Brie Fit

It’s been a fun weekend!  Unfortunately, today I’ve been ravaged by the allergy monster and have been snuffling and sniffling like crazy.  Ugh.  October and November are always tough for my allergies.

Last night Tim and I got all dolled up and went to a work event.  I wasn’t feeling great, but we still enjoyed ourselves.  (Although the food was terrible.  The entrée was chicken stuffed with crab, and my shellfish allergy meant I got a plain chicken breast.  Snooze.)

Today’s been a laundry day.  I did do some cooking, though!  We had walnut and rosemary oven fried chicken tenders, homemade mashed potatoes, and spinach salads for dinner.

The chicken was especially good.  Rosemary isn’t my favorite spice of all time, but combined with the walnut and the panko it was very nutty and fresh tasting. 

I also made my favorite wagon wheel taco pasta salad…with quinoa instead of pasta!  It’s my first adventure with quinoa, but it seems like a pretty awesome little grain so I’m excited to incorporate it more in the future.  I’m going to pack the salad in my lunch this week.

Anyway, I took Saturday and Sunday off CrossFit because my body’s been feeling pretty tired.  I’m looking forward to getting back to the box bright and early tomorrow!

What are your favorite quinoa recipes?

I’ve been in a car for way too long today.  A tiny shoebox car, at that.  And I’ve eaten far too few fruits and veggies.

But I’m home.  Finally.  Apparently I looked like hell when I rolled into the office around 3:30 because my boss told me to not worry about checking my e-mail and voicemail, and to just go home.

So I did.  And then I went to 6 pm CrossFit, which I missed almost as much as Tim and the pets.

We did 3 rounds of:

• 30 push-ups
• 30 sit-ups
• 30 overhead squats

I finished in 11:45.  Then we did a round robin type workout with planks, rope climbs, and burpees.

(I hate burpees.  I think they are my most reviled CrossFit exercise.)

Dinner was simple and quick: spinach salad, whole grain pasta with lean ground beef and spicy tomato sauce.

It’s good to be home.  I can’t believe tomorrow’s Friday!  Travel makes the work week fly by.

What weird things do you miss most when you travel?  (I always miss my own shower!)

It’s been a few days since I’ve foodcasted, so to speak, so here goes!

We woke up reasonably early and had breakfast before church.  I’ve been into smoothies lately, so I made one with frozen strawberries, blueberries, peaches, yogurt, and milk, with a Babybel on the side!

After church, I made lunch!

(one egg + one slice bacon + goat cheese on a multi-grain English muff, sliced apple with almond butter + Nutella for dipping)

It’s been chilly and dreary and rainy here today, so we spent most of the afternoon relaxing around the house.  I did several loads of laundry.  Milhouse snoozed.  A lot.

I did manage to make it to Sephora to purchase an eyeliner brush and brush cleaner, and got a 500 point gift filled with skincare samples to try.

And I snacked on some cherries and a square of this Ghirardelli chocolate, which I received from Foodbuzz as part of their Tastemaker program.

This Sea Salt Soiree stuff is off the hook.  Between the two of us, um, this bag is almost gone after just a few days!  I love sweet and savory together and this stuff is delish.

For dinner, I decided to embrace the soup weather:

I found this crockpot creamy chicken with wild rice soup recipe on Pinterest and knew it would be perfect.  I made some homemade whole wheat bread to have on the side, along with a spinach salad.  It hit the spot on such a chilly fall day!

Are you watching the Emmys?  Who are you rooting for?

…and with that, Travel Season 2011 is underway.

From right about now through November 18th, I’ll be on the road quite a bit.  September isn’t too bad, but in October, I will hardly see my office (or my house, for that matter) at all!

So.  I had a 6 am flight.  I don’t know why I do this to myself.  It SOUNDS appealing when I book it—early, can sleep on the plane, no travel back-ups to deal with—but when my alarm went off at 4:15 today I was cursing my decision.

