9 things I learned while training for a half marathon

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Fervent Foodie

When I first started having knee problems about two years ago, I went to see an orthopedic doctor. After a lengthy round of Q&A and a few X-rays, the doctor simply concluded that “some knees just aren’t made for running.” Really, doctor? Apparently the x-rays didn’t show the stubbornness that fills my bones like a tough impervious marrow. From that day forward, I’ve wanted nothing more than to run farther, longer, and faster than I had the day before. I love running, and I wanted, no, I NEEDED to prove that doctor wrong.

In December, I signed up for the Charlotte Racefest (my first ever half marathon), but after four long months of training ending with yet ANOTHER knee injury, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to run it. This time around, I hurt my knee doing lunges in a bootcamp class at the Y. When will I learn? I took it easy the entire month before the big race, but when race day arrived I still wasn’t confident I’d be able to run 13.1 miles. At that point, I only had two 10-mile runs under my belt.

Since I’d already forked out the cash for the half marathon, I decided to at least attempt to run it. During the race, I tried not to think too much about my knees, but as the miles ticked by I couldn’t help but feel dumbfounded that I was still running. Most of the race was shrouded in a euphoric haze, but as I neared the finish line I started to feel nauseus. My pace slowed, and I began to feel dizzy. With every step, the looming finish line appeared to be one step further away. At that moment, the BF jumped out from the sidelines smiling and hooting and clapping his hands like a crazy man. I was so close. I put my head down, dug my heels in, and pumped my arms. Seconds later I crossed the finish line clocking in at 1:56:58–literally seconds below my original 9-minute mile goal!

As I hobbled to the sideline, I could do nothing but let out an exasperated “BOO YA.” Some knees just aren’t made for running, my ass.

Here are the top 9 things I learned while training for my first half marathon:

#1 Buy good shoes. This one is #1 for a reason, and I can’t stress it enough. The first time I hurt my knee, it was completely and solely due to the fact that I was wearing a cheap pair of old cross trainers. I urge you to go to a real running store and hop on the treadmill. Have the sales associate watch your running patterns and check to see if you under or over pronate your ankles. Is your stride too long? Are you heel striking? (I was!) Don’t buy shoes based solely on the sweet color or the cool gel thingy in the heel. It’s hard, I know. I LOVE my Asics Gel Nimbus 13′s, and plan to get a new pair this month!

#2 Create a plan (brownie points if you use Excel). When you’re training for a long distance race, especially if it’s your first one, you can’t just approach it all willy nilly. Are you serious about completing the race? Yes? Well then sit your butt down, do some research, and create your plan of attack. Make sure to factor in short runs, long runs, and those extremely important recovery days. Check out my half marathon training plan here.

#3 Stick to the plan. Here’s the bottom line: if you miss a run, you are only cheating yourself. Plain and simple. Remember, all runs are important — not just the long ones.

#4 Listen to your body. YES you need to stick to the plan. However, there’s a big difference between missing a run because you’re feeling lazy and tired and just want to curl up on the couch and watch Big Bang Theory reruns versus missing a run because of an injury. When I hurt my knee AGAIN a month before the big race, I was forced me to miss out on 75% of my last month of training. My knees had had ENOUGH. I knew it. My knees knew it. Had I forced myself to continue to run through the injury, the injury would have gotten much more serious. Period.

#5 Food. Food is extremely important. Your body needs to be properly fueled, especially for long runs. Choose your pre-run grub wisely. Unfortunately, there is no one-size fits all meal plan. Each of our bodies reacts differently to different foods. It may take some trial and error to help you find balance between energizing yourself and not feeling weighed down. For long runs (longer than 1 hour), make sure to bring a snack. Something soft and easy to chew (like a Larabar) is ideal. I do not recommend fiber bars for mid-run snacks. I speak from experience on this one… Enough said.

#6 Go #1 AND #2 (if possible) before your long runs. This is serious.

#7 Stay hydrated. EVERY. DAY. Dehydration can cause all sorts of problems–headaches, fatigue, and JOINT PAIN. I’ve found I tend to drink more when I have a glass with a straw, so I keep a tumbler full of ice water on my desk at work all day long.

#8 Cut your toenails or face injury.

#9 Your legs and toes might go numb mid-run. I’m not sure if everyone has this problem, but I sure do. I’ve found that doing a few quick high knees and a few toe scrunches helps to keep the blood flowing without having to stop and stretch. During a race, I make sure to do this quick combo at every mile marker. Sure it may look a little funny, but heyyyy I can feel my legs!!!

