaller if you wish. Cook on the stove top til they're done! I added the goat cheese on top and dipped in the BBQ sauce. I served mine with a baked sweet potato with coconut oil and cinnamon. Then, step back and admire your efforts before devouring. 



Sometimes, I'm not a good cook.
Maybe the term I should use is "baker". It's not my strong suit. I was once again on the hunt for a healthy, protein based snack/breakfast. I came across a local gal's blog, Treble in the Kitchen, and she had a recipe for high protein banana muffins. YUM. The ingredient list and instructions are so simple. How could I go wrong?

Ingredients:

• 1 large banana, smashed
• 3/4 cup liquid egg whites
• 1/2 cup plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup oat flour (oats ground up!) - I used my freaking expensive almond flour
• 2 scoops of your favorite protein powder (I used chocolate)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• sprinkle of cinnamon
• I added a little bit of cocoa powder, since I used chocolate protein powder. Figured it'd help with the chocolately goodness

So, I made a few of my own tweaks, and am struggling to figure out why this went so wrong. I combined everything in a bowl, and the batter tasted bomb-diggity. I'm still figuring out my stupid electric oven, so I put them in at just under 350 degrees for 13 minutes and went about cleaning up my mess. About 8 minutes in, I peek into the oven window to gaze at my delicious efforts coming to fruition and OH MY GOD WHAT'S HAPPENING?? The muffins are growing and oozing off of the side of the pan. They're all going their own directions and dripping to the bottom of the stove. 

Gross.

I think to myself that maybe they'll settle down as they cook, so naturally, I leave them alone. Then they start to smell a bit burnt, so I took them out with a couple minutes to spare on the timer. I wish I could've captured my face when they were taken out of the oven. These things looked disgusting. I repeat, DISGUSTING. It honestly looked like a dog crawled into my oven and defecated in each and every one of the muffin cups. Graphic description, yes, but one look at them and you know it's true. Poop muffins.
 

Told you.

After some f-bombs were dropped and some laughs were had, I figured I had to at least try them. I avoided the muffin tops, because 1. they looked like dog poop and 2. they were pretty burnt. The muffins wouldn't come out of the paper very easily, but the insides were actually pretty good. So I ask, where did I go wrong? Was it the almond flour instead of oat flour (that's my guess)? Cocoa? I'm definitely willing to try to make them again because I think they could be amazing, but I'll follow the recipe to a T next time...I'll let you know how it goes.  

Color Runs are fun.

Had a great time yesterday at The Color Run Indianapolis - looking forward to doing it again sometime! I highly recommend it, even if you're not a runner. We walked a lot of it, taking our time at each color station. I did a sumersault through the blue section :)  What's your fave 5K?

My skin is still blue.

Sweat much?

Drinking like you're in college takes twice as long to recover from when you're not in college anymore. 

This morning's attempt to make up for
last night's shenanigans.

Happy Sunday. It's been pretty freaking lazy so far, as I wait for my headache to dwindle. I've been cringing less about the amounts of  beer and peppermint patty shots consumed and more about eating my body weight in Oreo popcorn, pizza, bacon covered peppers, cookies and cupcakes. I could birth a bakery. But it was a BLAST! Your friends only have birthdays once...a year...Needless to say, last night was excessive. But I'm not going to beat myself up over it. 

My workout alarm - because
sometimes we need a gentle push.

Wait - yes I am. 5 mile run in 85 degree weather plus a stair workout is in my near future. Time to get my ass back in gear with the training. Last week was OK - a couple runs and workouts were cut short due to not having an inhaler. But I got that taken care of on Friday and I'm ready to breathe easy and sweat like a pig! Aside from a giant, greasy breakfast (I did good and had a healthy one today -- see above), an awesome workout has been a pretty good hangover cure for me. I may dread it at the time, but it's always been worth it. If I'm willing to put unhealthy, AWESOME food and beer in my body, I better be just as ready to sweat it out! See, people? Balance. :) 

Recap Whilst Resting

Well, aside from getting my first blog post out just before midnight, Monday was pretty uneventful. Wouldn't it be amazing if Mondays were our "transitional" days? You'd accomplish work/business-wise what you would on a typical Sunday (nothing), except you'd be sitting in front of your desk, doing whatever else you wanted (shopping online, folding laundry, etc.). That way, on Tuesday, you're ready to rock-n-roll. Makes perfect sense to me.

I did manage to get some good food and a good-ish workout in.