Anyway, I slept on my flight from Kansas City to Detroit, and then had breakfast during my two hour layover—egg and cheese on an everything bagel and coffee.

Then I flew from Detroit to Toronto.  I was mad because they didn’t give us cookies.  I LOVE Delta cookies.  Boo.

Anyway, fun fact: this is my first overnight international trip.  We went to Cozumel for a day on our honeymoon, but since we were on a cruise and out on the water, I don’t count it.

So.  Canada charmed me instantly with all the French phrases everywhere.  How quaint!  I took a taxi to my hotel, checked in, and went to a nearby Tim Horton’s for a light lunch.  I’d never been to one, and all my Canadian friends seem to think they’re pretty fantastic. 

I had some mushroom soup , a roll, and yogurt.

(Look!  French!)

I was not blown away, but it was perfectly adequate for a quickie lunch.  Allegedly their bagels and pastries and coffee are the way to go, so I might go back for breakfast tomorrow.

(Also awesome: cost of living in Toronto is crazy high, so I get an awesome per diem.  Woo!)

After lunch, I decided to explore the city a bit on foot.  I walked about a mile to Queen Street and spent the afternoon browsing the shops.

I am pretty sure I’ve found what Tim’s personal heaven looks like:

Toronto is a really pretty city.  It reminds me a lot of Chicago, actually—it’s fairly clean, and the people seem friendly, and there’s a decent amount of greenery about.

Anyway, you know lululemon is my catnip, but I made it out with just one pair of socks (which I legit needed because I forgot my running socks at home):

I had quite a good time wandering the streets of Toronto.  The only thing I disliked is that there are no public bathrooms here!  I wound up having to get a special escort into some drugstore’s bathroom after three other places claimed to not have them.  Yeesh.

Anyway, I got back to the hotel but was super tired from the early morning and walking all afternoon.  But I wanted to get a little more exercise in, so I made up a hotel room workout while watching Say Yes to the Dress.

• 1 minute jump ropes
• 1 minute lunges
• 1 minute squats
• 1 minute sit-ups
• 1 minute push-ups
• Repeat X 4

Total: 20 minutes of a surprisingly good sweat session.  I felt pretty queasy afterwards for some unknown reason.  Yuck.

I then took a much-needed shower and decided to go to dinner solo and sans makeup.

You all know I love my makeup, but I felt great without it tonight so I skipped it.  Just a little lotion and I was ready to go!  It’s been awhile.  I should do this more often.

I had grand plans to explore some great Toronto restaurants, but since I wasn’t feeling great and was tired I just headed to a nearby bar/restaurant combo for an unremarkable dinner.

I had a side salad with oil and balsamic to start:

…and then I enjoyed half of this personal pizza (basil, assorted mushrooms, pepperoni, mozzarella) while reading A Clash of Kings.  (I’m about 90% done—spoil me and die.)

And now, it’s 7:41 local time and I’m in my hotel room planning to doze off to TLC within the next hour or two.  Three days in a row of getting up before 5 am means early bedtime!

Tomorrow morning: long run.  6-7 miles.  Internet, hold me accountable.

Makeup or no makeup?  Why or why not?

For the second time in two weeks, our air conditioner is broken.  Sigh.  Needless to say, it was a long, hot, nearly-sleepless night.   Not exactly the best start to the week, but I’m still kind of walking on air lately so…meh.

Anyway, after five days away from the office, my inbox was quite full! 

For lunch:

For snack:

It was a fairly fun day, though…my travel schedule got all shifted around and I booked probably 10 flights today!  I will officially be visiting the following places in October and November:

• Toronto, Ontario
• Iowa City and Des Moines, Iowa
• Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska
• Boise, Idaho
• Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona
• San Francisco, California
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Boulder, Colorado
• Norman, Oklahoma
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Atlanta, Georgia

Phew!  I’m actually not going to have a ton of time to enjoy the destinations, but I’m looking forward to visiting three new states I’ve never been to before (Utah, Arizona, and Oklahoma).