My Half Marathon Training Plan

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Fervent Foodie

Whelp, it’s official.

Once an Excel spreadsheet enters the picture, there’s just no turning back. In my world, transforming an idea, plan, or goal to a glorious (preferably multi-tabbed) spreadsheet is like signing my name in wet cement. It took a lot of thought and research, googling and binging, reading and pondering, but I finally got my half marathon training plan together!

Continue reading →

Recap–the (almost) 14 day fitness challenge

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Fervent Foodie

Whelp, it has been 14 days since I proposed the 14 day fitness challenge and made it my goal to exercise every day for 14 days straight (including the Thanksgiving holiday). The first 7 days went as planned and I exercised each day. Boo. Ya.

Here’s how the second half of the challenge stacked up:

Day #8: Power Pump class at the YMCA

Day #9: Woke up with knee pain, so I decided NOT to exercise.

Day #10: 15 minutes on the elliptical, 1 hour of strength training & free weights

Day #11: Turkey Trot! 5 miles in 43:48!!

Day #12: 30 minutes on the elliptical

Day #13: 3 Mile Leslie Sansone walking video with my mom

Day #14: Stuck in traffic on the drive home from Ohio and got home 2 hours late – AKA no exercise.

So the 14 days fitness challenge was more like the 12 out of 14 day challenge. Even though I missed the challenge goal, I’m happy with what I was able to accomplish. First off, I listened to my body and decided not to run when my knee was bothering me. This is HUGE for me. Normally I am stubborn (and stupid) and try to run despite pains, which is exactly how I hurt myself two summers back. Second, I EXERCISED ON THANKSGIVING. Insane!!!

The Turkey Trot was the first race I have run in, and I’m already searching for my next race.

Half marathon here I come!!!!

Phew!

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Fervent Foodie

Say it with me now. In through the nose……. out through the mouthhhhhhhh…….

In through the noseeeeeeeee…..

Out through the mouth.

Phew!

Another tax busy season is (nearly) behind me, and thank the frickin heavens! Tonight is the first night I’ve come home with nothing URGENT URGENT URGENT to think about in FOR-EV-ER. It has been a rough few weeks, but the good news is work should be a whole heck of a lot slower until January when the season-who-shall-not-be-named rolls into town once again… bleghhhhhhh….

So to update you on the last few weeks:

* ERGONOMICS UPDATE: My office chair has developed a permanent indentation of my butt due to the extensive quality time we’ve been sharing.

* OBSESSION UPDATE: I’ve developed a love for Clif Bars. You may recall my longstanding obsession with Luna bars. I dare say Clif bars are now taking the lead. They leave me feeling fuller longer (quite possibly due to the extra 60 calories they pack) and the Clif bars don’t seem to give me a sugar rush. Though, I will admit that the Luna Bar flavors are more craveable than Clif’s flavors. Must be a girl thing.

* RESTAURANT UPDATE: I had a string of crappy meals, which I didn’t think was possible in CLT. I was sadly wrong. Two thumbs down to disturbingly grey eggs and unidentifiable breakfast potatoes at Bluprint, incredibly fatty steak at Firebirds, and insane over usage of butter at Cajun Queen. BLEGH!

* TRAVEL UPDATE: BF and I went to Chimney Rock, NC for a day to hike courtesy of a Living Social deal I snagged a few months back.

We hiked, and climbed, and did our best not to contract poison ivy….

There were beautiful vistas, fancy gaps, and excessive sweating.

We also took impromptu senior year of high school photos:

How ridiculous is that photo??? Makes me giggle every time I look at it!

And since the BF is *cough* afraid of heights *cough* I climbed to the top by my onesie:

Even though it was overcast that day, the view was gorgeous!

WARNING: Do not look directly at my white legs. Doing so may cause temporary blindness.

* CHEAP ASS UPDATE: Target has Clif Bars and Luna Bars on sale this week! They have boxes of 6 and limited flavors in BOXES OF SEVEN for $5!! HOLLER!