Breakfast consisted of 1/4 C Quaker Oats cooked with vanilla soy milk and topped with cinnamon and a dollop of almond butter.

Snack Time #1 is usually around 10 am, unless I'm starving, then I'll sneak it in a little early. But that only happens, oh say, 4 out of every 5 work days. So I walk into the break room and BAM. Panera cookies. EVERYWHERE. It's like Santa himself dumped his sleigh of goodies all over the counter and told me what a good girl I'd been. I look through them, trying not to drool. Double chocolate...chocolate chip...sugar..oh my. BUT - I scowled and pouted my way to the fridge for my Greek yogurt, blueberries, raspberries and bananas. And after I ate that (ended up adding a little Agave nectar, coconut and almonds because it's delicious that way), I felt like I conquered a huge challenge. I don't ever want to deprive myself of something I want, but it's all about moderation. And with it being only Monday, there were bound to be things I'd give into the rest of the week (like beer(s) at last night's sand volleyball game - DUH).

Nice try, Satan.

Lunch was a thrown together salad, consisting of spinach, celery, carrots, lemon pepper tuna, goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. {Side note: Goat cheese makes everything better.} Then I chowed down on some celery and hummus.

For whatever reason I was so full after lunch that I didn't snack until I got home from work. Banana, cashews and raisins. Then before hitting the gym, threw some almond butter on a rice cake and headed out.

I'm following Hal Higdon's Novice 2 Half Marathon Training Schedule, so Mondays are scheduled as a "rest" day. I didn't really feel like resting, so I took advantage of Day 1 of a 2 week free trial of a gym near my apartment. Since it wasn't a run day, I figured I'd at least get some low-impact cardio going and hopped on a stair-stepper. This is the particular stair-stepping machine where the steps actually move, like an escalator. I set it at an interval workout on level 11 (I'm in shape, right?) and begin at a slow speed. Ok, not bad. Bump up the speed in 3-2-1-go...It's still manageable. I begin to take in the scenery around me, ready to people watch and maybe browse through some TV channels when I suddenly realize I am nowhere near coordinated enough to not watch my feet hit the moving steps and grab what I've now dubbed the "oh shit!" bars as I panic to figure out how the hell to pause this thing. Once I get it stopped, take a look around me and am fairly confident nobody saw me, I resume my workout, hands never leaving the oh shit bars and eyes never leaving the stairs. After 30 minutes of that, I hit up a core works class and left the gym glistening like a lady sweating like a muthafucking pig.

Dinner - I went grocery shopping for a few things (like Peanut Butter & Co's Cinnamon Raisin Swirl (OMG yum, except it was almost $7 at my store for that little fucker). It was late when I got home and I was in no mood to cook.

Always making room for the important things

I also wanted something sweet. Off  I surfed to search for a healthy mug cake. JACKPOT, people! Found this little nugget of a recipe from Andrea Smith Fitness and I'm hooked. 
 

Almond flour - FREAKING EXPENSIVE.

INGREDIENTS :

• 1 scoop of chocolate casein protein powder (I used regular chocolate whey protein powder)
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon of coconut or almond flour (I used almond flour)
• 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder used for baking
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/4 cup of water or coconut milk (I used water)
  
  
  
  
  
  Mix it all together in a bowl and then pour it in a sprayed coffee cup. Pop it in the microwave and cook for 30-45 seconds. For mine, I had to do 10 second intervals after that, as it was still a bit gooey. Once it was done, I popped it on to a plate, and though initially it looked kind of disgusting, I dressed it up with some raspberries and butterscotch chips and OHMIGOD. That thing was devoured in a matter of minutes. Best. Dinner. Ever. 
  
  
  

  

  The blurriness of this photo is credited to my inner
  fat kid dying to dive into this dessert.

I'll leave you with the highlights my Tuesday and today:

• Got a solid run and arm workout in before volleyball
• We won our volleyball game
• The beer tasted great
• This isn't so much a highlight as a confession - utilizing today as my rest day. Giving the ole creaking knees a break and going to attempt to catch up on some sleep after a few late nights!  

Is anyone else ready for it to be Friday? Happy Hump Day!

Crises Are the New Cool

What. Am. I. Doing? I’m stealing the term “Quarter-Life Crisis” from my good pal Dori, because when she mentioned that she was going through one, a light bulb went off. That’s what’s happening to me, too.