After work, I ran four miles.  It was painful.  The blisters I’m getting on the balls of my feet are just a nightmare and get super sensitive by my second mile.  Bleh.   It’s always something, right?

Dinner was a mish-mash that wound up being surprisingly good.

We had leftover roasted chicken with barbecue sauce, black beans cooked in cumin, lime juice, and garlic, and a few cantaloupe chunks. 

Tim starts his new job after labor day, so he is a man of leisure this week.  Last night, in the middle of the night, he urgently turned to me and said, “So what do you think about the ad?” to which I responded, “Um, what?” and he kept persisting, “You know.  The ad.”

Turns out, he was talking in his sleep after watching an episode of Mad Men.  It was pretty funny.

Do you talk in your sleep?

Not so much on the food photography this weekend—sorry, guys.

We did have a lovely Sunday dinner—I roasted a whole chicken with a sliced lime and garlic cloves stuffed up its butt, plus roasted potatoes and a spinach and strawberry salad.

I’ve actually been napping for much of the day (after church and brunch with Tim’s uncle).  I have this weird nausea thing going on which is often hormonal (no, I’m not pregnant), which is a bit bothersome.

Anyway, it’s obviously been a big and exciting week for us.  For SO LONG OMG we’ve been kind of saying “We’ll do X after we know what Tim’s job situation is.”  And it’s been intensely frustrating in many ways.  Not only have we  been trying to save money (which, let’s face it, is why this blog has been a little boring lately), we’ve been putting off major life decisions until we knew what was up in the name of being responsible adults.

So.  Without further ado, here are some things we are going to get going on, including some ch-ch-ch-changes I’ll be making in the fitness arena.

1. I talked a little bit about house hunting awhile back, but we hope to kick this into high gear in the next few months.  Our lease is up on November 30th, and ideally, we’d like to not have to pay an extra month or two’s rent beyond that.  We’re working on the whole pre-approval thing right now, and are starting to look for a realtor as well.  (Any recommendations in the Kansas City area?)  This whole thing is big and a bit scary, but exciting!  It’s a great time to be buying a home.
2. Babies are forthcoming (we hope), but not quite yet.  House is priority #1.  For various reasons, we’d like a fall/winter 2012 baby (if we could plan it, although I’m fully aware that’s not always possible), so we have awhile!
3. I’m sick of running.  There.  I said it.   I have the Nike Women’s Half on the schedule for October, and of course I’ll do it, but I’m not opposed to run-walking it and just having fun with it.  I may do a few shorter races, but honestly…it’s on the back burner for me.  I’m kind of feeling been-there, done-that about it all lately and frankly, if it’s not fun…why do it?  I tend to have a bit of workout ADD.  I like things for awhile, and then my interest in them wanes, and then I’ll come back to them.  I felt a little bit bad about this, like I should be all RUNNER! or whatever, but ultimately, my goal is to be healthy and fit.
4. Apropos of #3  above, I am 98.7% sure I will be joining Crossfit when they open near me next week.  It looks like I’ll be able to get in on the ground floor as a charter member for a good deal, and I’ve really enjoyed the community aspect of it and the fact that it’s always changing and not boring.   My current gym is free through my job, so I’ll still have that.  I think, going forward, I’ll probably attempt to run or swim or cross-train a two or three a week, and CrossFit two or three times a week.  I love to lift and I can’t wait to start seeing some strength gains and making new friends.
5. Apropos of #4 above, I’ve put on a few pounds due to all the stress lately.  I’m going to work on it.  I’m not totally sure how, but I’m not happy with the fit of my pants these days. 

In other news, I cannot decide whether to keep my hair pixie-esque or grow it back into a bob with blunt bangs.  Discuss.

I get a full unicorn sticker today!