* TECH SAVVY UPDATE: The wireless on my computer died

* NOT-SO-TECH-SAVVY UPDATE: I spent 45 minutes on the phone trying to fix the computer problem. This included several rounds of me answering the same exact series of questions over and over. I think the rep was hoping I’d change my responses. Think again, Dell. Think again…. Devil

* FRIENDS AND FAM UPDATE: The BF’s mom and pop came to Charlotte. We showed them the town (through food, naturally). We also had a make-your-own pizza night at my humble abode:

Mmmmmmm pizzzzzzzzzzaaaaaaaa *drool*

* BEEF CAKE UPDATE: I upped my squat and tricep weight at Body Pump! I’m now up to the following (total weight including 2.5lb bar):

Sept 2011 versus June 2011

Warm Up = 22.5 lbs vs 17.5 lbs
Squat = 37.5 lbs vs 22.5 lbs
Chest = 27.5 lbs vs 17.5 lbs
Back = 32.5 lbs vs 22.5 lbs
Triceps = 27.5 lbs vs 12.5 lbs
Biceps = 22.5 lbs vs 17.5 lbs
Lunges = 22.5 lbs vs 12.5 lbs
Shoulders = 22.5 lbs vs 17.5 lbs

My goal over the next two weeks is to bump up my squat and back weight again. Every time I increase my squat weight I get lower back pains, so I’m going to work really hard on my form. I’m watching the how-to videos on the Body Pump website as we speak…

* RUNNING UPDATE: I didn’t run for two weeks, and felt like death was upon me when I ran 6 miles Sunday. But I did it, and I hope to beat my eight-mile record in the next couple of weeks!

* THE WHY-IT’S-GOOD-TO-DATE-GUYS-WITH-SKILLS-UPDATE: My IT guy fixed my computer *wink* *wink*

* NERD UPDATE: Shit got serious on my 2012 budget spreadsheet. Yes, that’s my 2012 annual budget I’m working on, which is something I’ve started every September for the past 7 years. Every year it gets bigger and better, and with the addition of my new friend the “Indirect Formula” my summary spreadsheet just went to a whole new level of awesomeness. Be jealous.

So fill me in! What have you been up to? What have you cooked? Where have you been? What have I missed??? My Google Reader is outta control right now!!

A rogue toenail.

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Fervent Foodie

Well if that title didn’t furrow your brow then you my friend read with unshakable candor.

I survived the Great Attack of the Rogue Toenail and all I got was this lousy Band-Aid.

Perhaps we should back up a few steps….

Sunday morning I snuck out of bed early to make myself breakfast, drink excessive amounts of black coffee, and sprawl out on the couch to catch up on blog reading and a good hour of budget reconciling. Ahhhh nothing brings me more joy than a nice breakfast and a nicely balanced budget

I absolutely adore those peaceful morning hours when the rest of the sane world is still cuddled up with their blankies sucking their thumbs while I’m off doing whatever my little heart desires. It kind of reminds me of sneaking out of the house as a teenager. Something about being awake when no one else is feels rebellious and thrilling to me. *Perhaps* I’ve traded in sneaking out to meet my friends for sneaking out to play with excel. But that’s ok. This is a judgment free zone. Sadly these special hours seem to only present themselves on Sundays and this is precisely the reason for which I dutifully savor ever ounce of every Sunday morning.

Once my breakfast settled and I started to feel the caffeine from my coffee IV kick in, I decided to head out on my Sunday long run. I hadn’t been on a long run for two weeks–since the day I ran a whopping six miles—the *ahem* farthest *ahem* I had EVER run. Yesterday as I set out, I was motivated by Lindsay’s post about reaching her new 8 mile long distance running record. So I got my butt off the couch and laced up my sneakers. As soon as I stepped outside I realized it was kinda hot out. As in I’d been outside 3 seconds and I was already starting to perspire. The mental games immediately started. I began to talk myself down and lower my expectations. It’s hot. Just go for a quick run and get your butt back inside. If you’re too tired, you can always stop. Etc. etc. Mind games to keep myself from heading back in. Maybe I would make a good salesman…

After pretending to stretch for a minute or two, I was off. Miles started to tick by. I ran to the pizza shop, to Target, to the coffee shop, to the grocery store… Everywhere I could think of. Each time I reached my destination I gave myself a new one. Toward the end of mile 4 I seriously contemplated calling a cab to come get me. I had taken an unfortunate turn that put me at the foot of a rather steep hill, and I actually had to clasp my hand against my chest as I weased my way upward right past a Two Men and a Truck Van with unloading in process. They looked concerned, but they didn’t try to stop me and I kept going. And going. And going. And finally, after an eternity of running, when my Runkeeper ap declared that I’d reached and unfathomable 8 miles I said “mmmmmmkay yeah that’s enough.” And I stopped.