I can no longer say I’m in my early 20s. I just (barely, people) passed the 25th mile-marker. That’s not an issue for me. My age hasn’t ever really bothered me. But it’s what’s happened in my 26th year on Earth that’s gotten me to this point. After some life-altering happenings (albeit freaking blessings) in the blur of a month called April, I took a slap to the face and ran with it and have since chosen a new outlook on life.

The word “crisis” is often associated with something negative or undesirable...

Shit. Life #9 - DONE.

But, in reality, it doesn’t necessarily mean impending doom. The origin of the word “crisis” literally means to decide. So, what choices have I made recently during my time of “deciding”?

Well, I'm being selfish and doing what I want. So far, it's been a blast. I've got a new apartment that I'm DIY-ing the shit out of and staying beyond busy with work, friends and family. Then I decided to throw getting fit and healthy again back in the mix. For the record, I wasn't terribly un-healthy...I'm a retired collegiate athlete...I just took my retirement a bit more literally than I should have.

 

I had joined some intramural teams with friends - a little softball, dodgeball, kickball, and sand volleyball at various times throughout the last 2 years - which was keeping me active a day or so a week. I'd start Insanity or P90X and get a few weeks in (OK, sometimes only a few days in) before something more important anything else would come up and I'd go that route instead. It was so easy to skip a workout. Sure, I'd feel guilty...for like, 5 seconds. Then it was back to something more fun. I had joined a gym, but dropped my membership after not going...it was too crowded after work...too far away...blah freaking blah.

It wasn't until April 2013 rolled around that I was forced to really take a look at my life and what I want out of it. And I realized I missed being fit. Healthy. Energetic. I knew that getting there would require some pain-in-my-ass (literally and figuratively), fights with myself and conquering my lack of self-control when it comes to delicious food and drinks. In order to look forward to working out and incorporating those sessions as habits, I knew I'd have to go through the period of forcing myself to do it when it was the last thing I wanted to do.

So, I started running. I know, college athlete = amazing runner, right? WRONG. I played volleyball. It was all about quick, explosive movements, sprints, plyometrics and strength training. Our running never exceeded more than 1 mile. Up until that point in my life, 2 (two, dos, zwei) 5Ks were the most I'd ever run in my LIFE, and that was back in 2011 and 2012. I thought I climbed Mount f*****g Everest after those.

True story.

But I kept doing it. Half mile here, half mile there, then 2 miles. That was my wall. I'd crap out and call it a day. I needed something to push me. A goal with a hard date. So I signed up for The Color Run 5K that's actually this upcoming weekend (so pumped!). But that wasn't good enough. I needed more of a challenge. So I signed up for Warrior Dash again (I did it last year - one of my 2-in-my-lifetime 5Ks). Last year's Dash was a blast - however, I was so out of shape, all I could think about was not dying. Having the goal of actually completing it with some dignity was a step up. That's August 17. So we're good, right? Wrong. Let's push ourselves a bit, Mags, come ON. 

I saw my good friend, old roommate, old teammate and mommy of a 4-year-old recently. It had been a while since we'd seen each other, as she lives a few hours away. Amber's always been fit and healthy, but when I saw her, good Lord the girl was ripped! I was so impressed. She recently took a new job, running the gym/wellness program for a big company in Southern Indiana. She leads classes, does personal training, answers questions, the whole shebang. I've told her once and I'll tell her again that she was a big part of my motivation to get my ass in gear. I had no excuses. She's a busy mom, for crying out loud! So she and I decided it would be "fun" to sign up for what's dubbed "the toughest event on the planet" - Tough Mudder. I have heard stories to give me nightmares about this event. So naturally, I'm all in. Payment was sent with no refunds allowed. 

Whew! Some good stuff and awesome challenges to look forward to, for sure. But then Dori (my fellow quarter-life crisis pal), who's always been an avid runner, threw out the idea of a half marathon...in September...two weeks after Tough Mudder. The logical, smaller portion of attitude in me said, "HELL NO". But the larger, impulse-driven, why-the-hell-not attitude in me said, "Why the hell not?!". Logic - 0 Impulse - 1. Payment sent. 

I plan to center the majority of this blog around training and prepping via exercise and nutrition for the hellacious events ahead of me. But let's be honest...I'm not a fitness expert. I'm not a nutrition expert, and I still love to have a good time with my friends (good time = beer, vodka, terr(delicious)ible food and lots of laughs). But I'm willing to give it a try, and we'll see if we can find a happy medium.

Yay for my first blog post, and thanks for the endless support of my family and friends whom I'm forcing to read this.