I also win an award for self control.  My newly adopted, “If it didn’t walk in the door in your lunch bag, it’s not walking out the door in your tummus” rule worked its magic again!

I was invited to a breakfast this morning, and instead of going and eating delicious greasy biscuits and eggs and sausage, I ate my cereal beforehand and settled for a cup of coffee.  (Which totally does not count, because I would have had my own personal coffee, and this was a mere substitute, and whatever, it’s just coffee.)

I also resisted delicious breakfast leftovers all day, and was happy with my decision around noon when the grease congealed in the sausage pan and turned the whole thing into a Jell-O-esque brick.

Lunch:

Nothing exciting, but fresh and delicious.

Also, I joined DailyMile.  Follow me, or whatever you call it.

Snack:

After work, I went to the gym.  I felt like lifting, but also had a bit of a running itch, so I decided to run sprints between supersets.  I did:

• 400 m sprint: 2:07
• Superset: 3X deadlifts (12 @ 80 lbs) and shoulder press (12 @ 30 lbs)
• 400m sprint: 2:05
• Superset: 3X lunges (24 @ 50 lbs) and lat pulldown (10 @ 60 lbs)
• 400m sprint: 2:04
• Superset: 3X overhead squats (12 @ 40 lbs) and upright row (12 @ 40 lbs)
• 400m sprint: 1:59
• Superset: 3X dumbbell snatch (12 @ 25 lbs) and bicep curls (12 @ 20 lbs)

And that was that.  Pleasantly taxing.

And then it turned into the best day of my life when I got home.

Okay, so that was a bit of hyperbole.

Tim…is kind of a quintessential lawyer.  He follows rules, and this extends to his food preferences.  He is what I refer to as a strict constructionist.   This means that, if you are out of hamburger buns, and hamburgers are on the menu, well, it just does not belong on a slice of bread instead.  This also means that you eat breakfast for your first meal of the day, and never again.

(He also claims to be traumatized by school lunch breakfast for lunch—soggy eggs and the like.)

But I love breakfast.  I eat breakfast for lunch all the damn time.  And I would eat it for dinner all the damn time too if Tim didn’t have this rule.

So, last week, I made puppy dog eyes and stuck my lip out a bit and he agreed.

And I think he liked it!

I had an English muffin, eggs over medium, bacon, and watermelon.

Tim had bacon, peanut butter toast, and poached eggs (his new obsession).

Speaking of which, he has requested that I ask the blog world if anyone knows how to poach eggs without excessive amounts of white foam appearing.  Any ideas?

Did you eat hot lunch at school?  What were your favorites and least favorites?

Hold the phones, guys.  I ate something different for breakfast.

When I was visiting my friend in Boston, we ate plain Greek yogurt, berries, and delicious farmer’s market granola for breakfast, and I’ve been craving it ever since.  So I rLuecreated it!  (Thankfully, she sent me some of the granola for my birthday.  It’s delightful!)

Lunch was kind of generally munched in bits and pieces from about 11:30 to 1:30.

Underripe cantaloupe (boo) and a mini Babybel, the last of the disgusting Fiber One brownies I impulse bought a few weeks ago and a white nectarine, two hardboiled eggs, and a pretzel roll from my favorite joint in Chicago dipped in some garlic hummus.

Random, I know.  I have food ADD, I think—I like little bites of everything rather than one big meal.

I snacked on some trail mix before I worked out. 

This is the Trader Joe’s “Just a Handful” of cashews, almonds, and cranberries, and it’s super delicious.

After work, I kind of did something crazy.

I was SO excited to get back to the gym after a bit of a hiatus.  And I was also inspired after reading Emily’s Ironman Race Report.  So, I decided to put on a DIY Mini-Tri.

Specifically, I swam 400 meters (in 12:14), biked 10 miles (in 39:08), and ran 2 miles (in 19:48).

The hardest part?

Putting on my bike shorts while dripping wet from the pool.  I think “T1” was about 9 minutes trying to wedge myself into those.