8 miles. Absolute ridiculousness.

How’s that for blogosphere motivation?!

If I’m going to keep doing this long run business, I really need to look into getting one of those little runner’s fanny packs to carry a bottle of water. Dehydration is no friend of mine. I’m thinking something along the lines of this Fuel Belt:

Any recommendations?

I was RIPE after the run. You know it’s bad when you can smell your own stank. When I undressed to hit the showers I was shocked to see that one of my toes was completely covered in blood! At first glance I thought the entire side of my toe had sliced open! After a momentary freak out moment that included me hobbling out to the patio to show the BF my war wound, I took a closer look and realized the toe was still one solid appendage, but rather my crazy pinky toenail had stabbed the one next to it in an apparent angry rage! What the heck?! I’ve always had squirrely pinky toenails. I mean, when I paint my nails I basically have to paint my whole pinky toe and then wipe off the excess because the nail is so small and peculiar shaped. I just never realized that thing was locked and loaded!

Lesson learned: Always be on the lookout for rogue toenails, especially before long runs.

Stop.and.go.

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Fervent Foodie

Stop and go. Stop and go.

Ya’ll may recall my short-lived escapade with running last summer. And you might also recall when I hurt my knee. And if you recall those two things you might also recall that I tried to get back into running by purchasing new running shoes and starting interval training. And then remember when I hurt my knee AGAIN? And then I went to the orthopedic surgeon and he told me “some knees just aren’t made for running.” And then I said screw you, doctor. I’ll show you, doctor. And then remember when I tried to do interval training again? And then I hurt my knee.. AGAIN. And then basically said yeah screw running?

That was fun, wasn’t it? Smile

Sooooooo…. about 2 weeks ago I went to the Charlotte Running Company to buy *new running shoes* … Stubborn might just be my middle name.

Note that I purchased the new shoes BEFORE trying to start running again. Let’s give Mary a cyber pat on the back for at least taking one step in the right direction.

The coolest thing about my visit to the Charlotte Running Co., was the personal fitting. This involved me running on a treadmill while they videotaped my ankles and feet. The playback was pretty interesting to watch. I learned that I do not over or under pronate (roll the ankles inward or outward), which I was always curious about. What I do do is over extend my legs when I run, which causes my heel to hit the ground first. Apparently, the balls of your feet should hit first. The salesman told me to pretend that I’m running on hot coals and take quick short steps.

Verrrrrry interesting. It’s funny to think that there’s a “right” way to run. There’s more to it than strapping on any old pair of tennis shoes and hitting the payment. Really, Mary? Cuz that worked oh so well for you last summer, didn’t it?

After trying on about 10 pairs of running shoes, I ended up going with the Asics Gel Nimbus 13:

Even with my new shoes and my new hot coal running technique, I didn’t want to just jump into running head — strike that — ball-of-the-foot first. I decided to ramp up with… you guessed it.

Interval training.

Originally, my goal was to start with 1 minute running and 1 minute walking for 20 minutes. Then each week gradually increase the run portion of the interval by 1 minute.

Good plan, eh?

Probably was, but it just wasn’t challenging enough. But as much as I just want to just get out there and RUN until my legs can’t carry me any further, I have a little nagging voice in the back of my head reminding me how devastated I’ll be if I hurt my knee again this summer. Sooooooo I reached a compromise with the nagging voice. Instead of bumping the run time up a minute each week, I’m bumping it up a minute each day that I run.

My feets in action:

I’m also running every other day (as opposed to EVERY day I tried to run last summer), and I found a pretty nice path to run on (as opposed to hard streets/sidewalks).

If I stay on this plan, I should be able to run 5K no (knee) problem by mid August! That would be the ultimate accomplishment in my mind. I know 5K isn’t much—I mean it’s no walk in the park but it’s also no marathon—but in my knee-injurfied world it’s quite the accomplishment!

10-Mile-Saturday

Posted on July 18, 2010 by Fervent Foodie

Saturday morning I woke up around 7am to get my run in. It was already 80+ degrees and 85%+ humidity. Perfect running weather, right? Even though the air was so thick feeling, I was excited to get out and explore some of Charleston on my run. I’m still on week #5 of the interval training, which means I’m doing 3 intervals of 3 minutes walking and 7 minutes running.

Here’s the route I ran:

My time per mile was a lot slower than my Charlotte run earlier in the week — but I’ll crack that up to the crazy humidity!

We were planning to have a late breakfast, and were in search of bottomless mimosas, so we headed to Toast.

Bottomless mimosas:

I took this picture several times, and somehow a bulging bicep kept appearing in the background…

We split the Deluxe French Toast stuffed with apples and apple syrup:

And the all garden omelet (which I added sausage, zucchini, and pepper jack cheese to):

Both of these were delicious, and the mimosa made for a very relaxing brunch

(Unintentional foreshadowing: we are headed to the Folly Beach Pier today!)

After brunch, we set out to walk along the river banks. We walked, and walked, and wallllkkkeeeedddd…..

On our way back towards the studio, we stopped at the Buccaneer restaurant for some margaritas and snacks. The Buccaneer has a ton of authentic pirate artifacts, which was pretty neat.

I ordered the crab cake:

This was pretty good, but I don’t think my belly is sold on crab meat yet. I could only eat half of this (may have been do to the exhaustion from walking though).

Here’s the route we walked during our Saturday afternoon excursions:

That’s over 7 miles. Add that to the 3 miles for my AM interval training, and you’ve got yourself a 10-Mile-Saturday!

After a much needed 2-hour nap and showers, we headed to California Dreaming for some waterfront dining.

View from our table:

First up was the bottle of wine:

We split the chicken quesadilla appetizer:

SOOO frickin good.

For dinner, we split the blackened chicken pasta:

Pasta four nights in a row? Check.

And then we split the hot brownie with ice cream for dessert:

Of course we were extremely happy with this meal:

We decided to go green on the way home, and called up a Green Taxi:

Jarrod was pretty pumped about this:

Today is our last day in Charleston! We plan to get in a little beach time then head to King street for some grub

Tuesday Tastes Good

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Fervent Foodie

Today marks Day #3, week #3 of my interval training plan! I am just flying right along….. Which does make me a little nervous. I keep waiting for another knee injury to surface… Hopefully with good stretching and elevation while at work I can continue to work my way back up to running the entire time.

I’m really hoping to be able to participate in the Healthy Living Summit group run in August too… We shall see

Breakfast #1: Just-sayin-no to muffin(tops)

I had a breakfast meeting at Panera this morning for the Knowledgeable Network of Women in Akron. In a previous life, I would have been PUMPED for a muffie and/or bagel from Panera… Coffee cake? Bring-it-on. Nowadays I just stare longingly at these delicious treats through the glass case and drool….

BUT there is good news! Panera carries Stonyfield Farms yogurt! So, I ordered up some of that with fruit (no granola though) and a TALLLLLL coffee

Breakfast #2: Giving low-carb waffles a second go

I made low-carb waffles for the first time last week, and I was really excited to try them again. There’s lots of things I’d like to play around with, but for the sake of determining what works and what doesn’t I only changed a few minor things this time around.

Last night I cooked up the waffle batter below for 10 minutes on the waffle iron:

1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill Low-Carb baking mix
1/4 cup + 1 tsp Almond Breeze unsweetened almond milk
1 egg white
Sprinkling of cinnamon
1/2 packet Truvia
1/8 tsp baking powder

This morning, I popped the waffles into the toaster, then topped ‘em off with some fresh/frozen strawberries/bananas/blackberries that I heated up in the microwave along with some PB2 (added extra H20 fo’ the drizzle).

YUMMMMMM….. So tasty, even though the texture is not quite what I want. Guess I’ll just have to keep on experimenting. No complaints here!

Stats on waffles with fixins: 206 calories, 31g carbs, 4g fat, 21g protein, 8g fiber

Lunch

Lately, I’m pretty much obsessed with hummus and spinach sandwiches of any variety. It’s not just me either. I made a wrap with hummus on it for the BF over the weekend, and he seconded my desire to rub it all over my face and marinate in its deliciousness. Hahahah…

Today’s wrap consisted of:

1 mama lupe’s low-carb tortilla <3 <3 <3
2 tbsp Trader Joe’s Spicy hummus
3 ounces grilled chicken breast
big ole handful of spinach
1/2 a roma tomato
honkin slice of red onion

Heavenly

Stats on wrap & sliced yellow pepper: 295 calories, 23g carbs, 10g fat, 24g protein, 8g fiber

Getcho run on!