Anyway, it was a fun workout, and burned a whole lotta calories.

I think doing sprint triathlons would be right up my alley, but bikes ain’t cheap and mama likes pretty shoes and purses.  Maybe someday?   Until then, maybe I’ll just continue being a big faker at the gym.

Anyway, I was starving after this. 

Unpictured: sourdough pretzel with hummus, bolted down immediately after opening my front door.

Dinner was light and refreshing.

Spinach and strawberry salad, grilled chicken, and corn on the cob.  And now it’s time for a little bit of ice cream.

Have you ever done a triathlon?  Do you want to?  Should I? 

Back to work today!

I am feeling less monstrous today, though nausea still interfered with my workout.  It seems to be subsiding, though, which is a good thing.

Lunch:

Spinach salad, homemade pretzel roll, watermelon balls*, mini Babybel cheese**, Greek yogurt***.

*: I enjoyed balling an entire watermelon at my mother-in-law’s house so much she gave me her spare melon baller.  Baller!

**: Crack.  These tiny cheeses are so NOT budget friendly (I think they’re $3.79/6 at my store right now), but they are infinitely better than any cheap string cheese out there.  Worth the money.

***: I’ve always really liked Dannon Greek yogurt.  It’s cheaper than Chobani and Fage, and I really like the texture.  Apparently now they are merging with Oikos?  Anyone know the details?  Please tell me this will not make the prices go up. 

For snacktime, I tried a new flavor of Luna Bar.

It was basically a really big Quaker granola bar.  Meh.

After work, I was really excited to run…but it didn’t go so well.  I think it was a combination of guzzling too much water in the late afternoon due to the heat and my general nausea came back.

I ran 2.5 miles, walked for about 5 minutes, and then ran another .5.  Womp womp.

Dinner was leftover pulled pork and corn on the cob.

I wasn’t full, though, so I had a peach that was pretty excellent.

Now I’m baking cookies for Tim to take to work, and in a bit I will be hacking up 15 pounds of raw food into individual Milhouse-and-Southie-sized portions.

I can’t wait to see my best friend in just three short days!  She has a CrossFit workout planned for us on Saturday morning and I’m quaking in my boots already.

What do you and your best friend like to do together? 

So.  I’m not normally a scrooge.  And when I was a kid, I actually slept through the fourth of July fireworks on more than one occasion.

But last night, our neighbors were setting fireworks off in front of our house until 2 am.  And my alarm goes off at 6 am for work.  I wish I was kidding. 

So…I was kind of a grumpus this morning.

It didn’t help that I randomly felt like hurling for most of my drive to work.

Suffice it to say—this was not exactly the best day of my life.  Certainly not the worst, but all day I just had that generally annoyed, “are we there yet?” feeling.

Oh, and I remembered that today marks 19 years since my dad died.  While I’m not at a point where I just want to go home and cry anymore, it is kind of a little kick in the gut and brings back a whole lot of memories.

Lunch was a spinach salad,  cantaloupe, carrots n’ hummus, and a slice of challah.

I definitely hit a mid-afternoon slump and had some trail mix.  It did not revitalize me.

After work, I hit the pool for 1000m.  It sounded more relaxing and less taxing than running, but it was still kind of a miserable slog today where I was counting the laps until I was done.  It really is amazing how much sleep impacts the quality of my workouts!

At least I didn’t really have to make dinner, since I did it yesterday.

We had crockpot pulled pork (this recipe is amazing, healthy, easy, and freezes well—seriously a favorite) and corn on the cob.  I will be really sad when sweet corn goes away for the winter.

Now, I am finally relaxing on the couch, looking forward to the new season of Teen Mom and reading The Pillars of the Earth, which I just started but am already obsessed with.   (And cuddling Southie, who was away at the vet all weekend being boarded!  I missed my baby girl.)

Hopefully tonight will be quieter than last!

What is your favorite seasonal summer food?