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Fervent Foodie

What is it about running first thing in the morning that makes me feel like I can tackle anything the day brings me? This morning I completed Day #3, Week #2 of my interval training plan. Woo hoo! That means Friday I’ll be up to 2 minutes walking, 4 minutes running… and still no knee pain in sight

Breakfast #1

In honor of the fabulous PB2 GIVEAWAY, I decided to make a grilled fruit and nut butter wrap using Chocolate PB2.

I took 2 tbsp of powdered chocolate PB2:

Then added 1 tbsp water:

Then smeared it on a Mama Lupe’s low carb tortilla and topped with 1/4 cup each of strawberries and blueberries

I wrapped everything up, and put it on the george foreman for 5 minutes. Then wrapped in foil and stuck in my purse:

And enjoyed at my desk at work:

Mmmmmmm…. love love love the grilled fruit and nut butter wraps!!!

Stats on the wrap: 145 calories, 21g carbs, 4g fat, 9g protein, 7g fiber

Make sure you post a comment on the PB2 giveaway by midnight Sunday July 4th!

Breakfast #2

Bowl of overnight oats consisting of:

1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze almond milk
1 packet Truvia (stevia)
Cinnamon
Fresh Strawberries & Blueberries (added this morning)

I <3 overnight oats.

Stats on the oats: 203 calories, 39g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 7g fiber

Lunch

Last night when I was packing my lunch I was really craving a sandwich. (The carb tooth strikes again!)

Sunday night I grilled up a big batch of chicken breasts seasoned with McCormick’s Montreal Chicken Seasoning. So I packed one of the breasts (about a 2.5 ouncer), 1 cup spinach, tomato, onion, a Pepperidge Farm 7 grain deli flat, and 1 tbsp Trader Joe’s Spicy hummus.

Can you say YUM? Yum.

Stats on the sammy: 230 calories, 29g carbs, 5g fat, 22g protein, 9g fiber

Women Power

Tonight I’m headed up to Cleveland for the Athena Women’s award dinner. This opportunity came up through my involvement with the Knowledgeable Network of Women through the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce.

And I’m taking my camera. First time for me to let my inner food blogger out at a business function… should be interesting

Running in the Rain

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Fervent Foodie

I started this lovely Monday morning off with Day #2, Week #2 of interval training. It looked pretty grey outside, but after consulting the local radar on my weather channel app, I determined I could definitely get 30 minutes in before any rain approached.

Whelp, I was about 15 minutes off on my calculation… Half way through my normal route, a torrential downpour started to erupt from the sky! Running in the rain is actually pretty fun, and I would have kept right on going had I not JUST got a new iPhone to replace the iPhone that suffered water damage last week. So, I threw my iphone in my sports bra to keep it dry and took shelter under a nearby tree for about 15 minutes until the rain let up. Standing under the tree in the rain was actually pretty peaceful and relaxing! I’m sure I looked like a creeper though

Breakfast #1

I’m really loving the grilled fruit and nut butter wraps I’ve been making for breakfast. Today, I made one with half of a banana and Smucker’s Organic Peanut Butter atop a Mama Lupe’s low carb tortilla. I wrapped everything up and threw it on the george foreman for about 5 minutes.

(I’ll have to post the pic later.. left the stinkin cord for my old camera at home!)

Soooo delicious!

Stats on B#1: 218 calories, 23g carbs, 11g fat, 10g protein, 7 g fiber

Breakfast #2

I was still pretty hungry after B#1, so I decided to overload my overnight oats. Last night, I put 1/2 cup quick oats, 1/2 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze Almond milk, 1 tsp brown sugar, and some cinnamon in a bowl in the fridge. This morning, I overloaded the oats with blueberries, strawberries, the other 1/2 of my breakfast banana, and some Barbara’s Bakery Peanut Butter Puffins for crunch.

Yum-o.

Stats on B#2: 308 calories, 61g carbs (hello excessive carbs), 6g fat, 8g protein, 10g fiber

Lunch

After all the carbs at breakfast, I was glad I packed a salad for lunch! Today’s salad consisted of romaine lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, a sliced up Trader Joe’s Spinach Fontina Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage, with 2tbsp Hidden Valley fat free ranch dressing.

Couldn’t get the flash to go off for the life of me… haha… need to spend some time playing with the camera! I’m really liking the Trader Joe’s sausage! I wish I would have picked up more than one kind… oh well, guess I’ll have to go back

Stats on Lunch: 239 calories, 22g carbs, 8g fat, 19g protein, 6g fiber